#frenchfacts

22 days.

I can't believe it! 

Still trying to process...

Oh and I'm talking about their food again.

bien sûr!

And one of the most precious food staples has to be bread

Particularly,

le baguette!

le baguette - baguette

Haha cuuuuuute. très mignon!

Did you know the name "baguette" wasn't coined until 1920?!

Doesn't mean the bread wasn't around until then. It's just the famous name wasn't around 'till the 20th century!

-Baguette means "wand" or "baton" (ex. baguette magique = magic wand! Baguette's are pretty magical...)

-In Middle Ages France, the Gauls’ taste for beer led them to use beer instead of water to make bread dough.

-During the Renaissance, pains de fantaisie(literally fancy or fantasy bread) or bread made with milk and butter were introduced, becoming popular all throughout Europe.

-14th-18th century France, in Paris when the harvests were good, there were 30+ different kinds of breads. Some of them were:

pain ballé - a round bran loaf

pain bis - a grayish brown bread with layers of rye and wheat

pain raté - spoiled bread, because rats had nibbled on it; this bread was sold to the poor!

-Pre-revolution, the rich ate wheat and white bread, while the poor dark, coarse, flat loaves. Thus, bread was also an indicator of social status.

-Mass starvation in France provoked the French Revolution. The storming of Bastille was more a call for bread since the government was by no means taking care of the poor. Bread had reached it's highest price ever in France. Once some peace was restored, authorities told bakers to only make one kind of bread - pain d'egalite (equality bread). White flour was banned and rationing was introduced. However, shortly after the republic won, special privileges were banned, and white bread became an every day bread. 

-18th century, France was still having structural shortages. Most citizens got their calories from bread, devoting at least half their income to it.

-During the Enlightenment, there was heavy reflection on grain, flour, and bread in general. There were strict laws on bakeries, and this lead to innovative studies on bread chemistries, beginning the first schools of bakery. 

-Early 19th century, advancements in technology helped the harvest. Bread became more accessible, communal ovens decreased, and bakers were being seen as a separate entity. The first steam oven was introduced in Paris by Austrian August Zang (also introduced pain viennois and the croissant), and therefore some credit this as the introduction to the baguette in France.

12 minute video on how to make Baguettes. Audio's not the best, but pretty informative! :)

-Gas and electric ovens today produce great bread, but some bread makers are reverting back to the wood-fired overs, going back to the traditional artesian ways. :)

-Not all loaves in France are baguettes. Some are:

bâtard - literally means bastard, haha. Short, rugby ball shaped loaf.

flûte - tubular shaped loaf; closely resemble baguettes

ficelle - "string" in French. Similar to baguette but thinner

baton - short baguette

boule - "ball" in French. Looks like a squashed ball.

And tons more...

If you're interested in more about baguettes or artisan bread, check it out!

http://www.retrodor.com/en/index.php/bread-in-the-french-tradition/history-of-bread-and-baguettes

http://foodimentary.com/2012/03/21/a-history-of-the-baguette/

http://www.lepetitfrancais.com/history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baguette

24 days.

Finished one of my summer classes today.

This summer heat-stroke nightmare is almost over.

& soon I'll begin my parisian dream...

Something I haven't talked about yet is the art of France.

There's soooooo many wonderful things - the art, fashion, dance

But also music!

So I thought I'd talk about one of my favorite composers of all time:

Claude Debussy

Did you know Debussy's arguably most famous piece, Clair de Lune, was inspired by a poem?!

Clair de Lune by PAUL VERLAINE (French Symbolist Poet)!

If you're interesting in reading the poem (with translation), check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clair_de_Lune_(poem)

-Born Achille-Claude Debussy on August 22nd, 1862 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (western suburbs of Paris) & the eldest of 5 kids

-2 years later, Debussy started piano lessons. He completely excelled piano by the age of 10 and went to the Paris Conservatoire for 11 years!

-1880-82 (18-20yrs old), he use to accompany Tchaikovsky's patroness, Nadezhda von Meck. However, Tchaikovsky had minimal effect on Debussy. 

-Monsieur & Madame Vasnier had a great influence on Debussy through emotional and professional support. Monsieur Vasnier introduced him to influential french writers of the time (ex. Paul Verlaine, Charles Baudelaire) that influenced Debussy's compositions.

-In 1884, he won the prize to study music in Rome. Buuuut he hated it and couldn't compose. Plus the Academy called some of his works "bizarre" and "courting the unusual."

Actually, he once said,

"I am sure the Institute would not approve, for, naturally it regards the path which it ordains as the only right one. But there is no help for it! I am too enamoured of my freedom, too fond of my own ideas!"

Interesting. Didn't Freddie Mercury felt the same way with "I Want To Break Free" a century later? ;p

-Debussy was influenced by Wagner, responding to his sensuousness, mastery of form, and harmonies. After his Wagner phase, he was interested in non-western music. At the 1889 Paris Exposition (debut of Eiffel Tower, remember?!), he heard some Javanese Gamelan (musical ensemble from Java) and was drawn to their unusual instrumentation. 

-His private life was pretty scandalous. He had at least 5 affairs with women, some simultaneous. His last affair, with Emma Bardoc, turned into a relationship and he had his only daughter, Claude-Emma "Chouchou."

-Debussy was majorly influenced by the Symbolist movement. Debussy approached his music like the Symbolist did with art - reject common techniques and create sensorial work. He also felt he learned more from artists rather than musicians, since they were primarily focused on their music careers.

-Debussy died March 25th, 1918 of cancer and in the midst of bombardment in Paris from WWI.

Another example of one of his most famous works:

Musical style (if you're a musician or familiar with music, you'll understand)

Parallel Chords

Unprepared modulations

Bitonality

Whole-tone & Pentatonic Scales

Passages of absent tonality

Examples of work

Early Works - 1890s

Deux Arabesques 

Suite Bergamesque (No.3 is the infamous Clair de Lune)

Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

Middle Works - 1899 - early 1910s

Nocturnes

La Mer

Children's Corner Suite

Later Work - 1915-1918

Violin Sonata

Préludes 

Jeux (last orchestral work)

In a nutshell:

-Debussy=bohemian, argumentative, & experimental in late 19th/early 20th century France; "musician of the dream."

-Prominent figure in Impressionist music and transition to the modern era from Western music. 

-Work=sensory, avoiding tonality at times, reflective of his own life (including the bad).

-Influence=Wagner, non-western music, other art forms like literature and visual art, symbolist movement, contemporary painter James McNeill Whistler.

And if you're more interested, here's a pretty good 25 minute documentary on him:

Alright, time to dream with Debussy

25 days!

And I accidentally booked my flight an extra day early.

Extra day in Paris for myself? I think I'm fine with that ;)  

Oh, so I told you it wouldn't be long 'till I talked about food again.

Maybe because I'm hungry? 

Regardless,

let's talk about crêpes!

(and not the ones you find at IHOP)

les crêpes - the crepes

OMG.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Did you know...... crepes are incredibly delicious.........

Haha no surprising facts about crepes

OH BUT NEWSFLASH

Nutella lovers,

Nutella isn't French (quoi?!?!)

It's Italian! I don't know why most Americans think it's French. But the French certainly do embrace Nutella ;)

-The name crêpe is a French word, deriving from Latin for "curled."

-For those who don't know how to pronounce it: crêpe rhymes with grape! ;) NOT CREEPYS. OR CRAY-PYS (I'm talking to you MOM!).

-Les crêpes are a very thin pancake.

-There are normally two types of Crepes:

sweet crêpes (crêpes sucrées) - made with wheat flour and slightly sweetened

savoury galettes (crêpes salées) - made with buckwheat (naturally gluten free!) and unsweetened

-Crepes are popular all throughout France, but it originated from the Bretagne (Brittany) region (Northwest France).

-The preparation of crepes can vary. They can be served as lunch or dinner being filled with ham, cheese, mushrooms, etc. or as breakfast or dessert, being filled with and topped with Nutella, fruit spread, Nutella, maple syrup, Nutella, sliced fruit, and/or Nutella.

-Some of the preparations of a crepe can be:

Mille crêpe - french cake of many layers of crepe

Crêpe Suzette - standard french & belgian crepe with lightly grated orange peel and liqueur on top

Crêpe dentelle - a crispy biscuit made with a very thin layer of crêpe, folded in a cigar shape, and then baked. Usually enjoyed with a hot drink during the goûter (afternoon tea).

-Crêperies = equivalence of a taco truck, but for crepes. Can be a "street food" and you see this throughout France (and Europe for that matter.)

If you're interested in how to make crêpes...

-Crêpes are traditionally served for La Chandeleur or Candlemas (Eastern Orthodox/Catholic holiday celebrating the presentation of Jesus), February 2nd. This day is also known as "Le Jour des Crêpes" or "The day of Crêpes!" Now Feb. 2nd is a full on national event for crepes!

-With this holiday, there was a belief if you could catch the crepe in a frying pan after tossing it in the air with your right hand and holding a gold coin in your left hand, you'd become rich that year. I think I'd just be happy having a crepe? :P

So in a way, Crêpes are like our tortillas, as far as it's usage. But also kind of like empanadas (with the different fillings, can be sweet, salty, etc). And then you can fold it up and stuff it like a taco. :| (not with the same ingredients obviously).

Isn't food awesome?!

28 days

Finally got my plane ticket

So I'm officially going to Paris, no doubt about it.

Boo-yah ;)

This post I'm going to take a break from food. Just for a moment.

Because with my love for food, and the French's love for food, I can spend the rest of my countdown LITERALLY TALKING ABOUT ALL OF THEIR FOOD.

But let's talk about all the places that speak le français!

les pays francophones - french speaking countries

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Map-Francophonie_organisation_2012-fr.svg

Did you know there are over 220 MILLION FRENCH SPEAKERS IN THE WORLD?! (First & Second language)

Bet you thought only France & Canada speak French. 

THINK AGAIN!

-French is the official language of 29 countries

-There are 75 million native speakers

-As of 2010, French is the 11th most spoken language in the world

-French is an official language of the United Nations

-Francophone=french speaker

-French comes from the Indo-European Language Family, descending from Latin and is considered a Romance language (related to Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, and more). However, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages and Germanic Frankish languages. 

-France has the French Overseas Departments and Territories, or départements et territoires d'outre-mer aka DOM/TOM. Just as the U.S. owns territories (Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, Guam, etc.), so does France! Some of those places being Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Wallis & Futuna.

Where French is officially spoken (as the official or one of the official languages) 

European Union

France

Belgium

Switzerland (western part)

Luxembourg

Monaco

Italy (only in a small region, Aosta Valley, Italy)

French is the 4th most widely spoken language in the European Union. However, in the photo below, it's showing the knowledge of French across the EU, not necessarily it's official status as a language. All the black and some of the deep blue have French as an official language.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Knowledge_of_French_EU_map.svg

The Americas

North America

Canada (Québec)

Louisiana, U.S.A.

Caribbean + South America 

French Guiana

Guadeloupe

Haiti

Martinique

Saint Barthélemy

Saint Martin

Saint Pierre & Miquelon

Africa (some countries French is official, others is just widely spoken)

Algeria

Benin

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Central African Republic

Chad

Comoros

Congo, Republic of

Côte d'Ivoire/Ivory Coast

Democratic Republic of Congo

Dijibouti

Equatorial Guinea

Gabon

Guinea

Madagascar

Mali

Mauritania

Mauritius

Morocco

Niger

Réunion

Rwanda

Senegal

Seychelles

Togo

Tunisia

Oceania + Antartica

French Polynesia

French Southern and Antarctic Lands 

Wallis and Futuna

-Just like with English (and any other language for that matter), French also have a vaaaast amount of dialects. In English, we have New Yorker, Southern, British, Australian, Scottish - it goes on! Well, so do the French, with Parisian French, Canadian, Creole, Haitian, Senegalese, etc.! If you're interested more in the dialects, check this link out:

http://french.about.com/od/dialects/French_Dialects_Patois_and_Regional_Languages.htm

It just became a frenchier world...

& of course, if you're interested more in the global presence of French...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language

http://www.worldatlas.com/french.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_where_French_is_an_official_language

http://french.about.com/od/francophonie/ss/whatisfrench_2.htm