Day 722 (Friday) 31^st May 2019

There was yet another cruise ship in the bay this morning and I was happy that the tourists were able to see Villefranche sur Mer at her sunny best. It still really aggravates the both of us when we watch the moronic people going back to the ship at lunchtime because lunch is included – buy a baguette and go to the beach or go for a walk around Saint Jean Cap Ferrat – just don’t go back to ship before you have to!

As it was a bank holiday yesterday Benny my student ‘built a bridge’ and took today off as well – so I was also able to ‘build a bridge’ – hooray!

The 11 public holidays in France for 2019 to put in your diary 

·       Tuesday 1st January - New Year's Day (Jour de l'An)

·       Monday 22nd April - Easter Monday (Lundi de Pâques)

·       Wednesday 1st May - Labour Day (Fête du Travail)

·       Wednesday 8th May - VE Day - (Fête de la Victoire 1945)

·       Thursday 30th May - Ascension Day (l'Ascension)

·       Monday 10th June - Whit Monday (Lundi de Pentecôte)

·       Sunday 14th July - Bastille Day (Fête Nationale)

·       Thursday 15th August - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (l'Assomption)

·       Friday 1st November - All Saints' Day (La Toussaint)

·       Monday 11th November - Armistice Day (Armistice 1918)

·       Wednesday 25th December - Christmas Day (Noël)

Where a public holiday falls over a weekend, by local agreement employees may be given an extra day paid holiday in lieu, but this is not obligatory. Only May Day is classed as a statutory (paid) public holiday in France. When a public holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday many people make a 'bridge' holiday (faire le pont), creating a long weekend. 

They do this in Spain as well but the whole year I worked there I was never able to ‘build a bridge’ and today was my first one in France. Huw has a nightmare issue with his computer and spent hours online talking to a helpline and between them they finally got it sorted. I had a lovely day pottering and not doing very much at all – marvellous.

We headed to Le Phare for our usual Friday evening drinks and had a good laugh with the usual suspects. We were just about to leave to go to Beth’s when Iain and Nancy arrived so we stayed a while longer to catch up with them and to arrange a boules tournament and picnic on Sunday. Town was buzzing with tourists and it was wonderful to see Rue du Poilu busy again – it is officially summer – hooray.

Seb has started doing some food now that it’s summer and his pizza baguette was delicious.

I’m sure I mentioned this last summer but there’s a local busker in town who appears every summer with his guitar. He has a good enough voice but he always sings in English and when he doesn’t know the words he makes them up and Andy teases him mercilessly about it – it’s very funny and the busker takes it in his stride.

Left to right: Andy, the busker and Iain.

We went down to Beth’s TapHouse because we had arranged to meet our French friends Olivier, Audrey and Katy and it was great to catch up with them again. We even tried speaking French to them but their English is so good that we soon gave up. There was live music in the bar next door and we were very amused to see Charlie (one of the village idiots) dancing with some tourists.

Beth was very busy and it was great to see Villefranche full of life again.

At around 9pm we heard some fireworks go off but couldn’t see them because the Welcome Hotel was blocking our view. I went down to the front to take some photos and realised that if we’d been at home we could have seen them from our balcony!

This is the last of the French words/sounds and it is the best! I never tire of hearing Oh la la

And let's finish on a French classic. Any caricature of the French involves someone saying Oh là là and the best thing about this cliché is that it's actually true.

Living in France you hear it at least once a day, probably more, and after a while you find yourself saying it almost as much.

There are several meanings for Oh là là and to work out which one you're hearing you'll need to rely on context. 

One important thing to note is that unlike in English (when we say 'Ooh la la') when the French use this expression it is never intended to express that someone is sexually attractive. 

Here's a look at the different ways it is used. 

There is the 'traditional' method, most known to foreigners and often (though not exclusively) used by women, which is the prim and proper Oh là là. This is used to express admiration, almost in the same way we anglophone girls of a certain age use the phrase 'Oh my god'.

For example, you show someone your new ring and they say Oh là là c'est trop jolie! (Oh my god it's so pretty!). It is high, light and happy. This is a good Oh là là.

Then there is the bad Oh là là.  Perhaps predictably, the French often employ the bad Oh là là, used more in the sense 'Oh my god that's freaking annoying'.  

For example: a car burns through a pedestrian crossing nearly knocking you over or just doesn't stop to let you cross the road generally or the cashier at the supermarket tells you je ferme ma caisse, moi (I'm closing my till) even though the queues are huge.

This Oh là là (or even Ho là là) is low, baritone and disapproving, often muttered under your breath.

Then there is the pièce de la résistance (which, incidentally, is not something the French say. Go figure.) - the Oh là là là là là là. Yes, that's right. Six “là”s - no more, no less - in quick succession. This is bad. This is very bad.  Not to be bandied around lightly, this is reserved for those head-in-hands, all hope is lost kind of moments which, again perhaps unsurprisingly, happen in Paris more often than you think.

This is used when the French miss a crucial goal in the (soccer/rugby/other ball sport) or when you get halfway home from CDG and realise the cab driver doesn't take carte blue.