Categories
French History, Culture, and Politics Only in Quebec

You Will Insta in French, Little Cafe

In today’s follow-up to yesterday’s post about requiring French labels for specialty manufactured items, a little Quebec cafe near the border with Ontario has received a letter from the province’s French language authority saying the cafe’s Instagram posts must be in French–even though all their signage, menus, and Facebook posts are solely in French.… [Read More]

Categories
French History, Culture, and Politics Only in Quebec

Parlez-vous WTF?

As language regulations tighten, manufacturers may be saying “adieu” to Quebec

As the 2025 deadline for compliance with Bill 96 creeps closer, retailers and manufacturers are signaling their anxiety about the possible effects.… [Read More]

Categories
Experiences French

Donkey Backs

I read the news in French every morning to build my vocabulary and keep apprised of local goings-on.

As a result of this article (it’s in French only, sorry) about a cyclist who was injured after sliding on a newly-painted pedestrian crossing, today I learned the term dos d’ânes, or “donkey backs.”… [Read More]

Categories
Experiences French Only in Montréal Only in Quebec

The Frigo of Doom

We haven’t gone on about it too much here on the blog, but when we moved into this furnished apartment it was a *disaster.* Filthy from the drawers to the floors, broken appliances, an unmade bed with a pile of crumbs on the chair next to it….just… [Read More]

Categories
French Only in Quebec

Hubert Made a Funny

If you speak French (or know how it is pronounced) this is very cute. Just some guy being drôle, like guys often are here. Bon appétit, Hubert!

Categories
Experiences French Musings and Observations Places

The French Flip

After six months in California laboring to reduce our load of possessions and make an all-encompassing list of them for the Canadian government (required for settling in Canada), weeks of getting our new tenant installed and repairing newly-discovered defects in the ADU, and days of cleaning, schlepping, and shuffling all our household and personal items around to pack and make way for the caretaker, we finally got to sit still for five hours on the plane flying us to Montreal for the summer.… [Read More]

Categories
Food French Only in Montréal Très Intéressant

The Bacon Dance

You've surely seen one but you didn't know it until now.
Categories
French History, Culture, and Politics Très Intéressant

Dans la ruelle

Our apartment balcony faces a ruelle, a little street that’s pedestrian-only. It’s bordered by grass and trees, and mostly pleasant, except on the weekends when it becomes a pissoir for soused and screaming partyers (or, as the French so aptly say, les fêtards).… [Read More]