Have you noticed how inertial I am
(perhaps you haven’t been paying attention). No BLOG post for two months now 2
in one week. A body at rest tends to stay at rest; a body in motion…
Four years as an undergraduate physics
student and that’s all I remember.
##########
My
Carte Navigo (See note below) is dezonage on weekends and jours fériés, 19 of which are
celebrated in France, mostly religious, and while the country has become highly
secular, the French “religiously” retain an attachment to these holidays.
As
I was saying, even though I pay only for the city of Paris with my Carte Navigo, on weekends and holidays I
am permitted to venture beyond to most of the Ile de France, which, if you have been paying attention, you know
refers to Paris and its suburbs, not the entire country of France.
So yesterday, one of the 19 jours fériés, (Ascension Day, if you
care) I decided to visit Meaux, ville
d’Art et d’historie…and brie I might add. It was closed, perhaps due to the
holiday, but located on the Marne river with several bridges and the requisite
cathedral, I spent a tolerable several hours searching in vain for an open
brasserie. All I found open was a “club”
with several sketchy individuals lounging about. I demurred.
This weekend I might try Coulommiers, one of the remaining 2 (Melun the third) in the brie trifecta.
Say tuned.
##########
Not satisfied with a mere 19 official
holidays, the French live for those holidays that fall on a Thursday
(preferred) or Tuesday. This affords the opportunity to faire le pont (make the bridge) so that the inconveniently
intervening workday is taken as an extra day off. Wednesdays can also work, you
just take off the preceding or succeeding work days.
But holidays that fall on Monday or
Friday or (quelle horreur) weekends
are met with distain and despair, an indication that life is truly unfair and
cheats the working man. Won’t be long, I predict, before unions discover a
loophole to counter this outrage.
##########
From time to time I feel an odd urge
to include something educational or at a minimum useful herein. I am usually
able to sublimate these urges…however...
Faux amis,
false friends, a term applied to words in 2 languages that appear to be similar
but are not, often leading to embarrassment or worse (read on). In fact the
French preservative might lead one to stab at the English meaning, but
it most definitely does not refer to jams or jellies (think ways of preventing
pregnancy). There are many similar, but my favorite is not French-English.
Friend Hilde meets Pilar who is not
looking too good.
“Pilar, you don’t look well.”
“I’m not Hilde, I have a bad constapado.”
Aha says Hilde, “I too have suffered
from this condition. Take one of these pills. They always work for me.”
The next day Pilar is no better and
Hilde says “well here, take 2, which should do the trick.”
Day 3 and Pilar seems worse. “I can’t
understand it,” says Hilde “these have always done the trick for me. Here, take
3 and I guarantee it will work.”
Day 4 and Pilar is miserable, crying
and shaking. “Oh Hilde, the constapado
is no better and now I have this terrible diarrhea!”
Yes, dear friends, one of the
translations for constapado in
Spanish is a cold or flu…
And the Spanish embarazada means pregnant. Think how that could find you in a fix!
So beware of faux amis, both in language among bipeds.
##########
And while I’m on an informational jag,
the Carte Navigo is a travel pass
that can be loaded with weekly, monthly, or annual unlimited Metro, bus, and
train travel in Paris, or for escalating prices, in zones that include the
suburbs. Monthly and annual (not weekly) Navigos
are dezonage on weekends, holidays,
and school vacation periods, allowing Parisian to escape the inner city.
Weekly Paris rates run about US$ 28;
monthly some US$ 93. Not cheap, but unlimited and a great way to explore the
city. Once available only to residents, now the Navigo Decouverte is available to the great unwashed at a cost of
5€ and good for 10 years. Bring a 1” x 1” picture or have one taken in the
booths located in most Metro stations. One disadvantage is that the weekly card
is not 7 days but from Monday-Sunday.
Bientot
No comments:
Post a Comment