Author: Melissa S. Kerley, Ph.D.

Richard Gotainer is a contemporary French singer.  His songs are known for their humor and originality; many of them are filled with clever plays on words.  “Rupture de Stock” is from Gotainer’s 1992 album “D’Amour et d’Orage”.  “Rupture de Stock” is a departure from the bulk of Gotainer’s work, a lyric ballad and beautiful commentary on our pollution of our water and by extension on our devastation of our planet.  In the song clean water is in “rupture de stock” (“out of stock”) because we have destroyed all trace of it.  This song feels particularly timely given BP’s April 20th Oil Spill.

“Rupture de Stock”

Comment vous dites ? De l’eau de source ?
Et pourquoi pas une baleine bleue
Un éléphant, un bébé ours ?
Sans plaisanter, restons sérieux.

De l’eau de source, moi j’en ai vu
Une fois, dans une vieille bouteille.
Je connais quelqu’un qui en a bu
C’est, paraît-il, une merveille.

{Refrain:}
On en a eu, y en a eu plein
De l’eau
On en a eu, à une époque
Mais là, rupture de stock.
Walou ! Tintin !
On n’en a plus en magasin
De l’eau. . .

Je connais l’homme qui a vu l’homme
Qui s’est baigné dans une rivière
Dans une eau claire, fallait voir comme
Plus claire encore que la lumière.

J’ vous parle de ça, y a un paquet.
Les petits ruisseaux étaient courants.
Chacun avait son robinet.
Les enfants jouaient dans les étangs.

{au Refrain}

Tout ça est un peu dépassé.
Même le poisson n’est plus en vogue.
Le vieux produit était usé.
On l’a sorti des catalogues.

Comment vous dites ? Il va pleuvoir ?
Mais l’eau de pluie, faut pas la boire.
L’année dernière, quand il a plu,
J’ai eu des trous dans l’ pardessus.

{au Refrain}

“Rupture de Stock” (English)

What’s that you say?
Fresh water?
And why not a blue whale
An elephant, a baby bear?
Quit fooling around, let’s be serious.

Fresh water, I saw some
Once in an old bottle.
I know someone who drank some.
It is, it would seem, truly marvelous.

{Refrain:}

We had some, there was plenty
Of water. . .
We had some, at one time
But now, it’s out of stock.
Walou!  Tintin!
There isn’t any more in the stores.
Water. . .

I know the man who saw the man
Who went swimming in a river.
In clear water, you had to see how clear
Even more clear than light.
There is a lot to say about all of that.
Little streams were everywhere.
Everyone had his faucet.
Children played in ponds.

{Refrain}

All of that is over now.
Even fish is out of style.
The old product was worn out.
It was taken out of the catalogs.
What’s that you are saying?  It’s going to rain?
But the rainwater, you can’t drink it.
Last year when it rained
I got holes in my raincoat.

{Refrain}

Most students of French have read at least one poem by Jacques Prévert (1900-1977).  His poems are understated and touching.  Most of them are short and use very simple vocabulary so they are ideal for beginning and intermediate language learners.  One of his most famous poems is “Pour Faire le Portrait d’un Oiseau”.  The poem is a playful, surrealistic enumeration of the steps one must take in order to paint a bird.

I was excited to find a youtube clip of Emily Loizeau (a contemporary author, singer and composer) reciting “Pour Faire le Portrait d’un Oiseau”.  She has a lovely voice and as she speaks “illustrations” appear on the screen and provide a lovely à propos accompaniment.  The words to and a translation of “Pour Faire le Portrait d’un Oiseau” follow the clip.

“Pour faire le portrait d’un oiseau”

A Elsa Henriquez

Peindre d’abord une cage
avec une porte ouverte
peindre ensuite
quelque chose de joli
quelque chose de simple
quelque chose de beau
quelque chose d’utile
pour l’oiseau
placer ensuite la toile contre un arbre
dans un jardin
dans un bois
ou dans une forêt
se cacher derrière l’arbre
sans rien dire
sans bouger . . .
Parfois l’oiseau arrive vite
mais il peut aussi bien mettre de longues années
avant de se décider
Ne pas se décourager
attendre
attendre s’il le faut pendant des années
la vitesse ou la lenteur de l’arrivée de l’oiseau
n’ayant aucun rapport
avec la réussite du tableau
Quand l’oiseau arrive
s’il arrive
observer le plus profond silence
attendre que l’oiseau entre dans le cage
et quand il est entré
fermer doucement la porte avec le pinceau
puis
effacer un à un tous les barreaux
en ayant soin de ne toucher aucune des plumes de l’oiseau
Faire ensuite le portrait de l’arbre
en choisissant la plus belle de ses branches
pour l’oiseau
peindre aussi le vert feuillage et la fraîcheur du vent
la poussière du soleil
et le bruit des bêtes de l’herbe dans la chaleur de l’été
et puis attendre que l’oiseau se décide à chanter
Si l’oiseau ne chante pas
c’est mauvais signe
Signe que le tableau est mauvais
mais s’il chante c’est bon signe
signe que vous pouvez signer

“To Paint a Bird’s Portrait”

to Elsa Henriquez

(translated from the French by Jacqueline Michaud)

Paint first a cage
with the door open
next paint
something pretty
something simple
something lovely
something of use
to the bird
then put the canvas near a tree
in a garden
in the woods
or in a forest
hide behind the tree
say nothing
don’t move…
Sometimes the bird comes quickly
but it can just as well take many years
before deciding
Don’t be disheartened
wait
wait years if need be
the pace of the bird’s arrival
bearing no relation
to the success of the painting
When the bird comes
if it comes
keep very still
wait for the bird to enter the cage
and once it has
gently shut the door with the brush
then
paint out the bars one by one
taking care not to touch any of the bird’s feathers
Next paint the tree’s portrait
choosing the loveliest of its branches
for the bird
paint likewise the green leaves and fresh breeze
the sun’s scintillation
and the clamor of crickets in the heat of summer
and then wait until the bird decides to sing
If the bird does not sing
that’s a bad sign
A sign the painting is no good
but if it sings that’s a good sign
a sign you can sign

• • •

Jacqueline Michaud’s poems have appeared in New England Review, New Laurel Review,Florida Review, and American Letters and Commentary, among others. Her recent work includes translations of Francophone poets, as well as a major collection of poems by Prévert.

“Imagination is greater than knowledge.  Knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world.”

–Albert Einstein

I was 22 and in my first month ever of teaching when a student taught me a defining lesson about education and my responsibility as a teacher.  It is one I still think of often, more than twenty years later.

We were studying the alphabet in French.  I pointed out that “W” in French was called “double v” as opposed to being called “double u” like it is in English.  I explained that in French it is the combination of two ‘v’s instead of two ‘u’s.

Alyssa let out a sad sigh.  Her classmates and I looked over at her.  She said “You ruined it.  ‘W’ was always my favorite letter; it was so funny and special and now it’s nothing anymore, just two ‘u’s mushed together.”

I knew just what she meant, we all did.  I’m sure you do too.

I did the only appropriate thing there was to do, the only authentic thing I can imagine having done, even today after so long and so much experience with a thousand different classroom scenarios:  I apologized.

I was sixteen and a junior in high school when I went to France for the first time.  I stayed with a French host family, the Collinets, in Fère-Champenoise, a relatively small town in the Champagne region.  The other members in my group and I felt we were the epitome of coolness when we came home singing (well, singing badly, but who else knew. . .) French rock songs.

I developed a huge crush on Jean-Jacques Goldman.  As for Téléphone, well, I just thought they were awesome.

It was 1983.  MTV and music videos were in their infancy and we (and by that I mean every teenager on the planet) were crazy about them.  These videos are like so many things that were so dazzling back in the day but now. . .well, aren’t . . .These videos are about as tacky as they could possibly be, but that is part of their charm. . .and the songs are both “80’s classics” that everyone, even people who weren’t around in the 80’s, still know (and sometimes sing) today.  Really.

Comme Toi

Elle avait les yeux clairs et la robe en velours
A cote de sa mere et la famille autour
Elle pose un peu distraite au doux soleil
de la fin du jour

La photo n’est pas bonne mais l’on peut y voir
Le bonheur en personne et la douceur d’un soir
Elle aimait la musique, surtout Schumann
et puis Mozart

Comme toi..
Comme toi..
Comme toi que je regarde tout bas
Comme toi qui dors en revant a quoi
Comme toi..

Elle allait a l’ecole au village d’en bas
Elle apprenait les livres, elle apprenait les lois
Elle chantait les grenouilles
Et les Princesse qui dorment au bois

Elle aimait sa poupee, elle aimait ses amis
Surtout Ruth et Anna et surtout Jeremie
Et ils se marieraient un jour peut-etre a Varsovie

Comme toi..
Comme toi..
Comme toi que je regarde tout bas
Comme toi qui dors en revant a quoi
Comme toi..

Elle s’appelait Sarah elle n’avait pas huit ans
Sa vie, c’etait douceur, reves et nuages blancs
Mais d’autres gens en avaient decide autrement

Elle avait tes yeux clairs et elle avait ton age
C’etait une petite fille sans histoire et tres sage
Mais elle n’est pas nee comme toi,
ici et maintenant

Comme toi..
Comme toi..
Comme toi que je regarde tout bas
Comme toi qui dors en revant a quoi
Comme toi..

Coluche was (and remains) a person of major importance in French popular culture.  He was a comedian known for his biting satirical treatment of politicians and the government.  He was big in the ’70’s and absolutely huge in the ’80s.  In fact, in 1981 he ran for president.  His candidacy was a joke, but he had to drop out of the race because up to 20% of French citizens were ready to vote for him.  I have included a link below to a Time Magazine article discussing his candidacy.  It cites 10-12% of the population as ready to vote for him, but French newscasts from the time I have watched have cited the figure of nearly 20% I gave above.  Coluche died in a motorcycle accent at only 41 years old in 1986.  His death was a tragedy (in my estimation and that of pretty much anyone you would ask about it in France).  Conspiracy theories arose (and still exist) about this accident; these theories are not surprising given Coluche’s attitude towards “The Administration”, the huge following he enjoyed and public sorrow over his passing.  The year before his death Coluche proposed and set in motion the creation of “Les Restos du Coeur”, soup kitchens for France’s homeless population.

In addition to the link to the Time Magazine article about Coluche’s presidental candidacy I have included two youtube clips in this post.  In them you can hear Coluche speaking; unfortunately although the clips contain photos of Coluche they do not show him actually giving his discourses in person.  They were the best I could do however, and they are definitely better than nothing at all. . .

L’Administration (One of Coluche’s funniest (in my opinion), best known and most celebrated comedy sketches)

Coluche for President (1981)

FRANCE: Not So Funny – TIME

Les Restos de Coeur (1985)

May 1 is “May Day” in France.  “Muguet” (lily of the valley) has been symbolic of spring and renewal since at least the middle ages. Lily of the valley is also considered to bring luck.  Traditionally people in France give bouquets of lilies of the valley to people they love on May 1st for good luck and to celebrate the arrival of spring. This tradition is said to have originated with Charles IX in 1561, although celebrations marking May 1st and the giving of spring flowers of some sort on this day existed long before Charles IX.

You can watch a video from TF1 of French people buying lilies of the valley to give to their friends and family here:  Achats de Muguet

For those of you who live in the DC metro area, be sure to check out the Garden Café at the National Gallery of Art.  The Garden Café changes its menu periodically to accompany featured art expositions.  Through February 10th, 2011 the Garden Café is calling itself “Garden Café Français” and is serving fantastically good French food. . .including a buffet for just under $20/person.  You can request recipe cards for some of the dishes, including the Coq au Vin recipe listed below.

Coq au Vin

Created by Michel Richard for Garden Café Français

Serves 4
4 large chicken legs with thighs
attached, each piece skinned
4 large thyme sprigs or 1 tablespoon
dried thyme, crumbled
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1½ cups Cabernet Sauvignon (or
another dry red wine)
2 slices bacon, halved lengthwise and
cut crosswise into ¼-inch pieces
½ tablespoon unsalted butter
16 pearl onions, peeled
2 medium carrots, peeled and thinly
sliced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted chicken stock
6 ounces beet juice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
16 medium large button mushrooms
(10 to 12 ounces total), ends
trimmed
salt and freshly ground black pepper
to taste

To marinate, place the chicken legs in a single layer in a large nonmetallic dish.
Add thyme, garlic, wine, and beet juice. Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning
the chicken with tongs several times.

To cook, preheat oven to 300° F. Melt the butter in a large, oven-proof pot over
medium heat, and fry the bacon until brown, stirring occasionally. Add onions and
carrots and cook until golden. Add flour and stir for 3 minutes over medium low
heat. Pour in chicken stock with tomato paste and stir, scraping up any browned
bits on the bottom of the pan. Add marinade and bring to a boil. Add chicken legs,
cover the pot, and transfer to the oven. Cook for 30 minutes, turning the chicken
and stirring halfway. (This can be prepared several hours ahead and set aside at
cool room temperature.)

To serve, remove the chicken from the pot using tongs. Add mushrooms
to the cooking liquid and boil for about 20 minutes until sauce is thickened and
reduced by about half (to approximately 1¼ cups). Discard the sprigs of thyme.
Season with salt and pepper. Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon and arrange
on four plates. Turn chicken in the sauce, heating gently if cold, and place in the
center of the plates. Spoon remaining sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately.

“Survival French”

I teach a four-class French course I call “Survival French” for people traveling to France or a French-speaking country.  The expressions below are excerpted from a vocabulary unit I use in that course.  I call these and the other expressions in that particular vocabulary unit “Survival French:  The Absolute Basics”.

Have fun with these. . .whether you are using them in France. . .or your own home.

A  few “Absolute Basic” Survival French expressions

To use at a restaurant:

Bienvienue.  Une table pour deux?

(Welcome.  Table for two?)

Oui merci

(Yes thank you)

Suivez-moi

(Follow me)

Voilà la carte

(Here is the menu)

Prenez-vous l’apéritif?

(Would you like a before dinner drink?)

Oui merci/Non merci

(Yes thank you/No thank you)

Qu’est-ce que vous voulez boire?/Qu’est-ce que vous voudriez boire?

(What do you want to drink?/What would you like to drink?)

Qu’est-ce que vous voulez manger?/Qu’est-ce que vous voudriez manger?

(What do you want to eat?/What would you like to eat?)

Prenez-vous un dessert?/Prendriez-vous un dessert?

(Do you want a dessert?/Would you like a dessert?)

Voilà votre. . .

(Here is your. . .)

Je voudrais. . .

(I would like. . .)

To use at a Shop:

C’est beau/C’est joli

(This is beautiful/pretty)

C’est un peu cher pour moi

(It is a little expensive for me)

Pourriez-vous me faire un meilleur prix?

(Could you give me a better price?)

Je vous fais un prix/Je vous ferai un prix

(I am giving you/am going to give you a deal/I will give you a deal)

Voilà . . . euros

(Here is .  . . euros)

Voilà ma carte de credit

(Here is my credit card)

Voilà votre monnaie

(Here is your change)

Signez-ici s’il vous plaît

(Sign here please)

Merci.  Au revoir

(Thank you.  Goodbye)

Je vous en prie

(You’re welcome)

I offer a free sample class.  Please e-mail me at melissa@frenchindc.com or call me at 703-869-8826 if you would like to set one up.

Learn French in DC  –  Learn French in the DC Metro Area  –  French lessons in DC  — French lessons in the DC Metro Area  –  French in DC   –  French in the DC Metro Area — Proficiency Exam Prep — FSI Exam Prep — French Lessons by Skype — Foreign Service Exam Prep — French Tutor  DC — AP French Exam Prep — IB French Exam Prep — Foreign Service Officer Exam — Foreign Service Officer’s Exam — FSI French — French Tutor Northern Virginia  —  La Sirène d’Ushuaia —  Melissa S. Kerley, Ph.D.

Renaud, for me, is the quintessential French singer.  He has been singing since the seventies and has a vast repertoire of songs.  Many of his songs are fairly provocative in nature, but he has recorded some very tender ones as well.  I have enjoyed his music since my initial discovery of it in 1983 when I was on my first-ever trip to France as a 16 year old host student in the Champagne region.

“Mistral Gagnant” is from the 1985 album of the same name.  It is a beautiful evocation of the fleeting nature of time and our lives.  I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.

Mr. Paul-Georges Rodrigues Milhano was kind enough to send me both the lyrics and his excellent translation of “Mistral Gagnant” as well as images of the candy Renaud references in the song.  Merci M. Milhano!

Mistral Gagnant

(Renaud Séchan) – 1985

A m’asseoir sur un banc cinq minutes avec toi/Sitting on a bench five minutes with you
Et regarder les gens tant qu’y en a/And watching people while there are [people]
Te parler du bon temps qu’est mort ou qui r’viendra/Talking to you about the good times gone or coming back
En serrant dans ma main tes p’tits doigts/Squeezing in my hand your tiny fingers
Puis donner à bouffer à des pigeons idiots/Then feed grub to stupid pigeons
Leur filer des coups d’ pieds pour de faux/Pretending to kick them
Et entendre ton rire qui lézarde les murs/And hearing your laughter crawling the walls
Qui sait surtout guérir mes blessures/[Laughter] which knows how to heal my sorrows
Te raconter un peu comment j’étais mino/Telling you a bit about how I was when a kiddo

Les bonbecs fabuleux qu’on piquait chez l’ marchand/The fabulous sweets we nicked in the shops
Car-en-sac et Minto, caramel à un franc/Car-en-sac[1] et Minto[2], caramel for a franc
Et les mistrals[3] gagnants/And the winning mistrals

A r’marcher sous la pluie cinq minutes avec toi/Walk again in the rain five minutes with you
Et regarder la vie tant qu’y en a/And watch life while there is[life]
Te raconter la Terre en te bouffant des yeux/Telling you about the world while I gaze at you
Te parler de ta mère un p’tit peu/Talking about your mother a bit
Et sauter dans les flaques pour la faire râler/And jump in the puddles to make her moan
Bousiller nos godasses et s’ marrer/To wreck our shoes and splurge
Et entendre ton rire comme on entend la mer/And hearing your laugh as we hear the sea
S’arrêter, r’partir en arrière/Stopping, going backwards
Te raconter surtout les carambars d’antan et les cocos bohères (Boers)[4]/To talk to you especially about les carambars and the cocs bohères (Boers) of my youth

Et les vrais roudoudous qui nous coupaient les lèvres/and how the roudoudous cut our lips
Et nous niquaient les dents/and ruined our teeth
Et les mistrals gagnants/and the winning mistrals

A m’asseoir sur un banc cinq minutes avec toi/Sitting on a bench five minutes with you
Et regarder le soleil qui s’en va/And watching the sun as it goes down
Te parler du bon temps qu’est mort et je m’en fou/To talk to you about the good old days that are dead and to say I don’t care
Te dire que les méchants c’est pas nous/To tell you that we aren’t the bad ones
Que si moi je suis barge, ce n’est que de tes yeux/If I am crazy, it’s only in your eyes
Car ils ont l’avantage d’être deux/Because they have the advantage of being two [eyes]
Et entendre ton rire s’envoler aussi haut/And hearing your laugh flying as high
Que s’envolent les cris des oiseaux/As fly the birds’ shrieks
Te raconter enfin qu’il faut aimer la vie/Finally telling you that we must love life
Et l’aimer même si le temps est assassin/And loving it even if time kills
Et emporte avec lui les rires des enfants/And takes with it the children’s laughter
Et les mistrals gagnants/And the winning mistrals
Et les mistrals gagnants/And the winning mistrals

Footnotes

1.  A small sweet tasting of liquorice (picture in annex)

2. Similar to car-en-sac

3. Mistral is, in this song, a sweet, and not the wind prevalent in the South of France. And they are said to be
winning because they used to put winning tickets, in the bags, so kids could win more sweets.

4. Liquorice powder in small metal boxes (two sizes existed… a small one and a larger one).

Annex

Figure 1 – Car-en-Sac

Figure 2 – Mistral

Figure 3 – Roudoudous

Figure 4 – Carambar

For seven years I was married to a Frenchman (we remain close friends).  In the course of my marriage I learned a lot about French culture. . .and my cooking abilities and repertoire expanded (and improved!) dramatically.  My ex-husband’s mother, Françoise, taught me some of her recipes.  One of them is for “mousse au chocolat”.  You may not realize this, but “mousse” is the word for “foam” in French.  “Mousse au chocolat” is named for its light, airy texture. . .like that of the foam of the ocean. . .Here, with much, much gratitude is Françoise’s recipe:

Mousse au Chocolat

2 eggs
1 1/2 ounces of chocolate (buy the best dark chocolate you can find)
a little less than half a cup of sugar
2 tbsps of unsalted butter

Separate the egg yolks and whites.  Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until they are creamy.  (Mix them very well.)  Melt the butter and chocolate together.  Mix together the egg yolk/sugar mixture and the chocolate/butter mixture.  Allow the resulting mixture to cool.  Beat the egg whites until they are stiff and form soft peaks.  Slowly and carefully fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.  Be very careful not to “break” the egg whites.

Put into the refrigerator to chill; leave the mousse in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.  Makes 4 servings.

Ah, délicieux. . .Enjoy!