What says French to you?

Icecubes

Photos and Text by Corey Amaro.

1. Ice cubes that are brought to your table in an ice bucket.

2. Church bells ringing on the hour, and every half hour throughout the day.


Breadbasket 

3. Bread baked in linen, lined baskets.

4. Menus on chalk boards.


open market in France

5. Open Markets.

Spunky dog

6. Dogs, better known as royalty.


French Baguettes

7. Baguettes.

8. Cheese.


A-glass-of-red-wine

9. Wine.

Color-of-provence-boules

10. Boules. 11. Soccer. 12. Mopeds.

Colors-of-provence-lavender

13. Lavender.

14. Scarves.

15. Flower markets. 16. Perfume.

17. Wall to wall tiled floors.


Shutters

18. Shutters.


Hilltop-village

19. Hilltop villages.

Clothes-line 

20. Inventive clotheslines.


Doorbell-pull 

21. Old things still intact, history lessons made user friendly. (Doorbell pull.)

Stair case 

22. Stairs at every turn, and behind every door.


23. Good things to eat. Macarons


24. Charming Street side cafes. Charming-street-cafes 

Beret

25. Berets

26.French-cafe

27.  Eiffel-tower

French-Facade

28. A classic French village monument in every village.


Monalisa 29. MONA DARLING.

French cannisters

30. French cannisters.


Frenchman-with-beret 

31. Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Van Gogh, and this man.

Pastis 

32. Pastis.


Red-check-french-cafe

33.  Red Check, red canopy, red chairs….

What says French to you? Can we reach 100? I'll try to add photos of the things you mention.



Comments

107 responses to “What says French to you?”

  1. i’d have to agree with the lavender. i love lavender. most of my soaps and even some shampoos are lavender scented. 😀

  2. Haute Couture!
    Patisserie!
    Brocantes!

  3. For me France is all the above and…
    Moules frites.
    Men wrapping sweaters over their shoulders. Cute schooluniforms.
    and le Citroen 2CV!
    Happy Easter, Jeannette

  4. Jend’isère

    Festivities for each season: roasted chestnuts, bugnes, gallete de roi, crèpes for Carnaval, April 1 fish, May strikes and holidays…

  5. The Backeries with all that they behold. My favorite are the little tarts covered with yummy fruit.

  6. Julie Ann Evins

    All of the above +
    Rose wine
    Champagne
    Table settings (don’t think you will struggle for pictures of those !)
    Chanel
    Crepes
    Kissing of cheeks !
    Baguettes & Croisant
    Patisserie
    Cheese especially goats cheese (banon)
    Fabulous decor both Grand & Rustique
    Santons !
    Cote Bastide
    Dyptique
    Olive trees and Vines
    Mistral
    The light !

  7. it tells me that I L-O-V-E France and feel that this the land I belong to!
    and I love and was always wearing berets before moving to subtropical climate (Tampa, FL then Hong Kong) ten years ago 🙂
    Irina

  8. Patricia

    The “kiss, kiss”!

  9. Laduree…..Notre Dame….toile…tart boards…ornately carved chairs!!!

  10. Ah, those painters in Montmartre… I think that was a glimpse of France for me…
    Maybe the nuns spotted now and then walking down near Notre Dame?
    Versailles?
    And Shakespeare and Co. bookstore…
    Today I think of the vaulting cathedrals, the still shadowed places, to come and pray…
    Blessed Good Friday, Corey…
    All’s grace,
    Ann

  11. Street cafes, music everywhere, young lovers, wine,bread and cheese, kisses on cheeks, hearing French spoken by happy people, flowing fountains, the colors and a beautiful people.

  12. Chevre chaude avec salad…..and a plate of moules frites!

  13. Michelle

    A little bowl, with a ship painted in the bottom, with blue handles and my name Michele written on the side. My gramma brought it back from France when I was a little girl. When I see it I think of her and hope that one day I will get to go to France too. I call it my little French bowl.

  14. Fashion says “French” to me. The Riveria (did I spell that right?) What abour poodles? Are they really French? I really liked those French canisters!
    Have a very special Easter weekend. It’s Good Friday!

  15. pommes frites
    two-cheek kisses
    elegance & style
    Gigi
    2% body fat
    that je n’ais quoi of French women
    fresh baked bread bread bread &
    cafe au lait

  16. Marche au Puces, beautiful and sophisticated long legged women,cigarettes, cell phones, poodles, The Louvre, D’Orsay, Notre Dame, Baton Mouches, beautiful parks, black clothing, lots of romance……

  17. Elizabeth Ferguson

    The famous shrug – shoulders up to ears, hands up, eyebrows up. Would love to see a picture.

  18. Nancy from Massachusetts

    I just found your blog…LOVE IT!!!
    What says ‘French’ to me? Lace Curtains hanging in a window.

  19. -dipping your baguette with nutella/or some cookie in your café au lait in a bowl..
    (can i mention expresions??)…
    nancyxx

  20. Not to repeat the above comments, plus I love gardens. In particular the French
    parterres and potagers. I have a little French style house, so off my deck I
    put in a parterre, with a fountain in the
    center, something I saw all over France.
    It is lovely to look at and brings back
    all the wonderful memories of traveling
    thru France.
    Happy Easter to All

  21. Jeanette M.

    All of those things. I’ve only been once. Last year I had 4 days in Paris and I feel like I just went back. I had crepes “to go” every morning and now I think of Paris whenever I eat one.

  22. -French comedies with Pier Rishar or Jerar Depardier;
    -French riviera;
    -Cannes Film Festival;
    -Chestnut trees in bloom;

  23. Corey,
    What a clever and interesting post today! Let me add to your list:
    1. The window displays in Patisseries
    2. Napoleon Bonaparte
    3. Overflowing window boxes filled with marvelous flowers
    4. Vinyards
    5. The fleur de lis
    6. The French Riviera
    7. Notre Dame
    8. The beaches, the cemeteries of Normandy
    9. Brigitte Bardot
    10. Bastille Day
    Marilyn (in Dallas)

  24. Bike baskets (especially with flowers!)
    Red striped linen!
    Petit Bateau sailor shirts!

  25. French perfume………..Lavender and fine items………..french pastries and you~
    Viva Lamour Galore
    I love you
    Happy Easter

  26. Diogenes

    -Marche aux Puces Clignancourt
    -pot au feu
    -Louvre des Antiquaires
    -Loire valley
    -Vaux le Vicompte
    -and I agree with everyone else on the pommes frites

  27. I think that France definitely has it’s own color scheme. I love all the creams and whites offset by the colors of nature.
    Plus Coco Chanel.

  28. Maurice Chevalier
    Grapefruit (first had them in Paris)
    French blue dishes or pots
    Provencal fabrics
    Espadrilles!
    My poodles-even though the breed originated in Germany most people think of poodles as being French
    Perfume
    Escargot
    Tile and stone work
    lavender, rosemary
    garlic
    shallots

  29. Hi Corey,
    Well you already did a lot of them but, I like the fashion, and what about poodles, city lights, paintings, I love it all!!
    Happy Easter,
    Rosemary

  30. May I please have a few of #30?!!!! I’ve been scouring every antique place (online and in stores) for a set of those babies!!

  31. Vegetable Tian
    Fleur de lis
    Jean-Claude Killy
    Brick baking ovens – and all they bake

  32. Champagne !!!!!!

  33. becky up the hill

    French linen..monogram’s..French linen..red and cream linens..I Love antique linens.

  34. Sanglier
    Melons
    Chestnut Ice Cream
    Brocante – Please, more pictures of the brocante!
    Saucisson
    Wild Cats lounging in the shade, on walls, on steps, by the fountains
    Pottery shards the colour of sunlight
    Cigales
    Baskets
    Mismatched antique cutlery – knives with beautiful handles
    1800s taxidermy
    Faded and peeling painted signs
    Bastille Day music and children with paper lanterns

  35. marsha danosky

    Chandeliers
    Gardens with white iron furniture
    Stone houses covered with flowers
    Old doors
    Ornate ironwork

  36. … and Armoires and everything in them … French Linens and above all, Lace … Unisex bathrooms (especially the portable Toilettes at Porte de Vanves that play music and completely wash themselves down after use!) … Really good coffee (even the individual disposable press served on trains) … TGV … CanCan … Gendarmes … Ham Sandwich with butter on a baguette … Croissants … Fleurs de Lys … Gilt, Grey in Paris … Ochre, Rouge, Bleu in Provence … Boutis … Louis … and Louis … Marie … Napoleon … Onion Soup … Red lipstick … Beautiful wrought iron … Store signs, store displays … the amazing way French women CHARM (definitely a verb as well as a noun in France – OK, men, too!)… and so much more … Joie de Vivre – can you take a picture of it? The French really do know how to live with appreciation for things beautiful and delicious and romantic! (Oui … I’m packing … been too long!)

  37. And the word for grapefruit … pamplemousse!

  38. the people of course
    the bastille
    louis xvi
    marie antoinette
    versailles
    moulon rouge
    metro
    giverny
    french blend coffee

  39. The particular way my french friend uses the comment “oh la la…” depending on the situation and inflection in her voice.
    truffles

  40. Gilles Marini on Dancing With the Stars. Ooh la la! Just kidding (NOT)
    Toile
    Crepes
    Croissants
    Chanel
    Armoires
    Champagne
    The Louvre
    Street cafes
    Poodles
    Of course, the Eiffel Tower
    Fashion

  41. stones that tell stories
    Merlin (Broceliande forest)
    castles
    “bunkers”
    the “chemin des douaniers”: The trails that go all along a big part of the country usually following the coast
    the “brocantes” of course!
    druid monuments
    asterix & obelix
    cinema
    Chagall
    croissants
    chocolate!
    macarrons

  42. What a great list
    – waiters in long white aprons
    – Marie Antoinette (ironically, since she was of Austrian birth)
    – accordion music
    – la Marseillaise
    – french linens
    – a sense of “je ne sais quoi”
    – a sense of history and of where France belongs in time
    (I know it’s hard to take pictures of the last two) It’s been said that the French are a proud people. When my husband and I visited France (Paris and Avignon) almost two years ago, we agreed that they have much of which to be proud.

  43. Forget breakfast at Tiffany’s! L’île flottante at Cartier would be heaven!

  44. Wine bars with two prices: one if you stand at the counter and another if you sit at a table.
    Lighting a candle in the hushed interior of Notra Dame.
    An entire roasted pig hanging outside a shop in Paris!
    An “American” hamburger with sliced cucumbers instead of dill pickles.

  45. liz malloy

    In paris, the smell of espresso, gitanos, perfume and diesel. And the sound of high heels on pavement.
    In the south, the smell of lavender, wild herbs and melons. The buzz of insects.

  46. liz malloy

    Correction: Gitanes!

  47. liz malloy

    Gitanes

  48. Fromage!

  49. LA VIE EN ROSE…

  50. scarves. elegant ladies. red lipstick. steak and french fries. yellow mailboxes. powdered wigs. linden trees. cigarettes. bonbons. croissants. fishing ports. bouillabaisse. mustaches. eating outdoors. rocky beaches.
    someday we’ll come see you again!

  51. Jeri Walter

    Beautifully displayed shoppe windows, cafe au lait with un croissant & jam for breakfast, the cobblestone streets & the sounds of conversations, “BONJOUR” with a melodic rhythm & sound (I cannot mimick it for anything)

  52. Wide channels with house boats parked along the banks. A café table tucked away in a shady spot. A boisterous market full of people. Narrow lanes where a car could not pass but are perfect for a stroll. That’s what I think as French.

  53. shopping daily for the eveing meal…

  54. Gee, I thought I thought of something different – toile! Then I read the comments! Back to the drawing board! Maurice Chevalier! I loved him in the movie Gigi.

  55. Cindy Thompson

    My next-door vegetable shop (Chez Jean =-Claude) with it’s lovely perfect outdoor displays and its WONDERFUL smells.
    Cindy (Marseille)

  56. cafe au lait and croissants with jam for breakfast; and mostly the lyrical way to say “Bonjour”. It is beautiful.

  57. french onion soup
    escagos (cant spell either)
    french beret

  58. What’s French to me? So many things that have already been said, but a few that haven’t —
    –bicycles
    –ornate mirrors
    — lavender filled sachets hanging on the door
    –garden statues and fountains
    -small and intensive vegetable gardens
    –bathrooms with clawfoot tubs and crystal chandeliers
    … and your wonderful life.
    xo Isa

  59. So many words already have captured what France means to me…. but here are a few more images,
    `Chefs and incredible cream sauces
    `Crepes, apple cider and calvados!
    `Champagne and vineyards
    `marathons through wine growing country where the refreshment of choice is wine
    `minstrel winds
    `rich beach side towns in the south and wild wind ravaged ocean with lighthouses to the north
    `lace
    `lingerie
    `language and song
    `vive a la France!

  60. crepes and croissents!
    and cafe-a-lait…though not even sure if these are french!

  61. Rebecca in the Pacific Northwest

    You’ve probably already received these:
    gnarled olive tree trunks
    plane trees
    blue and yellow tablecloths with olives printed on them
    my love sitting across from me at the courtyard table, sipping coffee
    les sauces!
    beautiful bottles of olive oil
    container after container of various olives at the markets
    Certainly going to be interesting to see how you provide photos for some of the concepts listed in all the comments above!
    This is delightful. thank you.

  62. Great looking Frenchman, of course!!!
    – Suzanne

  63. warm goat cheese on toasted bagettes over a green salad… OHHHH
    the yummy bakery in Nice…. with its wonderful slices of quiche

  64. Oh Paris flower shops of course. Love all I see so far.

  65. Brother Mathew

    Le Tour de France

  66. Bonne Maman Jam with it’s distinctive red and white check lid. Smothered on fresh baguettes for breakfast when we camped around France as kids during our school holidays.

  67. ‘Ferme’ at 12..the mad dash for lunch.
    Lace curtains.
    Johnny Hallyday[his face erriely preserved] everywhere!!![magazines,making his comeback,in advertisements…et al]
    Fetes des vins,olives,garlic,onions etc
    Knots of old men in Le Place
    Seasonal window displays
    Horse butchers [and people queueing! :(]
    Dog merde on the footpath [attention!!]..small price to pay for all the positives!!
    The patina and colours of paint on old wall signs and shutters.
    Sexy gendarmes in their uniforms [yum..pick me up for speeding!]
    Old citroens
    ‘Elderly’ cyclists
    The ‘consolation’ books outside the church or funeral director’s for a deceased citizen of the town or village.
    BAD COFFEE!! [have to disagree with previous entry!]
    Shiny,pointed, impossibly high escarpins
    Perfectly,artfully, wrapped anything..
    The wonderful range of preserved fruit and vegetables in glass jars
    Little gardens beside the railway lines,on small plots…
    Oh I could go on…
    J’aime beaucoup La France!

  68. Delightful…. inspiring… a journey I need to read more & more… it is a great story book
    Thank you for a magical start for my Easter day

  69. Crepe vendors, french cursive writing, bread bags, fabulous classic clothing for children and babies, grandparents with grandchildren in the parc, pain au chocolat, house dresses with slip on slippers, tropézienne sandals, Loire castles, CHEESES, haricots, petit marseillais soaps, bread crumbs and bols de café on the breakfast table, provençal prints, navy blue pulls marins, espadrilles, napoleonic images, tarte tatin, le petit Nicolas, armagnac, et j’en passe.
    I love your blog Corey! Thank you SOOOOO much.
    x Denise

  70. M.J. Jacobsen

    waiters with white aprons, poodles, the bidet (sorry, but i can’t help it!)

  71. 1. Country roads
    2. Red poppies
    3. Vinyards
    4. Beaches
    5. Citroen cars
    6. Roof tops
    7. Olives
    8. D Day, Normandy
    9. Fountains
    10. Chandeliers
    11. Artichokes
    12Julia Child
    13. Linens with embroidery
    14. Blue
    15. Provencial fabrics
    16. Green pottery …………
    aaaahhhhhhhhh and so much more……….

  72. Shirley M

    French poodles
    Leslie Caron
    Maurice Chavalier
    Pastry
    Beaujolais nouveau
    Frere Jacques
    Renaults
    creme brulee
    Irises (Vincent Van Gough)
    chemise
    chocolate
    cafe au lait
    Perrier

  73. Mont St. Michel … omelettes … bridges over the Seine … the Pyramid at the Louvre … so many dogs in France that stepping in stuff is good luck – just can’t remember which foot! (the left?)… and about that coffee – chacun a son gout! Been thinking about France all day, thanks to you, Corey … merci! (seriously, still packing …!)

  74. rosé wine
    un ménu prix fixe
    items wrapped with care & pride (gifts, cheese, chops, you name it!)
    markets
    cigalles
    a kir royale
    small shops with quality goods
    ripe, luscious, sensuous tomatoes!!
    pride in what you choose to do – no matter
    what it is (diplomat, hotelier, waiter,
    gardener, etc.)
    passionate, kind French people
    Oh…the list never ends….

  75. The light.

  76. Pain au chocolate, wrought iron, crepes, cafe chairs…

  77. Janet in Bellingham

    The scent of baking bread at 5 am as I ride my bike to the station for an early train.
    Collecting herbs that grow wild to flavor dinner when I’m camping.

  78. Enjoyed this. Thanks
    A Franco American, that sometimes wants to be a “real,” Frenchman, frenchwoman…lol
    Like my distant relatives were….way back
    in the 1700’s.
    I love the pictures. I must be visual.

  79. Elaine L.

    Fields of Lavender and Sunflowers sparkling blue ocean water

  80. Mariage Freres
    Laduree
    Lanvin
    RER
    beautiful iron work
    Nescafe
    pate
    24-month compte

  81. Striped normandy sailor shirts

  82. Chocolate, champagne, Champs Elysees, Louis Vuitton, stylish women, scarves around necks.

  83. La Loire
    Versailles
    Haute Couture!
    Thanks for your beautful picture, best wishes Anke

  84. Jend’isère

    choosing bread: from pointing to specific loaf, requesting how it is baked at the boulangerie, to touching and inspecting baguettes at hypermarchés.

  85. Strikes and 2CV (deux chevaux) in England we call them Dolly’s

  86. All of the above but most especially #24.

  87. Old bicycles and crêpes.
    And potted, red geraniums in windows.
    http://chezlouloufrance.blogspot.com/2009/04/photo-du-jour-la-france.html
    This is a fantastic list!

  88. Georges Brassens and Jacques Brel… (quelles voix!)
    Simone de Beauvoir (she’s not out of date!)
    and then, cheese, of course: chevre, brie, camenbert…
    and last but not least, Astérix et Obélix!!!

  89. There are so many but they have already been said.
    Jeu De Paume.
    Having my bill written on the paper tablecloth at a restaurant in Paris when I lived there as a student.
    Bon Jour from strangers lips with a genuine smile.
    Fontainebleau.
    Beautiful linens.
    Corey Amaro.

  90. scented linen spray

  91. Diane Laurent

    Corey,
    Merci for the beautiful pictures, they made me long for France and the churches and the poodles and just listening to converstions in that beautiful language.
    Have a Happy and blessed Easter

  92. Linda Hanselman

    Edith Piaff
    Quimper
    Louis, pick one any one
    Napolean
    Cherries, edible and otherwise
    Toile de Jouy
    Great health care

  93. j’amine beaucoup “le list”.
    – ornate stone fountains randomly found on city streets (or in corey’s backyard!)
    – young lovers, passionately entwined together on a public bench, absolutely oblivious to the rest of the world
    merci mon amie.
    kristin, toronto

  94. Vichy pattern;
    Champagne;
    Boulevards;
    Escargots;
    Edith Piaf;
    Des moules avec les frites;
    La Sène;
    “oh lá, lá”!
    Hope we reach 100 french things!!!
    Big hug and happy easter*
    Love*

  95. LOVE this post! It brings me back. To me, it’s balance…a state of mind that pairs daily activities or work with rest and relaxation. Also, cobblestones, croissants, cafe creme, perfume, art, architecture, charm, and a slower pace. I love France.

  96. Crepes 😀

  97. La Marseillaise,
    Eifel Tower at night,
    fields full of lavender
    couture fashion
    wine,
    croissants
    street cafes
    book stalls

  98. …you cannot post a picture on my heart…but…being 20 years old and going to sleep over the atlantic and waking up to the sound of french being spoken…looking out the window to a pink sunrise and france beneath my window…a red french coat that 40 years later still hangs in place of honor in my bedroom…the chestnut trees on del champs elysees…and old dog asleep in a wonderful upstairs restaurant near the statue of joan de arc…the rose windows in notre dame…a marble fire place in my hotel room…an elevator man that seemed to come straight out of book…the wet streets…the people the people… the people… love letters outside my door from my boyfriend (who became and still is my husband) that caught up with me the morning i was leaving for home…and crying and crying and crying upon leaving…the part of me that is still there…

  99. a french hello (kiss the cheeks)
    Coco Chanel
    Chanel #5
    Marie Antoinette
    Giverny
    Tours
    French embroidered silk ribbons
    Grasse
    La Cote D’Azur
    Blue Cheese
    Escargots
    Buche de Noel
    Gien
    Veuve Clicquot
    Route Napolean
    Santons
    from the 60’s- the michelin man
    Coifs

  100. That funny upward nod of the head that I discovered is the French form of a greeting which has so sadly been mistaken for disdain by too many Aussies and has been misinterpreted for too long.
    Napoleon
    Marie
    Metro
    Gypsy music
    narrow streets
    wide Avenues
    tulips
    doors, doors, doors.
    dogs
    bumper to bumper parking
    bureaucracy
    mustard fields
    Very Fast Trains
    Madeleine
    Sacre Couer
    Sacre Bleu
    Flying buttresses
    The Resistance Movement
    Morvan Forest
    Tour de France
    Tri color
    The Sorbonne
    Bronwyn (My friend’s daughter who studied at the Sorbonne, only to discover that all the texts they used were written by her professors at Melbourne University in Australia!)
    COREY AMARO ! ! ! !

  101. Taking the time to enjoy everyday pleasures

  102. I don’t know why the Mona Lisa was included in this list.
    _____________________
    Hi Anna
    Mona Lisa is Italian. Though she lives in the Louvre. And many come to France to see her.
    That is why I put her on the list.
    C

  103. citron presse – brought to the table to mix ingredients together
    kir royales
    French women shopping during lunch hour, trying on scarves etc.. at Galleries Lafayette or Printemps
    smartcars parked sideways or on sidewalks

  104. Wonderful list and comments. I walked by the Fontaine de Mars restaurant several times on my last visit to Paris–and I’m going back to France tomorrow!
    Chestnuts always remind me of Paris, chestnuts falling in the streets in autumn and roasted chestnuts at Christmas time.
    And how French are camionettes–I can’t imagine an American truck with a diminutive attached to it.

  105. Les croissants, les pains au chocolat, la haute couture, la lingerie, le tour de France, le coq, la marseillaise, les pièces montées pour dessert de mariage ou baptême ou communion, les tartines beurrées pour le petit déjeuner…
    J’aime beaucoup votre article !

  106. chateaux, black & white stripes, bicycles, scarves worn nonchalantly, point zero, metro signs, wrought iron street lamps, the steps of Montmarte, gargoyles, cigarettes.
    thank you for making the beautiful list… paris me manque…
    – a random reader who chanced upon your blog and can’t help coming back

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *