Emily in France 🇫🇷 Idioms Aren't Idiotic
There's always a pig slaughter somewhere.
When I was first learning French in school, one of my favorite modules was on idiomatic expressions:
Mind your own onions. (Mind your own business.)
Telling salads. (Telling lies.)
It doesn't eat bread. (It doesn't demand a lot of work/effort/money.)
Since they vary widely from language to language, when you first learn the ways in which another culture describes something banal, it almost sounds surreal.
I've fully integrated most of these idioms – sometimes to the detriment of my English – but recently, as I was working my way through the last days of the Q&A for Writers journal my dad got me for Christmas last year, I was asked to create my own idiomatic expression. And I was completely blocked. Coming up with a way to convey a quotidian sentiment in an unconventional way is not easy to do.
But then, a few days later (and completely out of nowhere), as I chatted with a friend, one created itself. I'd been putting off making travel plans for the new year pending a pitch I sent about a pig slaughter festival in Besse in January. When finally the timing grew too short, too close for comfort, I abandoned the idea, and my friend expressed her regrets.
"It's OK," I said with a shrug. "There's always a pig slaughter somewhere."
And it's true. I send dozens of pitches a month; some of them land, and some of them sink into the abyss. Sometimes I send out a pitch, already projecting my travels in Marseille or Toulouse or Carcassonne, only to never hear back or to field a rejection, to scrap a trip before it ever begins. But I'm forever stumbling upon new and exciting places to visit, events to explore, people to meet. And so it's true: it might not be the Besse pig festival, or a volcanic wine fair, or a cassoulet competition... but there is indeed always something going on, somewhere.
It might have to be a new idiom that belongs to no language except for mine.
Where I'm Eating
During my travels in Lyon, I had the pleasure of dining at a classic bouchon called Le Poêlon d'Or, where I sampled the city's eponymous salad, a pink praline tart, and andouillette. As always, you can find my ever-evolving list of my favorite Parisian restaurants here.
Where I'm Going
1. A wine fair at one of my favorite natural wine sellers, l'Envin.
2. To finally sample the dishes at Le Fooding's Best New Bistro in Paris, Le Maquis.
3. For lots of long walks... seeing as strikes have shut down the métro here in Paris.
What I'm Writing
1. I interviewed the best friends and bakers behind trendy Boulangerie Utopie for Culture Trip.
2. From the archives: this year, my aunt and I traveled to Riga as part of our traditional jaunt eastwards at Thanksgiving. Four years ago, we were in Budapest, and I sought out the five must-try local pastries for Paste Magazine.
3. From the archives: Paris has a long history of striking, revolting, and rebelling. Following the Charlie Hebdo shootings, I did this deep dive into the city's revolutionary past for Epicure & Culture.
What I'm Reading
1. This list (in French!) of the 75 phrases you'll never hear a Parisian say in TimeOut.
2. This portrait of the two amazing chefs growing vegetables for Paris' top restaurants in the New York Times.
3. This list of some of the first books novelists fell in love with for LitHub.
A bientôt !
Emily in France