Welcome to the French Today Blog

Our team of contributors regularly posts interesting tidbits on French culture, travel or even cooking. Feel free to leave a comment and participate in the discussion!

The Secret of Pont Aven: Butter cookies, lobster, art and old mills

06 Dec 2011 Written by

While traveling through Bretagne one very cold January, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in the small picturesque village of Pont Aven. This charming fairy-book town of modest, thatched granite houses, a flowing river and old mills, is known for being the home of artist Paul Gaugin. In the culinary world, Pont Aven is a designated “Site of Exceptional Culinary Taste” for being the delicious epicurean land of melt-in-your-mouth butter cookies - les galettes et les sablés beurrés.

Filed Under:

La Saint Nicolas - Saint Nicholas in France

29 Nov 2011 Written by

Dans la nuit du 5 au 6 décembre, Saint Nicolas passe dans les maisons pour apporter aux enfants sages des friandises (fruits secs, mandarines, gâteaux, bonbons, chocolats et surtout de grands pain d'épices représentant le saint évêque). Dans certaines maisons qui s'inspirent de cette tradition, c'est même lui qui remplace le Père Noël, et qui apporte les cadeaux.

Filed Under:

French jokes and puns - blagues en français 3 (with audio)

29 Nov 2011 Written by

Devinettes d'ascenseur

Que dit une tasse de thé dans un ascenseur ?
- Je veux mon thé!

Que dit un cigare dans un ascenseur ? 
- Je veux des cendres! 

Filed Under:

Desperately Seeking Turkey

23 Nov 2011 Written by

[This post was originally published on Nov 26th 2009]

For our first Thanksgiving in France after living 18 years in the US, I was very excited to get some of our English speaking friends together and throw my famous Thanksgiving meal this Saturday (as much as I wish it, today is not a holiday in France :-(

I've been planning the menu for a while and at the beginning of the week, I went to my butcher to order a turkey ("une dinde").  Even though you do not see any turkeys in the poultry section of your typical French supermarket, I (mistakenly) assumed that you could just order one like you can any other specialty meat...

"La Haute Route" - Journal of a Hike in French Speaking Switzerland - Part 16 (with audio)

22 Nov 2011 Written by

Le Onzième Jour – Voyage de Zinal à l’hôtel Weisshorn

Nos deux jours de repos étaient terminés et nous avons donc repris notre longue randonnée dans les Alpes.  Il faisait un temps superbe.  Le chemin montait sec pendant deux heures, puis il suivait de haut le Val d’ Anniviers.  Ce chemin est la route d’une course à pied qui a lieu chaque année au mois d’août.  La course commence à Sierre et finit à Zinal et fait 31 km.  Nous sommes passés à côté de beaucoup de coureurs qui s’entraînaient.

Filed Under:

Recette de Truffes au chocolat - chocolate truffles recipe

22 Nov 2011 Written by

Truffles, the chocolate ones, just like their namesake, truffle, the fungus one, have become synonymous with luxury and decadent indulgence.

With whole stores dedicated to offering these little bites of flavored chocolates, you would think there is a grand mystery to making them. No, there isn't. You can make them fairly easily in your own kitchen, spiced up with your favorite flavors.

Let's first review what a truffle is.