So here I am sitting on the floor of my miniscule but cute Paris
apartment thinking about everything and nothing and doing mindless stuff. As usual, with my laptop on my lap.
Surfing the net, I found out that now to get a long term visa under the category ‘family’ (to join significant others in France) one needs to pass a French language and knowledge about France tests. I tried the language test and passed! Also did the test on knowledge about France and got excellent score. Questions on this test include Symbol of France (Marianne), La Marseillaise (national anthem), term for presidency (5 years), date of French revolution (1789), and bizarrely questions on Monet (Impressionist and definitely not cubist or abstract which were given as the other choices!) and Jacques Brel (Singer, and not cineaste or actor given as the other choices).
I have also heard that now to renew your carte de séjour you have to show that you speak French and have sufficient knowledge about France (history, government, culture etc.) to show your integration in the French society.
Thinking about language, tried to list French expressions I find funny or I like such as: ‘Gay as a seal' (foque = seal) is what that we say in France instead of Gay as a goose as we say in the US or Australia when there is no doubt that a guy is gay….(Actually neither goose nor seal evokes gay man in my mind).
We call people we love in france puce which means flea! So different to Honey, Pumpkin or other terms of endearment that evoke cute cuddly things that we say in the US. So my flea, you know I love you right?
My lovers often ask me if I have taken my foot after making love...taking one's foot (prendre son pied) means having fun (does it have something to do with skipping ?)(having a blast which we say in Oz or US conjures images of explosion...would be more appropriate after sex non ?).
Setting up RDVs with my lover, I always tell them to not leave me a rabbit (poser un lapin) which means not to leave me waiting for a RDV that never comes (waiting, wanting and wanton I'd say). Men you meet on the Net are notorious for this.
And my favorite expression lately is J'en ai ras le bol which means My bowl is full which means I have had it up to here !!! Bol can also be replaced by Cul (Ass) which makes the expression vulgar but with much more impact indeed.
Surfed the net again, this time looking for old school mates on Facebook. Nada. I guess they are not at an age to care or have the time to maintain a Facebook (But Barack Obama does maintain one non ?)
Surfed the meeting sites for gays and thoughts about my lovers in Paris: Guillaume who disappears each time he has a girlfriend, Raphael who has moved out of Paris to be in the Army, Samba whom I have known for 7 years but still know too little about, Reynal who makes love like an animal incidently making me fall in love with him. Also J. who is so acrobatic that after making love with him I feel like I have run the Paris matathon or played 3 sets of tennis, D who thinks he is the best lover in the world (Not!) and concentrates more on taking pictures of us making love than making love itself. Frederic who was my first love after I moved to Paris. Thierry who was one of the reasons I moved to Paris (a decision made on a rainy night when he kissed me on the Pont des arts). And the many other lovers whose names I cannot remember anymore (or maybe never knew).
Finally, set up a RDV with yet another nameless (or fake named) guy to pass the time and forget the cold weather of Paris. I hope he would not me give me a rabbit, and that we will both take our foot, maybe he would even murmur that I am his flea, and I hope also that he is macho acting rather than like me, a seal on the verge of thinking that his bowl is full!
Hints for visitors:
A few phrases in French go a long way to start friendly conversations with the locals. Bonjour is Hello/good day. Parlez vous Anglais is Do you speak English. Merci is thank you. To tell someone to fuck off, say Va te faire foutre (or of course a few rude universal gesture will suffice).
apartment thinking about everything and nothing and doing mindless stuff. As usual, with my laptop on my lap.Surfing the net, I found out that now to get a long term visa under the category ‘family’ (to join significant others in France) one needs to pass a French language and knowledge about France tests. I tried the language test and passed! Also did the test on knowledge about France and got excellent score. Questions on this test include Symbol of France (Marianne), La Marseillaise (national anthem), term for presidency (5 years), date of French revolution (1789), and bizarrely questions on Monet (Impressionist and definitely not cubist or abstract which were given as the other choices!) and Jacques Brel (Singer, and not cineaste or actor given as the other choices).
I have also heard that now to renew your carte de séjour you have to show that you speak French and have sufficient knowledge about France (history, government, culture etc.) to show your integration in the French society.
Thinking about language, tried to list French expressions I find funny or I like such as: ‘Gay as a seal' (foque = seal) is what that we say in France instead of Gay as a goose as we say in the US or Australia when there is no doubt that a guy is gay….(Actually neither goose nor seal evokes gay man in my mind).
We call people we love in france puce which means flea! So different to Honey, Pumpkin or other terms of endearment that evoke cute cuddly things that we say in the US. So my flea, you know I love you right?
My lovers often ask me if I have taken my foot after making love...taking one's foot (prendre son pied) means having fun (does it have something to do with skipping ?)(having a blast which we say in Oz or US conjures images of explosion...would be more appropriate after sex non ?).
Setting up RDVs with my lover, I always tell them to not leave me a rabbit (poser un lapin) which means not to leave me waiting for a RDV that never comes (waiting, wanting and wanton I'd say). Men you meet on the Net are notorious for this.
And my favorite expression lately is J'en ai ras le bol which means My bowl is full which means I have had it up to here !!! Bol can also be replaced by Cul (Ass) which makes the expression vulgar but with much more impact indeed.
Surfed the net again, this time looking for old school mates on Facebook. Nada. I guess they are not at an age to care or have the time to maintain a Facebook (But Barack Obama does maintain one non ?)Surfed the meeting sites for gays and thoughts about my lovers in Paris: Guillaume who disappears each time he has a girlfriend, Raphael who has moved out of Paris to be in the Army, Samba whom I have known for 7 years but still know too little about, Reynal who makes love like an animal incidently making me fall in love with him. Also J. who is so acrobatic that after making love with him I feel like I have run the Paris matathon or played 3 sets of tennis, D who thinks he is the best lover in the world (Not!) and concentrates more on taking pictures of us making love than making love itself. Frederic who was my first love after I moved to Paris. Thierry who was one of the reasons I moved to Paris (a decision made on a rainy night when he kissed me on the Pont des arts). And the many other lovers whose names I cannot remember anymore (or maybe never knew).
Finally, set up a RDV with yet another nameless (or fake named) guy to pass the time and forget the cold weather of Paris. I hope he would not me give me a rabbit, and that we will both take our foot, maybe he would even murmur that I am his flea, and I hope also that he is macho acting rather than like me, a seal on the verge of thinking that his bowl is full!
Hints for visitors:
A few phrases in French go a long way to start friendly conversations with the locals. Bonjour is Hello/good day. Parlez vous Anglais is Do you speak English. Merci is thank you. To tell someone to fuck off, say Va te faire foutre (or of course a few rude universal gesture will suffice).
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