Experience France with Geri: Ile de le Cité Part 2
We left you last on the bridge taking great photos of the back of the Cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris. Now, as I mentioned in the last blog, we are going to visit a very special spot just at the tip of the island. As you leave the bridge and step onto the island, turn to the right and go into the little park called Square de l'Ile de France. You may notice a short wall ahead of you with writing on it. This is the Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation, a memorial to the 200,000 people deported from France during the 2nd World War, who went to their deaths in the extermination camps. This memorial was inaugurated in 1962 by General de Gaulle, then President of France. But most people don't ever find the memorial since there is no obvious indication. Even many Parisians have never been here. Notice a flight of stairs leading down. There may be an official at the stairs to inspect bags. Go down and you will find yourself in a stone enclosure suggesting a prison. Be aware that you are in a very solemn place and respect the silence and the feelings that arise in you and others around you. At the very tip of the island where you can see the river below, a metal sculpture gives the feeling of impossible escape.
Look back toward the stairway and you will notice a very narrow entrance to the crypt. Designed by the architect Georges-Henri Pingusson, the hexagonal, dimly-lit crypt opens onto a long gallery covered by lights, representing each of the 200,000 deported people killed, and the ashes of an unknown deportee from one of the camps. Whenever I visit this memorial I feel deeply moved and I am not the only one shedding a tear. You feel engulfed by the silence and the memories. The writings on the walls look like they have been scratched from the stone and are red to suggest the suffering. The two small galleries contain earth from the different camps and ashes brought back from the cremation ovens. All around, are the names of the camps and excerpts from poems by famous French writers like Robert Desnos, Jean-Paul Sartre and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Read the inscriptions, and let yourself feel the sadness as you reflect on the long voyage of humanity away from fear and hatred and toward more love and oneness. There are several inscriptions I always point out to fellow-travelers: “They went to the end of the world and they didn't come back”. And the words of the poet Paul Eluard from his famous poem Liberté:
"Et par le pouvoir d’un mot
Je recommence ma vie
Je suis né pour te connaître
Pour te nommer Liberté."
And in leaving the crypt, over the door it is written: Pardonne, n'oublie pas. Forgive, don't forget. May you hold in your heart the message of this visit, long after you leave the spot. In the next blog we will move across the street to visit the mighty cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. Please join me there.
A New Video Series for the New Year!
Hard Words in French w/ Geri Metz
I am offering a new video series called “Hard Words in French”. These lessons will be similar to the Word of the Week series of 39 mini lessons (that you can find on You Tube) but will treat words that many people find challenging to say. I am hoping that many students, expats, teachers and travelers will have fun with these words. Some of them are really tricky like “serrurerie” where many of us non-native speakers are scared to go! Enjoy and start a conversation where you share your favorite “hard words” and please comment with your favorite hard words for future lessons. Merci!
Experience France with Geri: Ile de la Cité Part 1
Way back in 1973 I was the director of the French student teacher program at UC Santa Barbara and visited the local high schools to evaluate and guide the young interns. Along the way the students in their classes got to know me and asked if I would take them to France. And so began a delightful career that lasted until 2005. I always tried to give my participants the most authentic “France Experience” (the original name of my tours) possible-- from the teenagers who were my first and longest fellow-travelers, to the adult wine tours I led in the late 1990's. I thought it would be fun to share these travels on this blog site, and for the first in this series, will begin with my favorite tour day in Paris. This is the day we visit Ile de la Cité, literally from one tip of the island to the other.
At around 9:30 in the morning, we go to the open air market at the Maubert-Mutualité métro stop at Place Maubert, ( 5e arrondissement) to buy provisions for a picnic we will have later. Don't forget your shopping bag or filet, and be sure to have some utensils with you, like a knife for spreading and cutting, a corkscrew and a small cup for drinking if you have wine. This market is open every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of the year and is a real cultural experience. There is even a little section for “bio”, organic produce. And if you don't find what you want at the market, there are several permanent stores at the same location for bread (la boulangerie), cheese (la fromagerie) and wine (of course).
After gathering all the delicious breads, cheeses, and charcuterie, we will cross Bd. St-Germain and walk down the little street rue de Bièvre, just opposite the market. A little anecdote: for years this street was closed to automobile traffic and two policemen were always on duty as French President Mitterand lived in an apartment on this street. The street is named after a creek (la Bièvre) still active underground and running to the Seine. You arrive at the Seine and cross the river on Pont de l'Archevêché. This brings you to one of the best photo ops of Notre Dame Cathedral so don't hesitate to spend a little time here with perhaps boats gliding past below or moored along the banks. The next stop on this tour will be looked at in the next blog as we actually start our day on Ile de la Cité. This spot is practically unknown and more rarely visited but it will touch you in many ways. Don't miss the next installment!
My love for France doesn't stop with its physical attractions. I am also passionate about the sound of the language. I came out of retirement to share with the world my particular take on how to correct our English language accents so we sound more authentically French. I think I have something to offer to the non-native French speakers of the world and a gift to give to the propogation of the purity and the beauty of this language we all love. Please look at my website (pronouncingfrench.com) for more information on myself and the course being released on January 31, 2016, Mastering French Pronunciation. Dedicated to French teachers, students, expats living in France, those doing business with France, and all who would like to sound more authentic when speaking the beautiful French language! Merci!.
Enjoy the holiday beauty of this beautiful Christmas tree in Alsace!
With this lovely picture of Christmas in Alsace, I would like to share the love and warmth of this beautiful season with all of you. This time of year has so much significance to so many on so many levels. The Solstice which brings a promise of the light to come; the Christmas tree and the greens that we bring into the house to have the aliveness of the plants with us in the darkest time of the year; the lights, the gifts, the joy of children, the familiar music, all raises the vibration of mankind and reminds us of a higher way of goodness and beauty. May that love be with us all and guide our thoughts and actions in the coming year and beyond. *Meilleurs voeux.
(*I know a lot of folks have trouble pronouncing this expression which means “best wishes”. I will teach how to say it in the first of my new video series called “Hard Words in French”)
Enjoy a glass of bubbly as you learn the distinction between “sparkling wine” and “champagne”
Making sparkling wine in England? The climate conditions are changing and now Taittinger, of Champagne, France, had purchased land in the English region of Kent to start making sparkling wines in England. That brand also has vineyards and a sparkling wine facility in the Carneros region, (Domaine Carneros) between the Napa Valley and Sonoma. This Napa-Sonoma region in California has the climate the champagne grapes love, due to the cooling influence of the San Francisco Bay with its summer fog. Taittinger is not the only French champagne house to locate a winery in California: both Roederer and Mumm have wineries there, and I had the pleasure of working in the visitors' center at Mumm Napa.
Many people are surprised to learn that the main ingredient in a traditional champagne is the red grape, pinot noir. This grape is often blended with chardonnay, and perhaps a touch of pinot meunier. If the wine is labelled “blanc de blancs” it means it is entirely chardonnay. In France, the region the wine comes from is its identity, not the grape the wine is made from. So even though an American sparkling wine of quality (like the brands mentioned above) is made from exactly the same grapes and the same production method, called Méthode Champenoise, it still must be called “sparkling wine”. This is to protect the French system of “appellations” of place of origin.
Wouldn't you like to know how to properly pronounce French wines and grape varieties? Remember I offer tutoring sessions where you can bring your questions and I can help you. And if you already speak some French think about taking my course, Mastering French Pronunciation which will be available in January. It gives you the tools to correct your English language accent and sound more like a native. Visit my website, pronouncingFrench.com for more information.
Status of my upcoming video course, Mastering French Pronunciation!
My main project, Mastering French Pronunciation, an 8-chapter video course, is in the final stages of completion. I thought it would be released by now, but there have been many more technical details than I had imagined. Since this is the first time I've done a project like this we have had to be patient. But good things come to those who wait and the product is well worth waiting for! It’s a unique course in which you discover the difference between “The American mouth” and “The French mouth”. In other words, how do we make English sounds and what do the French do differently to make the sounds of French.
I dedicate this course to French teachers, advanced students, expats in France, international travelers, all those who wish to sound more authentic when speaking the beautiful French language.
A la prochaine...
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