‘Sortir des sentiers battus’ means to ‘go off the beaten track’ which certainly has a familiar connotation to it for English speakers. But did you know that this expression has a fairly recent origin from the 19th century. Interestingly, in 1860 we also find one of the first recorded usages of the English counterpart ‘go…
c’est pas con (that’s not stupid) – it’s fabulous You know that loud exclamation when someone “loves” and idea? Well in French we just take things with slightly less enthusiasm. You still show that you approve, but let us say that there is less of the zeal (real or not so much) often heard in…
The French expression we choose this time is “vouloir le beurre et l’argent du beurre”. This literally means to want the butter and the butter money. In English the equivalent expression is “to want the cake and eat it.” How funny that to express this situation both the French and English languages use food as…
Alsace is one of those areas where I keep going for the tranquility (well, away from the tourists) and the joie de vivre. Like so many others, I find this area quintessential to the French lifestyle. In reality, of course, this idea is formed by me being a foreigner with little idea of the daily…
Or, “dix phrases françaises qui rendront vos vacances en France encore plus agréables”. 🙂 Summer is almost here and France is beckoning with it all its charm. Whether you are planning a weekend in Bordeaux, Paris or Nice, or elsewhere, you probably already thought about what French you do know. Maybe you are even contemplating…