Talking about money is considered vulgar by French people, so we don't like to share the bill at the end of a meal. Instead, friends take turn inviting each other. Specially if the party is only two people or two couples.

During our stay in Normandy, Adeline invited us to a small gathering of people still living in Caen who in one way or another had experienced the horrors of WWII. During the discussion we all agreed on the following summation:

My student John L. was studying vocabulary to describe sickness in my beginner audio novel "A Moi Paris". For his assignement, I asked him to invent a story using this vocabulary (with audio). He did such a good job that I decided to share it with you.

Most adults have a hard time learning French. You spend months and years learning from the usual books and methods and when you finally travel to Paris or another place in France, surprise! Suddenly, you try to speak French to the common French person in the street or in a shop and are shocked when you are not understood. The French sentences you used are correct, your French pronunciation seems right… what’s happening?

The tap on my shoulder startled me. It was the last thing I expected as I stood alone before the ancient Catholic church in Caen on this June day in 1994. My wife and I were in Normandy to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the liberation of France. However, at the moment she was in search of Hermes scarves, so I decided to wander the city alone.

Today is Mothers Day in France, and this is what I told my Mom.

There is nothing Parisians dislike more than a tourist stumbling over the name of one of their glorious cultural venues or street names (layz tchampsss ee-lie-zees, please?).

This is the last part of the story...
Je prends encore mon guide à la main, et nous nous dirigeons vers le musée.

It is at dinner when the word "l'équipe" (the team) really comes into play during the harvest.

Once the harvest begins, there are always seemingly too many tasks for the people involved to accomplish - but they do. During the day (sometimes beginning even before sunrise), the schedule is dictated by the grapes: what's ready to be picked, how many, where, etc., etc... As a result, the team may be scattered, some in the cuverie, some in the vines, some (Stacia and I) in the kitchen or at the marché.

Now, there is much more to Versailles' estate than "only" the castle and gardens. There are actually 3 castles: the main castle, Le Grand Trianon and Le Petit Trianon!

Located at the far right side of the estate, and opened in 2006, "Le Domaine de Marie-Antoinette"(the queen's estate) reveals Marie-Antoinette’s private life. Louis XVI’s wife loved this place where she could play pretend with her children and best friends, live a simple rural like life, away from the pomp of Versailles. Noone could go there without an invitation.