Day 2783 (Monday) 20th January 2025

This is Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat

I caught the train into Nice today to work with a young Turkish man who wants to do his IELTS exam, we’re doing 3 hours a day for a week. He was very nice and polite but very shy and it was a very long 3 hours.

What's happening in France this week

An exterior view of the Musee du Louvre at its closing time in 2020 and the Pyramide du Louvre, designed by Ieoh Ming Pei. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

From the start of men's fashion week to a new Louvre exhibit and a local rail strike, here's what is happening in France this week.

Monday

Local rail strike - People travelling between Metz (in eastern France) and Luxembourg should expect regional TER trains to be disrupted on Monday, due to a local SNCF strike. It could be prolonged, so be sure to check the status of your train before departing.

Campaign to leave X - The French Human Rights League is campaigning for people to leave X (formerly Twitter) on Monday to coincide with the date of US President-Elect Donald Trump's inauguration. Several high profile French politicians, as well as news outlets, have left the social media. Meanwhile, the research centre, CNRS, has helped to create an alternative website 'HelloQuitteX' to encourage people to leave.

Tuesday

Paris Men's fashion week - The fashion week for menswear (Fall/Winter of 2025-2026) begins on Tuesday, January 21st. It will run until January 26th.

Wednesday

Fishing ban - France is instituting another ban on fishing in the Bay of Biscay (Golfe de Gascogne) from Wednesday, January 22nd to February 20th, Ouest France reported. This measure is intended to help protect local dolphins and porpoises, but it has greatly angered local fishermen.

Franco-German Friendship Day - France and Germany will celebrate their friendship on Wednesday, which marks the 62nd anniversary of the Elysée Treaty.

Thursday

NBA Basketball Game - For the first time ever, the NBA is bringing two games to Paris. The first game will be between the San Antonio Spurs and the Indiana Pacers at the Accor (Bercy) Arena in Paris, starting at 8pm local time. The teams will play each other again on Saturday too.

Friday

Louvre exhibition - The Louvre will open its long-awaited fashion and decorative arts exhibit starting on January 24th. It will run until July 21st.  

Saturday

NBA Game - The Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers will play again in Paris at 6pm at the Accor (Bercy) Arena.

Now for some more French…

9 French Expressions To Say I Feel Great

The French language is full of idioms. Some are easy to understand, or translate the same way as in English, others can be quite obscure. Here are nine very common expressions used in French to say to feel great, to be full of energy.

1 – Être Bien Dans Sa Peau 🧴

To be good in your skin.
This French expression is not too difficult to understand: if you feel good in your skin, well, you just feel good.

2 – Avoir la patate, Avoir la frite 🍟

To have the potato / to have the French fry
Both French expressions have to do with the shape of the vegetable.
A potato looks like a head, and therefore, if you have a good head, you feel good…
Then you make French fries with potatoes… I know, it’s a bit discombobulated.
Note, we don’t say “avoir la pomme-de-terre”, only “avoir la patate/la frite”… I don’t know why.

3 – Avoir la pêche 🍑

To have the peach
The origines of this French expression are not really known: some say it has to do with the shape of a head, others that it comes all the way from China were the peach is symbol of good health… I even saw blogs saying that the three expressions above have to do with boxing terms.

I’m not sure, but all I can tell you is that they are all common idioms in French.
Note that we also often say “j’ai une pêche d’enfer” – ‘I have a peach from hell’ – meaning that you are feeling particularly great.

4 – Avoir la Banane 🍌

To have the banana
Yet another weird French fruit expression. This one has to do with the smile, shaped like a banana.

5 – (Ne pas) Être Dans Son Assiette 🍽

To (not) be in one’s plate (or seat)
This French expression is mostly used in the negative, to say you don’t feel great.

It has to do with horseback riding, and nothing to do with “une assiette”: a plate in French.

“L’assiette” in horseback riding means your “seat”, how balanced you are sitting on your horse. So, when “vous n’êtes pas dans votre assiette”, it means you are off balance. Hence you cannot feel great.

6 – Avoir Mangé du Cheval 🐴

To have eaten some horse
It’s an old belief that eating some kind of living-being will give your its attributes. Since a horse is strong, you’d get the life force of a horse it you were to eat it and then feel great.

7 – Avoir mangé du lion 🦁

To have eaten some lion
Same idea as above. You’d be strong as a lion.

8 – Péter le feu 🔥

To explode with fire
Here again, there is a misconception about this French idiom: people often translates “péter” vulgarly as “to fart”.
This French idiom is not about farting fire. Although this is a fun image.
“Péter le feu” means exploding with fire, meaning to be full of energy.

9 – Être en (pleine) forme 🧍🏻‍♀️

To be in full shape
This French expression is probably the most common way to say to feel great in French, and it was weird to me at first when my English speaking students didn’t get it, because it is so frequently used in French.

“Être en pleine forme” has little to do with the external shape of your body, but more with your health, and your level of energy.