Clé France

Learning a little French etiquette can go a long ay to help you intergrate when living in France or indeed just when visiting the many regions of France.

You never know if your next viewing trip with us could turn into a glass clincking success! so if you do make an offer on a French property for sale and the offer is accepted then how would you 'toast' the occaision? 

Or you are out with some friends about to take your first sip and everyone raises their glasses to toast...

Photo by Omar G! on Flickr.

Qu’est-ce que tu fais en-suite ? (What do you do next?)

En France, you have to regarder dans les yeux (look in the eyes) of the person you’re clincking glasses with. Ce qui est important (what’s important) is bearing in mind that by NOT remembering to regarder dans les yeux is seen as rude or simply une maladresse (a faux pas).

I did not know all this when I first visited France, the first time I went out with des amis français (some French friends) is un bon exemple (a good example); after we found a good place to sit and had placed our orders, we all went to lever nos verres (raise our glasses)....

We toasted and then I took a drink. Much to my surprise, mes amis français (my French friends) were still looking at me after I had finished swallowing. One of my friends then said to me:

“Non, il faut que tu me regardes dans les yeux !” (No, you have to look at me in the eyes!)

Confused, I tried again, but my eyes darted away before our glasses met and on m’a dit (I was told).

“Non, dans mes yeux !” (No, in my eyes!)

I slowly raised my glass and went in again. This time I made sure to keep un contact visuel (eye contact). After a very intense few seconds it was over and shouts of “santé” (cheers) were passed around.

I had successfully learned how to toast in French!

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

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

Get Yourself A Valentine with our 'Pick-up Lines'

Well, it’s that time of the year. You either have a Valentine, want one, or completely dislike the holiday. No matter your feelings, love is something that needs to be experienced, so if you’re single and ready to mingle and want to try meeting some new people, why not do it in French? After all, it is la langue d’amour (the language of love).

Vous avez du mal à draguer (Are you bad at hitting on people)? Voici la formule magique pour choper des mecs et des meufs en un rien de temps (Here’s the magic formula for picking up men/women in no time)!

Check out the video below of pick up lines in French. Laissez ces séducteurs/séductrices vous guider à votre Valentin(e) (Allow these Casanovas and Enchantresses guide you to your Valentine). C’est tout ce qu’il vous faut (it’s all you need)! You can turn on the subtitles and toggle between French and English to understand what’s being said.

Click here to view the embedded video. 

Voici les phrases – mémorisez-les et tentez votre chance! (Here are the lines – memorise them and try your luck!)

Hé, j’ai pas déjà vu ta photo quelque part? Ah oui, c’était dans le dictionnaire juste en dessous de sexy!

Hey, haven’t I already seen your picture somewhere? Oh, yeah! It was in the dictionary just under the word “sexy!”

J’aime mon café comme j’aime mes femmes…j’aime pas le café.

I like my coffee like I like my women…I don’t like coffee.

Surtout tu m’embrasses si je me trompe – les dinosaures existent encore, c’est vrai?

Kiss me if I’m wrong, but dinosaurs still exist, don’t they?

Est-ce que tu crois à l’amour au premier regard ou est-ce que je dois repasser?

Do you believe in love at first sight, or do I have to walk by again?

Tu aurais pas un pansement? Je me suis égratigné le genoux en tombant amoureuse de toi.

Do you have a band-aid? I scraped my knee falling in love with you.

Tu n’as pas eu mal quand tu es tombé du ciel?

Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?

Ton père est un voleur? Parce qu’il a volé les étoiles du ciel pour les mettre dans tes yeux.

Is your father a thief? Because he stole the stars from the sky to put them in your eyes.

Excuse-moi, est-ce que tu embrasses les inconnus? Non? Donc, je me présente.

Excuse me, do you kiss strangers? No? Allow me to introduce myself.

Est-ce que je peux prendre une photo de toi pour montrer ce que je veux ce Noël au Père Noël ?

Can I take a picture of you to show Santa Claus what I want for Christmas?

Si t’aimer est un crime je plaide coupable.

If loving you is a crime, I plead guilty.

Ça fait quoi d’être la fille la plus belle dans la pièce?

What’s it like being the prettiest girl in the room?

Tu es tellement jolie que j’ai oublié ma phrase de drague.

You’re so pretty I forgot my pick up line!

Si tu étais un hamburger, tu serais le McNifique.

If you were a hamburger, you would be the McNificient.

La mer est faite pour nager, le vent pour souffler, et moi pour t’aimer.

The sea is made for swimming, the wind for blowing, and me for loving you.

Les roses sont rouges,

Les violettes sont bleues,

J’ai un flingue

Viens dans le camion!

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

I have a gun,

Get in the truck!

Si je te disais que tu as un beau corps, tu le tiendrais contre moi?

If I told you you had a nice body, would you hold it against me?

Tu as un(e) copin(e)?

Oui.

Ça va, je suis pas un mec (une fille) jaloux(se).

Do you have a girlfriend?

Yes.

That’s ok, I’m not a jealous girl.

On se connait? Parce que tu ressembles à ma future petite-copine.

Do we know each other? Because you look like my future girlfriend.

Si tu continues à passer autant de temps dans mon esprit, je devrais demander un loyer.

If you keep spending so much time on my mind, I should ask for the rent.

Je peux te suivre jusqu’à ta maison? Mes parents m’ont toujours dit de suivre mes rêves.

Can I follow you home? My parents always told me to follow my dreams.

Entre nous, tu sais ce qui n’a qu’un œil, deux pouces, et qui baise comme un dieu?

Between us, do you know what has one eye, two thumbs, and makes love like a god?

Ton nom de famille, c’est pas Google? Parce que je trouve tout ce que je cherche avec toi.

Is your last name Google? Because I find everything I’m looking for with you.

Ton père c’est un terroriste? Parce que toi, c’est une bombe !

Is your father a terrorist? Because you’re the bomb!

Le miel de tes baisers est le seul qui ne me fasse pas grossir.

The honey from your kisses is the only one to not make me fat.

Tu as un plan? Parce que je me suis perdu dans tes yeux.

Do you have a map? Because I got lost in your eyes.

À part être sexy, tu fais quoi dans la vie?

Besides being sexy, what do you do for a living?

Tu es un appareil photo? Parce que je souris à chaque fois que je te vois.

Are you a camera? Because I smile every time I see you.

Ton père travaille à Nintendo si j’en crois ton corps de DS [this is pronounced like the French word for goddess, déesse, so this pick-up line works only in French], non?

Your father has to work at Nintendo if I’m to believe your goddess body.

Je t’envoie des wagons de baisers sur des rails de tendresse.

I’m sending you kisses on the cars of tenderness tracks.

On devrait t’arrêter pour excès de beauté sur la voie publique.

You should be arrested for too much beauty in public.

Puis-je t’appeler Cracotte? Parce que je te trouve trop craquante.

Can I call you cracker? Because I think you’re just too irresistible.

Tu es célibataire. Je suis célibataire. Coïncidence? Je ne crois pas.

You’re single. I’m single. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Tu veux qu’on y aille?

Non, j’ai un copain.

J’ai un poisson rouge.

Quoi?

Je m’excuse, je croyais qu’on parlait des choses pas importantes.

You wanna get out of here?

No, I have a boyfriend.

I have a goldfish.

What?

Sorry, I thought we were talking about unimportant matters.

Ton corps est 70% d’eau, et moi j’ai soif.

Your body is 70% water, and I’m thirsty.

Je viens juste de remarquer que vous ressemblez beaucoup à mon futur petit ami.

I only just realized that you look like my future boyfriend.

Si le verbe aimer n’existait pas, je l’aurais inventé en te voyant.

If the verb “to love” didn’t exist, I would have invented it in seeing you.

Je sais ce que tu penses, mais tu te trompes. Tu as une chance avec moi. 

I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong. You do have a chance with me.

Ton père il vend pas des fusils? Parce que tu es trop canon.

Does your father sell guns? Because you’re a bombshell.

Je peux prendre une photo de toi pour prouver à mes amis que les anges existent?

Excuse me, can I take a picture of you? It’s just to prove to my friends that angels exist.

Tu es religieuse? Parce que tu es la réponse à mes prières.

Are you religious? Because you are the answer to all my prayers.

Tu peux tomber d’un arbre, tu peux tomber d’un cheval, mais la meilleur façon de tomber, c’est de tomber amoureux de moi.

You can fall from a tree, you can fall from a horse, but the best way to fall is to fall in love with me.

C’est vrai, tu aimes bien mon prénom? Attends d’entendre mon numéro.

Oh yeah, you like my name? Wait till you hear my number.

Mes potes viennent de me parier 20 euros que je pourrais pas aborder la plus jolie fille de la salle. Ça te dit qu’ on utilise leur argent pour se payer un quoi boire?

So, my friends just bet me 20 euros that I couldn’t approach the prettiest girl in the room. What do you say you and I spend their money to buy ourselves some drinks?

Un TRÈS grand merci à Juliette, Alix, Noreen, Yoann, Ségo, Clémence, Samia, Rania, Chloé, Alban, Jonas, David, Ahmed, Karine, Tito, Elena, Cyril, Anthony, Marc, Guillaume, Laora, Steffie, Jeremy, Ronan, Marion, Eva, and Ilona. Special thanks to Anaïs, Natacha, and Jeremy.

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

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

Hello David,

Many thanks for your email, thanks to yourselves and the advice given Me and Meg look like acquiring our lovely house in France by the Spring. On the whole our experience has been very good and everyone most helpful and we are very happy with the service you provide at Cle France.

Neil & Meg.

Always a pleasure, Neil and Meg are buying a charming property for sale with us in Deux-Sevres department of Poitou-Charentes and they know we are there for them every step of the way to flag up issues and answer any questions about the buying process, making sure they arrive as 'French property owners' without a hitch.

Keep it clean please this is a family website!

We are not talking about THAT French kiss (that is called une pelle – literally, a shovel. The verb to French kiss is rouler une pelle [to wrap / roll a shovel, Mmm lovely?]- you can put that image together yourself), no... we’re going to talk about the art or science of la bise (kiss).

When meeting someone in France, "faire la bise" is commonplace, but for those who are not familiar with these introductory cheek kisses, the act can be daunting, embarrassing, confusing and may make you feel a little mal à l’aise (uncomfortable).

It’s nothing cheeky — it’s just a way to say bonjour!

If you are going to France to view property looking for a holiday home to buy, don't kiss every agent you meet, you have to get to know the person a bit first really!

Number of kisses to give. Results as of February 5, 2015. Image courtesy of Combien de bises?

Going on a Property Viewing trip soon?

If you have never been to France yet, you should definitely become aware of this custom or you could get yourself in deep water havning just got off the ferry. It goes further than a simple hello and a handshake (although, that can happen, too).

Where you are in France can determine just how many times you kiss – it can be anywhere between 2 and 5. How can you know for sure? The best and safest way is just to go along with whatever the French person is doing.

Looking at the statistics on the survey above from the website 'Combien de bises' this will give you a general idea of how many bises (kisses) you can expect to give.

Get used to pressing your cheek against the other person’s cheek and kissing the air, there are worse things in life to have to endure. It might sound weird, but there are some 'generally accepted' guidelines you can follow to make this transition a little easier. Just like with French grammar, though as with grammer, there to be exceptions.

The act itself is simple, you press your cheek against the other person’s cheek and kiss the air. Puis, vous changez de côté (then you change sides) – pull your head back slightly (just enough not to brush your noses or lips together and avoid clattering of specticles!) and do the same thing with the other cheek.

Image courtesy of HardWare Forum

But which cheek to start with?

After all you have a choice of two, yes 2, thank you!

It can go a little further than this, too – which cheek do you start with?

I always lean to the left and press my right cheek first. Some people insist on starting with another cheek. I’ve never run into a problem, but maybe that is becasue I am nice to kiss!

So that’s how you do it – how about who you do it with?

This mostly depends on your relation with the person and their gender. It is common to faire la bise with people you know, and even their friends. That means when you go to a French party, be prepared to make a lot of kissy sounds. This surprised me at first; I was used to just giving a communal hello and considering it finished.

When viewing property for sale in France with us, just because you hear “bonjour!” doesn’t mean it is time to stick your cheek out. You’ll be greeted with a nice hello every time you go into the bakery for example. A simple bonjour back is sufficient.

We are not going to faire la bise to a new client either but if you buy a house in France from us then who knows what you will get!.

To clarify - The kissing activity is less common in the professional world where the handshake still rules firm.

Female friends to other female friends always font la bise. Males and females will almost always do the kisses, but if the woman holds her hand out, she wants a handshake, not the kiss so don't push it.

Male and male is a little different. Most guys will just shake hands, but some guys, especially in the south in my experience, will kiss a close friend or family member’s cheek while wrapping their arm around the other person’s back. And of course, everything in this paragraph depends on the person, so nothing is set in stone. Even if the local plumber has finally shown up and fixed your non-flushing loo it may be best to not kiss him and possible avoid shaking his hand, just a polite nod and pay his facture / invoice on time would be fine!

La bise took me a while to get used to and even 'the French' get it wrong, there are really no hard and fast rules apart from you don't do it 'hard and fast'!

The act of La bise is also carrying over into technology in the form of text messages and emails. When writing a friend, it is pretty accepted to end the message with bise or bisous (both meaning kiss).

So there it is a brief summary of la bise. Just remember, when meeting a French person: pucker up!

How about you? Do you have any interesting bise stories to share? Did you embarrass yourself? Any etiquette tips to add? If you have a Cle France Login write them below in the comments section if you don't have a Cle France Login, why not! go to the top of the screen and 'set up a Cle France account'!

Create an account so that you can Save individual Properties and Searches on the website. Any updates to those properties and searches will be emailed to you on a regular basis.

Bisous, lecteurs (kisses, readers).

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

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

Snow and low temperatures aren’t so bad. Winter sports can be fun. Icy roads aren’t appealing, but they’re doable. But when there’s a strong wind in the winter? Non merci. I’d prefer to stay indoors pour boire mon chocolat chaud (to drink my hot chocolate).

The south of France is known for its Mediterranean climate – hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The summer and fall were great, and I didn’t think the winter would be too terrible. Imagine my surprise when I found out about an extremely strong wind called le Mistral.

Le Mistral is a bitter cold wind that comes from le Massif Central mountain range located in the center of France. When a high pressure area (in the Bay of Biscay) meets with a low pressure area (in the Gulf of Genoa), the wind comes sweeping down blowing north/north-west into Montpellier, Lyon, Marseille — straight down the Rhône River — and even as far south as Corsica and Sardinia and parts of Northern Africa.

It takes your breath away and makes it hard to breathe in the winter, but à quelque chose malheur est bon (every cloud has its silver lining). The wind is dry and generally accompanied by sun, so despite its bone-chilling effects, it’s in part thanks to this vent de fou (crazy wind) that Provence boasts its celebrated and sunny climate. Whenever there’s the Mistral, it won’t rain.

Le Mistral est plus fort en hiver et au printemps (The Mistral is strongest in winter and in spring), but it makes its presence known year round. Unlike in winter, it’s very welcomed in the summer when you need to cool off. When we were outside, I had a friend who would tell us all to raise our arms as soon as the Mistral blew so we could dry off, haha.

It has been known to have a velocity of up to 100km (just over 62mph), and the effects can be seen sprinkled throughout the region. It’s not uncommon to see des arbres couchés (bent trees) in the direction of the wind.

In Provence, there are traditional roof tiles you put on your house.  It’s a rectangular, curved terracotta tile that’s stacked on the roof. They’re much heavier than the rubber ones commonly used in the States or slate or clay used in the UK. You don’t want these flying off the roof because of the wind, so it’s not uncommon to place heavy stones on the tiles to protect them from being uplifted.

Trees sometimes line the perimeter of les champs (the fields) to protect the crops from wind erosion. Some bell towers aren’t closed in and are left open so the wind can breeze through it. Check out some examples below.

Are your kids uncontrollable tonight? Dog won’t stop barking? Feel like you’re going crazy and want to go on a rampage? Much like la pleine lune (the full moon), the Mistral is said to have a behavioral effect on people and animals.  

C’est à discuter (that’s debatable), but at least the moon doesn’t cause cracked skin and lips. And it’s not a one-day event. On dit que (they say) that the wind comes in groups of 3 – if you have it for 2 days, there will be a third.

Jamais deux sans trois (never 2 without 3 – an expression meaning that if 2 successive bad things have happened, there will be a third). If it goes onto day 4, you can expect it until at least day 6, and so on.

You can also find examples in French culture. In December, I wrote a post about Provincial nativity figurines called les santons. You can find certain characters holding their hats as they are walking against le Mistral, which is evident because their cloaks are flying back. Guess les santonniers (santon makers) wanted to keep the portrayed provincial life as authentic as possible.

If you’re a fan of classic literature or theatre, you may have read Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac” Even if you’ve never read it, you’re probably familiar with the balcony scene where Cyrano whispers to Christian what he should say to Roxanne to impress her.

In another famous scene called la tirade du nez (the nose monologue), a viscount poorly insults Cyrano by telling him his nose is “rather large.” Cyrano puts this man in his place by listing a number of different adjectives and with each one, presenting a better way to express yourself other than the ridiculous “rather large” insult.

Check out the Mistral’s special appearance: Emphatique: “Aucun vent ne peut, nez magistral, T’enrhumer tout entier, excepté le mistral !” (Emphatic: ‘No wind, O majestic nose, Give THEE cold, except the Mistral “). To give Cyrano a cold, the Mistral must really be something…

Because of all this talk about wind, I thought it would be a good idea to give some vocabulary and expressions related to le vent.

il y a du vent – it’s windy

il vente – it’s windy (common in Canada)

un souffle de vent – a breath of fresh air

un vent de panique – a wave of panic

un vent glacial - ice-cold wind (like le Mistral!)

un vent violent – howling wind

un vent léger - light wind

un brin de vent - a light breeze

un coupe-vent - a windbreaker

avoir le vent en poupe - to be on a roll / to be riding high

avoir vent de quelque chose - to get wind of something

avoir du vent dans les voiles - to be three sheets to the wind (drunk)

avoir le nez au vent - to go whichever way the wind blows you

mettre un vent à qqn / coller un vent - to snub/ignore somebody / to blow someone off

partir en coup de vent - to leave in a hurry / to pop in

se prendre un vent / se manger un vent - to be ignored by someone

être dans le vent - to be hip / to be with it (this isn’t used so much anymore. try être branché(e))

Autant en emporte le vent - Gone with the Wind

bon vent - God speed / farewell OR the complete opposite: good riddance

C’est du vent - it’s nonsense / a bunch of hot air

quel bon vent vous amène? – What brings you here?

Thinking of moving to France full time? - book a viewing trip with Cle France today!

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

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