baba cool

My mom, Jules (her hands pictured here) was busy harvesting cosmos seeds up until her departure. She's gone home now, but the seeds are drying on my kitchen table--and they make me smile each time I walk past them.

baba cool (baba-kool) noun, masculine/feminine

    : hippy, flower child


The plural of baba cool is "babas cool".

    Il est baba- cool, respecte son gourou, et rejette la violence.
    He's a flower child, respects his guru, and rejects violence.

--from "Dictionary of French Slang and Colloquial Expressions"


Audio file: listen to Jean-Marc pronounce the French word baba cool and read the example sentence (above):  Download baba_cool.wav



My mom will be waking up any time now, having traveled 24 hours en voiture,* en avion* and à pied* to arrive home in Mexico.

Having kissed her goodbye at 3:30 a.m., Thursday morning (Jean-Marc took her to the airport in Marseilles for her 6 a.m. flight), I spent the twilight hours moping around the kitchen... until I received a surprise several hours later! In Amsterdam, during her first flight connection, Mom had sweet-talked a "darling" traveler with a laptop into letting her leave a message* for me on my blog.

Thankful for the unexpected sign that she sent me, I thought about the surprise that mom was hoping for. Mom had one wish (on arriving home): that the one she loves would be waiting for her, flowers in hand. I listened to Jules's wish, which she repeated over and over on the days leading up to her departure, and hoped that she might be happily surprised.

So as to get her husband off the hook (just in case he forgot to show up at the arrival gate, fleurs en main*), and, as a way to welcome Jules home--and to put a great smile on her face--I thought we might all take off our reader hats today... and put on our baba cool* headbands.

That's right: let's be flower children just for a day, and just for Jules.... I'd love for Mom to wake up this morning with a beautiful bouquet on her desk... when she logs on to her computer... and visits her daughter's webpage. 

Here's how I thought we might compose that flower arrangement--and it won't even cost us a penny!:

 1. Choose one French* flower to put into the virtual basket (we'll use the comments box for our fancy flower "vase").

2. Include the city that you are "sending" it from.

If you do not know the French name for your flower, no problem, just write the flower name in the comments box, along with the city you are "sending" it from, and allow me or another reader to translate it for you.

*by "French"... I mean the French equivalent of the flower. For example: un coquelicot (or poppy) for Jules from Maine... or "un oeillet jaune (a yellow carnation) from Beijing"....

Note: the flower does not have to be native to the area that you live in: you can send an entire Hawaiian orchid leis (virtual, bien sûr!) from Tempe, Arizona, if you like!

Have fun and be creative (invent your own flower, if you so fancy), and thank you for your help (or should I simply say "Peace and Love" to you?!).

Signed,
Ze Flower Chick en France.

~~~~~~~~~~~~References~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
en voiture = by car; en avion = by airplane; à pied = on foot; message (see Mom's message): http://coucou.notlong.com ; fleurs en main = flowers in hand; baba cool = hippy, flower child


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Words in a French Life: Lessons in Love and Language

Comments

[Jean-Marc]

Bougainvillier
Un bougainvillier (Bougainvillea) from Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes and from your Son.
With Love,
Jean-Marc

[Poppi]

I would love to send you a bunch of wild coquelicot from a field just outside Paris ☻☻

Have a great day,
from Poppi in Paris ☻

[Marie Shepherd]

Une paquerette pour Jules from London xxx

[Judy Harris]

Lily of the Valley ou muguet en francais. Bonne chance le premier mai et parfume extraordinaire.

[Andrea]

Here's a link to a photo of a waratah (http://www.flickr.com/photos/koalabear007/2873228463 ), a "gift" for Jules from Andrea in Sydney, Australia

[Edouard Abraham]

Un hortensia bleu d'Edouard a Phoenix, Arizona, E.U.A.

[jools]

A Big Beautiful Yellow Sunflower from Jools in the " Sunny Charente-Maritime" x.

[Kristin]

A black "rose trémière" (hollyhock) from Sainte-Cécile-Les-Vignes. With love, Kristi

[RobynFrance]

A Jules--bonne rentrée après un séjour si agréable -je vous envoie UNE PIVOINE rose foncée(Dark pink PEONY). Meilleurs voeux de Winston-Salem, NC.

[Molly]

Un oiseau de paradis de Bruxelles, Belgique :-)

un joli photo: http://www.ci.stanton.ca.us/images/e1/t1/birdsofparadise.jpg

[Jeanne]

tournesol (sunflower)

[Maureen]

Une rose pour Jules de Paris. I hope you get to enjoy a real bouquet with your virtual one!

[Renee]

une marguerite pour la baba-cool!

[Chris]

Une énorme fleur de magnolia de Louisville,
Kentucky [USA]

[Sylviane]

Agapanthe for Jules from Les Arcs sur Argens

[Evelyn]

Dearest Jules...welcome home. Here's a beautiful wild rose from the Iowa countryside!PS...I'm a real baba cool...peace, man!
Evelyn

[chris colyer]

a pink peony fron pittsburg, KS

[Debbi]

Une rose jaune de New Jersey....

[Kerry in Oklahoma]

Sahuaro blossoms floating in a clay bowl full of desert rain-water . . . from a transplanted Tucson-ian . . . there's little in life to compare with being loved by your grown children!

[ldrahan]

A handful of poppies from a field in Banyuls dels Aspres, in southern France (pres de Perpignan).

[slv]

Un feuille d'erable de Crystal Beach, Ontario, CAnada.

[Kiriel]

A "mum" for your mum... un chrysantheme from Geneva and Australia (since I am Australian but live in Geneva)

[Tam]

Un pissenlit du Cap en Afrique du Sud :)

[David Caldwell]

Un Nénuphar blanc de Halifax, Nouvelle Ecosse Canada

[Kristin]

A periwinkle blue hydrangea bloom from Madison, NJ

[Taina]

From Kristin's posts, one can tell Jules has plenty of heart, so from my backyard outside NYC, a dicentra ("bleeding heart"): http://bp2.blogger.com/_GUgctYKu97o/SBkLDM63NwI/AAAAAAAAAFk/TtnxGgeQXnM/s1600-h/bleeding+heart+plant+close.jpg

[Debbie]

Jules, Welcome home! I am sending you a field of tall, bright, golden yellow sunflowers from Tennessee.

[beta]

Belle de jour - day lily

For the beauty of your day

Hobe Sound, FL

[Stacey]

Un géranium de Detroit (ou je me trouve). Mais j'envoie un géranium de Strasbourg (ou j'en suis tombee amoureuse)qui sont les meilleurs du monde =)

[Jose]

a wall of bourgainville from Haiti, (you can make a wonderful soothening tea with it) and that big twinkling sunny Haitian smile that always ligthen-up our day

[Kristin]

So many beautiful and exotic fleurs--and lovely & creative additions (like that maple leaf from Canada...) to Mom's bouquet. Merci!

... catching up on those translations that I promised: here are a few I know offhand... please help with the ones I've missed:

Marie'"pâquerette" (f) = daisy
Edouard's "hortensia" (m) = hydrangia
Molly's "oiseau de paradis" (m) = bird of paradise
Renee's "marguerite" (f) = daisy
Chris's "pivoine" (f) = peony
Slv's "Un feuille d'erable" = maple leaf
Tam's pissenlit (m) = dandelion
David's nénuphar (m) water lily

...and Kerry's breathtaking "Sahuaro blossoms floating in a clay bowl full of desert rain-water" - can anyone translate this?

Keep those fleurs coming... Jules should be firing up her computer any time now... I wish I could see her expression when she discovers her worldwide "bouquet".

[Ruth]

Bonjour Jules! From the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, we send un chrysanthème (couleur rouille - to match our fall foliage)!

[Donna]

Jules, je vous envoie un chrysanthème et un bouquet de meilleurs voeux! From Donna in Aston, PA (près de Philadelphie)

[Andrea]

A rare pink trillium from Dundas, Ontario Canada

[Georgette]

Jules,
Je t'envoie des églantines de Miquelon, St.Pierre et Miquelon.
I'm sending you wild roses from Miquelon. (St Pierre & Miquelon is a French Territorial Collectivity in North America)

bisous, Georgette

[Lucy]

Un rose blanc de Yorkshire, Angleterre.

What else would one send from Yorkshire, but our county flower, the white rose. :)

[Lisa Kiely]

Jules,
This lavender lady from Lincoln, Nebraska would like to welcome you home with a beautiful, bouquet of lavender, scented with the sun, love, and flavor of Provence.

[Newforest24]

A bright & smiling ‘Profusion Orange’ zinnia (zinnia in both languages!) from the Bournemouth area in Dorset (UK)

[Maureen]

une rose blanche from Maureen in Guildford, Surrey (UK)

sorry if I've got the wrong gender, I'm new to French

[Melissa]

Un iris pourpre de la louisiane from Slidell, Louisisana.

[Shelby]

A dogwood surrounded by the beautiful leaves that color fall from Virginia.

[Deb Christmas]

A bush of dwarf gardenias to plant outside her bedroom window, from Duluth (Atlanta), GA!

[EN]

Une rose de "EN" en Chicago.

[Jane]

An orchid from Manalapan, New Jersey

[Barbara]

Un beau bouquet de fleurs des champs multicolores du Vermont. A beautiful bouquet of multi-colored wildflowers from Vermont.Welcome home Jules!

[Stephanie]

A bouquet of pink tulips from Shamong, NJ!

[Melissa]

une branche de douce-amere pour ta douc-e mere

[Kris]

Une Rose rouge de l'anglaise en St Nicolas du Pelem 22

[Alli]

white ginger lilies from Wilmington, NC

[Leslie]

quelques gueules-de-loup roses et jaunes de Massachusetts - snapdragons

[Deborah]

Welcome home Jules! For you a bouquet of vibrant pink Camellias cut from my back-yard here in San Jose, California!

[Jennie]

Sending a purple iris from Savannah, GA

[Deborah]

Welcome Home Jules! For you a lovely pink bouquet of Camélias cut from my back-yard in San Jose, California.

[valerie lester]

Un bouquet de marguerites d'Annapolis. Bienvenu chez toi.

[Jaime]

un myosotis d'Alaska

[Susan Walter]

Some long twining threads of liseron with its shell pink octagonal flowers and heart-shaped leaves to bind us all together. Liseron = field bindweed.

[Ardi]

Tiny forget-me-nots which will only last a day or two, picked in a Washington State garden, sent with affection.

[Sheila]

Bienvenidos a Mexico, Jules! Here's a bird of paradise to brighten your day from Ajijic, Jalisco

[Julie Schorr]

Jules,
I am sending you a virtual bouquet of mountain lilac from San Diego and a fresh bouquet of rosemary to remind you of Provence!
Julie

[Caroline]

Pink camellia blossoms from Washington, DC

[Charles]

A beautiful orange Hibiscus from Dunnellon, FL for the spirit of the vineyard.

[Marjorie]

Bonjour Jules. We send an Angel's trumpet from New Orleans.

[Corinne]

Un leu plumeria jaune et blanc pour Jules.

[Janice]

Une Fleur Orange/Orange Blossom from South Florida!

[jacqueline]

Pour la baba-cool Jules, partir a now Tennessee jacqueline ~ baba-cool who absolutely adores your daughter and France, a basket full of fresh lavende to keep the smells and visions of France ever on your mind.

[Patti Tolar]

Les Paquerette from Pearland, TX

[Diana]

Pour Jules, un grand bouquet de fleurs de lilas de Californie sud. (I hope I said that right...A big bouquet of lilacs from southern California!)

[Tim Smith]

Just for you, Jules, a bunch of Les Bonnets Bleu (Blue Bonnets) from Houston, Texas

[Jenn Brooks, Albuquerque]

lavande and geranium from my garden in Albuquerque--Jenn

[Elayne Molbreak]

Un lilas de Floride, Sarasota

[Taylor]

Pour Jules, une orchidée blanche délicate pour cueillir du bouquet et de l'endroit derrière votre oreille...
de Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.

(How I wish I had plucked all of these words out of my memory... instead I must fess up to an online translator.)

[Jacques]

Une rose rouge from Jacques in Virginia

[Kristin]

... a few more translations, so that Jules will understand what's in her "virtual vase" (and / or will learn the French equivalent):

Shelby's dogwood is "un cornouiller"
Melissa's "douce-amère" (f) = woody nightshade ("bittersweet")
Jaime's (and Ardi's) myosotis (m) = forget-me-not
Julie's lilas (m) & romarin (m) (lilac & rosemary)
Marjorie's bignonia (m) = Angel's Trumpet

... corrections welcome ... translations aussi :-) In need of a flower dictionary...

[brooklyngarden]

Les chardons qui poussent a Brooklyn, NYC!

[Katie]

Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)from Lower Macungie, PA. Bon retour, Jules!

[Helen Miller]

A bouquet of lovely sunflowers from Philadelphia, Pa.

Welcome home!

[ginger]

Welcome home with pink gerber daisies from Birmingham, Alabama!

[Becca]

Chere Jules,
Salut! Je vous envoie une belle fleur-de-lys (la fleur officialle de l'etat de Tennessee). The name "fleur-de-lys" may have originated from "fleur-de-louis" (Louis VII). Every time I read one of Kristin's colorful entries, I am immediately transported back to the glorious French countryside.
Take care,
Becca in Chattanooga, TN

L'histoire de la fleur-de-lys:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur_de_lys

[ChrisKelly]

Hi Jules,

Welcome home, with a fleur "belle-de-liberte" from Philadelphia!

Chris

[Françoise]

Une brassée de dahlias rouge foncé de Portland, Oregon. Bon retour chexz vous!

[dawn higgins-joling]

un bouquet de "ne m'oublie pas" pour toi, de l'Olympia, WA

[Katiusca]

Boun jour! An "amapola" or "Le coquelicot" from North Brunswick, NJ

[Kathy]

Another paquerette for Jules. This one is from Alabama.

[Kristal Tomshany]

Voici un humble souci orange de mon jardin dans Tulsa, Oklahoma.

[Barb]

For Jules - a purple coneflower from Nolensville, Tennessee!

[Donna]

des douzaine zinnias de rouge et blancs from Lafayette, Indiana

[Mary]

A Texas bluebonnet (even though they're not in season until April!) from Lockhart, Texas.

[Andi Bidwell]

A Lady Slipper from the woods in northern Minnesota. (This is perfect for a virtural bouquet since I think that they might be illegal to pick!)

From Andi in Mineapolis

[Tammy]

Blue Hortensia from somewhere besides Page Arizona.....aren't many around here! I'd send mums since they are beautiful right now...but apparently that's a big non, non en France!

Tammy

[katie]

And another tournesol from the Lot er Garonne, France! Bienvenu!

[Terry]

Un coquelicot pour Jules de la part de Terry a Mill Valley.

[Susan]

Crocus and buttercups from the German meadow in front of my house, the happiest part of spring. Welcome home Jules, from a former baba-cool currently living in Esslingen, Germany

[Jan Marquardt]

Je ne sais pas le nom en français, mais j'ai un grand treillage des bleues "morning glories" près de ma fenêtre et j’envoie une fleur à Jules !

[Jessica]

Des tournesols de Lincoln, Nebraska

[Elizabeth]

Je vous envoie une gerbe d'enormes dahlias, tous des couleurs gaies.

[jacqueline]

Pour la baba-cool Jules, partir a now Tennessee jacqueline ~ baba-cool who absolutely adores your daughter and France, a basket full of fresh lavende to keep the smells and visions of France ever on your mind.

[Jessica]

I'm sending some bright, smiling, sunflowers from St. Louis, Missouri!

[Jules Greer]

DEAR FRIENDS,
WOW !!! JUST WOKE UP AND FOUND MYSELF SURROUNDED BY 89 BEAUTIFUL BOUQUET'S OF
" LOVE FLOWERS ". I AM OVERWHELMED BY THIS SUPRISE GIFT, MY FIRST THOUGHT IS TO PUT EACH LOVELY FLOWER IN A SPECIAL BOOK WITH YOUR THOUGHTFUL COMMENTS. I AM SO TOUCHED BY YOUR GIFT TO ME. I WILL WRITE MORE WHEN I FINISH WIPING THE TEARS FROM MY EYES AND COMPOSE MYSELF. THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE.

XOXO - JULES

[Margaret]

A bouquet of violets from Morrisville, PA. (They're out of season now but you'll enjoy them next Spring!)

[Susan]

A periwinkle blue Columbine from Colorado.
Welcome home...from one baba-cool to another... :)