Posted by Chanda
I have just read in my international edition of Newsweek that the French government is going to lower its tax rate by 72% on food and drinks at restaurants and cafés this summer hoping that people will start frequenting the country’s beloved cafés again as many are closing due to the financial crisis. I wrote an article about this some months back. So, since many of you might be some of those that enjoy that tax cut when on vacation this year, I thought I would give you some vocabulary to help you order.
un Vittel - a famous French brand of mineral water, you can order it even if you just mean you want mineral water
un Perrier (citron) - a famous French brand of carbonated mineral water which you can now get lemon and lime flavored
une menthe à l’eau - this is mineral water with a little bit of mint-flavored syrup
un Coca - a Coke as in Coca Cola
un Orangina - this is an orange and mandarin citrus soda which is very popular in France
une limonade - something like 7Up or Sprite
un citron pressé - lemonade
une orange pressé - like lemonade, but made with oranges (ice, freshly-squeezed orange juice, chilled water and sugar)
un jus d’orange - orange juice
un diabolo menthe - lemonade and mint syrup
une bière allemande - German beer
une bière française - French beer
un demi - 1/4 liter of draught beer
un kir - a drink made of cassis liqueur and a little white wine
un verre de rouge - a glass of red wine
un verre de blanc - a glass of white wine
un lait fraise - a thin, strawberry milk shake
un lait au chocolat - chocolate milk
un chocolat chaud - hot chocolate
un express - espresso coffee
un café au lait - coffee with milk, served in a larger cup (normally for breakfast)
un café crème - coffee with milk, but served in a smaller cup
un thé citron - tea with lemon
un thé nature - just normal tea
un thé au lait - tea with milk
Why don’t you tell us about your favorite drink to order at a French café or restaurant??
Posted by Chanda
Here are the answers to the match-up activity I proposed in my recent article on International Workers’ Day:
1. La crise, c’est eux; la solution c’est nous! (They are the crisis, we are the solution!)
2. Sarko nous l’a promis, Sarko nous a menti! (Sarkozy promised us, Sarkozy lied to us!)
3. On ne paiera pas pour les banquiers! (We will not pay for the bankers!)
4. Sarko, rappelle-toi de 1789! (Sarkozy, remember 1789!)
5. Liberté, Egalité, Révolte! (Freedom, Equality, Revolt!)
Posted by Chanda
Today is International Workers’ Day in many countries around the world including France. Originally created as an international strikers’ day as part of the labor movement in commemoration of the fight for the eight-hour work day, it is a legal working holiday or day off for most people in the countries that celebrate it. In Paris alone, there were over 65,000 strikers in the streets today according to police. The French labor unions, however, estimate that the figure was around 160,000. These are the highest figures for May 1st demonstrations in recent history. They shouted out against French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s handling of the economic crisis, the crisis itself and management. The path was very long as it stretched all the way from southern Paris at Denfert Rochereau to Bastille. Ségolène Royal, the former candidate for the French Presidency, declared that the 1st of May is the time to “se battre pour que tout le monde ait du travail” (”to fight so that everyone has a job”).
Here are some slogans that were seen today on the signs being carried. See if you can match them up with their English translations.
1. La crise, c’est eux; la solution c’est nous!
2. Sarko nous l’a promis, Sarko nous a menti!
3. On ne paiera pas pour les banquiers!
4. Sarko, rappelle-toi de 1789!
5. Liberté, Egalité, Révolte!
A. Sarkozy, remember 1789!
B. Freedom, Equality, Revolt!
C. They are the crisis, we are the solution!
D. Sarkozy promised us, Sarkozy lied to us!
E. We will not pay for the bankers!
You can see photos of the strikes by clicking here.
Posted by Chanda
Don’t mess with their cheese! The French are apparently quite upset and possibly, rightly so. According to a recent article in Le Monde, just before the Bush Administration left office, the United States ‘closed its market to Roquefort’ by imposing prohibitive tariffs on the famous cheese in retaliation against the continuing European ban on marketing American hormone-filled beef. The new American sanctions mention several European products, but Roquefort is the only product to see its import tariff tripled. As of March 23rd, it will be taxed 300%. These new tariffs won’t probably hurt the French too much though as US imports only account for 2% of their production, but in any case, not only does it not seem fair to them, French authorities have labeled this American shot as ‘unjustified’, ‘inadmissible’ and ’scandalous’. In all fairness to the American authorities, a World Trade Organization ruling last year determined that American and Canadian sanctions against European products were legal. However, the European Commission begs to differ. Let us know if you see a price hike on Roquefort or other European products including fruit and legumes, meat, mushrooms, cereal, chewing gum, chocolate, chestnuts, fruit juice and mineral water at your local supermarket!
In the meantime, remember to always cut your Roquefort or other cheese in equal slices or you could also risk offending the French.
You can read the article in French by clicking here.
Posted by Chanda
Yesterday, the people of Quebec headed to the voting booths for their provincial elections. Due to the extremely cold weather, voter turnout was not great, but a majority liberal government was elected. Besidesthe independent candidates, candidates from 9 different political parties could be found on the ballot. These parties are Action démocratique du Québec, Parti durable du Québec, Parti indépendantiste, Parti libéral du Québec, Parti marxiste-léniniste du Québec, Parti québecois, Parti république du Québec, Parti vert du Québec and Québec solidaire. As can be seen, many of the parties are quite liberal and you even have separatist parties as is often the case with provinces or regions like Québec that have such strong cultural roots that are not very much in line with the rest of the country.
Québec was founded in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 after France ceded the colony of Canada to Great Britain through the Treaty of Paris, thereby ending the Seven Years’ War. The only official language in the province of Québec is French and just like France, it has a civil law legal system. Civil law legal systems as opposed to Anglo-Saxon common law systems are often found in Europe as they derive from Roman law. And nationalism plays a very large role in its politics. The Canadian House of Commons has officially recognized the province as ‘a nation within a united Canada”.
