Bonjour,
Hope you had a great week.
Here, I am still thinking of building an ark as the rain in the north of France has been nothing short of biblical. At least the reservoirs, emptied by a long hot summer are now topped up, and my ducks have enjoyed it.
Meanwhile impromptu English lessons continue with the Bread Man who delivers my baguettes and boulots (a robust loaf of bread) three times a week. (if you missed last week’s tale, here it is). This week he told me he has “eared that weenter will be very cold”. I tried to get him to say “heard” instead of “eared” but gave up since he appears unable to pronounce the “h” sound without sounding highly inappropriate or in the throes of major respiratory problems. Churchill my dog certainly enjoyed the spectacle of Bread Man heavy breathing all over my baguette. He already liked him, now he’s positively in love.
Why French people can’t pronounce H
It made me think though about the letter H in the French language. They certainly have it – herbes, hommes and honneur are everyday words. But, in French, it’s always a silent H. I asked my French friend who is a teacher, why this might be. “French people make the H sound when they laugh” I said, “so why not when talking?” She says it’s because Frenchies think that their language is beautiful and flows perfectly, but fitting in words with a hard “h” would make it ‘orrible.
Wherever you are, I wish you an ‘appy weekend!
Best wishes and bisous from France…
Janine
Editor
ps Photo is a cheese tray I fell in love with at the Orangerie restaurant, Chateau de Chenonceau. If you love French food, join me on Facebook for the A-Z month of gallic gastronomy!
pps Amazon have made my book My Good Life in France, just 99p on Amazon UK Kindle for a short while (October 2019) enormous thanks to everyone who has bought it and left me a lovely review.
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