The real Adam Gopnik – loving France, little kings, and the one question he’s never been asked
© Photo credit, Brigitte Lacombe. As I interviewed inimitable New Yorker writer and Francophile Adam Gopnik in his Upper East Side apartment, my mind blinked at the normalcy of this abnormal experience. His impossibly happy Havanese dog named Butterscotch greeted me excitedly at the door. He explained why pushing out a book is like pushing out […]
A review of Pam Ann: cockpits, coke pits, and flying high in the friendly skies
Lining up for Pam Ann’s June 12th comedy show Flight 72, at Stage 72 at the Triad, I started to sweat like a nun in church. Ostensibly because there was no air conditioning in the venue on a hot, sticky New York summer night. But also because of the raunchy comedy I was about to […]
The French craft beer movement – frothing at the mouth
The craft beer boom is taking Paris by storm – stopping some oenophiles in their tannin-soaked tracks. While Belgium and the Netherlands dominate Western Europe’s beer production, a new, and unexpected, European sibling has recently joined rank. Rosy-cheeked France – the original Old World wine country. While craft beers, both domestic and export, are still […]
The best French events in New York | June
| Lectures & Conferences Thursday, June 25, 7:00 pm Exploring Violette Leduc Book event (in English) Read more Join Albertine for a discussion on French novelist Violette Leduc, marking the release of her novel Thérèse and Isabelle by The Feminist Press, with Amber Dawn, Dia Felix, and Jennifer Pashley. Albertine 972 Fifth Avenue New York, NY Events @ Albertine ________________________________________________________________________________ | […]
Ode to scaffolding in New York
Oh, scaffolding Here year after year In New York City, and everywhere I wish you would just go away No pomp, circumstance or fanfare. Let me go, I see the light Let me leave your shadow-web lair. Everywhere I look and walk Left, right, center You trap me in, then spit me out Of course […]
The 5 French Sounds You Never Knew Existed
Many people think they speak French. That is, until they realize that French is made up of not just words, but sounds. These unmistakable (and unmistakably French) sounds will take you from “fluent” to “native French” in a heartbeat – as long as you master them to perfection. Below are the five most important French sounds you never […]
The best French lyrics | La cabane du pêcheur
Francis Cabrel was one of the first French musicians I loved. 15 years later, I still do. His music is as simple as it is intricate, as outwardly gentle as it is colossally forceful from within. He might make your mind spin without you knowing it. Only when you listen again will you understand why. […]
Found in translation | badaud, the bad flâneur
{badaud} noun m. | onlooker, bystander (informal, pejorative) gawker, rubbernecker À Noël, les badauds s’arrêtent devant les vitrines. At Christmastime, bystanders stop in front of the store windows. attirer les badauds to draw a crowd Pronunciation [bado] References: http://www.wordreference.com/fren/badaud http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais-anglais/badaud_%C2%A0badaude/7375 ________________________ “There are in fact no masses, but only ways of seeing people as masses.” […]
The best French events in New York | April
Benjamin Clementine, Anglo-French singer-songwriter. | Lectures & Conferences Tuesday, April 7, 6-7:30 pm Beyond Piketty (and Before the Deluge): Natural Capital in the Twenty-First Century Panel discussion | sponsored by Columbia’s Maison Française and Alliance Program Read more A distinguished panel will discuss natural capital from the perspectives of a physicist turned economist, geochemist, architect/urban […]
The most beautiful word in the French language
{coquelicot} noun | poppy (flower) bright red (color) Rouge comme un coquelicot. To be as red as a beet (from shame, bashfulness, or confusion). Etymology | Variant of old French coquerico (“cock”), from similarity to a rooster’s crest. Pronunciation [kohk-li-koh] (Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coquelicot) _______________________ Very simply, the French word coquelicot means “poppy” (the flower) or “poppy red” […]
March Events | French in New York
A scene from “An American in Paris” (© 2014 Angela Sterling) | Lectures & Conferences Thursday, March 5, 6-7:30 pm French Cinema, A State Affair: History of Cinema and Public Policies from World War II to the Digital Age Discussion (in French and English) | hosted by Columbia University’s Maison […]
French quotes | C’est comme ça qu’on s’aime, comme ça consomme
Sometimes lyrics are more powerful than any other medium. To wit, the lyrics to “Carmen” below – mind-stirring ones – by world-renowned Belgian hip hop and electronic recording artist, and wordsmith, Stromae. But first, a little foray into Stromae himself. Straddling genres, his infectious music and witty-yet-sobering verse have struck an international nerve – including […]
France must act now or lose what it means to be French
“France, tu seras heureuse lorsque tu es guérie enfin des individus.” (France, you will be happy once you are finally cured of individuals.) | Anacharsis CLOOTS, Appel au genre humain, December 1793 National identity is more than a feeling. It must be based on shared core values, a common history, and a sense that who […]
The best non-French French word ever
{grosso modo} adverb | roughly, circa or approximately Dis-moi grosso modo ce que tu en penses. Give me a rough idea what you think of it. Actuellement, grosso modo, trois options se présentent à nous. At present, we have roughly three options. basically Grosso modo, ces participants ne considéraient pas ces dispositions comme très utiles. […]
February Events | French in New York
| Lectures & Conferences Tuesday, February 17, 7:00 pm “Reading Patrick Modiano” A conversation with Mark Polizzotti, David R. Godine, Sam Sacks, and Sal Robinson Read more Albertine 972 Fifth Avenue New York, NY Events @ Albertine _________________________________________________________________________________ Wednesday, February 18, 12:30 pm “Qui est Charlie ? Press freedom, radicalism […]
French quotes | Ce qu’ils disent
“Le langage reproduit le monde, mais en le soumettant à son organisation propre.” (Language reproduces the world, but in doing so organizes the world like language.) | Émile BENVENISTE, Problèmes de linguistique générale This quote intrigues me to the core. Émile Benveniste (May 1902 – October 1976), a French structural linguist and semiotician (someone who […]
Found in translation | flâner
{flâner} verb | to stroll, to saunter to wander, to roam A Paris, j’aime flâner le long des quais. In Paris, I like to stroll along the banks of the Seine. to laze, to idle to laze about, to lounge about Je profite du dimanche matin pour flâner. I take advantage of Sunday mornings to […]
Lyrics to live by
It’s your time It’s your day It’s never too late To change lanes How’s your life? How’s your place? Was it where you wanted Your head to lay? But wait, you can breathe You can see what I can see Don’t waste your time You can’t make back If you could rewind your time Would […]
Our world, the cathedral
“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.” {Antoine de Saint-Exupéry}
Why it’s awesome to be 35 in 2015
Turning 35 in 2015 is like French aerialist Philippe Petit walking a tightrope between New York City’s Twin Towers in 1974. You’re stuck between two behemoths, and you might go either way. Born in 1980, we are the halfway generation – “cusp year babies.” Many people lump us into the so-called Millennial Generation. To others, […]
mind your monde 