Sometimes the best things in life are free...to go swimming in the sea costs nothing. (Photo of the bay in Les Lecques and La Madrague Port in St Cyr-sur-Mer)

"des clopinettes"

    : peanuts, chickenfeed, next to nothing 

Click here to listen to the following French words (English translation above)

Parfois les meilleurs choses de la vie sont gratuites - aller se baigner dans la mer, ça coûte des clopinettes


A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE

by Kristi Espinasse

At Port de la Madrague there is a sandy cove where the locals like to picnic at sunset. A curving wooden boardwalk makes it possible to reach the far end of the bay, where another beach--this one, rocky--offers a more rugged shore, beyond which you can hunt for oursins. As you walk back along the promenade, it is a pleasure to see families and friends enjoying an evening picnic or playing a game of boules alongside the path.
...

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Eplucher is the word of the day. You've got to peel a few zucchinis to make this easy recipe.... 

Eplucher

    :  to peel

Click here to listen to Jean-Marc read the following sentence in French (English translation is above)

Il faut eplucher quelques courgettes pour réaliser cette recette fastoche....


A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE

by Kristi Espinasse

One reward of offering to help Bernard in the kitchen was learning a delicious, fast, and easy recipe. "Tu vas voir, c'est très facile," Bernard says, setting up our makeshift production line:  one of us will use the econome to cut ribbons from the courgettes, the other will chop parmesan and toss it over the cut zucchini, into the round metal ring (for an individual serving--this last piece is optional, but it makes a nice presentation once you--Ta-da!--lift the mold).

The hardest part about making Courgette Carpaccio is paying...

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Related Stories

• Meetup at our home + French Sloppy Joes (A Sicilian-inspired recipe)

 

Cannes, Cassis, Annecy...what is the best city to live in? Read the response below.

la bonne réponse

    : good answer

Listen to Jean-Marc pronounce the following French translation of our opening sentence:

Cannes, Cassis, Annecy...quelle est la meilleure ville pour y vivre? Lisez la réponse ci-dessous.


A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE

    by Kristi Espinasse


Saturday night we drove to Marseilles to celebrate two guys birthdays. Alexis and Bernard were collectively turning 100!

At Bernard's house on the edge of the Roy d'Espagne neighborhood, not far from the Calanque of Sormiou , we gathered with a handful of friends who grew up in these ideal childhood stomping grounds near the sea's rugged coastline with its fragrant Parasol pines.


              Bernard and Alexis

Beneath...

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If you have to swallow a mouthful, better to do it in the sea, than in the pool. Photo taken this morning, while swimming with our golden.

"boire la tasse"

1. to swallow a mouthful, to swallow a lot of water (while swimming)
2. to lose a lot of money, to go under

Listen to Jean-Marc read the French translation to the sentence above

Si on doit boire la tasse, il vaut mieux que ça soit en mer, qu'en piscine.


A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE
   
    by Kristi Espinasse

This morning, while swimming with Smokey, j'ai bu la tasse! After accidentally swallowing so much salty water (and getting any magnesium requirements in one big gulp) it occurred to me to share a phrase I've heard over the years when swimming with my family: boire la tasse.

I wonder if dogs accidentally swallow a mouthful, too? Watching Smokey out there in the Mediterranean, fetching a piece of driftwood, he is an agile...

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If you have ever been harmed by words, today's quote may help you. (Photo of me by Jean-Marc, more in today's lighthearted story.)

"la lance"

    : spear


The most destructive of weapons is not the spear or the siege cannon, which can wound a body and demolish a wall.
The most terrible of all weapons is the word, which can ruin a life without leaving a trace of blood, and whose wounds never heal.

Let us, then, be the masters of our tongue and not the slaves of our words.
Even if words are used against us, let us not enter a battle that cannot be won.

Click here to listen to Jean-Marc read the following sentence

La plus destructrice de toutes les armes n’est pas la lance ou le canon – qui peuvent blesser le corps et détruire la muraille. La plus terrible est la parole – qui ruine une vie sans laisser de traces de sang, et dont les blessures ne cicatrisent jamais.

Soyons...

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