French Word-A-Day

How to say "snapshot" in French + photos from Sanary-sur-Mer

"Soda Pop". The cliché, above, was an accidental self portrait taken while focusing on the bigger picture. It will remain a whimsical and wonderful souvenir of my visit with Dad. Note: Pop and I aren't really drinking sodas (and I never call Dad "pop", except to name this photo): that's a can of water in my left hand and a camera in my right. Dad's holding a can of beer. Did you know you can walk around a seaside town in France, beer in hand? But you cannot drink beer at a snack stand unless you have ordered food. It's French law, according to the snack stand owner.

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un cliché (klee-shay) 

    : snapshot

Other ways to say snapshot: un instantané or une photo

 Note, un cliché, is also:

...une figure de style qui consiste en l'emploi d'une expression « stéréotypée » et banale à force d'utilisation dans la langue. A figure of speech consisting of a stereotypical expression that becomes banal after overuse in a language. (Wikipedia entry for cliché)

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Les hôtes. The hosts. For the first time in a long time it feels like summertime. Having family come to visit means pulling oneself away from the computer and stepping outside to enjoy life. Jean-Marc said to me the other day, I'm really enjoying your Dad and Marsha's visit! They are so fun, helpful, and discreet.


My belle-mère, Marsha, and my Dad in Sanary. They're pretending to be part of this still life trompe l'oeil. They enjoy life as kids do--having found each other later in life, some 25 years after Dad and my mom divorced. They've been married 19 years now.

My mom is a big fan of Marsha's and says that Marsha is the best thing that ever happened to my Dad. (See a photo of Mom and Marsha, near the end of this post). 

"Cinema ABC..." I love to listen to my Dad read signs as we stroll along the sidewalks of Sanary. 

Dad and me. I love photos of walking--ever since seeing a black and white photo of my grandparents in Greece. Marsha snapped this cliché: a souvenir of a father-daughter moment, a visual I'll enjoy forever and one I'll pass on to my own grandchildren. 

More photos, below, after a message from our longtime sponsors:

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Another trompe-l'oeil in Sanary. This one's a turtle dove or a pigeon... which reminds me of how fascinated we were watching a municipal worker walk out to the docks and pour a giant sack of bird seed in one long, neat row. Arriving from all four corners of Sanary, pigeons swooped in and settled beside their free lunch. Talk about a soup kitchen for pigeons!

Marsha spotted the chihuahua in the window of an elegant residence overlooking the port. "Be careful of what you think you don't want--you might just end up with one!" Marsha giggled. Having only ever had big dogs... a certain Papillon name Ladybug pitter-pattered into her heart several years ago. 

One, two, three, four more chihuahuas at the market. These guys are not for sale (just the nightshirts, for 10 euros) yet have the effect of stopping shoppers in their tracks. 

Marsha and Dad bought me the khaki-colored one hanging near the end.. and a dress too! I put it on the dress when we returned from the market, before we sat down for Father's Day lunch. Happy Father's Day week to all who celebrate. I am so lucky to have spent the day with my dad this year. We have 10 more days together and I'm off now, to profiter--or make the most of every moment with him and my belle-mère Marsha.  Thanks for reading and see you soon. To comment, click here.

Notice the name of the boat... and enjoy this end quote: Pour bien vivre, bien aimer et laisser dire. To live well, love well and let others say what they will. (Quote found written across a modest picket fence in Italy)

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Correction: Sorry for the confusion but, in the previous post, the translation for belle-mère should be (in this case) "step-mother" or "step-mom" and not "mother-in-law". I so often write about my mother-in-law that I automatically added the oft-used translation. 

How to say "stranded" in French?

A calanque is an inlet from the sea, ideal for walking your dog, picnics, and snorkeling!

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être coincé (etruh-kwen-say)

    : to be stranded

Audio File: listen to Jean-Marc: Download MP3 or Wav

Nous avons été coincés deux fois cette semaine: une fois sur la mer et une fois sur la terre.
We were stranded twice this week: once at sea and once on land. 

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A Day in a French Life... by Kristin Espinasse

My Dad and my belle-mère arrived on Saturday for a three week visit, ready for a month of surprises.... 

Stranded Twice in One Week
When Jean-Marc offered to take Kip and Marsha out on a boat ride along le littoral, my family was game. (I stayed behind, not because of the previous scare... but because I wanted to avoid any more sun.)

As I drove to Sanary-sur-Mer to meet my family for lunch I began to notice all the white caps across the sea. Arriving at the cove where we were to meet, I found it empty and guessed Jean-Marc must have had to anchor in the previous port of Bandol. But as I turned to get back in my car, I saw the boat stranded on the beach!

My dad was drenched and he and my belle-mère, Marsha--along with 6 beachgoers (who had swum out to help pull the windswept boat to shore)--were busy assisting Jean-Marc.

The boat secured we huddled into a seaside cafe for lunch. But when my Dad could not warm up, we let him thaw inside my car (nice and hot from the sunshine!). During the 15 minutes it took to bring Dad's tempurature back to normal, I sat in the driver's seat, learning the story of their sea adventure, which began smoothly (in time to enjoy a swim at Port d'Alon) until they carried on towards Sanary... where they suddenly encountered all those white caps, or moutons.

Next it was a flat tire...
The next day we joined Phyllis Adatto and Tim Smith, our Texas wine importers, for a visit to Chateau Margui and La Mascarone. Only, while exiting the first vineyard along a long and secluded dirt road, Jean-Marc hit a nid de poule and blew out our front tire.

Philippe, the owner of Chateau Margui (along with his lovely wife and winemaker, Marie-Christine), rescued us. We all piled into his red van, some of us sitting on wine cartons, others on duffel bags full of Philippe's diving gear.

Piano-Piano, or "slowly slowly"
Yesterday we took things piano-piano. Marsha and Dad snorkled in a nearby calanque and Jean-Marc finally took the time to treat his jelly fish bite (or what he calls his yelly fish bite), a souvenir from that stormy trek to Sanary.

One more thing
My mother-in-law and I share a growing interest in permaculture--and are having fun mapping out a forest garden. Early this morning Marsha followed Jean-Marc up the hill, to see the bees, when the two discovered a giant stone tank. We had noticed the stone wall, during previous walks, but never realized it was part of an old water reservoir. The discovery is serendipidous as we have been thinking over ways to trap water (or to create un étang to attract insects and wildlife).

How to Say Water Chestnut in French?
So I'll say goodbye, now, and see if my belle-mère would like to hike over to newly discovered watering hole, and dream about about a new host of plant possibilities: water lilies, waterchestnuts, and even buttercups!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend, and thanks for reading!

Kristin

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French Vocabulary

la belle-mère = step-mother 
le littoral = sea coast
le mouton = white cap (also means sheep)
un nid de poule = pot hole
un étang = pond 

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Jackie and her grandfather, catching up

Marsha and Dad, outside the tasting room at Chateau Margui, near Brignoles

Philippe, who rescued us after the flat tire--and his biggest fan, daughter Pearle.

One garden's beginnings: the last of the favas--but the snow peas are ready to pick. The zucchinis are growing, raspberries too, and roquette, or arugula.... Very excited to have planted comfrey yesterday. I hear it is a good "chop and drop" fertilizer. Comments welcome here.

Belle-mère Marsha helped me rearrange the furniture. See a before picture (scroll way down this page. You will also see my beautiful mom!)

Jean-Marc and Dad making dinner above the kitchen garden.

We had Phyllis and Tim, of French Country Wines, over for dinner. Marsha set the table... then ran back to the house and carted out one of my mom's paintings. How thoughtful! (Mom, it felt like you were here!)

Phyllis Adatto took this picture of me. Marsha picked the wildflowers and made a gorgeous bouquet. The vase was a gift from my Mom and John.

 
And you will find many more pictures at Phyllis and Tim's album "Our visit with the Espinasses". You can read Tim's account of our vineyard visits, here .

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What's a "marsouin"? + kitchen garden tour!

A wild boar, a hedgehog, a dog... lion... chicken. I can't find a photo of a porpoise to illustrate today's word--thankfully these furry and feathery volunteers behind a shop window are happy to pose as one. (And the handwritten ads were taped to the window by students looking for work).

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le marsouin (mar-swehn)

 : porpoise 

In old French le marsouin was pourpois (poisson-cochon, or fish-pig)

Audio File: listen to Jean-Marc pronounce the following sentence Download MP3 or Wav file

Le marsouin est aussi appelé le cochon de mer.
The porpoise is also called the sea pig.

Porpoises are related to dolphins and whales. Do you have any other trivia or something to add for this marsouin entry? Do you collect marsouins or have you ever seen one? Where? Thanks for sharing here in the comments box. 

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Smokey says Come along on a garden tour with me...


And see poppies, roquette, and zucchini!

Inside the stone beds there are cucumbers, kale, and lots of fèves! 


There are stairs leading up to an ancient rock wall... once hidden behind masses of thorny brambles. 

That's me, says Smokey, humble King of the Hill. 


And these are tomatoes, peppers, and poppies from the field. 


Here's how bees and hummingbirds pollinate. Help save these creatures--allez make haste!

Raspberries and soucis, or marigolds... does the latter really work or is that an old wives' tale?

 Some of the materials have been reporpoised. (Sorry to interrupt your story, Smokey, but the word you are looking for is "repurposed".) 

Smokey: This re- re-puh... re-puh... reporpoised wood comes from the French railroad tracks below our house. 

Hope you enjoyed my garden tour. Be kind to bees, purposes, and the earth.

(Smokey, I think you meant "porpoises" this time.)

***

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Back in February, Jean-Marc and I planned out the garden. But we didn't always see eye to eye...

• Learn French in context: read Kristin's vocabulary-rich memoirs: Words in a French Life or Blossoming in Provence 
• Forward this post to a friend who might like to receive French Word-A-Day via email
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This old panier has had many reincarnations: once used in a produce shop, it has since held bath towels, dried herbs, fresh pots of lavender, bottles of shampoo and bath supplies. Currently it holds a tie from a bale of straw, the string could now be used to tie up the tomatoes... or mend a broken corner of the basket....

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