Moving to France and adapting to life in Lyon
Trying to learn French – some posts in French
When someone famous is ill or dies a newsroom will usually have an obituary to hand.
The same is true at Euronews and with Pele dying and Pope Benedict XVI seriously ill we have been talking a lot about these obituaries.
In English these are known as Obits. In France the word they use is Necros.
I’m not the only who finds this term a bit unsettling. Necromancer, necrosis, necrophilia – let’s leave it there.
Now I know that un pot in Lyon means a carafe of wine.
It is a very specific size and a term only used in Lyon.
But apparently it also means work drinks – which took place tonight to welcome everyone back from their summer hols.
There were drinks and food and speeches and it was nice to chat to a few colleagues about their summer holidays before we all knuckle down to the hard work ahead.
As it was 15 August it was L’Assomption en France. And so a trip to Mass at a new eglise – the Church of the Immaculate Conception.
In the last few years I have normally spent 15 August in Sicily – Ferragosto – and so have learnt that the word for womb in Italian is grembo.
That’s because in the Gospel today we have the line:
Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
So I was excited to add the French word for womb to my vocabulary. But, then, this:
En elle? That’s it? There is a French word for womb – l’uterus. But clearly not how the Gospel is translated into French.
This time it was en presentielle which meant a nice bike ride through parts of Lyon I didn’t know – like the 2km long Croix Rousse tunnel.
La formatrice était tres gentil et on a appris beaucoup de choses sur l’histoire de la France.
On a appris aussi des choses culturelles. Qui a fait la Statue de la Liberté. Je savais deja qu’elle avait été faite par Gustav Eiffel – mais pas qu’elle avait aussi été faite par Auguste Bartholdi. Et monsieur Bartholdi a aussi fait…
Pendant le cours, j’ai reçu un courriel de la prefecture. Ils m’ont delivré mon visa – et alors la formation civique je ne doit plus la faire!
Mais il ne reste qu’un jour en Octobre. Je pense que je le ferai.
As July ends, it’s time to reflect on the biggest things I have learnt in my first six months living in France. In the best listicle practice, I’ll aim for 10.
French language: More often than not you don’t pronounce the last consonant of most words. Blanc, étang, pont etc.
French language: The pronunciation of the city of Reims. I mean, wow.
Life in France: Café gourmand – always a good idea.
French language: Également – a very useful reply to bonne journée, bon weekend etc
French language: Bonjour – ça marche toute la journée.
Les oiseaux: Les herons garde boeuf ne se trouvent pas toujours près des vaches. A Lyon ils se trouvent dans les arbres au Parc de la Tete d’Or.
Les oiseaux: Le coq gaulois is one of the symbols of France. But for me it should be la buse – because they are everywhere.
French language: And what is this? Le croûton or le quignon?
Life in France: Lyon is a very beautiful city. From the old town to Place Bellecour to the banks of the Rhône to Fourviere it really is a très belle ville.
Life in France: whether you voted leave or remain, Brexit makes moving to and living in France far more difficult than it used to be. From lung x-rays to four days of formation civique training, it ain’t as straightforward as it once was.
Alors, on y va encore une fois. C’est parti. Formation Civique jour deux.
My second day of Formation Civique was quite similar to the first. We learnt some numbers that we might need to memorise if we ever want to apply for French citizenship.
How big is France? 672m square kilometres How big is the population of France? 67m
How many Regions are there? 18.
How many Departments? 101.
How many Communes? 35,000
We continued to learn about health, employment, accommodation and parenting.
And as ever I learnt some new words:
Laicité – securalism (one of the four values of France)
We had to pick our atelier for the fourth day. Workshop. I chose socio-culturelle.
Depistage – to detect; la soigner– treatment.
Only two days of training left – and next week’s one is in person.
Meanwhile, with the help of Evelina, Euronews’ visa expert, we have applied again for the passeport talent visa which was rejected tout de suite by the embassy in London. This time we are applying to the prefecture in Lyon. It will be too late to avoid two more days of formation civique but it should make staying in France a bit easier for me and Cath.
Ce soir il a plu tres fort. Finalement la vague de chaleur est fini.
Demain il fera 25c. Il faudra mettre un pull.
Thrown to (the) Lyon 