I don’t watch much TV in France, and I certainly don’t like to watch American shows dubbed in French, but since Michelle and I were both sick last week we often returned to the hotel early and watched The A-Team. In French it’s called L’Agence Tous Risques and it’s like a completely different show because [...]
Full Story »The Frenchified English of McDonald’s in France
I had the misfortune of eating at McDonald’s last Sunday when David and I decided to go on a drive to Chanaz, at the other end of Lac du Bourget. Unfortunately, we arrived at 2pm, when every restaurant in Europe closes because no one can possibly still be hungry at that time, so it was [...]
Full Story »Staying Legal in France: More Residency Card Crap (for lack of a better word)
La Préfecture, the love of my life. Immigrants in France must have a very close relationship with the préfecture. It’s the place where we have to go – every 3 months, in some cases – to obtain our residency cards and make sure we are not sans-papiers. France doesn’t exactly have a “permanent resident” status [...]
Full Story »In the end, I still choose France (for now)
Remember that list of reasons why I live in France that I posted a few months ago? Numbers 2, 5, and 8 are really relevant right now. I’ve only worked two days since December 16, and I still have another week off before the second semester starts. The 3 inches of snow we got last [...]
Full Story »Fahrenheit vs. Celsius
Sometimes I don’t think I will ever get used to non-American measurements. The Metric system and Celsius degrees are much more logical, but it’s not what I spent most of my life using and even after years of living in the country that was the first to adopt the Metric system, I still find it [...]
Full Story »French & France News
Twitter is now available in French! And yes, I recently joined – though I prefer to say to that my website joined since my username is ielanguages. I’ll most likely be posting more website info and language teaching & learning news and links on there, unlike this blog which usually includes personal stuff like missing [...]
Full Story »Premières Papillotes
We’ve already started eating Papillotes even though it’s not really Christmastime yet. I’m a bad American and should wait until after Thanksgiving to do anything Christmas-related, but too late, I’ve already started listening to carols and bought all my gifts. Papillotes are chocolaty goodness though, so I don’t feel bad for eating them. Plus they [...]
Full Story »Friday the 13th / le vendredi 13
The number 13 and Fridays are usually considered bad or even evil according to Christianity, and the tradition of Friday the 13th being a very unlucky day still persists in many cultures. Yet in France, vendredi le 13 is considered a lucky day when people buy lots of lottery tickets. Have you bought your ticket [...]
Full Story »Kentucky Fried Chicken in France
It’s Sunday and we have no food in the apartment because it’s Sunday and no stores are open. Ok, some stores are open in the morning on Sundays, but they are so crowded that I hyperventilate just thinking about it. A KFC opened in Chambéry a few months ago and I was actually curious to [...]
Full Story »French Newspapers from 1919 and 1938-1942
A little history lesson thanks to David’s grandma who didn’t throw these newspapers away (that we just discovered in the storage space this weekend!) Conditions of the WWI peace treaties were decided in May 1919. (Women’s suffrage is just a teaser. That wouldn’t actually happen until 1944.) The Treaty of Versailles was signed June 28, [...]
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