A trove of cultural and linguistic articles for all Francophiles.
January 1st may be behind, but New Year’s celebration aren’t quite over yet. Not until January 6th. January 6th is known as “epiphany” - a very important day in French traditions. On this day the French eat ‘la galette des rois”. This cake is eaten to celebrate the...
Festive and fancy, champagne rhymes with celebration and special occasion. It spells elegance and luxury, and it is the drink of choice to celebrate and toast to life’s most important moments. In France, there about 260 Champagne Houses, which produce roughly 300...
The President's New Year wishes On December 31st at 8pm, the French President addresses the nation, from the presidential “Elysée Palace”-for the traditional “voeux présidentiels” - presidential greetings. During this traditional New Year’s Eve address, the President...
The Christmas meal is serious business. The French take their Christmas meal very seriously. French families rarely go out to a restaurant for their Christmas meal, they eat at home. The French tend to go all out and splurge for Christmas when it comes to food, and...
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. The festive season wouldn’t be what it is without music. Music is an integral part of the tradition at this time of year, and has been for centuries. Below is a selection of French Christmas songs, stemming...
La tradition des “étrennes” est très ancienne, elle remonte à la Rome Antique. Il s’agissait d’offrir un cadeau, souvent sous forme de figues, de dates ou de miel pour remercier quelqu’un, au moment du Nouvel An. Pour les facteurs, la tradition des étrennes telle que...
On October 10th 1963, French singer & song-writer Edith Piaf also known as “la môme” died at age 47. She was born in Paris in the Belleville district, on December 19th 1915, to a poor family and was abandoned at birth by her mother. Although Edith Piaf later...
On September 19, 1783, the inventors of the hot air balloon, the Montgolfier Brothers , flew their hot air balloon , the “Aérostat Réveillon “ before King Louis XVI and queen Marie-Antoinette for a presentation at the Château de Versailles . The flight lasted about 8...
Tuesday, the 14th of July: On this very day, all of France celebrates “Le Quatorze Juillet”, also known as “Bastille Day”. Bastille Day is the national day in France, and celebrates the storming of the Bastille Fortress on the same day in 1789. Whilst today the...
Setting a personal objective to learn a foreign language is a noble task indeed. In today’s international economy and global mobility, one must wonder if there is a more important personal skill than speaking another language. French is a good choice. More than just...
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You may be scratching your head and asking yourself why does Bonjour & Bienvenue, a fun family friendly cultural center write a blog about the French Foreign Legion? And we would not blame you. Let us clarify a couple of things first. For one, it’s French and...
