Day 843 (Monday) 30^th September 2019

We had yet another wonderful sunset last night – I love these pink skies.

There were two cruise ships in the bay this morning so hopefully the tourists will spend lots of money in town.

We went to Beaulieu this morning to get my weekly train ticket but the office was closed so we went to the big apartment this morning to finish it off and shut it down, as there are no more bookings for a while. It was quite sad closing all the shutters blocking out the beautiful sunshine. Back in the day the Cote d’Azur was a famous winter resort and people didn’t come in the summer because it’s too hot. I just don’t understand why more people don’t come in the winter because most of the time it’s warm with azure blue sky. The last two Christmas days were warm and sunny and we sat on the beach and it was the same on New Year’s Day. But the best winter month is February because of all the colourful festivals. There are two weeks of Carnival in Nice, two weeks of the Citron festival in Menton and we have the battle of the flowers here in Villefranche – it’s a really magical month.

Anyway, back to today, we took Kisbee up and it didn’t take very long at all.

Then we had to go to Cactus Roc because the man who rented it for a month has finally gone. We won’t miss him, during his stay he emailed me 53 times with imaginary issues but we were happy to see that he left it in good condition and 50€ tip and a bottle of expensive looking wine – finally a perk!

Huw had to make two journeys to get all the linen etc. home and dropped me off at the front door – I love going along Rue du Poilu on Kisbee.

We tried Villefranche train ticket office but that was also closed. The private beach in Villefranche has gone; I hate private beaches but it’s sad to see it go because it hints towards the end of summer, which is ridiculous when it’s 30 degrees.

We were shattered when we got home but Badger entertained us attacking Huw’s shoe.

Bottom of FormFrench Phrase of the Day: Bon Sang

The French have a very rich and inventive vocabulary for swearing. But if you need to keep it clean, we have a suggestion for you.

Why do I need to know bon sang?

If you find yourself in a slow-moving passport queue at Charles de Gaulle airport, when you finally arrive at the top of the queue only for the official to decide it’s time for lunch and send you to the back of the static international passport line then you should loudly exclaim bon sang!!! 

What does it mean?

Bon sang literally translates as ‘good blood’. This is an old fashioned way to exclaim something similar to ‘good grief!’, ‘good heavens!’ or ‘for heaven’s sake!’. It is often used in situations of frustration and exasperation. 

What are its origins?

Originally, there was the 14th century swear word par le sang (de) Dieu (by the blood (of) God). But this was then considered blasphemous and it evolved into the politically correct distortion palsambleu. 

17th century French playwright Molière cursed with the phrase par le sang bleu (by blue blood).

This developed into bon sang de bon dieu (good God's blood) and has become abridged over time to simply bon sang.

How is it pronounced?

Bawne sah-ng

Examples

Mais ce n’est pas encore fini ces bêtises ? Bon sang! But isn't this nonsense over yet? Damn it! 

Du nerf, bon sang, du nerf! Come on, damn it, come on, come on!

Here are some other safe swear words to use in front of your children….

Oh mince - oh darn

Un vieux cornichon - old pickle, to call someone silly.

Ferme ta bouche - close your mouth, a more polite version of ferme ta gueule if someone annoys you.

Mon oeil! - my eye, if you do not believe someone’s story.