School Friends Are Cool Friends: My Time As A Language Assistant In France
What it’s like being an American in France during a pandemic.
Lille’s famous Belfry at Place de l’Opera
by Brian Alcamo
With Back-to-School season upon us, I’ve found myself reflecting on what it was like to go back to a high school for the first time since graduating college. This high school wasn’t my alma mater, and it wasn’t even in my home country. The school didn’t have lockers, it didn’t have cheerleaders, and it didn’t have mystery meat hamburgers.
More specifically, I was looking for a redo. A year prior, I had spent a semester in Paris. The experience was less than stellar. Bouts of anxiety and difficulty in navigating an unexpected culture shock translated into me angstily denying myself a proper study abroad experience. I refrained from exploring the country in which I was privileged enough to have an extended stay, and I missed out on so many adventures because I was so caught up in the anguish of being far away from home for the first time. Despite my lackluster time in Paris, I left France with the creeping feeling of unfinished business. TAPIF, I had thought, was the second chance I needed. I would finally have the experience I’d dreamed of having, filled with travel, meaningful surface-level one-off exchanges with strangers (you know the kind), and ample opportunities to practice my French while opening up my worldview. I proudly sent out my application and awaited the results while finishing my final semester of college... until a certain virus knocked the world as we knew it right out of existence.
After a move home, a rushed goodbye to my friends, and a quick foray into the challenges of distance learning (all combined with your typical senioritis), I practically forgot about my application to go to France. “No way would they let us head over there during a global pandemic,” I repeatedly told myself and others. I wanted this to be true, since I wasn’t ready to leave the community I had just re-entered. COVID had turned out to be a strange opportunity to reconnect with my family and my hometown, and I was deep in the fog of familiarity. I spent April, May, and early June wondering if the program would be cancelled before receiving my acceptance letter. Then, against all odds, my opportunity to escape pandemic mundanity arrived in my email inbox with an unseasonably joyous “Felicitations !”
I had been accepted to teach at the secondary school level with the Academie de Lille,
My life from June to early September was also characterized by the anxiety of not knowing whether TAPIF would even pan out.
Despite the rising coronavirus tides and a late-start to the immigration process, TAPIF eventually issued the go-ahead for my visa along with a stipulation stating that I had ample leeway to make it to l'Hexagone. I was allowed to arrive as late as December 31st, 2020, if my visa processing took that long. My wishy-washy decision making process kept me and my loved ones on edge right up until the date I left. No one, including myself, thought I would follow through with it, but there I was, presenting my passport to the AirFrance employee working at check-in. When I got onto the plane, I realized just how lucky I was. The entire back section of Coach on a flight from New York’s JFK to Paris’s Charles de Gaule was completely empty, as if I had the entire airplane to myself. I was alone for the first time since rushedly moving home from college, but I felt a sense of freedom I hadn't felt since graduating high school.
Arriving in Lille–sweaty as can be with two suitcases and horrific breath after wearing an N95 mask for upwards of twelve hours on a plane and then a train–I was quickly elated by the feeling that I had made the right decision. I had taken a risk during a time when taking risks felt all the heavier. I had given myself an opportunity for post-college closure after a cancelled graduation ceremony that made life feel like a foggy false-start. I was able to launch myself when many launchpads were closed until further notice.
The fact that schools were physically open was the reason why I could go to France in the first place. It was also the only way I was able to stay sane during my time in Lille, with almost no other outlets to meet and engage with public life available to me during my stay. School was where I made friends. School was where I could talk, laugh, and be reminded that people existed outside of my computer screen. It kept me tethered to the real world when a combination of increased internet usage and culture shock threatened to completely detach me from reality.
My job as an English teaching assistant meant that I was to work in tandem with teachers’ lessons. I worked at both a lycée (high school) and a collège (middle school).
At the high school, the job typically consisted of me pulling out half a class at a time to give a presentation, have a discussion about American current events, play games, or supplement what a teacher was doing during the main lesson. Sometimes, I would do speaking exercises with the high schoolers to help them prepare for the Examen baccalauréat, which students take throughout their première and terminale years.
During my hours at the middle school, the teachers and I worked together in the same classroom, typically playing games designed to get the students to speak. While the high school was running on a hybrid model, the middle school’s classes were at full capacity and had more or less an unchanged rhythm to the school day. They still had recess–which was of top priority for both teachers and students alike.
In my freetime, I was often alone, but I was rarely lonely. I lived at the high school where I worked, which had dorms available for all of the assistants. The close quarters and confinement policies ensured that we had plenty of time for roommate bonding activities. After the lockdown announcement that came one week after my late arrival, one of my new friends made us lasagna as a way to build morale.
The restrictions in France were tough at times, but I appreciated the fact that there were even restrictions to begin with. I spent my free time writing, walking around, and going to whatever kinds of establishments were open at the time. The types of places that were allowed to be open changed every few weeks, and at times my most exciting excursion would be getting a haircut. Other times, we were able to go to non-essential stores, and I would spend a large portion of my days taking long, winding walks into the Vieux Lille to go window shopping. Since my teacher friends couldn’t just pop by the assistant dorms, we would try to get together for drinks and Sunday lunches when we could, sneaking around and loosely interpreting the rules du jour.
There were periods when life was more free. While I couldn’t spend the every-other-month two-week vacations galavanting through Europe like I dreamed of doing, I could still move around a little bit. I went to Lyon with two friends during the winter break and had the opportunity to go to Paris a handful of times as well. Life maintained some semblance of spontaneity and joie de vivre. Once, my American friend (who had been serendipitously put in the same city as I was) and I got beers to-go and sat down on an empty sidewalk overlooking the Tour Montparnasse.
The people of the north seemed to take COVID-19 rules more seriously. On my weekend trips to Paris, it was easier to find people sneaking out for a clandestine drink in the park. Further south in Lyon, people proudly and openly toted their after-work drinks to the park right after curfew. Up in Lille, the city shut down right at 6 p.m. (or 7, or 8:30, or 9, depending on what week it was).
Despite being in the north of France, which gets a bad rap for having horrible weather, the winter wasn’t as bad as people said it would be. Sometimes it snowed, but mostly the temperature remained above freezing.
Sometimes I wonder what my time would have been like if I had come to France during a "normal" year. I'd like to think it would have been filled with parties, bars, traveling, and other kinds of ephemeral activities that people love to spend money on. Instead, it was filled with long, aimless walks through the same picturesque streets day after day. Lille confiné was not the amusement park I'd been hoping for. Instead of being my playground, Lille was my labyrinth. Week after week, I'd fester and ponder and reflect during my long, ambling walks up Rue Armand Carrel, toward Saint Sauveur, and finally make my way towards Place d'Opera. The city served as a backdrop to the many milestones of growth I accomplished as each new COVID-19 safety measure made my already quiet life there even quieter.
So what's the upside of living in a foreign country during a pandemic? The same as its downside: the quiet. Although painful at times, silence and social retreat can do wonders for someone looking to unwind from a period of heightened extroversion. I did not grow up a Francophile, but every time I go to France, I love it more. The longer I stayed, the more I felt like I was becoming myself. Seeing new places, trying new foods, and doing fun activities is all good and fun, but I believe one of the bigger benefits of traveling is being far enough away from home to let all the noise and expectations and internalized judgements fall away until a person is left with only themselves. So that each step in an undiscovered city is also a step inward.
But eventually we must return home, as I had to do three weeks early when France finally decided to close its schools for a month to avoid the worst of a once-again surging case count. After the announcement to close schools was made, I quickly said goodbye to my friends. I cried in my bedroom with each goodbye, tearful at the thought of not seeing the people who had made my stay worthwhile as I spent the next week packing up. While I was glad I got to experience the feeling of being a detached traveler, I found myself preparing to miss my friends much more so than my solitary walks. I had sought the life of a vagabond, but I had been handed a community.
While my time in the country wasn’t what it could have been if I went during a different year, it was still educational in its own right, and I know I was extremely lucky. Not only because I got to go to France when almost no non-EU citizen was allowed into the country, but also because my post-college plans went largely unscathed by the brunt of the pandemic. And perhaps I’m even luckier, because now I have another perfect excuse to go back for another “redo.”
by Brian Alcamo
With Back-to-School season upon us, I’ve found myself reflecting on what it was like to go back to a high school for the first time since graduating college. This high school wasn’t my alma mater, and it wasn’t even in my home country. The school didn’t have lockers, it didn’t have cheerleaders, and it didn’t have mystery meat hamburgers. A little under a year ago, I made the courageous and foolish decision to move to France right before a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was given the opportunity through a program called TAPIF (Teaching Assistant Program In France) which I had applied to during my senior year of college back in December 2019, before COVID-19 was making national headlines. At the time, many of my friends were looking for or had already found their first post-college jobs, but I had my sights set on a different kind of experience: I wanted to live in France.
More specifically, I was looking for a redo. A year prior, I had spent a semester in Paris. The experience was less than stellar. Bouts of anxiety and difficulty in navigating an unexpected culture shock translated into me angstily denying myself a proper study abroad experience. I refrained from exploring the country in which I was privileged enough to have an extended stay, and I missed out on so many adventures because I was so caught up in the anguish of being far away from home for the first time. Despite my lackluster time in Paris, I left France with the creeping feeling of unfinished business. TAPIF, I had thought, was the second chance I needed. I would finally have the experience I’d dreamed of having, filled with travel, meaningful surface-level one-off exchanges with strangers (you know the kind), and ample opportunities to practice my French while opening up my worldview. I proudly sent out my application and awaited the results while finishing my final semester of college... until a certain virus knocked the world as we knew it right out of existence.
After a move home, a rushed goodbye to my friends, and a quick foray into the challenges of distance learning (all combined with your typical senioritis), I practically forgot about my application to go to France. “No way would they let us head over there during a global pandemic,” I repeatedly told myself and others. I wanted this to be true, since I wasn’t ready to leave the community I had just re-entered. COVID had turned out to be a strange opportunity to reconnect with my family and my hometown, and I was deep in the fog of familiarity. I spent April, May, and early June wondering if the program would be cancelled before receiving my acceptance letter. Then, against all odds, my opportunity to escape pandemic mundanity arrived in my email inbox with an unseasonably joyous “Felicitations !”
I had been accepted to teach at the secondary school level with the Academie de Lille, located in the extreme north of France, abutting Belgium and, by water, the United Kingdom. The schools I’d potentially be working at were in the best location possible, right outside of the city center. In the months leading up to my given start date, I toiled and tumulted over whether or not to leave the US. “Will it be worth it to go during a pandemic? I’ll miss my family and friends and not even be able to enjoy my time there. What if things lockdown?” My mind swam with what-ifs and worst-cases. Eventually, I began to receive emails from teachers I’d be working with. This communication, filled with humanity and kindness that hadn’t yet been part of the bureaucratic application process, was what kept my interest levels high enough to continue considering while all of the other data around me suggested I stay put.
My life from June to early September was also characterized by the anxiety of not knowing whether TAPIF would even pan out. I had dug my hands even further into my familial ties, relishing in outdoor reunions with childhood friends and my extended bloodline. By September, all of the rumors about a post-summer uptick in coronavirus cases were proving to be true, and I hadn’t yet received the green light to go ahead with the visa process. I felt like I was on call for an international move. I was stressed beyond compare, but a teeny tiny part of me loved to anguish over feeling like a diplomat waiting to be beckoned to a foreign land. At the same time, another teeny tiny part of me was desperate for the program to be cancelled out-right, so that I wouldn’t have to make my first big post-college decision for myself. I craved adventure, spontaneity, and detachment, but I was scared to be lonely, even more so because of pandemic restrictions. I watched the case numbers go up with a twisted sense of silent glee, hoping that the program would be cancelled and my fate would be taken out of my hands, and was nervous when France continued to insist that its schools were remaining open with in-person instruction.
Despite the rising coronavirus tides and a late-start to the immigration process, TAPIF eventually issued the go-ahead for my visa along with a stipulation stating that I had ample leeway to make it to l'Hexagone. I was allowed to arrive as late as December 31st, 2020, if my visa processing took that long. My wishy-washy decision making process kept me and my loved ones on edge right up until the date I left. No one, including myself, thought I would follow through with it, but there I was, presenting my passport to the AirFrance employee working at check-in. When I got onto the plane, I realized just how lucky I was. The entire back section of Coach on a flight from New York’s JFK to Paris’s Charles de Gaule was completely empty, as if I had the entire airplane to myself. I was alone for the first time since rushedly moving home from college, but I felt a sense of freedom I hadn't felt since graduating high school.
The empty airplane on my flight to France.
Arriving in Lille–sweaty as can be with two suitcases and horrific breath after wearing an N95 mask for upwards of twelve hours on a plane and then a train–I was quickly elated by the feeling that I had made the right decision. I had taken a risk during a time when taking risks felt all the heavier. I had given myself an opportunity for post-college closure after a cancelled graduation ceremony that made life feel like a foggy false-start. I was able to launch myself when many launchpads were closed until further notice.
The fact that schools were physically open was the reason why I could go to France in the first place. It was also the only way I was able to stay sane during my time in Lille, with almost no other outlets to meet and engage with public life available to me during my stay. School was where I made friends. School was where I could talk, laugh, and be reminded that people existed outside of my computer screen. It kept me tethered to the real world when a combination of increased internet usage and culture shock threatened to completely detach me from reality.
My job as an English teaching assistant meant that I was to work in tandem with teachers’ lessons. I worked at both a lycée (high school) and a collège (middle school). Regardless of grade level, the goal at both schools was simple: get the students to speak English.
At the high school, the job typically consisted of me pulling out half a class at a time to give a presentation, have a discussion about American current events, play games, or supplement what a teacher was doing during the main lesson. Sometimes, I would do speaking exercises with the high schoolers to help them prepare for the Examen baccalauréat, which students take throughout their premiere and terminale years.
During my hours at the middle school, the teachers and I worked together in the same classroom, typically playing games designed to get the students to speak. While the high school was running on a hybrid model, the middle school’s classes were at full capacity and had more or less an unchanged rhythm to the school day. They still had recess–which was of top priority for both teachers and students alike.
In my freetime, I was often alone, but I was rarely lonely. I lived at the high school where I worked, which had dorms available for all of the assistants. The close quarters and confinement policies ensured that we had plenty of time for roommate bonding activities. After the lockdown announcement that came one week after my late arrival, one of my new friends made us lasagna as a way to build morale. We would usually have drinks on Thursday nights, communing in our tiny windowless kitchen to discuss the week’s events and our cultural differences. Sometimes we would cook together, each of us preparing each other food or snacks from our country of origin. For Thanksgiving, I made them a pecan pie made out of almonds and walnuts because pecans were so hard to find in France.
Lille’s Botanical Gardens or Jardin des Plantes
The restrictions in France were tough at times, but I appreciated the fact that there were even restrictions to begin with. I spent my free time writing, walking around, and going to whatever kinds of establishments were open at the time. The types of places that were allowed to be open changed every few weeks, and at times my most exciting excursion would be getting a haircut. Other times, we were able to go to non-essential stores, and I would spend a large portion of my days taking long, winding walks into the Vieux Lille to go window shopping. Since my teacher friends couldn’t just pop by the assistant dorms, we would try to get together for drinks and Sunday lunches when we could, sneaking around and loosely interpreting the rules du jour.
There were periods when life was more free. While I couldn’t spend the every-other-month two-week vacations galavanting through Europe like I dreamed of doing, I could still move around a little bit. I went to Lyon with two friends during the winter break and had the opportunity to go to Paris a handful of times as well. Life maintained some semblance of spontaneity and joie de vivre. Once, my American friend (who had been serendipitously put in the same city as I was) and I got beers to-go and sat down on an empty sidewalk overlooking the Tour Montparnasse.
The people of the north seemed to take COVID-19 rules more seriously. On my weekend trips to Paris, it was easier to find people sneaking out for a clandestine drink in the park. Further south in Lyon, people proudly and openly toted their after-work drinks to the park right after curfew. Up in Lille, the city shut down right at 6 p.m. (or 7, or 8:30, or 9, depending on what week it was).
Despite being in the north of France, which gets a bad rap for having horrible weather, the winter wasn’t as bad as people said it would be. Sometimes it snowed, but mostly the temperature remained above freezing. I did have to take Vitamin D, because it was only sunny every few days (this wasn’t as depressing as it sounds).
Place de l’Opera in the snow
Sometimes I wonder what my time would have been like if I had come to France during a "normal" year. I'd like to think it would have been filled with parties, bars, traveling, and other kinds of ephemeral activities that people love to spend money on. Instead, it was filled with long, aimless walks through the same picturesque streets day after day. Lille confiné was not the amusement park I'd been hoping for. Instead of being my playground, Lille was my labyrinth. Week after week, I'd fester and ponder and reflect during my long, ambling walks up Rue Armand Carrel, toward Saint Sauveur, and finally make my way towards Place d'Opera. The city served as a backdrop to the many milestones of growth I accomplished as each new COVID-19 safety measure made my already quiet life there even quieter.
So what's the upside of living in a foreign country during a pandemic? The same as its downside: the quiet. Although painful at times, silence and social retreat can do wonders for someone looking to unwind from a period of heightened extroversion. I did not grow up a Francophile, but every time I go to France, I love it more. The longer I stayed, the more I felt like I was becoming myself. Seeing new places, trying new foods, and doing fun activities is all good and fun, but I believe one of the bigger benefits of traveling is being far enough away from home to let all the noise and expectations and internalized judgements fall away until a person is left with only themselves. So that each step in an undiscovered city is also a step inward.
But eventually we must return home, as I had to do three weeks early when France finally decided to close its schools for a month to avoid the worst of a once-again surging case count. After the announcement to close schools was made, I quickly said goodbye to my friends. I cried in my bedroom with each goodbye, tearful at the thought of not seeing the people who had made my stay worthwhile as I spent the next week packing up. While I was glad I got to experience the feeling of being a detached traveler, I found myself preparing to miss my friends much more so than my solitary walks. I had sought the life of a vagabond, but I had been handed a community.
While my time in the country wasn’t what it could have been if I went during a different year, it was still educational in its own right, and I know I was extremely lucky. Not only because I got to go to France when almost no non-EU citizen was allowed into the country, but also because my post-college plans went largely unscathed by the brunt of the pandemic. And perhaps I’m even luckier, because now I have another perfect excuse to go back for another “redo.”
Thanks for Reading!
What do you think of the idea of spending lockdown in a foreign country? Comment below, and be sure to share this post with a friend!
The Guillotine: A Revolutionary Blade
The story behind the infamous chopping block.
by Brian Alcamo
This week, France celebrates le Quatorze Juillet. In the United States, we know this day as Bastille Day. While the actual storming of the Bastille happened two years after the start of the French Revolution, it is one of the movement’s defining moments as it kicked off an era of violence and upheaval that inevitably overturned the French monarchy. The violence and havoc typical of the French Revolution was defined and symbolized by one special device: la guillotine.
Let’s Explore This Hauntingly Iconic Instrument Of Revolution!
If you think capitation by guillotine sounds gruesome, you should know that things used to be much worse. In pre-guillotine 1700s France, people were executed by having their four limbs stretched (and eventually ripped) apart by four oxen that would each run out from the executé’s body. Members of the upper-class could upgrade their execution to a less painful hanging or beheading. Luckily, people eventually caught on to the idea that this style of execution was perhaps a bit much, and in 1789, French physician Doctor Joseph Ignace Guillotin pushed for the invention of a new machine that would behead criminals “painlessly” (yeah, right). Not only did the doctor wish to make persecution less painful, he also wished to make it equal amongst the social classes. The doctor wished for the end of the death penalty entirely, and believed that a standard beheading device done in private could bridge the gap between the rather theatrical and brutal public dismembering and the eventual end of capital punishment.
Despite Doctor Guillotin’s supposedly revolutionary dream of an equal-opportunity beheader, other European countries had already beaten him to the punch (or, chop). In Scotland, a predecessor of the guillotine, known as the Maiden, was in use. but France’s guillotine was the first to be used at the institutional level. Doctor Guillotin worked with German engineer (and harpsichord maker) Thomas Schmidt to build the first guillotine, opting for a diagonal blade as opposed to a round one.
The invention of the guillotine came just in time for the French Revolution. After the storming of the Bastille on July 14th, 1789 (the Revolution’s peak), a new civilian code crafted by the National Assembly was put into place, that equalized the death penalty among France’s social classes. While this isn’t the ideal way for a campaign of equality to start out, it did make the earthly gateway to the Great Equalizer a bit more egalitarian. The first guillotining took place at Place de Greve in Paris on April 25th, 1792 when Nicolas Jacques Pelletier, a highway robber, got the inaugural chop. This kicked off the Reign of Terror, or la Terreur, which was a period of time in which thousands of people were sentenced to death. Despite only lasting about two years, this era is usually what people imagine when they think of the French Revolution. Many notable aristocrats died during this time, with King Louis XVI suffering a blow by the merciless blade on January 21, 1793.
Credit: Julia Suits
Some Revolutionary Vocab for Your French Flashcards:
Un citoyen - a citizen
La monarchie - The monarchy
Un.e paysan.nne - a peasant
Imposition - taxation
La peine capitale - Capital punishment/the death penalty
After the Revolution
After the Revolution, the guillotine remained as France’s capital punishment method of choice. Other European countries such as Greece, Sweden, and Switzerland also continued to use the guillotine, although the device never made much of a splash in the Western Hemisphere. Parisian guillotine sites moved around a bit before ending up in Grand Roquette prison in 1851. In 1870, a man named Leon Berger brought much-needed changes to the machine’s design, adding a spring system, a locking device, and a new release mechanism for the blade. These redesigns set the standard for all new guillotines moving forward.
This was the period of time where a study known as Prunier’s Experiment took place. Researchers had been trying to figure out if the head maintained some level of consciousness after decapitation. Scientists obtained the consent of Monsieur Theotime Prunier in 1879, a death-row sentence, and poked and prodded his head after he was struck by the guillotine. All they could note was that the face maintained an expression of astonishment after the death, but it did not respond to any stimuli.
By 1909, the guillotine was being used behind La Santé Prison. The final execution by guillotine was on September 10th, 1977 in Marseille when murderer Hamida Djandoubi was put to death. While he was the last execution in France, he was not the last to be condemned to execution, with those condemned afterwards being exhumed after the election of François Mitterand in 1981.
The guillotine’s roughly two centuries of notoriety may have come to a close, but its memory lives on as a symbol of what can happen when a thirst for wide-scale violence supersedes enlightened revolutionary thought.
Thanks for Reading!
How do you feel about the French Revolution? Tell us in the comments below, and make sure you share this post with a fellow French-fanatic!
Le Marais: "Gay Paris" and the Construction of an LGBTQIA+ mecca
Where are the hottest gay clubs in Paris these days? The Marais.
by Brian Alcamo
If you’ve ever been to Paris, you’ve most likely heard of and been to the Marais. Originally a swamp (the English translation of the word marais) and a home to poorer inhabitants, the neighborhood was quickly gentrified into one of Paris’s most sought after commercial zones. It is also Paris’s most well-known gay neighborhood.
For those not in the know, the Marais is located in Paris’s 3rd and 4th arrondissements, on the Right Bank, or Rive Droite, of the Seine. The main gay areas of the neighborhood are concentrated along and around Rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie. Rue du Temple and the Rue Vieille-du-Temple are considered the quarter’s other main arteries. While the area today is easily identifiable with old architecture, expensive boutiques, and rainbow flags, the Marais wasn’t always the prime Parisian locale for LGBTQIA+ culture. It also wasn’t always a hot tourist destination.
Originally, from the mid 13th to 17th Century, le Marais was the place to be in Paris for French nobles. They built their urban mansions, or hotels particuliers (literally “private hotels”) around the modern-day Place des Vosges, then called the Place Royal. Eventually, the Marais’s popularity declined before turning to complete disarray during the French Revolution. For a long time, the Marais wasn’t filled with much in the way of fabulous queer nightlife. It was a place of poverty, and notably served as Paris’s Jewish neighborhood for decades (specifically in the part of the neighborhood known as the Pletzl).
The Place des Vosges
But just because the Marais wasn’t the place to be gay in Paris, doesn’t mean a gay neighborhood didn’t exist. During the twentieth century until the end of the 1970s, Paris’s queer center of gravity moved a few times. Paris first became a gay capital in the 1920s with its first “golden age” of gay life. Its status as a gay haven was (and is) rivaled only by Berlin on the European continent. Many notable queer artists and writers (such as Colette, Satie, and Gertrude Stein) championed the city as a gay paradise, particularly for gay women. This first gay neighborhoods were centered on La Butte Montmartre and Pigalle. During German Nazi rule in the 1930s, Berlin ceased to be queer friendly, and thus Paris was the number one destination for LGBT Europeans. After the war, Paris’s in-vogue gay neighborhood shifted for the first time to Saint-Germain-des-Prés (on the Left Bank of the Seine).
Towards the end of the 1950s, the neighborhood then migrated back to the Right Bank, this time near the Place de l’Opera and Rue Sainte-Anne. This location was considered by some to be Paris’s first gay neighborhood, since its existence was the first to be “known to Parisians.” Beforehand, the neighborhoods were more clandestine, even if they can be traced back to by historians and academics today.
After spending two decades near l’Opéra, Paris’s first gay bar, Le Village, opened on Rue du Platre in 1977 just south of the Marais. One theory as to why the neighborhood moved was because people were fed up with the increased commercialization and door-checks happening. Regardless of the reason, gay businesses and life began to flourish just a few blocks northeast in Marais proper afterwards.
It’s important to note that it was gay businesses (notably thanks to entrepreneur David Girard) that created the Marais-As-Queer-Capital, and not the migration of queer people’s living quarters. Not that many gay people live in the Marais. In fact, the Marais isn’t even necessarily thought of as a residential gay neighborhood, rather a gay center. Its shops and bars cater to a gay clientelle, but the residential real estate wasn’t and isn’t overwhelmingly populated by gay people. Unlike New York’s Hell’s Kitchen (previously Chelsea, and the West Village before that), the Marais was always a place LGBT people, notably gay men, spent their free time. They’ve used the area as a transient space, as their own playground before going back to their apartments all over the city.
Helpful Vocabulary When Talking About Gay Life in Paris
Un marais - A swamp
Un hôtel particulier - A French mansion or
literally “a private hotel”
L’âge d’or - The Golden age
Un bar - A bar
Aller boire un verre - To go get a drink
Prendre un verre - To have a drink
Aller en boîte - To go to the club
Faire la fête (teuf*) - To party
Research has shown that the number of same-sex households holding PACS (pacte civil de solidarité, or civil unions) is evenly distributed throughout the city, indicating that gay people live everywhere throughout Paris, not exclusively in the Marais. Perhaps this residential decentralization is why Paris’s gay community is considered to be less overt and less organized compared to New York’s or Berlin’s.
Despite the Parisian gay scene potentially being thought of as less “out there” compared to other queer capitals, its existence is still crucial to LGBTQIA+ identity and community in France and around the world. Regardless of where the “gayborhood du jour” is, these queer spaces help create a collective queer identity where people can be who they were born to be.
Thanks for Reading!
Thinking of visiting Paris anytime soon? Be sure to check out the Marais. Please leave this article a “like,” and share it with a friend (or two)!
Thumbnail photo by Sophie Louisnard.
Lights, Camera, Action! A Primer on French Cinema
Pass le popcorn !
by Brian Alcamo
Agnès Varda, Bridget Bardot, François Truffaut, do any of these names ring a bell? If not, they should! France has a huge cinema culture. Not only is the country home to one of the largest film industries outside of the US, it was also the birthplace of many of the cinematic technologies we take for granted nowadays. A history of the artform runs deep in this hexagonal country, and it’s time to check it out.
A Super-Brèf History of French Cinema
So where does that history begin? It begins in Lyon, with les Frères Lumière. Auguste and Louis Lumiere, also known as the Lumière brothers, were kind of like France’s Wright brothers, in that they were brothers who invented something together. Growing up with a father in the photography industry, this dynamic duo took what they learned while growing up and developed the cinematograph. This three-in-one device was used to shoot, print, and project film.
In late 1895, the brothers released 10 very-short films at the Salon Indien du Grand Cafe in none other than Paris, France. The films dazzled their audience, who had never seen anything like it before. However, the film that embedded itself into the modern cinematic tradition the most was L’Arriveé d’un train en gare de La Ciotat, or “Arrival of a train at La Ciotat,” This film was not part of the original ten, but was instead showed for the first time in January 1896. The audience members were so new to the concept of cinema that they purportedly ran away from the screen, thinking that the train would come barrelling towards them!
A second early-cinema film that took the world by storm was Le voyage dans la lune (1902), which is widely considered the first science fiction film. Directed by magician-turned-filmmaker Georges Méliès, the film was the first to use many techniques and special effects that are the building blocks of modern editing methods.
After the dawn of the cinematic artform, French film went through several artistic movements: German (yes, German) Expressionism, La Nouvelle Vague, Left Bank Cinema, Le Cinéma Vérité, Le Cinéma du look, and others. It’s consistently evolved on its own, and in response to work being put out by Hollywood. Some say that the infamous Nouvelle Vague was created out of a reaction to the formulaic, studio-based films coming out of Los Angeles at the time.
French Cinema Today
French film is a strong industry, and receives substantial amounts of financial support from the government. Movie theaters are typically used as a refuge from sometimes unbearable summer heat, since so many french dwellings don’t have air conditioning. If you’re ever in France during a canicule, be sure to catch a movie to cool off while experiencing some culture.
To keep up with the latest in French entertainment news, you should keep your eyes on AlloCiné, a French website that combines elements of IMBD and Variety. You can search for information on your favorite shows and also get updates on the industry as a whole, all while your comprehension écrite.
If you want to get a romanticized glimpse into the French film industry, check out the series Dix Pour Cent. Named after the percent of money that agents typically get from an actor’s contract, the show follows the lives of four stressed-out Frenchies as they make deals with France’s biggest vedettes. The show is a great primer on the names of French movie stars, since every episode features a different big ticket actor playing a fictionalized version of themself. In the US, the show is known as Call My Agent! and is available on Netflix. If you need subtitles, try putting them in French instead of English to push your language learning to the next level.
Take a Dive into Some French Classics!
Thanks to streaming platforms, French-language movies and television are easily available online. They’re also a great way to practice your French, and to get a glimpse into the specificities of French culture. What’s your favorite French film? Be sure to comment below, and give this post a heart!
(Thumbnail photo by Michał Parzuchowski)
French Wine Takes The Summer Heat
Wine producing countries in Europe are feeling the heat just as badly…
The 2019 summer heat has been particularly devastating across the globe. While the west coast of the USA has repeatedly suffered through long droughts during the summer months, especially California, one of its fellow wine producing countries in Europe is feeling the heat just as badly. Unfortunately, it appears Global Warming is the culprit.
As of August 2019, France’s wine output was expected to fall 12% due to spring frosts that destroyed multiple vineyards and was followed by intense summer heatwaves that the land simply couldn’t handle. That harvest, the overall production was estimated to reach 1.15 billion gallons. This may sound on the surface like a decent harvest, but in actuality, it is down significantly from the 2018 harvest according to the country’s agriculture ministry.
The short harvest was born with this spring’s cold fronts that killed off young grape clusters or stunted their growth and then experienced a series of heatwaves which withered grapes on the vine, especially in the south.
European and US researchers later determined that July 2019 had been the hottest month on record, however rains in August managed to limit the losses in some areas, so while wine lovers may have to do with a limited selection this season, there are still many French wines that make its way to the market this past November.
What this means for summer 2020
With the devastating heat from the 2019 summer affecting the land, the yellow vest protests filling the streets of France since 2018 (affecting employees across France), the increased percentage in U.S.A. tariffs which caused mass orders to cancel and now the 2020 COVID-19 virus quarantine leaving vineyards sparse with employees, the wine market has been hit hard over the past year. Forging into the summer of 2020, wine owners are facing the facts that delays are inevitable, including unveiling the 2019 vintage will be on hold or delayed. People will still have access to ordering wines, having them delivered, or finding them on store shelves, but the future of the industry will be severely affected. Only time will tell just how severe and Wine Spectator has more on the topic.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about why wine lovers across the globe will be Weathering the French Wine Storm for the next season. What do you think farmers can do in the next season to mitigate their losses? Join the conversation below!
Debating The Reconstruction of Notre Dame
Can the famed cathedral be rebuilt by the 2024 Paris Olympics?
French lawmakers on are currently debating a highly controversial law for restoring Notre-Dame within 5 years. The cathedral was nearly destroyed in a fire that broke out in the cathedral in April, and French President Emmanuel Macron has set a target for the restoration to be finished by the time Paris hosts the Olympics in 2024.
The surrounding controversy is that the proposal would involve removing provisions protecting the ancient structure. Nearly one billion euros has been donated, and experts believe believe the total bill will come to between 6-700 million euros. This begs to question what will happen to leftover money? France's Observatory for Religious Heritage has found that there are between 40,000 & 60,000 churches and chapels in France with 5,000 in poor condition.
This law, should it be passed, will create a public body to oversee and carry out the work but grants the government power to override regulations on planning. Notre-Dame has become a world renowned cathedral as it has survived the peaks and valleys of the sometimes turbulent French history since construction began in the mid-12th century.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about how the French government is Debating The Reconstruction of Notre Dame! What are your thoughts on the new bill? Join the conversation below.
What You Need to Know About French Dual Citizenship
You can immigrate to France without fear of losing your stars and stripes.
It only takes one trip to France to see how so many have fallen in love with everything encompassed within it’s boarders. From Paris to Bordeaux, there is truly something for every tourist to enjoy - sometimes so much that one may wish to spend more than just 30 days. If you’re American and wish to also have French citizenship, you are in luck as it's possible to live in both by obtaining dual citizenship.
If a person is born in France to at least one French parent, he automatically gains citizenship at birth; otherwise, those born in France to foreign parents have the option of obtaining citizenship at birth or later in life. Those that have lived and worked in France for 5 years, or those who have been married to a French citizen for more than three years, can apply for naturalization. Refugees, former French military workers and people who come from a country where French is the official language are all eligible to apply immediately for French citizenship.
A word of warning, however, is that submitting an application can be a daunting and challenging process, and it is crucial to have the correct documentation available including: a valid birth certificate, proof of address, identification, evidence of employment & residence in France, and proof of marital status to name a few. As far as the wait time goes, the entire process can take up to 2 years once the official application has been submitted (the perfect time to start brushing up on your French). In general, the French are much stricter than Americans when it comes to fluency in an applicant's second language and are usually interviewed at least once in French to demonstrate a full working proficiency of the language.
If you’re worried that your newfound citizenship may put your U.S. citizenship in jeopardy, fear not! As of now, no American will forfeit citizenship by gaining citizenship in another country.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about What You Need to Know About French Dual Citizenship! Ready to brush up on your French so that your fluent for your interview? Our native instructors and culturally immersive group classes are sure to have you covered. Click below to learn more!
C'est Quoi Black Friday?
America’s exports to the country include McDonald’s and the once-a-year activity of getting trampled by hoards of shoppers.
This year, 6 French companies have joined to launch an event akin to America's 'Black Friday'
Unlike the one day tradition in the United States that takes place the day after Thanksgiving, France's 'Black Friday' will occur from April 27th to May 1st.
The six brands involved include:
French fashion and home decor shop La Redoute,
Rueducommerce,
an online distributor of consumer computer and electronic products for individuals, administrations, and schools
One of the hopes of the organizers is to eventually create a nationwide event that proves that “French e-commerce is dynamic" according to CEO of Cdiscount, Emmanuel Grenier.
As one may expect, the larger goal is increased sales earlier in the year outside of the traditional winter and summer sales. In fact, "C'est Quoi Black Friday?" - What is Black Friday? - has been the headline of many newspaper articles each November over the past few years in an attempt to explain the madness to the French.
France launched a version of Black Friday five years ago, but it took some time to catch on with the French public that are used to the traditional winter and summer sales periods.
We hope you've gained a little insight about the French adoption of the American tradition of Black Friday! Looking to experience the relatively new shopping phenomoenon in France first hand? Our culturally infused classes with native instructors can have you on the road to fluency faster than you can say "C'est Quoi Black Friday?!" Click below for more info.
Saving The French Cinema
Down with Putlocker: Le Cinéma vs. Les Pirates, starring Françoise Nyssen.
France’s Minister for Culture, Françoise Nyssen, is working to ensure that measures are taken to blacklist websites that engage in piracy affecting French cinema. As you may remember from our previous article, GOING UP IN SMOKE, the cinema is possibly France’s most cherished export (behind the baguette of course) which may explain why Nyssen is so dead-set on taking care of this “scourge” once and for all.
She has stated that “We must impose the same financial obligations on these players as those traditionally established in France, and we must impose a quota of European works on video on demand platforms” and has vowed to create regulation to aid in the fight against piracy and, effectively, put France at the head of the spear. She has described piracy as “an absolute scourge,” and that it destroys the “worth, power and duty of dissent” of France.
“I hope that ‘blacklists’ will be established by HADOPI [Haute Autorité pour la Diffusion des Œuvres et la Protection des droits d’auteur sur Internet (Supreme Authority for the Distribution and Protection of Intellectual Property on the Internet)], to allow advertisers, payment services or search engines to recognise illegal sites and to stop their dealings with them,” she said.
According to Nyssen, most of the government’s power in combatting piracy is being used ineffectively by focusing on peer-to-peer downloads, while nearly 80% is perpetrated by streaming or direct download.“The fight against piracy is one of the great challenges of the century for cinema. France will be on the front line in supporting it,” she declared.
A major financier of French and European cinema (with €500 million in direct investment), The Canal + Group has received the Minister’s proposals with open arms as it also holds a place at the forefront of the piracy war. In a statement by the company, they hope to “By tackling illegal streaming and downloading, placing the priority directly on the fight against pirate sites and their mirror sites in a dynamic way, creating the conditions for a rapid and lasting suppression of the sites concerned in connection with the judiciary, this plan shows an encouraging ambition and a pragmatic adaptation of certain good practices that have proven effective abroad.”
We hope you've enjoyed learning about how the French government, especially, Françoise Nyssen is working to Saving the French Cinema. Do you think the efforts will be successful, or is piracy an inevitable byproduct of the digital age? Let us know what you think below!
Going for the Gelato Gold
Where’s the best Italian ice cream? France, apparently.
France has been crowned the champion of the 2018 Gelato World Cup for the 4th time in the Italian city of Rimini.
France beat 11 other countries for the title with Spain taking second and Australia taking third place. Unfortunately, representatives from the land of gelato, Italy, were unable to attend this year due to the Gelato World Cup rules that bar the title holders from participating in the following edition of the tournament, however that rule has been removed for 2020 thus allowing France and Italy to battle it out for the title for the first time.
Each team was tasked with daily gelato challenges, with trials including: ice sculpture, a decorated gelato pan, gelato cake, an entrée competition of three hot finger foods combined with gourmet gelato and gelato snacks.
All of the entries are available on the official Instagram of the Gelato World Cup by clicking below:
Held at the four-day SIGEP international trade show for all things sweet and savory (ice cream, pastry, bakery and coffee), Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, Morocco, Poland, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States also tested their scooping skills. Italian culture minister Dario Franceschini participated in the event and announced that, following Neapolitan pizza being added to United Nations' cultural body Unesco's intangible heritage list (as mentioned in our previous article: Battle of the Baguette), that he would push for ice cream's inclusion.
We hope you have enjoyed Going for the Gelato Gold! Which is your favorite of the gelato creations revealed at the Gelato World Cup? Leave a comment below!
Say No to Crypto!
Bitcoins are not the new Euros.
The chief of the French central bank has today warned on the risks of investing in bitcoin. Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau warned that "speculative" assets are not a currency and, confusingly, not "even a cryptocurrency." Its value and extreme volatility have no economic basis, and they are nobody's responsibility. In other words, say no to crypto.
The central bank, he said, warned that those buying bitcoin "do so entirely at their own risk.” His sentiments echo JPMorgan CEO, Jamie Dimon’s when he said he would fire any employee trading bitcoin for being “stupid” and that if he found out one of his employees were buying Bitcoin that: “I’d fire them in a second. For two reasons: It’s against our rules, and they’re stupid. And both are dangerous.”
As a bit of background, The Bank of France (Banque de France), headquartered in Paris, is the central bank of France and is linked to the European Central Bank (ECB). Founded in 1800, it helped resolve the financial crisis of 1848 and emerged as a powerful central bank. Its main charge is to implement the interest rate policy of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). France's original currency, the Franc were convertible to Euros (which the country adopted on January 1st, 2002) until February 17, 2005 at the Banque de France.
This announcement comes amid a media-storm following the price of bitcoin, which climbed back over $12,000 in the second week of January, 2018. The astonishing price gains have prompted a number of notable figures in finance to declare bitcoin a bubble. However, while Bank of France shows no interest in cryptocurrencies, it has shown an interest in the blockchain technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible.
Do you agree with de Galhau's sentiments to "Say No To Crypto?" Comment below and let us know your thoughts!
Chocolat Chaud
A super-simple recipe for the rich, warm treat.
In 1643, Princess Maria Theresa of Spain brought a gift of chocolate to France, a royal chocolate maker was employed, and chocolate has been a rage ever since, thus giving way to...
Chocolat Chaud.
This recipe requires no special regional ingredients, so it is extremely easy to make!
Prep: 2 mins, Cook: 5 mins
Yield: About 3 Cups (3 servings)
Ingredients:
6 ounces chocolate (semisweet, chopped or white)
1/4 cup hot water
3 tablespoons hot water
3 cups hot milk
Sugar to taste
Garnish: whipped cream, chocolate curls (optional)
Instructions:
Using a double boiler or a heat-safe glass bowl over simmering water, melt the chopped chocolate into ¼ cup of the water.
Stir in the 3 tablespoons hot water and milk until the chocolate mixture is smooth.
Pour the hot chocolate into cups and add sugar as desired.
Garnish each cup with a spoonful of whipped cream and a few chocolate curls and enjoy!
We hoped you enjoyed learning how to craft your own Chocolat Chaud! Nothing pairs with amazing French hot chocolate like the French language! Be sure to check out our Group Classes and Private Lessons below to learn more!
Everything you need to know about traveling to France
Never been to France? This guide will help you navigate your way through one of the world's most popular countries!
Want to travel to France? Let us make planning your trip a little bit easier. Here is everything you need to know about traveling to France, including where you and your family or friends should visit, how to get around each town and across long distances, and helpful phrases that will make communicating during your stay much more pleasant. We have also provided some tips on what to do in case of an emergency or if you get lost during your journey. Use this as a reference guide to your next trip abroad to France!
Where to go
Unsure of where to go and what cities to visit when traveling to France? This could be the biggest challenge of all, as there are so many incredible cities and historic landmarks scattered throughout the country that it would be impossible to grasp the enormity of France in just a short trip. There are plenty of cities to choose from. Some significant ones are Nice, Strasbourg, Bordeaux and Paris. Each of these cities has a charm all it's own. A few popular sites that can be found all around the country are the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Nimes Roman Monuments, the tallest bridge in the world -- the Millau Bridge that spans the River Tarn, the Étretat Cliffs, the Reims Cathedral and the Palace of Versailles.
How to get around
An important factor in deciding which locations to visit during a trip abroad is determining how to get around. Luckily, France offers a few different options for getting from one place to the next that are efficient for a multitude of circumstances. Whether visitors are traveling cross-country distances in a short period of time, or if they wish to reach a rural location uncharted by railways and planes, or if tourists simply wish to get around town with convenience, there are options for each situation.
Car
The most charming châteaux and country hotels always seem to lie away from the main cities and train stations. Under this circumstance, automobile travel is the best option. Renting a car is a great way to reach the French countrysides, the Normandy beaches, the Loire Valley, the extravagant vineyards and rural Provence. In order to do so, renters must present a passport, a driver's license and a credit card. It is important to review the insurance policies before going through with the car rental, to ensure your liability in case of any accidents. For those accustomed to North American prices, gas prices in France are expensive, averaging at $5.54 USD. However, the smaller the car the less gas you will need for your trip. It is important to recognize the translations for leaded gasoline, avec plomb, and unleaded, sans plomb, and to be aware beforehand that in France, people drive on the right side of the road. Keep this in mind when comfortably making a decision on which mode of transportation to take. When in need of flexibility when traveling, renting a car is the way to go.
Public Transportation
France's world-class public-transport systems are utilized throughout the country's major cities. There are métros, or underground subway systems, in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille and Toulouse, andthere are tramways, or ultramodern light-rail lines, in cities such as Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Nancy, Nantes, Nice, Reims, Rouen, Strasbourg, and parts of Paris. This is a great method of transportation for getting around town without much expense or hassle, and for traveling short distances in no time. Travelers have the option of purchasing single tickets, booklets of tickets and all-day passes for a customized metro experience.
Train
When taking a cross-country journey across France, the best way to get from one place to the next is by train. France has the world’s fastest trains on it's tracks, known as Train à Grande Vitesse, or TGVs, which link some 50 French cities, allowing visitors to travel from Paris to just about anywhere else in the country within hours. Trains also have many amenities such as food and snacks on board, comfortable seating and incredible views of the French countryside. For information about tickets, visit here!
What to do in case of emergency
The first thing to do when lost in a foreign country is to stay calm and don't panic. Simply ask the locals for their help and assistance. Let the key phrases below be a helpful guide in finding the way back. Be aware of your surroundings as to not be fooled by pick-pocketers (they are everywhere, especially in tourist-populated areas), and if things get to be quite problematic, contact a police officer. They are there for your help and safety.
Phrases to know
When venturing around a foreign country, it is important to be able to communicate on a basic level, especially in case of an emergency. We have listed a few common phrases that will go a long way in making your visit to France much more pleasant and enjoyable.
Hello/ good day/ good morning, how are you? ----> Bonjour, ça va?
Thank you very much! ----> Merci beaucoup!
How much does it cost? ----> Combien ça coûte?
Do you speak English? ----> Vous parlez anglais?
I speak very little French. ---> Je parle seulement un peu français.
Where can I find the nearest map? ----> Où est la carte la plus proche?
May I have a glass of water? ----> Est-ce que je peux avoir un verre d’eau?
I need help, I feel threatened. ----> Aidez-moi! Je suis menacé(e).
No thank you, I’m just looking for now. ----> Non merci, je regarde.
Where is the ticket window? ----> Où est la vente detickets ?
No/ yes ----> Non/Oui
Where is the restroom? ----> Où sont les toilettes?
Would you please take our picture? ----> Vous pourriez prendre notre photo, s’il vous plait?
Goodbye! ----> Au Revoir!
I hope Everything You Need to Know About Traveling to France will be helpful for your next trip abroad! If you are looking to learn more about French language and culture, make sure to sign up for our new Group Classes at JP Linguistics! Don't forget to tell your friends about Frenchie Fridays so they can receive fun French stories delivered directly to their inboxes - they can sign up HERE.
Merci et à bientôt!
Credit: Frommer.com, pexels.com, wikipedia, Owens and Hugh Llewelyn - Flickr.com
5 Best Festivals in France
Nothing’s better than a city-wide party. Here are some of our préféfés.
An important aspect of French culture is the extravagant celebratory festivals. We have cultivated the 5 Best Festivals in France, including the Cannes Film Festival, the Tour De France, the Nice Carnival, Bastille Day Parade and the Monaco Grand Prix -- the majority of which are held during the prime spring and summer vacation months. Keep these celebrations in mind for your next trip abroad, and don't miss out on all the fun!
Cannes Film Festival
The annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, has drawl visitors from worldwide since 1946 for its dedication to uncovering the best that the film industry has to offer and honoring those with raw passions for film making. Held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, it is considered the most publicized and most prestigious film festival in the world. The festival takes place in May, and previews new films from all over the world and of all genres. Movie stars from Audrey Hepburn to Arnold Schwarzenegger to Marilyn Monroe have attended this glamorous event. Visit here for more information about this year's Cannes Film Festival!
Tour De France
Bicyclists and spectators alike from all around the world travel to France for the Tour De France, the world's most famous cycling competition. This annual multistage race held in France since 1903 is typically held in July, and consists of 21 day-long segments covering 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles). The route of the race is ever-changing, however it consistently covers some of the most magnificent grounds of France, including the Alps and Pyrenees mountain chains. This is the perfect festival tocelebrate the world's best cyclists while enjoying the country's beautiful landscapes.
Nice Carnival
The Nice Carnival is the main winter event on the French Riviera and one of the largest carnivals in the world. The carnival offers a program of entertainment with over 1,000 international musicians and dancer, and a procession of 16 floats with giant colorful parades that take place day and night each year for one week in February. The earliest mention of the carnival in Nice is traced back to the 13th century, making it the oldest existing festival in the world. The root meaning of the word "carnival" is "away with meat," and was celebrated as a time to enjoy bountiful cuisines before Lent. Today, the event attracts over a million visitors to Nice every year and is celebrated on the Promenade des Anglais.
Bastille Day Military Parade
This festival commemorates the national French holiday Bastille Day, recognizing the historic storming of the Bastille that occurred in in Paris in 1789, and the Fête de la Fédération that occurred on the same day a year later to celebrate peace in the French nation during the French Revolution. Each year on the morning of July 14th since 1880, the French militants parade down the streets of Paris in remembrance of the violent revolution and to celebrate the unity of the French people. The holiday is celebrated throughout the country in a similar fashion to the United States on 4th of July, with fireworks and feasts.
Monaco Grand Prix
Regarded as one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the world, the Monaco Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race held in the Circuit De Monaco since 1929. Similar to the Tour De France in respect to the route's breathtaking scenery, the Grand Prix brings in thousands of spectators worldwide for this thrilling but glamorous weekend along the Monte Carlo Harbor. This event lines up perfectly with spring and summer trips, and will be held this year May 26 through the 29th. Click here to find out about tickets and more!
I hope you enjoyed these 5 Best Festivals in France! If you are looking to learn more French language and culture, make sure to sign up for our new Online Classes at JP Linguistics! Don't forget to tell your friends about Frenchie Fridays so they can receive fun French stories delivered directly to their inboxes - they can sign up HERE. Merci et à bientôt!
Credit: stokpic - Pixabay, Wikipedia Commons, Karen Corby - Flickr.com
5 French Vacation Spots for Spring
Five amazing locations to visit while the flowers bloom.
Planning a trip to France this spring, but don't know where to begin? It can be challenging to narrow down which cities to roam when the country is rich with history and authenticity. We have chosen five of our favorite French vacation spots for spring that are sure to satisfy all of your French cravings. Whether you are in the mood for a romantic getaway in the Parisian cafes and the secluded Annecy, or if you would rather enjoy relaxing and exotic beach excursions in Cassis, or if you are eager to sightsee some of the world's most historic ruins and cathedrals in Lyon and Loire Valley, then we have your ideal France vacation nearly planned for you!
LYON
The third largest city in France, Lyon is located in the east-central region of the country and is the perfect location for a sense of French culture. Whether you are in the mood to meander through museums or sightsee some of the oldest Roman ruins, or even if you would rather take a stroll through the town and have a drink among the city's Old World charm, this is the place for you. Some must-see sights are the Gallo-Roman Museum of Archeology, the Parc de la Tête d'Or, which is the largest park in France, or the Presqu'ile District, which is home to the Hôtel de Ville (town hall) and the Place des Terreaux.
PARIS
It would be a shame to visit France and not set foot in the most romantic and sought-after destination in the world. Paris is dense in history, rich in culture, and is likely a vacation in itself. There is plenty to do and there is so little time. Without a doubt, Paris is a complete must-see if you are in the area (a.k.a. if you are in Europe). To narrow down your sightseeing for just a taste Paris, get the Eiffel Tower and Arc De Triomphe out of the way, because those sights go without saying. From there, you have The Lourve, which could easily take up a week of your time if you truly took advantage of all the magnificent artifacts it has to offer; and the Notre Dame de Paris Gothic church is a must. For more must-see Parisian getaways, visit here!
ANNECY
Now, many visitors neglect the countrysides of France and fail to get a glimpse of the authenticity of small towns such as Annecy, situated in a valley beside Lake Annecy in the south-east of France. This is the absolute destination for a quiet and peacefully getaway surrounded by locals. Visitors enjoy the beauty of the mountains in contrast to the crystal clear, blue lake, and relax in romantic cafes, sipping wine and people watching. A must-see in this town is the Château d'Annecy (Annecy Castle) along the Thiou River. Another is Le Palais de l'Isle, which is hard to miss as it is planted in the water and in a central part of the city.
LOIRE VALLEY
Regarded as a popular tourist attraction for its incredible scenery, historic towns, architecture and chateaux, Loire Valley is a picturesque region to visit in spring. Located in the center of the country, Loire Valley is considered the "Garden of France" for its abundance of vineyard, fruit orchards and fields of artichoke and asparagus that line the banks of the river. A must-see sight in this region is the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, a chateau considered to be the foremost example of french renaissance architecture.
CASSIS
Situated on the Mediterranean coast, Cassis offers visitors a glimpse of life in a quaint Provencal fishing village in the heart of Calanques National Park. Whether you would rather enjoy the city by boat or by strolling along the turquoise coastline from a pebbled beach, Cassis is a must see this spring. The towering cliffs in contrast with the coastline offer breathtaking views to all who visit. For those who enjoy hiking, it is advised to visit the Cap Canaille cliff that lines the water. It is quite a hike but incredible for those who are up for the challenge. It is also a must to visit the calanques, limestone cliffs that plunge into the Mediterranean. Viewing these natural wonders by boat is the most convenient and accessible way to see them up close.
I hope you enjoyed these 5 French Vacation Spots for Spring. If you are looking to learn more French language and culture, make sure to sign up for our new Online Classes at JP Linguistics! Don't forget to tell your friends about Frenchie Fridays so they can receive fun French stories delivered directly to their inboxes - they can sign up HERE. Merci et à bientôt!
For more destinations for your France spring vacation, visit here!
Photo credit by Carlos de Paz - Flickr, www.pexels.com, Mike Brice - Pixabay, Wikipedia Commons, and Dennis Jarvis - Flickr.
Traveling To France In The Fall
Experience a beautiful country during a beautiful season.
Daydreaming about France again? Us too. With traveling on the mind, we thought to share some interesting tips about what the fall season feels like in France. If you've never been, you should know that large groups of people start gathering for traditional celebrations which only this time of year can bring. Among these celebrations, some favorites are the delicious 'Cider and Chestnut Celebration' in Sauveterre-de-Rouergue, the 'Fête des Sorcières' (the Sorcerers Festival) in Chalindrey, and the 'Fête du Piment' (the Pepper Festival) in Espelette. If you are like us, you just went off and started daydreaming again. Before you go, let us reel you back in with some very fun insights about each of these traditions with 'Traveling to France in the Fall.' Enjoy!
'Fête du Piment' (the Pepper Festival) in Espelette
In late October, over 200,000 people flood the south-western town of Espelette for this spicy daylong event. Honoring the red peppers from this regions, which originated in Mexico AND now belong as the staple in Basque cuisine, farmers sample and sell product during the festival. In addition, visitors can enjoy music, dance, awards ceremonies, eating and drinking.
Image credit: theladybites.co.uk
Image credit: eatingtheworld.blogspot.com
Image credit: curreyer.com
Fête des Sorcières (the Sorcerers Festival) in Chalindrey
The Fête des Sorcières has been held for nearly a century in the north-eastern cities of France, Chalindrey & Rouffach. This celebration is home to a 16th-century witch hunt and the infamous 'Devil's Point' in Fort du Cognelot. The festival focuses on remaining true to its Celtic roots rather than buying into the commercial side of Halloween. However, many guests show up dressed as witches & gobblins, so first-time visitors should beware that this event will likely give them a scare! For fun, there are exhibitions and screenings of scary films and, on the Saturday night of the festival, there is a large dance party. For the young festival-goers, there are face-painters and an election of a Miss Sorcière.
Image credit: observatoire.yagg.com
Image credit: guide.voyages-sncf.com
Image credit: jds.fr
The Cider and Chestnut Celebration in Sauveterre-de-Rouergue
Vivid apple orchards and ancient chestnut trees are what grace the landscape of Sauveterre-de-Rouerge, a city that overlooks the Midi-Pyrénées region in the south of France. In October of each year, fresh apple cider is made and the city center brightens up with lively concerts and food vendors to celebrate the gorgeous atmosphere this town becomes in fall. Located in Ancizan, still in the Midi-Pyrénées, is the Museum of the Cider which allows guests to visit and observe how cider is made and to sample various types of cider. If you enjoy the outdoors and delicious cider, then this month long celebration is for you!
Image credit: www.guide2midipyrenees.com
Image credit: www.guide2midipyrenees.com
While there are many fun and exciting things to experience year-round in France, there is nothing quite like Traveling To France In The Fall! During this time, people come from all over the world to experience the various regions of France and, if you haven't experienced it yet yourself, it's something you should add to your wish list immediately! We hope you enjoyed reading about these unique fall traditions. Don't forget to add your comments and questions in the section below. For more French language and culture, check out our Group Classes & Private Lessons at www.jplinguistics.com. À bientôt!