Day 1390 (Monday) 29th March 2021

Today started off with great promise with the sun shining and I had three hours with Eduard and Olga then 90 minutes in Nice with Mona.

Huw went up to the villa and finished some of the garden furniture and it’s looking good.

Before 

After 

I set up my computer and got the two lessons ready to start at 10.30. There was no sign of either of them so I sent Eduard a message ta 10.40 but no reply. I tried texting Olga but nothing. I rang Angelique (their PR in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat) and she didn’t know anything because she is here and they are in London. I tried ringing Eduard but there was no answer. I find this behaviour quite intolerable; my time is every bit as valuable as theirs so why the hell do they keep me waiting like this? I had to stay in the ‘waiting room’ in case they joined but I got on with my Duolingo and some paperwork. At 11.50 he sent me a text saying, ‘sorry we can’t make it today.’ I know I still get paid for this but it’s so bloody rude and I could have achieved a lot in that hour and a half. 

After a quick lunch I got the train to Nice and I was early so I had a lovely 20 minutes in Parc Mozart doing my puzzles.

It was lovely and warm in the sun, no need for a jacket, just a cotton blouse, jeans and espadrilles – no socks – hooray!

I got into school and Romain was waiting to tell me that Mona had phoned at 2pm to cancel our 2.30 class! He invited me for a coffee and we had a nice chat, but what a waste of a day when I could have been sunbathing.

On the way home I saw two of our neighbours getting ready to go paddle boarding.

  

 We have seen some of these facts before but a lot of them are new to me…

Here are the top interesting facts about France, including the language, currency, flag and the world-famous Eiffel Tower, enjoy!

• A person who can speak French fluently is known as a Francophone.

• The entire country of France is divided into twenty-two different regions.

• Denim clothing was originally developed in France in the city of Nimes.

• It is estimated that 94% of French children know English as their second language.

• The tradition of wearing a white dress for wedding days originated in France back in 1499.

• April Fool’s Day was also originated in France after the nation started following the Gregorian Calendar but failed to communicate the change properly. (More about that on Thursday)

• The Capital city of France is Paris, but did you know that Paris was originally named “Lutetia”?

• It is estimated that there are between 200,000 and 1 million illegal immigrants in France.

• There are over 130 television channels in France.

• The Statue of Liberty in New York City, was a gift from the people of France to the US.

• Mont-Blanc in the French Alps is the highest peak in Europe. It is nearly 4,810 metres high.

• France produces over 400 varieties of cheese!

• The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 by Gustave Eiffel. It stands at 1,063 feet high (324 metres).

• It is illegal to kiss on railways in France.

• On November 28, 2002, the Eiffel Tower received its 200,000,000th guest!

• Puss in Boots, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood, were all written by a Frenchman named Charles Perrault.

• France has an estimated population of 67 million people as of 2019.

• It is against the law to take photos of police officers or police vehicles.

• Grasse in France is known as the World’s Capital of Perfume.

• The official name of France is The French Republic and its motto is “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”.

• French is the official language of 24 countries in the world.

• The French flag is blue, white and red. It is known as Le Drapeau Tricolore which translates to “The three-coloured flag”.

• The French people call the English people les rosbifs, which translates to “The Roast Beefs”!

French expression of the day: Travailler d’arrache-pied

Why, in French, working hard sometimes is like ripping off your foot.

Why do I need to know travailler d’arrache-pied?

Because it is useful for times when you want to let people know how hard you are working on something.

What does it mean?

The verb travailler means ‘to work’; arracher, also a verb, means to ‘snatch’, ‘rip off’ or ‘tear off’; and pied is French for ‘foot’.

Travailler d’arrache-pied directly translates as ‘to work of snatch-foot’, or ‘working so hard that you (figuratively) tear your foot off’.

This is not however about snatching your foot off your own body. French online dictionary l’Internaute specifies that the expression originated as a metaphor for “taking off”, in other words working so hard that you defy gravity and your feet lift off the ground.

Travailler d’arrache pied is something you do when you’re working intensely on something, putting a lot of effort into solving a particular task.

Lately it has appeared multiple times in French media coverage of the situation in the country’s hospitals, where health staff are said to be working d’arrache-pied to take care of the high number of new Covid patients.

French politicians often use this expression when they want to emphasise that they are doing everything they can to get something done. The current government has used it about the Covid-19 vaccination scheme, which came off to a slow start before speeding up.

French media reported that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had vowed to strive “d’arrache pied” to find a bilateral accord with each of the European Union’s 27 member states to let artists travel between the UK and the bloc without a visa (no such agreement has been forthcoming so far).

Johnson, who spoke in English, used the term “flat out”, which is a good English equivalent. It all depends on the context. 

Use it like this

Les soignants travaillent d’arrache-pied depuis un an, ils sont tellement fatigués, je crains que l’hôpital ne tienne pas si on ne change pas de cap. – Hospital workers have been working non-stop for a year, they are so tired, I fear hospitals won’t hold unless we change course.

Le gouvernement travaille d’arrache-pied pour mettre en place des vaccinodromes et accélerer la vaccination contre la Covid-19. – The government is working flat out to set up mass vaccination centres and speed up the vaccination against Covid-19.

On a travaillé d’arrache-pied tout le week-end pour préparer le mariage. – We worked flat out all weekend to prepare for the wedding.