We always knew he had a weak heart and that one day, probably before we were ready, it would be the end. But what a big, beautiful, brave heart he had. You see, Humphrey didn’t know anything was wrong with him. He charged forth on walks with all the energy and enthusiam of a young pup with nary a care in the world. Better, in fact, than his partner Higgins, who is built shorter and squatter and suffers from arthritic joints. One day Humphrey was happily rolling around on the rug; the next, he was barely able to walk. The vet suspected IVDD (Intravertebral disc disease), which is sadly all too ..read more

There were 38 ballots to choose from in the European Elections in France – everything from Free Palestine to Frexit, left and right, humanists and animalists. There was even a Pirate Party! “I’m going to vote for the one with the cat,” husband joked, seeing the flyers as we made our way into the school conscripted by the French consulate for the vote last Sunday. We live in Switzerland but like all French nationals, we can still vote. If, that is, we’re registered with the French consulate. I take this civic duty seriously, so when we moved here last year I did my change of address. My French ..read more

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the celebrated D-Day or ‘Jour J’ landings in Normandy.  I suppose it’s as good a day as any to put an end to my radio silence. I learned this military term from the French, ‘silence radio’. Meaning, all transmissions or lines of communications are temporarily shut down. This expression is quite commonly used in French, especially to describe a situation where there is no news on a sensitive topic. I’m no history buff, but I do love the stories behind the events, like this fascinating backstory on some of the SNAFUs* that went into the preparations for ..read more

I’m not crazy but I am feeling a little ‘lunatique’. This is one of those French words we call ‘faux amis’ (false friends) because they look so similar to English. But although lunatic and lunatique find their roots in the same Latin word, lunaticus, they mean very different things. While we use the word to refer to mental health, the French meaning has more to do with changing moods, capricious weather and the unpredictable nature of things. And it perfectly describes the current state of my world. The weather, for one. On Sunday, we were in full summer regalia: shorts, t-shirt and sunscreen ..read more

Can anything be more French than le couac? Although it is pronounced like ‘quack’ in English, ‘couac’ has less to do with ducks than it does discord. (French ducks are said to go ‘coin-coin’). In other words, a hitch, a screw-up. Or, translating from French dictionary Le Robert, ‘an incident that disrupts the harmony of a process.’ A lot of incidents tend to disrupt the harmony of processes in France. This is not a random statement but an observation based on experience. And it seems that many such couacs are being observed in advance of the Paris Olympics. It doesn’t take a lot of imaginatio ..read more

One of my favourite French expressions is ‘remercier’. Used not to thank someone, but rather to fire them. Or to ‘let them go’, as we so kindly put it in English. To me, ‘remercier’ illustrates all of the subtlety and indirectness of the French language, and why it is the language of diplomacy. Not that I would know much about that: I’m about as indirect and diplomatic as my French bulldogs. This week Emmanuel Macron ‘thanked’ his prime minister for the past two years by accepting her resignation. Here again, it makes it sound like she wanted to leave. But no, essentially she was forced out s ..read more

“What can I wish you?” people will ask. “Health? Success? A little wealth?” The very first post I published on this blog in January 2013 was about the month-long tradition of ‘les voeux’ or new year’s wishes in France. That’s still the case, although here in Switzerland I’ve had little chance yet to observe whether people wish each other a happy new year all through January. Most people’s greatest wish is for good health. “La santé par dessus tout,” I often hear the French say. Beyond that, they will add, a bit of prosperity and enjoyment of life. It is rare to hear people ask for more love ..read more

“La neige? Pas trop.” That’s what the locals said when I asked: “Do you get much snow in winter?” “Not really. Usually melts around here. You have to go higher up for it to stick.” Our Swiss village is at 800 metres altitude and surrounded by mountains, so I found this surprising. But we are reputed to be in a bit of a microclimate here in sunny Valais. So much so that the former owners planted palm trees and yuccas. So, I took them at their word. Until this happened. But the snow turned to rain and our winter wonderland soon turned into a giant slushie. Maybe they were right. When we went aw ..read more

La pendule de Foucault, proof that the earth rotates every 24 hours, is the only pendulum for me. It’s that time of year again, folks. When the clocks go crazy and change by one hour, mostly in the uncivilized countries of the EU and North America. Everyone seems to have an opinion about whether summer time or winter time is better. Few seem to grasp that it doesn’t matter which time we choose, if only we could stop this silly semi-annual pendulum swing. Allow me to illustrate my opinion with what has to be the most bizarre expression in French: “Chier une pendule.” Literally, to shit a clock ..read more

Once upon a time we had a cat. Leo was not your average moggy. He had the proverbial nine lives. Leo was born in 2005 in Vourles, France, a short drive from where we then lived, in the countryside outside Lyon. Our cleaner, a rocker chick with cat-like eyes and a nimble touch with a feather duster, told me how his mother had rejected him and she had been forced to find an adoptive family in a hurry. That second life was short-lived as the family quickly gave him back. As it happened he was currently available for adoption. In fact, if she didn’t find a home for him soon, she didn’t know what ..read more