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Understanding French vide greniers, braderies and brocantes
Similar to flea markets and car boot sales, the season for these events starts in September
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Jardin des Cinq Sens: Yvoire’s magical lakeside garden
A brief history of a special French medieval garden on the banks of Lake Geneva in Haute-Savoie
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‘Village of cats’ in southern France is inspired by an old legend
Story of a young girl and her kittens has influenced the architecture of La Romieu, classified one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France
Connexion Tip: The importance of the curl
I have been told that you should not forget the curl on the C in the word français, because without it it would be said as ‘fronkay’ – why is that?
The cedilla (la cédille) softens the sound of a C before all of the vowels apart from I and E, where it is unnecessary; otherwise it has the hard sound, as in ‘cat’. So, if you are writing correctly you need it for words like leçon (lesson), façade or déçu (disappointed), but not in placement or précis. Its name is from Spanish meaning ‘little Z’.
