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.

A Meal for All Seasons :

La Soupe à l’Oignon (Onion Soup)

Bienvenue mes amis! (Welcome my friends!) Aujourd’hui nous allons apprendre à préparer un plat bien Français: la soupe à l’oignon (Today we will be learning how to prepare a typical French dish: onion soup).

Tradition has dictated that French onion soup be served avec du fromage râpé (with grated cheese) and croutons. Although onion soups date back du temps des Romains (to Roman times), the French take on onion soup dates back to le 18ème siècle (the 18th century). The soup is made from bouillon de bœuf (beef broth) to which you add des oignons caramélisés (caramelized onions) and du Gruyère râpé (grated Gruyère) topped with une tranche de pain grillé (a slice of toasted bread) called a “crouton”.

 Image by Sea-Turtle on Flickr

There are a number of variations of French onion soup but the core elements remain the same: broth, cheese and bread. Below is a simple and quick recette (recipe) that will introduce you to this typical French dish. Although it lacks meat, this soup is still hearty and is often served as an entrée (appetizer) before le plat principal (the main dish).

Ingredients:

2 ½ large yellow onions cut into thin slices

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. flour

¼ tsp. sugar

3 ½ cups of beef broth

½ cup of grated Gruyère (can be substituted for another kind of Swiss cheese if Gruyère is difficult to find)

¼ cup of sherry, brandy, vermouth or white wine

Toasted French bread cut into slices

Directions:

Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Add onions, reduce heat and let cook for 15 minutes. Remove cover. Increase heat to medium, add sugar and let cook until onions are caramelized. Add flour and stir for one minute. Add broth and spirit/wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Top with bread and Gruyère.

Dégustez en famille ou avec des amis! Vive la cuisine Française et bon appétit!

Enjoy with family or friends! Long live French cuisine and enjoy your meal!

A little about Cle France...

We are, no doubt like yourselves, ardent Francophiles.

We have spent many many years living and working in this beautiful country. Selling French property and arranging everything else connected with buying a property in France. During that time we have worked in the French Property Market with notaries and agencies alike, using our language skills to enable people like you to find their own dream home in France.

Our level of expertise and experience mean we can give you the independent advice you need on the various regions of France, and also on the culture and lifestyle. Over time we have built up a large and professional network of Cle France Estate Agents across the many regions of France.

Our office in England means that we are conveniently placed for our buyers to contact us and plan their visit to France, and our agents and colleagues in France look forward to welcoming you and showing you their selection of properties for sale.

You may be ready to make that move now, or you might still be at the beginning of the decision making process. We are always happy to have an informal chat on the phone, or by e-mail, to enable you to make an informed decision about your plans.

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 and 5 ( Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5 ) 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.

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

La roue tourne (The wheel turns) – Things change/evolve.

Rouler sur l’or (Rolling on the gold) – To be very wealthy (similar to the expression “Rolling in the dough”).

Il y a anguille sous roche (There is eel under rock) – Something is hidden/Not everything is clear.

Mettre de l’eau dans son vin (Putting water in one’s wine) – Not exaggerating one’s ambitions.

Fort comme un Turc (Strong like a Turk) – Very physically strong or robust.

Manger avec les chevaux de bois (Eating with the wooden horses) – Having nothing to eat/Fasting.

C’est le bouquet! (It’s the bouquet!) – As if things couldn’t get any worse!

Rôtir le balai (Roasting the broom) – Living a life of debauchery.

Un pétard mouillé (A wet firecracker) – An important bit of information that turns out to be false.

Un chien regarde bien un évêque (A dog looks well at a bishop) – A person of high stature should not be offended by the looks of those of lower stature.

Avoir un poil dans la main (Having a hair in the hand) – Being very lazy.

Se noyer dans un verre d’eau (Drowning in a glass of water) – Being incapable of dealing with change.

N’y voir que du bleu (Only seeing blue) – Not being able to see or understand anything.

Avoir bon pied bon œil (Having good foot good eye) – Being healthy/vigorous.

La fleur au fusil (The flower on the rifle) – Doing something with enthusiasm, joy and/or courage.

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

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

A few clients have been asking "do the clocks go back, and forward in France for daylight saving time"? which is a pretty good question if you are planning a viewing trip, after all you would not want to be a hour late for the viewing would you! or even an hour early!

The answer is...

In France it is just the same as the UK.

Daylight saving time (DST) - As we know it is the biannual event when we forget whether to put our clocks one hour back or one hour forward, and whether this means we’ll get some extra sleep or not.

Why is it that we have to turn the clocks back?

In the UK, clocks go back one hour this Sunday (today!) – the 26 October – at 2:00am, marking the end of British Summer Time (BST). It means that we end up having a 25-hour day.

It also means that in the UK we’ll be back on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and sunrise and sunset will be about one hour earlier this Sunday than the day before – so there will be more light in the morning.

If you’re forever confused about which way the clocks move and when, an easy way to remember is the saying: “Spring forward, fall back.”

Why do we do it?

The modern idea of daylight saving time was first proposed in 1895 by English-born insect specialist and astronomer George Vernon Hudson.

Hudson did shift work and during his leisure time he collected insects, so valued the dear moments of his daylight after-hours. He proposed a two-hour daylight saving shift and presented it in a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society.

In his abstract, Hudson proposed:

“To alter the time of the clock at the equinoxes so as to bring the working-hours of the day within the period of daylight, and by utilising the early morning, so reduce the excessive use of artificial light which at present prevails.”

Sunrise over Clécy, Calvados, Lower Normandy.

Yet Hudson’s ideas were not followed through, and it fell to British builder William Willett in 1905 to raise the issue of introducing DST again. Willett’s idea was more complex and he suggested setting the clocks ahead 20 minutes on each of the four Sundays in April, and switching them back by the same amount on each of four Sundays in September – a total of eight DST switches per year.

However, Willett’s daylight saving plan caught the attention of Liberal Party MP Robert Pearce who introduced a bill to the House of Commons in February 1908. The first daylight saving bill was drafted in 1909, presented to parliament several times and examined by a select committee. However, the idea was opposed by many, especially farmers, and the bill never made it into a law.

It was during the first world war that Germany became the first country to implement DST, on 30 April 1916, in order to save fuel for the war effort. Thereafter, other countries followed suit and the concept was adopted by Britain. DST was first used in the UK on 21 May 1916.  

Why is it controversial?

The debate about how we should set our clocks has been going on since standardised time was introduced with the expansion of the railways in the 1840s. Historically, proponents of DST have argued that it saves energy, promotes outdoor leisure activity and is good for economic productivity. It has therefore received support from retail businesses and urban workers, who benefit from having lighter summer evenings. Some groups who prefer lighter mornings, like farmers, argue that the economic benefits of DST are unproven and that we should just stick to GMT all year round.

Campaign groups advocate keeping DST over the winter months and putting the clocks forward a further hour during summer, giving the UK the same time zone as much of central Europe.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has argued that lighter evenings would reduce the number of accidents, while environmental campaign group 10:10’s Lighter Later campaign says that the move would “save almost 500,000 tonnes of CO2 each year, equivalent to taking 185,000 cars off the road permanently”. 

The issue has been put to parliament regularly over the years. In 2010 Conservative MP Rebecca Harris tabled a private member’s bill that would require the government to conduct an analysis of the potential benefits of putting the clocks forward for a further hour for all or part of the year.

The idea was opposed in part because of the effect it would have on areas of Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the sun would rise as late as 10am and children would have to walk to school in darkness. David Cameron said he would consider the proposals seriously, but ruled out having different time zones within the United Kingdom.

NOTE: Original article appeared in the Guardian Newspaper.

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