La Vie En France

La Vie En France New words iN the diCtioNary

by Sue Burgess

Schools have gone back and the supermarkets and book shelves are full of all sorts of reference books for children and teenagers. Le Petit Larousse and Le Petit Robert are the best known encyclopedias (encyclopédies) and dictionaries (dictionnaires). Le Petit Larousse is a dictionary/encyclopedia (dictionnaire encyclopédique) in one volume which was published for the first time in 1905. Le Petit Robert is a French language dictionary (dictionnaire de langue française) published for the first time in 1967. It is a shortened and abridged (abrégé) version of the Robert 6 volume dictionary of the French language.

Before the summer holidays, le Petit Robert and le Petit Larousse reveal the new words that are going to enter the dictionary. This year a lot of the words have been influenced by the period that we are living in.

Impossible to forget the words that have been on peoples’ lips since March. If Déconfiner (to come out of lockdown) and déconfinement (coming out of lockdown), have not been included this year, they will probably make it into the dictionary next year. The term ‘covid’ has made it. It’s really an English acronym which is an abbreviation for coronavirus disease. In French covid is written without a capital letter and can be either masculine or feminine according to the Le Robert dictionary, which has not followed the recommendations of the Academie Française that says the word should be feminine (les recommandations de l’Académie française qui l’a fait féminin). As for coronavirus, which had already appeared in the dictionaries, additional examples have been added and the definition has been updated. It’s the same for the words aérosol (aerosol), cluster (cluster), confiné (locked-down), confinement (lock-down), écouvillon (covid swab), pandémie (pandemic).

Not surprisingly, words linked to technology and internet abound. Le Petit Robert includes a certain number of English words which the French would certainly have preferred to see translated into French but everyday usage has decided otherwise. This is the case for bot, cloud, brainstormer, blacklister, spammer, trackeur, story… The verb télétravailler (to telework), appears next to télétravail (teleworking). And let’s not forget téléconsultation (on-line consultation), a revolution in the way patients and doctors can meet. Finally between technophiles (those who love technology) and technophobes (those who are afraid of technology and don’t use it), Le Robert mentions la fracture numérique (the difference in possibilites of access to internet) with the word illectronisme (digital illiteracy).

Vocabulary / Vocabulaire

Other new words in the dictionaries ... La féminicide murder of women

antivax Black Bloc

Un mocktail Un bobet Un brouteur antivaccination movement group of militants organised to attack the symbols and values of the Republic

cocktail without alcohol idiot internet scammer (term originating from the Ivory Coast)

HALLOWEEN

by Lynne Wigmore

Ilove Halloween and the resulting decorations to the outside of houses up and down the road but when we first arrived in France I was caught unawares by the number of children knocking at my door. I had been told that it was not a particularly celebrated custom here, all the emphasis being directed to “Toussaint” the following day. So that first Halloween I was surprised when the doorbell rang around 4pm and there in a scary costume was a little girl asking most politely “bêtises ou friandises madame? After a moment of panic, I mumbled “ah oui, attendez s’il vous plait” and disappeared into the kitchen to raid the cupboards for “les bonbons”. After the third or fourth caller I was now relying on my small packets of chocolate biscuits that hadn’t been used for the summer picnics. The following year I entered into the ghostly spirit and with many decorations and a make-do tombstone in the garden from the small granite blocks we had previously lifted from the path; I was ready for the visitors. I’m not sure what they made of the strange English lady who answered the door in a purple witch’s hat offering a bowl that grabs your hand as you attempt to take a sweet.

Unfortunately, last year, having stocked up with bags of sweets no-one could visit due to the lockdown. Undeterred this year, I will dust off my witch’s hat and broomstick and hope that the children of village will visit again, waking my screaming door ghost and asking “des bonbons ou un sort”.

View from the Vendée

by Karen Taylor

Gone but not forgotten!

“So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu…” No, not to France, but to our lovely little gîte in St Michelen-l’Herm! After 5 years of welcoming guests of different nationalities to our maison de vacances, we’ve decided to sell up and give ourselves a bit of a break from hosting for the time being. When we bought the bungalow back in March 2017 it had been rented out on a long-term basis for 25 years, so was in a bit of a state. Nothing structural I’m pleased to say, although the car port had definitely seen better days. Our first thought was to pull the whole structure down (the car port that is, not the house!), but it was constructed on a concrete base with steel supports, so ugly, yes, but very, very solid!! Plan no.2 – keep it as a car port and remove all the discoloured plastic panels; but do holidaymakers really need a car port? Plan no.3 – transform it into a covered terrace with tile-effect roofing, reed screening to disguise the metal walls and lattice fencing round the top. Nothing too complicated, but with time running out before our first guests arrived at the beginning of June (I know, I know, why do we gîte owners work to such tight timescales?), it seemed the simplest solution. And little did we realise at the time just how useful this covered terrace would be; at 40m² the gîte is quite snug, but with the addition of a ‘garden room’ (as our first guests called it!), there’s now enough space to eat, drink and be merry! As for the bungalow itself, ready-made kitchen & bathroom units were quickly fitted, walls inside & out were painted plain white, and the solid wood shutters were transformed with sky blue paint. And finally the garden was given a swift make-over using hedge trimmer, clippers & secateurs – yes, you guessed it, the greenery surrounding the house had been left to its own devices for many a year! So perhaps you’ve gathered by now that I’ll be really sad to say “Goodbye” to the little gîte that has served us so well over the years; but fear not dear reader, all is not lost – the purchaser is none other than a good friend of ours who has sold her house inland and has been talking about moving to the coast for years. Well, now she’s done it! And of course we’ll need to drop round from time to time just to make sure that she’s settled in OK – well, it would be churlish not to, wouldn’t it?

Note from the editor: Along with a break from gite life, Karen will also be taking a break from writing for us at The DSM. She has promised to send us the occasional article but, for now at least, this is the last regular “View From The Vendée”. Thank you Karen x

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Velo4Violet : October

At the beginning of

August I flew in a

With just a month to go, the Velo4Violet light aeroplane from La Rochelle. Not particularly interesting nor exceptional you might think, except that it was a former RAF Chipmunk trainer, in the type’s 75th Anniversary year, and I coast towards the bridge, and joined the landing circuit to finish with a perfect touchdown. Much more fun than in a Ryanair 737, and seemed like I had been flying a Chipmunk forever. Back at the hangar I had a broad grin on my face which days later is only slowly fading. One of our sons reckons it will need surgical removal. Patrick and Steve were most agreeable hosts, and I hope to persuade them to join the Sud Ouest Branch of the RAF Association. Oh, and I have a generous invitation to repeat the experience. challenge is really gathering speed! This is a fundraising initiative organised by Association Violet who provide support to children, and their families, who live with Dystonia, Cerebral Palsy or Epilepsy. One of the key aims for Association Violet is to raise awareness of these disorders and therefore we wanted to share some of this key information with you.

What is Dystonia, Epilepsy and Cerebral Palsy?

Dystonia, Epilepsy and Cerebral Palsy are all disorders for which, at present, there is no known cure. These conditions manifest themselves in many different ways creating unique challenges to the people that suffer from these disorders, especially in instances where they are interacting with each other. Dystonia causes excessive, involuntary muscle contractions in the body. These muscle contractions result in abnormal muscle movements and body postures, making it difficult for individuals to control their movements. In addition to causing abnormal movements, depression and anxiety are common symptoms of Dystonia. Epilepsy causes recurring seizures of the body. Seizures are episodes of symptoms which include a change of consciousness and full-body convulsions.

Cerebral Palsy causes problems with normal motor function. It affects body movement, muscle control, coordination, reflexes, posture, and balance.

Managing any one of these disorders, especially in children, is a daily struggle for the

by Lisa Jones

individual and their families. In some cases, normal daily life is impossible and yet it is an inspiration that many strive to overcome these struggles in order to provide the best standard of life and opportunities possible to all those that are affected. The success of Walking4Violet in raising money and awareness as well as bringing together a community to help a little girl led to the creation of Association Violet and inspired us to continue our work and offer help to more families. We rely on YOUR support to continue the work towards our vision of ending the daily struggle.

Velo4Violet Training Update

We have started our training for the Velo4Violet challenge in November. This fundraising initiative is open to everyone and focuses on you setting your own personal cycle challenge to support Association Violet. Elf and I will be completing a distance of 1540km during the month of November. This will be broken down into smaller daily rides of 35km in the morning, followed by a further 35km in the afternoon. We have decided on this approach is it allows us to continue to manage our daily lives as well as having the comfort of our own bed to sleep in at night!

Bicycle Donations

We have been amazed by your generosity with your donations of bikes and bike equipment. We cannot thank you enough. Some of these donations have been taken into the workshop where they have had a full service, repair and clean and in some instances have now been sold with all the proceeds going to the Association. Some of the donations have been broken down into parts which are either being used to repair other bikes or in some cases, upcycled into other creative items which will also be sold. If you have any bikes, in any condition, that you would like to donate, please get in touch via our facebook page or website www.associationviolet.com

Velo4Violet - Sign up and take part

Get in touch via our website www.associationviolet.com and register your interest. We welcome everyone and anyone and no matter what your personal cycle challenge is, we will support you all the way.

The Velo4Violet event is now live on The Association Violet facebook page, you can follow the stories of those taking part by following the discussion thread in the event.

Life in 79 Touched by the Hand of God

by Stephen Shaw

“We’re going on a short holiday to Pau.” Said Anna, my wife. “Why and where is Pau?” said I. “It’s somewhere my mum has always wanted to visit and it’s near the Pyrenees.” said she. “Is your mother coming?” Said I, trying not to sound anxious. replica Virgin Mary and praying pilgrims it really was a spiritual place, whatever your beliefs. Wandering by the side of the river, I thought the sun had come out but it was a forest of burning candles lit in memory of loved ones. These were not the usual night lights you get at the back of a cathedral. You could pay 500 euros for a candle the size of a small tree trunk! That night I prayed for a miracle, but I was not in luck, the salsa beat came pounding through the floor. The next day we did the touristy thing: we walked along Pau’s Boulevard des Pyrenees which would have offered ‘countryside views and mountain panoramas’...had it not been cloudy, bit of shopping (Anna bought a beret, which made her look like a member of the PARAs), we visited the local art gallery, carried out a reconnaissance on a Indian restaurant for that evening, drank a lot of coffee and beer and watched the good people of Pau go about their business.

So it was, we found ourselves driving 85km from the Spanish border to Pau, not ‘Pow’, ‘Payoo’ or ‘Poo’, but ‘Po’ (as in the red Teletubby or a chamber pot). It was a grey old day so the Pyrenees were shrouded in clouds.

Anna had booked an Airbnb in the centre of the town which looked lovely on the internet, but was, rather alarmingly, situated above a Cuban nightclub ‘Habanita Chic’. After a wander around the town, including the impressive Château de Pau, a sizeable Greek meal, several glasses of wine (with sundries), it was bedtime. ‘Habanita Chic’ only had one customer (it was a Tuesday), but that didn’t stop the pounding Cuban music... which continued until 2am. It seemed to be the same song on a continual loop. The next day we decided to visit Lourdes (which was just down the road) to drive out the evil spirits living within Anna. The town itself was quite touristy selling statuettes and water containers of every shape and size. As we followed the masses clutching their water bottles we rounded the corner and there was the Basilica (which looked similar to Sleeping Beauty’s castle in Disneyland). We didn’t know much about Lourdes other than an apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared (eighteen times), to a 14 year-old peasant girl called Bernadette, in a grotto, telling her the water from the spring would heal the sick and to build a church (why it took eighteen rendezvous to communicate this wasn’t clear). And what a church it is. At ground level is the Rosary Basilica, on top of that the Upper Basilica and above that the Crypt, a Basilica sandwich, if you will. Complying with strict Covid rules we wandered round the different layers looking for the famous Grotto. We were passed by a line of people being pushed in old fashioned bath chairs. It was hard to know if they were coming or going from being dipped. We found the Grotto under the rock the church is built on, with holy spring, As we were enjoying our ‘plat du jour’ (burger and chips), Anna became enraged that a gentlemen at another table was listening to loud music on his mobile phone. She was convinced it was the proprietor of ‘Habanita Chic’, but it wasn’t. I explained she was experiencing anger through sleep deprivation, but agreed the music was very loud and completely selfish. The next day, after a good four hours sleep, it was time to head home. As I was lifting our suitcase into the back of the Sandero I looked up and between two high rise blocks, I saw the Pyrenees. Just a small bit, but so clear. We jumped in the car and drove to the Boulevard des Pyrenees where we had the most wonderful panoramic view of the mountains in all their glory. I tried to take photos of the spectacle, but it is one of those things you can’t capture in a picture...we just stood and marvelled at the incredible sight.

I had had a moment of serenity looking at the mountains...I was a changed man...I even agreed to stop off at the Ikea in Bordeaux on the way home (not the best place to go when experiencing sleep deprivation, but the lure of the meatballs won over).