27 January 2018

Le temps a changé

You'll be glad to hear me say that the weather has really changed. It's turned dry and colder. You won't have to read my moaning and groaning about damp and dark any more, at least for a while.


Yesterday afternoon the sky was a deep blue with huge puffy clouds. There's very little wind, and it's chilly now — but it's a dry, seasonal cold, and still not below freezing. Forecasts say it will stay this way for a week or so.


The ground is still sloppy wet but at least the air isn't. My camera didn't know how to act yesterday because of the high-contrast light conditions. Paris and other places to the northeast of us are still waiting for the rivers to crest so they can assess the extent of the flooding. I like this French expression for a river that is flooding: La Seine est sortie de son lit. "The Seine has gotten out of its bed." No damaging floods here at Saint-Aignan so far.

8 comments:

  1. Sortie de son lit...That's a great expression.

    Following up on yesterday's post, I thought it was interesting to see in the news, about Paul Bocuse, when asked what would be his ideal last meal:

    “A good pot-au-feu...”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/26/worlds-top-chefs-gather-en-masse-white-funeral-paul-bocuse-pope/

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    1. I can't believe the Telegraph's writer described "leftovers" as "remains" in the last sentence of that article. I don't think the British use "remains" with that meaning. Maybe somebody will tell me.

      But I can believe the part about having a last meal of pot-au-feu. One of the best ones I ever had was called Bœuf au gros sel on the menu, in a Paris restaurant called Chez René. It was a carrot, a potato, and a chunk of beef on a plate, served with coarse sea salt and mustard. Memorable.

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    2. Merriam Webster says that a synonym of remains is leftovers. It shows that when writing the choice of words is very important! In the present case, using remains when talking about Bocuse and pot-au-feu is weird, to say the least! Le mot de la fin!

      I have many very good memories of delicious meals at Chez René.

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    3. My Merriam Dictionary says that the plural form 'remains' means 'a dead body' — no mention of leftovers. And I know that in U.S. English 'remains' is short for 'mortal remains' meaning la dépouille (mortelle) d'un défunt. Who knows what the term means in British English.

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    4. According to both my Oxford dictionary and the Collins-Cobuilds one the first given meaning of the word remains is: the parts of something that are left after the other parts have been used, eaten, removed etc. Only the second/third meaning in these dictionaries is: the body of a dead person or animal. My English husband confirms this usage, but he did add that 'leftovers; would be more commonly used here. Tim or somebody other Briton might chime in.

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  2. Those memories of fine meals remain with us until we are only remains lol. I think being really hungry at the time of the good meal is important also. I remember traveling along the east coast of France late one night and coming upon a really nice restaurant which made Lewis and I happy campers since we were camping on that trip.

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  3. I wonder if the use of "remains" instead "leftovers" is simply a bad translation from "les restes."

    And...what Evelyn said (as usual).

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  4. Well, all I can say, is that the top photo is fabulous!

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