Children's Phrase of the Day - Is Red Your Favorite Color

Quick Phrase of the Day - It's Not Worth The Trouble

Cela n'en vaut pas la peine (seh lah nehn voh pah lah pehn) It's not worth the trouble

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary break down:
Cela (seh lah) -it's, that's
n'en vaut pas (nehn voh pah) not worth
la peine (lah pehn) -the trouble, the grief

Children's Phrase of the Day - What Are You Doing?

Quick Phrase of the Day -I Have A Stomach Ache

(zhay mahl ah lehss toh mahk) -I have a stomach ache


Vocabulary breakdown:
J'ai (zhay) -I have
mal (mahl) -bad
à la (ah lah) to the, at the
estomac (ess toh mahk)

Children's Phrase of the Day - I Had Fun

Lesson #140 -Aller

Aller (ah lay) -to go

je vais (zhuh vay) -I go, I am going
tu vas (too vah) -You go, you are going (when speaking to a friend or family member)
il va (eel vah) -He goes, he is going
elle va (ell vah) -She goes, she is going
nous allons (nooz ah lohn) -we go, we are going
vous allez (vooz ah lay) -you go, you are going (when speaking to someone you don't know well)
ils vont (eel vohn) -they go, they are going (when speaking of an all male or mixed male & female group)
elles vont (ell vohn) -they go, they are going (when speaking of an all female group)

Children's Word of the Day -Today

Quick Phrase of the Day - Let's Go Over There

Allons là-bas (ah lohn lah bah) -Let's go over there.

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary breakdown:
Allons (ah lohn) we are going, let's go
la-bas (lah bah) -over there

Children's Phrase of the Day -Where Are My Books

Quick Phrase of the Day - Where Is The Police Station?

Où se trouve le poste de police (ooh seh troov leh pohst deh poh leece) -Where is the Police Station?

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary breakdown:
Où (ooh) -where
Où se trouve (ooh seh troov) -where can one find...
le (leh) -the (when used with masculine nouns)
le poste deh police (leh pohst deh poh leece) -police station

Children's Phrase of the Day - I Am Ready

Quick Phrase of the Day - I'd Be Happy To

Avec plaisir (ah vehk play zeer) -with pleasure, I'd be happy to

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary breakdown:
avec (ah vehk) -with
plaisir (play zeer) pleasure

Claude Lorrain -French Artist

Claude Lorrain, traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French Claude Gellée, dit le Lorrain) (c. 1600 – 21 or 23 November 1682) was an artist of the Baroque era who was active in Italy, and is admired for his achievements in landscape painting.
In this matter of the importance of landscape, Claude was prescient. Living in a pre-Romantic era, he did not depict those uninhabited panoramas that were to be esteemed in later centuries, such as with Salvatore Rosa. He painted a pastoral world of fields and valleys not distant from castles and towns. If the ocean horizon is represented, it is from the setting of a busy port. Perhaps to feed the public need for paintings with noble themes, his pictures include demigods, heroes and saints, even though his abundant drawings and sketchbooks prove that he was more interested in scenography.

Claude was described as kind to his pupils and hard-working; keenly observant, but an unlettered man until his death. The painter Joachim von Sandrart is an authority for Claude's life (Academia Artis Pictoriae, 1683); Baldinucci, who obtained information from some of Claude's immediate survivors, relates various incidents to a different effect (Notizie dei professoni del disegno).

John Constable described Claude as "the most perfect landscape painter the world ever saw", and declared that in Claude’s landscape "all is lovely – all amiable – all is amenity and repose; the calm sunshine of the heart"

Children's Phrase of the Day - I Like That

Lesson #139 -Commands

Levez! (leh vay voo) -Stand up! Get up!
Regardez! (reh gahr day) -Look!
Ne partez pas! (neh pahr tay pah) -Don't go!
Ecoutez-moi! (ay koo tay mwah) -Listen to me!
Arrêtez! (ah reh tay) -Stop!
Ne touchez pas! (neh too shay pah) -Don't touch!

'Bad taste' cries as McDonald's moves into 'Mona Lisa' museum

Mon Dieu!
Even I am upset when I read this & I love Mcdonalds.

CNN) -- Shortly after McDonald's celebrated its 30-year presence in France, the fast-food chain is conquering one of the country's most valued cultural institutions --the Louvre. McDonald's burgers and fries will be available under the glass pyramid of the Louvre. The restaurant will be serving its fast burgers in the Carrousel du Louvre, an underground shopping mall which lies under the main entrance of the museum and which still contains an ancient wall that was discovered during construction works. McDonald's plans seem to have caused more media attention abroad than in France, but for some French outlets, the idea of combining fast food and ancient art is stomach churning. The Parisian Web site "Louvre pour tous" (Louvre for everyone) describes the company's plans to open a restaurant in the prestigious museum as "bad taste" and blamed the Louvre's directors for failing to prevent what could result in "fragrances of fries drifting under Mona Lisa's nose". Marion Benaiteau, spokeswoman for the museum, told CNN it was not their decision and declined to comment further on the issue. The Carrousel du Louvre mall is managed by Unibail-Rodamco, Europe's largest property company, and not the museum itself. The mall, which is situated next to the most visited museum in the world, counts 8.3 million visitors a year and enjoyed a total gross sales of $75 million in 2008. Le Parisien, a daily newspaper described the difference between McDonald's and the Louvre by comparing Ronald McDonald, the restaurant's clown character, to Venus de Milo, the famous ancient Greek statue of Aphrodite, which is on display at the Louvre. McDonald's sees the opening of its new restaurant next to the home of Mona Lisa as nothing out of the ordinary. "There are already many other restaurants in the mall, so we will only be one of the many restaurants that offer visitors their products." said a spokeswoman for McDonald's in France, who declined to be named. "There's even a Starbucks," she added. Museum lovers in France are shocked about the news, but not surprised, one told CNN. "Museums have to offer services like restaurants and boutiques, it's completely normal," Jean-Michel Raingeard, President of the Federation of French Friends of Museums told CNN. What worries him, however, is the choice of shops. "Museum directors seem to care more about the number of people they attract rather than the quality of people. Should a museum be a museum or an amusement park?" asks Jean Michel Raingeard, who is also the European Vice President for The World Federation of Friends of Museums. Criticism, though fierce, has not halted the plans: construction work will start soon and the restaurant should be open "by the end of the year," Mcdonald's said. The menu will also very likely stay the same. "McDonald's functions the same way in all of France, so there will probably be no special menus," the spokeswoman said.

Children's Phrase of the Day - Don't Hurry

Quick Phrase of the Day - How Much Is It Worth?

Ça vaut combien? (sah voh kohm bee ehn) -How much is it worth?

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary breakdown
Ça (sah) - it
vaut (voh) -worth
combien (kohm bee ehn) -how, how much, how many

Winter in Paris: A Cool Time To Go Local

By Rick Steves, Tribune Media Services

The City of Light shines year-round, but Paris has a special appeal in winter. Sure, the weather can be cold and rainy (the average high in January is 43 degrees), but if you dress in layers, you'll keep warm and easily deal with temperature changes as you go from cold streets to heated museums and cafes.

Slow down and savor your favorite museums and monuments -- spending one-on-one time with Mona and Venus is worth the extra clothes you had to pack. Attend a cooking demonstration, take a short course in art or architecture, or dabble in a wine-tasting class. Duck into cafes to warm up and enjoy a break from sightseeing or shopping. Get on a first-name basis with the waiter at your corner cafe -- just because now you can.

One of Europe's greatest treats is strolling down the glowing Champs-Elysees in winter. From late November through mid-January, holiday lights adorn city streets, buildings, and monuments, and the Champs-Elysees beams with a dazzling display of lights on the trees that line the long boulevard. The city springs for 1,000 fresh-cut fir trees to put up and decorate around town, 300 of which ring the Rond-Point traffic circle at the lower end of the Champs-Elysees.

Parisians live to window-shop ("faire du leche vitrines" -- literally "window-licking"). Do some licking of your own along the boulevards and view the wild window displays at the grand department stores such as Printemps and Galeries Lafayette. The seasonal displays in neighborhood boutiques around Sevres-Babylone and in the Marais neighborhood (among other areas) are more intimate and offer a good contrast to the shows of glitz around the department stores.

If the weather is bad, scurry for cover to the shopping arcades called "passages." More than 200 of these covered shopping streets once crisscrossed Paris, providing much-needed shelter from the rain. Galerie Vivienne, a few blocks from the Louvre, is the most refined, and accessible. Passage Choiseul and Passage Ste. Anne, four blocks west of Galerie Vivienne, are fine examples of most Parisian passages, selling used books, paper products, trinkets, and snacks.

It's fun to browse through one of Paris' many English-language bookstores, where you can pick up fiction and nonfiction. My favorite is the friendly Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore in the Marais neighborhood at 22 rue St. Paul. Another is Shakespeare and Company, once a hangout for Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein, at 37 rue de la Bucherie, across the river from Notre-Dame.

In winter, several ice-skating rinks open up in festive locations: in front of the Hotel de Ville (look also for a small sled run), at the base of the Montparnasse skyscraper, and in some winters, most spectacular of all -- 200 feet in the air on the first level of the Eiffel Tower. The rinks are free to use (around $7 to rent skates, open from December to March from noon into the evening), though for the Eiffel Tower rink, you have to pay the tower admission, of course.

After ice-skating, why not go for a swim? Aquaboulevard, Paris' best indoor pool/waterslide complex, is easy to reach and a timely escape from the winter scene. It's pricey and steamy, but a fun opportunity to see soaked Parisians at play.

Once you've worked up your appetite, remember that winter is the season for the hunt. In Paris you'll find game birds and venison on restaurant menus. On street corners you'll hear shouts of "Chaud les marrons!" from vendors selling chestnuts roasting on coals. Chocolatiers (including La Maison du Chocolat's five stores) and pastry shops everywhere do a bang-up business during the winter, serving traditional treats such as Epiphany cakes (flaky marzipan cakes called "galette des rois").

One of Paris' great wintertime pleasures is watching the city bustle by while you linger at an outdoor table with a "cafe creme," a "vin chaud" (hot wine), or best, a hot chocolate (simply called "chocolat" and tres popular in winter). Most cafes fire up the braziers to keep things toasty outside. Or head inside. With the new smoking laws, cafe and restaurant interiors are wonderfully free of smoke.

Paris in winter offers so much to do indoors -- museums, restaurants, and stores stay open as usual; the concert and arts season is in full bloom; and Paris belongs to the Parisians. So go local, save money, and skip the museum lines that confront peak-season travelers. There are worse ways to spend a wintry day than enjoying world-class art, architecture, and shopping during the day and lingering over a fine dinner at a cozy corner bistro in the evening. As Cole Porter put it: "I love Paris in the winter, when it drizzles."

Children's Phrase of the Day - What Happened?