Before I head off to the airport in Carcassonne this morning to collect Ma Toute Famille I had to call down to the butchers for the Christmas Meats.
So at 7.30 (this is France) down I headed (I had to collect a Turkey, A Goose AND a Ham).
The shop was en fete pour La Noel, where previously lurked the pork chops and lambs liver now were Ballotines and Galintines, Boned stuffed Pheasant, Pates en Croute,Foi Gras of every variety, Bouchees de La Reine, beautiful salads in Renaissance colours, and proudly M. Boutonnier showed me this years speciality, tiny eclairs stuffed with Pate de Foi Gras. I had to back my car to the door then to collect the boxes and when I got back to the shop they were all at the door ready to pack me into the car, and while other traffic waited patiently, hugs,handshakes and kisses were exchanged with cries of Bonnes Fetes and Joyeoux Noel.
This is my first Christmas in France!
Comments
martine
on December 23, 2012Martin,
Excuse me, but I can’t help it. You are lost in backtranslation. If you write “foi gras”, you are writing “fat faith”, it is foie with a E.
By the way, do you know the rhyme:
“Il était une fois dans la ville de Foix un bonhomme de foie qui disait “Ma foi, c’est la première fois que je mange du foie dans la ville de Foix”.”
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!
martine
on December 23, 2012I was wrong, the rhyme gos like that:
Il était une fois,
Une marchande de foie,
Qui vendait du foie,
Dans la ville de Foix…
Elle se dit ma foi,
C’est la première fois
Et la dernière fois,
Que je vends du foie,
Dans la ville de Foix
Martin
on December 24, 2012I have had a problem with this already Martine: Trying to explain to a curious Frenchman at a party why I didn’t drink during the month of November.
“For my liver” I said in French and he immediatly adopted a pious expression and nodded canonically. He thought I had said it was for my faith.
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