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Margo Lestz – The Curious Rambler

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Category: FR Culture / Language

Notre Dame de Paris

16 April 2019 Margo Lestz

Victor Hugo’s words come true as Notre Dame burns…

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New Book: Berets, Baguettes, and Beyond

9 November 2018 Margo Lestz

New book about France makes a great gift…

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Fleur de Lys: The Iris of Kings

7 October 2018 Margo Lestz

The fleur de lys has a long association with the kings of France…

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The French Show Their Stripes (on Their Shirts)

23 September 2018 Margo Lestz

If you’re looking to add a bit of Frenchness to your wardrobe, a blue and white striped knit shirt could just do the trick…

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The Marseillaise: The French National Anthem

13 July 2018 Margo Lestz

France’s rousing national anthem is called the Marseillaise and was written during the French Revolution…

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Demonstrations, Strikes, and Bossnappings

27 April 2018 Margo Lestz

When the French are unhappy about something, they don’t keep quiet – they draw attention to their cause…

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Curious French Superstitions

12 April 2018 Margo Lestz

Every country seems to have its superstitions, and France is no exception. Which ones have you heard of?…

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Best of Enemies: Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli

30 March 2018 Margo Lestz

Coco Chanel was queen of fashion until Elsa Schiaparelli rolled into town…

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The Provence Christmas Story

2 December 2017 Margo Lestz

You may know the traditional Biblical Christmas story, but in Provence, there is a bit more to it…

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Renart and Chantecler: Two Animals that Shaped French Culture and Language

2 September 2017 Margo Lestz

We have to go back to the twelfth century and start with a fox…

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The Gallic Rooster of France

21 May 2017 Margo Lestz

Find out why the rooster represents France…

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Prints of Provence: “Les Indiennes”

6 April 2017 Margo Lestz

How could a fabric that originated in India, was copied by Armenians, and outlawed in France become a symbol of Provence?

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Victor Hugo and the Joker

24 March 2017 Margo Lestz

Who would have thought that one of the greatest 19th century French writers would have anything to do with a 20th century American cartoon villain?

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The Camargue: Horses, Bulls, and Gardians

26 January 2017 Margo Lestz

Southwest Provence, around Arles and the Camargue, has a very distinctive horse and bull culture…

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Bread and Bad Luck: A French Superstition

12 January 2017 Margo Lestz

Find out why you should never lay bread on the table upside down…

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Cypress trees in Provence

Secret Language of Cypress Trees in Provence, France

5 September 2016 Margo Lestz

There is more than meets the eye to these slender, conical cypress trees. They have a hidden meaning…

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The Mistral Wind of Provence

28 July 2016 Margo Lestz

Provence claims thirty-two different winds, but the mistral is master of them all…

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cicadas cigales provence

The Cicada (Cigale) of Provence

7 July 2016 Margo Lestz

When the warm days of summer arrive in Provence, the air is filled with the song of the cicadas, or cigales in French…

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Tartarin of Tarascon

23 June 2016 Margo Lestz

Saint Martha isn’t the only slayer of ferocious beasts whose name is associated with Tarascon. The town’s other celebrated hero, who also participates in the annual Tarasque festival, is Tartarin of Tarascan…

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Saint Martha and the Tarasque in Provence

9 June 2016 Margo Lestz

Saint Martha washed up in Provence and wandered into a village with a dragon problem. The Tarasque was terrorizing the town, but Martha wasn’t afraid. ..

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Berets, Onions, and Stereotypes

2 October 2015 Margo Lestz

In the mid 1900s, if you had asked nearly any British person what a Frenchman looked like, you would have gotten this description: He wears a beret, and he rides a bike with onions hanging on the handlebars…

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French Beret: A Hat with Attitude

19 September 2015 Margo Lestz

The French beret, that little pancake of a hat, has become the recognized symbol of all things French – at least among those outside of France…

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An Accidental Tourist at the Festival of Avignon

11 July 2015 Margo Lestz

As our taxi entered the city walls of Avignon, it was evident that something was happening. I had seen online that a festival would be

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happy may day

Mayday! Mayday! Help, it’s May Day.

1 May 2015 Margo Lestz

What does the month of May have to do with the call of distress? Nothing really, it’s just an example of how words slip from one language into another. The distress call actually came from the French phrase, “m’aidez”…

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Paris

Polite Paris

1 April 2015 Margo Lestz

*Published April 1, 2015 Ahh Paris… Just the mention of its name brings up images of sophisticated people in sidewalk cafés surrounded by elegance.  It’s

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The Changing Face of the French Republic

7 March 2015 Margo Lestz

Marianne’s Story – Did you know that France has been led by a woman ever since the French Revolution of 1789? It’s true!

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Shakespeare and Company

Shakespeare and Company

31 December 2014 Margo Lestz

For any book-lover, the Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris is a must-see. It’s been the centre…

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July and August in France

The Grand Vacations: July and August in France

25 August 2014 Margo Lestz

The French love their holidays. There are lots of them scattered throughout the year but July and August are the months of les grandes vacances when business almost comes to a halt….

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Louis Armstrong disguised as a French man

French Jazz Fans outsmart Hitler

9 July 2014 Margo Lestz

French jazz developed under some interesting circumstances during the Nazi Occupation of World War II….

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flamingo, phoenix parc, nice, france

French Expressions Pop Up in the Park

20 May 2014 Margo Lestz

Some animal and plant related French sayings illustrated with photos from a day in the park….

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Tooth Fairy vs Little Tooth Mouse

10 May 2014 Margo Lestz

There’s no Tooth Fairy in France so who collects the children’s teeth?…

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Do you speak english, yes, no

It Pays to be Polite in France

26 February 2014 Margo Lestz

“A cup of coffee” – € 7.00″A cup of coffee, please” – € 4.25″Hello, a cup of coffee, please” – € 1.40 At this café in Nice, France, minding

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A Girl Called Fanny That no one Wants to Kiss

13 December 2013 Margo Lestz

  Recently, when I was at the Christmas “santon” fairs looking at all of the little figures that make up the Nativity scenes in southern

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Santons: The Little Saints of Provence

6 December 2013 Margo Lestz

In many parts of the world, Nativity scenes make up a part of the Christmas decoration but in Provence, they are taken to the extreme…

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French Class: A Poem

22 August 2012 Margo Lestz

I’ll soon be off to Italy to start studying the Italian language. I know what I have to look forward to because I remember my

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