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France in Ten Words?
What words come to your mind when thinking of France - words you associate with France?
Mine - in no order Wine Cheese Baguettes Churches TGV trains Markets Peniche barges Food Villages Cafes ET TOI? |
Seine
Castle History Cafe-Creme (1?) Patisserie Terrine Menu Style Culture Movie |
Everything
You Can Imagine And Its Exact Polar Opposite, Simultaneously |
Ok, for realzies this time...
Cuisine Wine Chateaux Charming Villages Style Beauty Pride Cafe Place (pronounced sorta like "ploss") |
coquélicot
déviation vrac tabac café jambon cabécou saucisson sireuil silex |
;;) :-L B-) /:) :-B :^o 8-} [( >:D< :-x
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burqas
Sarkozy Paris smokes batobus st denis clovis shabby chic bourgeois marriage |
I had to ask my French son about StCirq's list and he did not know either 'cabecou' nor 'sireuil' - ??
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goat's cheese and I know a Sireuil in France (a town), but perhaps it is something else as well (like Orvieto is also a wine)
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In case it wasn't clear, cabécou is a goat's cheese.
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Sorry, I meant silure - got it confused with the town of Sireuil across the river from me.
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PalenQ - cabecou is a cheese common in the Percy area (not sure if it is goat cheeese, but cheese all the same). So St. Cirq is giving away her geographic interest in this case. (And yes, that word makes ME think of the Dordogne).
I have no idea what "sireuil" means - but I am having a great time trying to figure out how it would sound - another something to look forward to... My list Paris Cassis Castlenaud Dordogne batteau Souillac Bergerac Amis avion train (I must confess that I am troubled by not including the proper article with the words - for example, when I list "train", I mean LE TRAIN, or l'avion and so on). |
artists
revolutionaries lovers chefs writers aesthetes philosophers kings bohemians expats |
Just to point out that there is no 'Percy' area in France, at least not in the South West. I assume you mean'Quercy'. There's lots of cabecou - goat cheese around here.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cab%C3%A9cou My 10 words - a great place to live and drink lots of wine. Plus eat lots of cheese. |
Maybe Percy is a combination of Périgord and Quercy?
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Oh, and joe, as for the pronounciation of Sireuil, the "euil" words in French are notoriously difficult to pronounce for the non-French. The word "écureuil" (squirrel) was used as a nationality test during WWII because hardly anyone who wasn't a French native could pronounce it. Monsieur Vincent, my first French teacher, spent an entire week making us learn that sound.
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So - roughly of course - how is it pronounced? Sahr-wheel?
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I stand corrected - I don't know what I was thinking (and I read it twice before I hit submit). I think maybe StCirq got me on the combination of two words...? At any rate, I am not humbled (too much) and I loved the explanation on "euil" words. Thank you. I love the sound of French (doesn't "percy" sound like it ought to be French too?):)
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Sahr-wheel?
Not even remotely close. I don't know if I can even do it phonetically. Let me see if I can find one of those audio websites. Really, really, REALLY roughly, it's seer-ouy. |
Terroir
Champagne Merde Cheese Bonjour Duck Market Sublime Impossible (frequent, first response to a question) Paperasse (red tape, paperwork) |
Cepage
Kir Kir royal Pain Pain au chocolat Pain au chocolat et amendes Demi Sans gaz Profiterolles Glaces Au revoir |
Here you go: http://www.audiofrench.com/vocabulary/animaux.htm
scroll down to écureuil on the right-hand side and listen. |
Bordeaux
Burgundy Alsace Cotes du Rhone Liberon Val du Loire bouchon verre nez boire |
calm
genteel Haussmann cafe noir baguette fromage vin sunset sunrise peaceful |
Henri Matisse
Claude Monet Paul Cézanne Pierre-Auguste Renoir Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec |
StCirq, silure = catfish?
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Silure is a big big fish that my French in-laws claim infests the Loire River - i have been trying to find what we call it - Catfish may be it and if it is i will laugh next time they tell me how dangerous this huge 'catfish' is.
But my French son just said 'silure' is not a catfish (poisson chat) so i still am looking to find out what a silure is. |
Noun 1. Silurus - type genus of the Siluridae: catfishes
genus Silurus fish genus - any of various genus of fish family Siluridae, Siluridae - Old World catfishes European catfish, sheatfish, Silurus glanis - large elongated catfish of central and eastern Europe well son is wrong - it is a plain ole catfish |
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Silure most certainly is catfish. They're everywhere in the Dordogne, and they're big. They are cultivated in the aquarium in Le Bugue as well. You see them all the time when you canoe on the Dordogne.
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The various architecture through out France.
markets, flea and food,some shell fish I never tasted or saw before. regional wines, calvados, cheeses. apertifs and the beauty=fountains, campaniles, lavoirs, gardens, lavender, sunflower, cozel fields,light houses and finally, the generosity of the people I met throughout France. |
sorry Pal, couldn't do it in two words.
Paris would have been easier. |
Thanks for the link, StCirq. You're right that it would be nearly impossible to spell it out phonetically. There's seems to be some sort of pushed-air roll in the back of the throat with the "eui."
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Yes, sap. I once actually gave someone on the old AOL France board my phone number so he could call me and hear the correct pronunciation, which is certainly difficult for most Americans, at least. My ex-husband never mastered it,even after years of living within a few miles of Limeuil every summer. My kids and I used to try over and over again to get him to get it right - he just couldn't. All sorts of strange sounds come naturally to me, fortunately, and I'm a really good mimic, so this kind of stuff is relatively easy to me. I think it's a musical gene or something.
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Du bon pain, du bon vin, et le culte de l'individu.
(sorry that's 12 words) |
If it can help, "euil" is like oeil (eye in French) or feuille (leaf)
Le culte de l'individu? Hanl do you mean we are selfish? |
Well I can't speak of France generally, only Paris.
rue de Buci :) St Germain des Pres Champagne foie gras Ritz confit de canard Pont des Arts Louvre Notre Dame pain au chocolat |
Cocofromdijon, no not selfish! I know lots of lovely, kind, generous French people :)
What I mean is that it has always seemed to me that protecting the rights of the individual is a big part of the French identity. Sometimes this comes at the expense of the greater good, but not always. It's hard to put into a few words, but "le culte de l'individu" is how my (French) husband summed it up to me! |
Eiffel
wine boulangerie croissants crepes profiteroles language eploration relaxation love |
Coco Cherie - ca va bien? Tu m'attendra au Gare de Dijon cet Sett 31em, comme le dernier fois? a midi? Merci, encore. Salut.
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