I remember having to 'go for a coffee' about 3 or 4 times before I found the right coffee to order when on my own viewing trip in France looking for the right French house in the late 1990s.

Much later I remember David coming home for lunch after meeting some artisans, electricians, plumbers, roofers etc. in a cafe one morning and one of the artisans was runnig late so they all waited and ordered more cafe, after the 4th cup David said he was 'coffee drunk' and as light headed as the time he was waiting on another person and the 'Calvados' bottle came out! but that is another story...

Photo by Karol Franks on Flickr

As a fellow coffee lover the first things a friend of mine wanted to do after arriving in France was to, bien sûr (of course), prendre une tasse de café (grab a cup of coffee). She got off the plane, jetlagged and groggy from the long-haul flight, but still had the idea of that tasse in her head.

After making her way across Paris to her hotel room for the night she went out into the clmly lit streets of Paris in search for the perfect cup of coffee, how she thought she woud get to sleep that night I will never know! Naturally she found un petit café juste à côté de la Tour Eiffel (right next to the Eiffel Tower) and sat down. When viewing property in France with Cle France on a house hunting trip looking for that perfect French house to buy, do make sure you take time to stop at a Cafe and watch the world go buy, it will help you soak up the atmosphere of where you are and may wish to buy a house and perhaps even move to full time? as my friend glanced at the menu panic set in:

Café au lait

Latte macchiato

Café crème

Noisette

Cappuccino

Americano

Café viennois

There were some menu items je ne conaissais pas (I didn’t know) let alone my friend with minimum understanding of French, but, I guess, for the most part the names were easy to understand. She just wanted a simple coffee! why should it be so complicated!

When it came time to order, she said in her best French, 'Un café, s’il vous plaît' (a coffee, please), and waited for the much desired drink to come back in a few moments after lots of squirting and frothing from behind the counter.

The barista came back with her drink and put it down on my table with, the very reasonable, l’addition (the bill), then off like a shot to serve the next customer.

'He got my order wrong' was her first thought as she looked at la petite tasse de café (the small cup of coffee) sitting next to a small rectangular cookie and a few lumps of sugar almost as big as the cup. Son français (her French) wasn’t good enough to argue about it so she just drank the café and went on with her strole thourhg the streets of Paris.

However when the same problem happened again, and again, and again, she began to realise that 'un café' is not the same thing as 'a coffee', a quick phone call and all was explained.

Ordering a café is ordering what we would call an espresso! The big coffee drink that we know as 'a cup of coffee' is not that easy to come across in France but I guess the equivilent, and my oprder of choice is a 'Café crème' which often comes with a glass of water to freshen the mouth! so if you’re going to un café français (a French cafe) you may be a little more prepared now? or just do as my friend does and happily (and knowingly) say, 'un café, s’il vous plaît'.

Now you know what to order - book a viewing trip with Cle France today!

Blog submitted by: Sharon at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Studying in France: A Perfect Score.

If you are planning to move to France with school age children then read on and by all means get your children to read this blog, we hope it helps and if you want more insight then leave a comment and we will follow it up, also if you have first hand experience of the education system then please also leave some comments.

We get lots of people asking us about the buying process and viewing property for sale in france with us but we also get hundreds of questions about the various aspects of living in France once people see a property they like and mark as a favourite, one of the most common questions is about the French education system and their concerns about putting thier children through the French system.

We have done that with our children and helped and advised many others on every aspect over the years so here we are adding some insights in the form of blogs to the Cle France website to help you understand the differences.

Photo by Tal Bright on Flickr

Les examens… If you are currently in the middle of your exams or you are about to passer les examens (take exams) and hope you can réussir les examens (pass exams) we wish you all the luck in the world, perhaps you are thinking of moving to France?

Let us just take a moment to see how different the grading system is in France, so you know what to expect.

The very first thing that will jump out to a non-French person is that grades are not based on an A, B, C, D, F system; they are not a percetage or even a 0-100 scale. Instead everything is based on a 0/20 marking system, with 10/20 being the basic "Pass" grade.

The other oddity (to us at least!) of the French grading system is that there is a strong emphasis on the idea that “personne n’est parfaite” (nobody’s perfect), quite refreshing in its own way. So teachers and 'profs' almost never ever give out a grade of 20/20! or at least I never got one!

Before people start yelling at me that it is just me that never got 20/20, “mais c’est faux ! Il  y a des profs qui donnent des 20s !” (That’s not true! There are teachers that will give you 20s!), yes I guess, it is true that it is possible to achieve the much desired vingt sur vingt (twenty out of twenty), but it is rare and in general, on le donne pas (it’s not given out), because “personne n’est parfaite”.

Thinking about this, it is a little bizarre and certainly odd if you a’re not used to it. As a result of nobody being parfaite, l’idée d’une bonne note (the idea of a good grade) is un peu different compared with UK and American equivalents where stiving for the top marks is encouraged and shouted from the rooftops!

So what score is considered good?

In France a 12/20 is pretty good, a 14/20 is considered good and a 16/20 is amazing give yourself a pat on the back! (18/20 is reserved only for excellent work so if you get this then your a destined for great things).

Thinking about ces notes (these grades) in the familiar terms of just A, B, C, D, F may make you feel like you couldn’t do well in France and that scores out of 20 devalue your efforts somewhat BUT, enfin (finally), you will get used to the French grading system and be hiting the high numbers before you know it.

Le système d’éducation française (The French education system) is vastly different from the UK and American system. You may have to stumble along and learn it as you go, but in general it will only take 3 months to get to grips with the education system, about 6 months to fiully intergrate and by the end of the first year you will never want to be anywere else than studying en France.

If anyone has a specific question about 'the system' or how things work in French schools, Colleges and Uuniversities, feel free to leave a comment un commentaire below!

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

We know what the Romans did for us and we often see TV shows in our own countries on what our forefathers did for us but what have the French given us in the fields of technology, science and medicine in the last hundred years.

Cle France can give you many reasons why you should buy a house in France and lots of information about the buying process when considering a French property purchase, we can even give you reasons why French neighbours are the best but today and in the following weeks we are going to take a short look at France’s Contributions to the World!

In part 1 of this mini-series, we looked at six of the greatest French contributions to the world. Today, let’s look at few more you might find interesting. This series is meant not only to be informative but also to help you cultivate a deeper appreciation of French culture and its impact on world history.

Image by Nicolas Raymond on Flickr

1. Science:

The quantity and scale of scientific discoveries has grown exponentially in the last two hundred years. Each new discovery opens the door to new ones that give us greater insight into the way things work and often improves our lives. Henri Becquerel was a French physicist responsible for discovering radioactivity while Pierre and Marie Curie greatly advanced our knowledge of radioactivity through their discovery of radium and polonium. All three were the recipients of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903. Microbiologist and chemist Louis Pasteur developed vaccines for rabies, chicken cholera and anthrax and pioneered the process of pasteurization to which he lent his name.

2. Système International d’Unités (International System of Units):

Yes, it was France that developed the metric system, the most widespread system of measurement in the world today. The system was devised in 1795 to replace the irrational and confusing system of weights and measures at the time that comprised several thousand units of measure. The idea was to develop a system based on multiples of ten and thus the mètre (meter), gramme (gram) and litre (liter) became the basic units of measure that remain the international standard in the 21st century.

3. Cinématographie (Cinematography):

Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière developed the very first commercially viable projector called the Cinématographe in 1895. This marked the dawn of movie history. The brothers would go on to produce forty short films in 1896 alone.

4. Braille: ouis Braille became blind at the age of three and twelve years later developed a system of writing and printing for the blind while attending the Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles (National Institute for Blind Children) in Paris in 1824. Braille consists of sixty-three characters used as part of a six-dot system made of cells and is the most widespread writing system for the blind in use today.

5. Montgolfière et Parachute (Hot air balloon and Parachute):

You might be surprised to learn that these too methods of aerial transport were invented by the French. Like the Lumière brothers, Joseph-Michel and his brother Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier were another pair of inventors who in 1783 successfully demonstrated the very first manned flight. The balloon flew over Paris and remained airborne twenty-five minutes. Although famed Italian polymath Leonardo Da Vinci came up with the idea of a parachute in 1483 (and the Chinese may even have invented it centuries before) it was French aeronaut Louis-Sébastien Lenormand who, in 1783, performed the first successful parachute landing that made parachuting a viable feat.

6. Photographie (Photography):

French inventor Nicéphore Niépce can be credited with creating the first permanent photographic image c. 1826 by way of the heliographic (sun drawing) process that used light to produce pictures. Niépce’s interest in lithography led him to develop this method as a way to compensate for his lack of artistic ability. The exposure time lasted a total of eight hours but his invention paved the way for future development of the photographic process.

Many of these French inventions have shaped the world as we know it today.

The next time you watch a movie, take a photograph, or use the metric system, take a moment to remember the origins of these inventions and the ways they have enhanced your life. Thanks to Niépce, we can capture moments in time and cherish memories through photographs for many years to come.

Thanks to les frères Lumière (the Lumière brothers), we can be entertained, informed and moved by motion pictures. Because of Louis Pasteur, we now have vaccines against certain deadly diseases while the contributions of the Curies and Becquerel have opened the door to breakthroughs in chemistry and nuclear physics.

Of course, there are many more inventions attributed to the French but it would take a book to explore them all in detail. So join me in saying “Merci, la France!” (Thank you, France!)

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

We know what the Romans did for us and we often see TV shows in our own countries on what our forefathers did for us but what have the French given us in the fields of technology, science and medicine in the last hundred years.

Cle France can give you many reasons why you should buy a house in France and lots of information about the buying process when considering a French property purchase, we can even give you reasons why French neighbours are the best but today and in the following weeks we are going to take a short look at France’s Contributions to the World!

The 20th and 21st centuries have proven to be fascinating periods in history.

There have been greater advances in the last hundred years than in all previous centuries combined. We live in a world where we can communicate with people across the globe in real time; where we can travel to the most remote parts of the planet; and where we can experience first-hand distant cultures that people for centuries didn’t even know existed. We have access to any piece of information, not to mention hours of entertainment, all within the palm of our hand. It’s easy to take all of this for granted but everything we come into contact with has a “history” of its own. It has evolved over a number of years, even decades or centuries to become what it is today.

The course of human civilization has been tumultuous since its inception. Cultures have taken shape independently from one another. Some have disappeared completely due to wars and disease. Each country or culture that exists today has contributed to the human experience in some way. The luxuries and conveniences we live with were often borne out of necessity but many times out of sheer curiosity. You could spend a lifetime studying the contributions of a single country and still not cover everything.

So what has France contributed to the world? More than you might think. Let’s take a look…

1. La Gastronomie Française (French Gastronomy):

The art of French cuisine has a long and storied history dating back to the Moyen Age (Middle Ages). The stereotypical “French chef” you see in many cartoons is, like many stereotypes, simply an exaggeration of la vérité (the truth). Haute Cuisine (High Cooking) is practiced by the best hotels and restaurants throughout France where food is treated as an art form not only in its preparation but in its presentation. Le Guide Michelin continues to set high culinary standards with its system of awarding stars to the world’s finest restaurants and Le Cordon Bleu (The Blue Ribbon) established in 1895 in Paris is the school to attend for ambitious chefs who want to learn from the best.

2. La Mode (Fashion):

Although the idea of fashion dates back to the earliest civilizations, fashion as we know it today began in France in the 17th century in the courts of King Louis XIV. Haute Couture (High Fashion) became a symbol of prestige and individuality among aristocrats who spent extravagant amounts of money on tailored clothing. Designs elements and coordinated ensembles established in French courts influenced courts in other countries and these styles would eventually trickle down to the masses. Queen Marie-Antoinette became the country’s foremost fashionista during her short reign. Today, many of the most prestigious and renown fashion labels are indeed French: Chanel, Vuitton, Hermès, Dior, etc.

3. Ballet:

Much like fashion, theatrical dance rose to prominence in the courts of Louis XIV. An avid dancer himself, the king established the Académie Royale de Danse (Royal Dance Academy) in 1661 devoted exclusively to the study of ballet. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, France remained at the forefront of ballet education.

4. Littérature (Literature):

Literature cannot be attributed to one country in particular, but France has produced its share of prolific auteurs (authors) whose works have been translated into dozens of languages, made into plays, adapted to the silver screen and have permeated popular culture in many western countries. Victor Hugo is an icon of the Romantic literary movement famous for Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame among others. Alexandre Dumas was another notable figure of literary Romanticism and author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. Flaubert, Zola, Balzac, Proust, Verne, Saint-Exupéry, La Fontaine, Baudelaire and many others have penned classics that have stood the test of time and continue to be held in high esteem throughout the Western world.

5. Philosophie (Philosophy):

Philosophy began in the days of Ancient Greece with Socrates, Plato and Aristotle but France has been a great contributor to modern thought over the last four hundred years beginning with René Descartes, a scientist, philosopher and mathematician known as the “Father of Modern Philosophy.” Denis Diderot is responsible for creating the first encyclopedia while François-Marie Arouet who took Voltaire as his nom de plume (pen name) wrote works on history, poetry, prose, and science. Both of these men were forward-thinkers during the Siècle des Lumières (Age of Enlightenment) who advocated for the separation of church and state and became a voice for the disenfranchised populace.

6. Impressionnisme (Impressionism):

Impressionism is a quintessential French art movement that developed in Paris in the late 19th century. Paintings of the Impressionist movement were characterized by the transient use of light and color to portray subjects. Accuracy was eschewed in favor of a more free-flowing style of painting that emphasized the artist’s use of texture and tone manipulation. Famous Impressionists included Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Édouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, and Edgar Degas among others.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

If you really want to learn French, you need to know a few French expressions...

Si tu veux vraiment apprendre le Français, il faut connaître quelques expressions Françaises!

Bored with your everyday use of the French language? Are you looking to add un peu de variété (a little variety) to your daily discourse?

Have you had a chance to apply some of the French idioms we saw in previous posts? In parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 ( Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6 ) we covered a variety of expressions, many of which can be used in everyday language in one way or another. It may take a little time to become familiar with them, but you’re bound to find a few that stick out and that you might want to insert into your conversations with other French speakers.

 Photo by Tim Morgan on Flickr

If you haven’t found any aphorisms in the previous posts that appeal to you or that you deem useful, here are a few may that may suit your fancy.

Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5 for a bevy of witty little French idioms you might have missed.

This is the final instalment in our series on French expressions. When writing the posts for this series, we wanted to help readers inject a little humor into their conversations with native French speakers. The purpose was to amuse, surprise and even impress your listener.

If you usually converse with people who are just learning French, you might not get the same results. In the end, these are simply to help you appreciate the breadth of the French language and to familiarise yourself with witty sayings you might not hear very often. 

**Phrase in parentheses is the literal translation, or as close to it as possible.**

Raconter des salades (Telling salads) – Telling lies.

Fier comme Artaban (Proud like Artaban) – Being very proud, even arrogant.

Avoir des fourmis (Having ants) – Feeling antsy/restless, wanting to move.

Avoir du sang de navet (Having the blood of a turnip) – Lacking courage.

Presser quelqu’un comme un citron (Squeezing someone like a lemon) – To exploit another person.

La fin des haricots (The end of beans) – To feel hopeless.

Dormir comme un sabot (Sleep like a shoe/clog) – To be in a deep sleep, similar to the expression “Sleeping like a log.”

Tuer le temps (Killing time) – Distracting oneself to avoid boredom, like the English expression “Killing time.”

C’est une huile (It’s an oil) – To be a person of high stature/influence.

Partir les pieds devant (To leave with feet in front) – To die/pass away.

Jamais deux sans trois (Never two without three) – Similar to the English expressions “Third time’s a charm” or “When it rains, it pours.”

Aller au charbon (Going to the coal) – To do all the work/to make a living.

Pas folle, la guêpe! (Not crazy, the wasp!) – He/she is smart/cunning.

Se serrer la ceinture (To tighten one’s belt) – To cut back/make do.

Ramener sa fraise (To bring back one’s strawberry) – To have a pretentious attitude.

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.