Visit to Nice Part 1

Hello all!
We finally arrived back on Saturday evening from what turned out to be the most awesome week away I think I've ever had.
All the way through writing these blog posts I'm going to be asking myself which I now prefer, Paris or Nice.  I'll let you know my decision at the end.

I've got to tell you first of all that I HATE TURBULENCE!!  The pilot said we would encounter a little on taking off from Gatwick.  That's the same as when a doctor says you're going to find 'this injection a little uncomfortable,' isn't it?  What they mean is, it's going to be flipping agony!
I gripped the arm of the chair and I gripped John's leg, poor man.  I listened to my music on my Kindle, which did take my mind off things a bit.  Note to self: listening to 'Skyfall' on a plane really isn't a good idea!
But eventually it was over and we were there.  We were met by sunshine and palm trees.  Who could ask for more, really?
I had my first French conversation there and then as we had to buy bus tickets from the ticket office (and yet on the way back you can buy them on the bus, how strange).  Anyway, tickets bought, and we set off once the bus turned up.  But this is the bit that puts me off buses abroad, as I don't think it's obvious where to get off like it is with trains.
We decided to get off at Gambetta Promenade though, and found the Hotel Negresco.  You can't really miss it to be honest.

Our apartment was just down the road from here but it took a bit of wandering up and down to work it out at first.
Finally found it and then had the saga of opening the gates.  It was quite late by now and a woman appeared on a balcony above and I explained we were renting one of the apartments for a week and she told us how to get in.  Then we opened the main door, and then, across the hallway, the actual door to our apartment.  Finally, we were inside.
It took a while to get used to the apartment as all the shutters were down and there are no curtains and no carpets.  It took a while to realise how lovely it was.
We set off to try and find something to eat.  All the supermarkets were closed so we went to a little Italian restaurant and had a pizza each (all ordered by me, obviously!)  Finally had artichokes and have decided I don't like them!
Time for bed, so tired.
Jane x

Nice Too

Woken up this morning and I am thrilled and delighted and mega excited to a) be in France, but more importantly b) in this amazingly beautiful part of France.
This is how it was:
John left the keys in the door all night and having struggled to get in, we now found it impossible to get out!  Neither of us brought a mobile phone.  And let's be honest, who would we have phoned anyway?
After much persuasion, John finally managed to unlock the door and I packed away my panic and claustrophobia and we set off to find the church and get some breakfast.
We walked up Rue Gambetta and found Passage Gregoire but we were quite early so we stopped off at a café on the other side of the road for a quick coffee.  Having supped said beverage it was quite clearly now time to cross the road.  Except... now the Nice marathon had started and the first of 9000 people were running up the road.  I don't think, "Excuse-moi!" would cut it somehow.
But time dragged on.  Every so often there were little gaps in the groups of runners, so we decided to chance it.  John got across pretty niftily but I got half washed up the road like a piece of flotsam and was suddenly a participant in the Nice marathon, until I leaped onto the pavement on the other side!  Phew!
And so we walked down quite a rough looking side street and into the Victoire Church.  It turned out to be pretty awesome.  It was all tiled and really cool.  We sang some songs in French.  It really messes with your head because some of the songs we knew in English, but suddenly were only capable of singing them in French even though our brains knew perfectly well what we were singing in English.  I don't know how to explain it.  Right brain was going, "Pull yourself together woman," and left brain was going, "LOLOLOLOL!"
Then a beautiful moment when we greeted one another.  There was lots of kissing, but this beautiful woman came up to me and said, "Ma soeur!" and kissed me and I thought, 'Yes we are sisters because we both love the same God and even though I'm in another country God loves you and He loves me and it's amazing, isn't it?' and I was trying not to cry.
More singing and then a sermon relayed to us in English through headphones, which was awesome.  I did look at the Bibles but they were so expensive.  Maybe one day.

Then we decided to go for a walk through an area called The Promenade du Paillon.  It's beautiful and fun and imaginative.

I am blown away by the architecture.
It's like how I imagine Cuba or something from Love In The Time of Cholera!

And then I finally came face to face with Apollo.  So pleased to have found this.

 Strolled home and bought our first bread from a boulangerie but then went into a supermarket to buy essentials like tea bags and milk.
More tomorrow.
Jane xx

Nice Again

Sent John out this morning to buy bread and he actually came back with... bread!  This is astonishing for him in English, let alone in a foreign language!
Decided today (Monday) was the day to walk round the Colline du Chateau.  Didn't want to break it to John that there actually wasn't a chateau at the top!
We strolled through the Cours Saleya, taking in the sights, the smells and the voices.  It took a while to grasp the accent, but it's because of the massive Italian influence.  Once I'd got used to it, it was fine.  There was an antiques/brocante market going on.  Some very interesting stuff, lots of very catholic ornaments and interesting paintings. 

Carried on and went under an arch onto a very narrow street.  Further on there was a war memorial

and then, having walked past the lift and the stairs, we began the climb upwards.
It wasn't that strenuous, and it was well worth it.

We passed a beautiful cemetery but John wouldn't let me go in.  French cemetaries are always quite stunning compared to English ones, aren't they?

The view from the top is awesome.

And so is this.

It was a day for getting wet, really.

Stood up after this and the back of my coat was soaking wet!

 

 

So all in all a fantastic day.  Of course we got sunburned.  Nothing says, 'Brit on holiday' like a bright red nose, does it?!

More tomorrow.

Jane xx



Venir de - to have just done something

My husband is very good at maths and I am (usually!) very good at English.  We talked about how very often in maths you are given a rule, the teacher demonstrates that the rule works (take long division for example) the pupil goes away and tries some exercises to prove the rule works, then you apply the rule for the rest of your maths life.
But isn't learning a language just like that?  You get given a rule (how and when to use que or qui for example).  You do loads of exercises so you realise you can trust the rule and it won't let you down, then you go off into your chosen language knowing you can apply that rule and it will always be correct.

So here is today's rule!

Venir de:  The French do not say, "I have just (done something)." ;  they say, "I come from (doing something)" 

Here's the rule that never fails:

present tense of venir + de + the infinitive of the next verb

You'll come across this a lot, especially at GCSE level.

Here are some examples.

I have just arrived = je viens d’arriver.






1. Je viens de voir le film.
I have just seen the film.

2.  Il vient de terminer son travail.
He has just finished his work.

3.  Je viens de terminer mon travail.
I have just finished my work.

4.  Ils viennent d’acheter la maison.
They have just bought the house.

I hope you find this useful and notice it in your reading and writing.
Back soon
Jane

d'un air - with an air of

Hello everyone
I keep coming across the above phrase and it seems to work with adverbs.  Have a look at what I mean:

Je dois commencer à sortir plus souvent, décida-t-elle d’un air résolu.
I must start going out more, she decided resolutely.

"Non, pas vraiment,“ répondit Marie d’un air indigné.
No, not really, replied Marie indignantly.

"Yvonne," répondit-elle d’un air boudeur...’
"Yvonne," she replied glumly.

Also,
"Where do you live?" he asks.
"215 Rue des Martyrs," dit-elle d'une voix rageuse.
.... she said with a voice of rage.

"Merci," dit-il d'un ton taquin.
"Thank you," he said in a teasing tone.

"Je le savais!" dit-il d'un air méprisant.
"I knew it!" he said nastily.

Hope you find these examples helpful.
Jane xx

How dare you?!

Bonjour!

Here are a few phrases you might find useful:

"Oh mon Dieu, comment ose-t-elle m'acheter quelque chose comme ça, ce toupet!“
Oh my  God, how dare she buy me something like that, the cheek!"

Tu parles trop, pensa-t-il mais il n’osa pas le dire tout haut...’
You talk too much, he thinks, but he dare not say it out loud.

Elle l’aurait conamné à une longue souffrance s’il avait osé le faire à l’intérieur.
She would have threatened him with violence if he had dared to do it in the house.

Je n'ose pas me promener dans ce quartier -
 I don't dare walk in this neighborhood

Comment osez-vous ! - How dare you!

	Present		Future		Imperfect		Present participle
j'	ose		oserai		osais		osant
tu	oses		oseras		osais
il	ose		osera		osait		Passé composé
nous	osons		oserons		osions		Auxiliary verb	avoir
vous	osez		oserez		osiez		Past participle	osé
ils	osent		oseront		osaient
	Subjunctive		Conditional		Passé simple		Imperfect subjunctive
j'	ose		oserais		osai		osasse
tu	oses		oserais		osas		osasses
il	ose		oserait		osa		osât
nous	osions		oserions		osâmes		osassions
vous	osiez		oseriez		osâtes		osassiez
ils	osent		oseraient		osèrent		osassent
	Imperative
(tu)	ose				Verb conjugation pattern Oser is a regular -ER verb
(nous)	osons

Hope you find these useful.
Bises
Jane

Au lieu de - instead of

Bonjour!

On my reading travels I come across lots of phrases that I realise are really useful.  Here are some ways of saying 'instead of':

Parfois, vous voudrez peut-être dire que vous voulez une chose à la place d'un autre. Voici quelques exemples:

"Alors je vais prendre une omelette nature avec une salade au lieu des frites."

J’ai payé seulement dix euros au lieu de vingt euros.

Mais:

Est-ce qu’il y aurait la possibilité de remplacer l’escalope de dinde par du coq au vin?

Look out for more examples in your reading.
Bises
Jane

Nice is Nice!

Hello all!
After much searching and discussing, we are going to Nice for a holiday in April.  I am so excited!
We are staying in an appartment. 
I have been reading all about it in a lovely blog by Margo Letz called The Curious Rambler.  It's really made me even more excited about going.  Margo has been very kind and emailed me details of good local restaurants and food shops, which I'm sure will come in handy.  Next I need to know what the weather will be like as I haven't got a clue what to wear (typical woman!)




Why wouldn't you want to go here?!

Then, my pastor's wife came to see me yesterday and over coffee I told her about our impending trip and she said she was sure that Kenneth Copeland Ministries have a church out there.  So this morning I decided to Google it and sure enough there are two churches.  One of them gives you headphones so you can have the service relayed to you in English.  So guess where we'll be going Sunday morning?!

The only thing I need to sort out now is my camera, which has refused to upload my photos this morning.  The wonders of modern technology!
Back soon
Jane xx

Story Time: Ourson

I read lots of books in French, probably more than I do in English at the moment.  I only mean those books for French learners, that often have an English translation alongside.  I'll try to show you them if I can.
But today I just wanted to show you the cutest thing.  It is such a thrill to be able to read it, look:

First of all, why is this significant?  It's because our surname is Orson.  When John was at school and did heraldry as a project, the teacher looked up his surname and the nearest she could come up with in Latin was Ourson, meaning 'bear'.  His symbol was 'a bear rampant,' like this



What I love as well is that we called Tessa 'Tessa Bear' so she'd have been Tessa Ourson, which is our surname, so we were more right than we realised!
More of the book, which is very sweet, quirky and funny:

The illustrations are lovely and there are lots of little details for people to notice. 

This page says, 'Deux grands yeux jaunes le fixent.
"Qu'est-ce que c'est?" demande Chat.
"C'est mon crayon magique," répond Ourson.
“Alors dessine-moi quelque chose à manger,“ dit Chat.

I think there are some others in the series,, so I'll have to have a look.
À bientôt
Jane xx

A New Beginning

Hello all!

As of today I've decided to start writing little snippets every day in French, but there's so much of it I decided to backdate it into February.  It's going to be a mix up of bits about my life, books I read, books I'm working through and vocabulary and phrases I really want to remember.


This is going to be quite hard work because I have to check what I want to say on Google Translate, then type it onto the most awesome programme I've just found called http://french.typeit.org/ where I can type what I want and put the accents in, then I can cut it and paste it directly onto here.  The plan is to write more and more in French.  If you've stumbled across this site because you speak French, please don't hesitate to leave a comment so I can correct what I've said.  I'll be checking back regularly though, so I can keep things updated, so even if you've read a post once before, later on it may be different as my vocabulary and understanding improves.Thanks for looking in today.  If you like what you've seen you can leave a comment, email me at jane.orson@btinternet.com or come and find me on facebook.Thanks for lookingJane xx

Que and qui ... and then some!

Bonjour!
Ne vous en faites pas!
I found this really difficult at first, and I teach English as a foreign language, so I understood the grammar.

Let me explain.  I'm talking about (cue posh word...) Relative Pronouns.  But if I'd put that as the title of today's post you'd have switched off tout de suite, wouldn't you? 

I'm going to talk about the relative pronouns

qui : who, which, that (subject)  and
que: whom, which, that (object)

Because sometimes it's the little words that are the most important!

Here we are:

L'automobiliste qui parle français.
The motorist who speaks french.

La voiture qui est en panne.
The car which has broken down.

But:

Le camion que vous avez réparé.
The lorry which you repaired.

I'm just going to give you a simple rule, in case you struggle with things like who is the subject and who is the object.

If, in English the verb comes immediately after 'who', 'which' or 'that' then use qui.
But if, again in English, not the french sentence yet, there is another word between 'who', 'which', 'that' and the verb (the doing word) then use que.
The above rule works every time and is really simple once you get used to it.

However, I have a treat for you (and me!) today, as I've found the most awesome video that explains it much better than I can.  As you watch it, with the examples he gives, check back with the rule above and all will (hopefully!) become clear.

Here's the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYZZR3S7sZw&list=PL2AKGdFj6mUekxfeHnTGhXYX3ibYH6H4n

Ammusez-vous!


Thanks for dropping in today.
More soon, I'm sure
Jane xx

Useful Phrases: s'ammuser

Hello all!
I've really struggled to grasp this verb and I don't know why.  It isn't just because it's a reflexive verb either, I just couldn't find any examples of how to use it in a sentence and that's when I struggle.  It turned out it was sitting in my verb tables book all the time!

Par exemple:

Je m'amuse beaucoup au bord de la mer.     (So we can see straight away that it's a reflexive verb).
I enjoyed myself very much at the seaside.

Nous nous amusons.
We enjoy ourselves.

Elle ne c'est pas amusée
She hasn't enjoyed herself.

Les gens s'amusent beaucoup.

Je me suis bien amuse
  I enjoyed myself.                                       Just going to remind myself that reflexive
                                                                     verbs take être in the perfect tense.

Hope these examples have been useful to you.
Jane xx

Useful phrases: en train de

Bonjour!

Voici des examples:

Elle est à ce monsieur là-bas qui est en train d’essayer un costume.
It belongs to the man over there who is in the middle of trying on a suit.




Je suis en train de coller quelques timbres dans mon album.
I was in the middle of sticking some stamps in my album.
But that's a bit OTT in English, isn't it? 
So we would say, "I was just sticking some stamps in my album."

Elle est tourjours en train de de courir, de sauter et de parler.

Laurent était en train de boire une tasse de café quand...

Hope that's useful for you today.  Leave a comment and let me know.
Back soon
Jane xx
  

Ma Routine

Salut!
Je déteste les verbes pronominaus, et vous?  Mais j'ai besoin de plus de pratique.  Pas d'excuses!
Voici un petit quelqu chose pour m'aider. Peut-être vous aider aussi.

Je me lève a 5h30.
Je prends une douche.
J m’habille.  Je mets toujours une chemise et un pantalon noir.




Je prends le petit déjeuner.
Quand je suis pressé, je te prends juste un thé.
Après le petit déjeuner, je me brosse les dents et je me lave les mains.
Je sors de chez moi vers 6h45.


Je vais à vélo.
J’arrive au boulot vers 6h55.
Je travaille jusqu’ à midi.
Ensuite c'est la pause.  Je déjeune avec mes collègues et les residents dans la salle à manger. 
Ensuite je retourne travailler vers 13h.
Je finis le boulot à 14h30.
Je vais chez moi à vélo.  Je rentrer vers 14h45.
Je prends mon sac reutilisable pour faire les courses.
Je vais au supermarché.
Après les courses, je prépare le diner.


Je prépare toujour une salade.
Je mange du poisson, du poulet ou des pates.
Après les repas, je fais le vaisselle.
J’allume mon ordinateur et je regarde mes emails.
J’envoie des emails à mes amis.
Je travaille sur mon ordinateur.
Le soir, je me repose.  Je lis un livre.
Parfois je regarde un leçon française sur You Tube.
Je me couche vers 21h!

Le Weekend

 

Le samedi matin, je me reveille tard.

Je vais à Costa et prends un café (vraiment!)

 

Ensuite je fais mes courses.

Dans l’après midi, j’envoie des textos à une ami ou je l’appelle.

On se retrouve dans un café.

Le soir, je prends un verre avec des amis. 

Parfois mon mari et moi allons au restaurant.  J’aime beaucoup ça.

Le dimanche, matin nous allons à l’église.

Puis nous  déjeunons à 13h30.

L’après midi je me repose.

Je me promène seul ou avec le chien.

Vers huit heures du soir nous regardons la television.

Je me couche vers 22h.

 

 

À beintôt
Jane xx



Mes passe-temps

Coucou mes amis!

C'est difficile d'expliquer de mes passe-temps.  Moi, je ne fais pas de sport! 

Tous les livres disent des choses comme: «Je joue au tennis deux fois par semaine." Eh bien, je ne fais pas!  Peut-être que je suis exceptionnelle, mais je ne le crois pas.

Mais, j'aime regarder le sport à la télé.  Je ne suis pas paresseux et mon travail est très fatiguant (honnêtement!)  J'ai fait monter à cheval pendant 25 ans si.
Au fait, je n'aime pas le football.

Je ne peux pas coudre et je ne peux pas tricoter.

Mon passe-temps préféré est la fabrication de cartes.  J'ai un tautre blog ici.

Aussi j'aime beaucoup lire.  La lecture est mon passe-temps favori.
J'aime les bibliothèques. 
J'adore les livres.  J'aime mon Kindle, c'est chouette! 

 

J'aime beaucoup peindre.

Aussi, a bien sûr j'étudie français. Je travaille pendant au moins une heure chaque jour. Je l'aime. 

Je suis vraiment désolé de l'admettre, mais j'aime faire du shopping! Ce n'est pas grave si c'est des vêtements ou des choses pour la maison.

Ma couleur préférée est rose.

A bientôt
Jane xx

Ma Maison

Bonjour!

Nous avons habité ici pendant près de deux ans.  Ma maison est assez petite.  La maison est assez vieux et assez loin du village.

 Il y a deux étages.  Au rez-de-chaussée nous avons la cuisine, un salon et une salle à manger (en fait mon studio!) 
À l’étage il y a deux chambres et une salle de bains.  Nous n'avons pas un garage mais nous avons un petit jardin.  C’est très joli.

(Mon atelier).

 

 J'aime bien la region où j'habite et j'aime ma petite maison. Il ya des champs derrière la maison et une jolie rivière.

 

A bientôt

Jane xx





Un Peu d'histoire

Salut!
Aujourd'hui je vais essayer de vous dire un petit peu de mon passé. Je trouve très frustrant que je ne peux pas parler de ce sujet.  Je dois en être en mesure de la conversation.

Nous avons maintenant vécu dans cette maison pendant deux ans.  Avant cela nous avons vécu dans une ferme près de Chesterfield et Chatsworth.

Nous avons habitons la depuis quatre ans.  Nous gardions nos cheveux là avec nous.

C'était un endroit isolé.  C’était bel en été mais très très froid en hiver, très mal.  Je me suis ennuyé en été mais très fatigué en hiver.

Je montais mon cheval chaque jour. 

Il s'appelle Barnaby.  Il est très arrogant, mais très courageux. Je t'aime, bête!

Voici le cheval de mon mari.  Il s'appelle Zak.
Il était délicat et gracieux et je l'ai aimé.  (Tu me manques).

Donc bien sûr quand nous déménagions ici, les chevaux sont venus avec nous.
Puis malheureusement en 2012 Zak est mort.  Au revoir mon ami.

Alors en juin l'année dernière j'ai décidé de vendre à Barnaby. Je ne le regrette pas, mais je le manque vraiment. 
Mais je suis si occupé au travail. Et j'ai souvent le travail de cours. Et je dois garder la maison propre et bien rangé. Donc je n'ai pas de temps pour soigner un cheval aussi. Il est très heureux dans sa nouvelle maison.

Ainsi là nous sommes. Finalement j'ai écrit un peu de mon passé.
Je reviendrai bientôt avec certains plus.
À bientôt mes amis
Jane xx

Depuis - since/for

Bonjour! 
Voici des exercices que utilizent 'depuis' et 'il y a'

J’apprends le français depuis huit mois.
I have been learning French for eight months.

J’apprends l’allemand depuis dix ans.
I have been learning german for ten years.

Je travaille à Strasbourg depuis cinq ans.

Je suis secrétaire à Europort depuis un an.

Je suis arrive à Londres il y a six mois.

J’habite en Angleterre depuis le mois d’avril.

Elle est allée en Grèce il y a trois ans.

Je suis au bureau depuis huit heures ce matin.

Chantel et Laurent sont allés au cinema il y a deux semaines.

(In French depuis with the present tense is used to describe things which started in the past, but which are still continuing.  But I have noticed il y a is used with the perfect tense.)

J'espère que cela vous aide.

Au revoir pour maintenant.
Jane xx

Marché ou supermarché?

Où faites-vous vos courses normalement?

Le week-end je vais au marché et le petit magasins à Loughborough.  J’achète du pain à la boulangerie.  En face de la boulangerie il y a la boucherie et à côté de la boucherie il y a une librairie où j’achète mon journal.  Et une rue plus loin il y a un marchand de legumes. 
 
J’aime aussi les cafés la. 

 Et tous es autres produits courants comme le thé, the café le fromage, le lait, où est-ce que vous les achetez? 

Je vais au petit supermarché dans le village tous les jours après mon travail parce que c'est plus rapide.

 



Et vous?