Words & Le Bon Mot

scintillant: twinkling, sparkling, glittering

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Rien n'annonce les fêtes autant que la promesse d'une rue parsemée de lumières scintillantes.

Nothing announces the holidays like the promise of a street strewn with twinkling lights.

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Sharing with Sweet Shot Tuesday, Our World Tuesday, Communal Global

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Words & Le Bon Mot

l'orée [lau rhay] : the edge or threshold

à l'orée du bois : at the edge of the woods

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Just around the corner from where we live, à l'orée du bois, is a small square of ground with aging swings and dusty slides, an old playground charming in its wear and decline. It's a favorite spot for my boys, a place for their storied imaginations to roam as free and wild as the nearby woods...

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Words & Le Bon Mot

se souvenir  [suh SOO vuh NEAR] : to remember

The hush of nearby voices, the scent of crisp country air, the warmth of golden light.

Photos take us back... and we remember  {et on se souvient }

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I'll be away for a short while visiting family on the West Coast of the US. 

Come follow me on Instagram, I'm @catherine_goron... à bientôt (see you soon)

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Words & Le Bon Mot

histoire [istwar] : history or story

Cette petite histoire a voyagé à travers notre histoire 

This little story travelled throughout our history

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Words & Le Bon Mot

une balade [bah-lahd] nf : a walk, a stroll, a jaunt

Faisons une balade au bord de l'océan | Let's take a stroll along the ocean

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Words & Le Bon Mot

ailleurs [a yeur]: elsewhere, somewhere else

Tranquille et la tête ailleurs, c'était un petit rêveur...

[Tranquil and his mind elsewhere, he was a little dreamer]

- Eddy Mitchell, L'Esprit Grande Prairie

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In April | En Avril...

For April's often erratic and surly Spring weather, the French offer a wise piece of advice: en avril, ne te découvre pas d'un fil - In April, don't remove a thread (of clothing)...

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Double Entendre | Double Sens

Interestingly enough, the term double entendre has no real meaning to a French person; for them, double meaning is referred to as double sens. And the French are notorious for them! More often than not, any casual statement can be turned into a risqué innuendo. I have blushed my way through many Gallic gatherings (while even the children remain unphased). Double sens and tongue twisting word play are a staple in the French vernacular... laughing and playing along is one sure way to warm up to an otherwise cold French crowd.

The ad above for the daily French newspaper Aujourd'hui says: Les Francais aiment l'ouvrir or The French like to open it...

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Words & Le Bon Mot

soupçon [soop-sahng]: a hint, a trace, a glimmer

we can sometimes find in winter the slightest soupçon of spring

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Gathering | à Table

à Table! is the French expression for calling family or guests to the table. It means the meal is ready to be served, and it's when the hungriest among us come running.

Whether it's an intimate meal for one or a feast for a tribe of many, today and on Thanksgiving day, may the gathering around your table be filled with simple joys and great tenderness...

I'll be back after the holiday... à bientôt!

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Call of the Ocean | Petite Pause Plage

Pause Café is a common French expression meaning coffee break… but you can use pause to preface many other situations where a break is necessary or taken. Like last weekend when there was a last minute opportunity to visit the ocean for a few days with my family. Even when it meant hauling two young boys in the car at 8pm and getting there after midnite, I jumped at the chance. And although the weather was uncommonly cool and windy, our Petite Pause Plage was well worth it. The annual Boardwalk Art Show was being held—complete with Paris photography. We flew kites and felt the cool sand under our feet.

It's been poem'd and prose'd in length, but I must add that being at the ocean has a calm and a pull that implores us to return again and again. It feels closest to being home away from home…

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