abreuvoir drinking fountain
adret : south-facing (sunny) slope [see: ubac]
albâtre : alabaster (geology)
alimentation food : (food, groceries, nourishment, nutrition)
alpage : natural pasture in the high mountains
ampoule lilght bulb : [Markets]
âne donkey
année year
après after
auberge inn; hostel : auberge de jeunesse = youth hostel
aujourd'hui today
autobus bus : (car = intercity bus, touring coach; autobus = city bus
automne autumn
aven pot-hole : [Spelunking]
banlieue suburb
baou : Provençal word for a prominent, elevated rock, like a protruding, narrow cliff (Baou-de-Provence; Vence; St. Jeannet)
barrage dam : (when marked on a map, at a river of course)
barrage roadblock : roadsign la route est barrée
beffroi : lookout bell tower with alarm-bell
belvédère : belvedere, a lookout tower or site with a great view
bergerie : sheep-fold, sheep-pen
billet ticket : billet = train or plane ticket; ticket = métro or bus ticket; contravention = traffic ticket
blague joke
bleu blue
boisson beverage, drink
boucherie butcher shop
boulanger baker
boulangerie bakery
bouteille bottle
boutique shop
à brancher to plug in
brocante flea market : [Markets]
brouillard fog
brume haze
brun, marron brown :
cadeau gift
cadran solaire sundial
calanque : a rocky coast with cliffs and numerous small inlets. (from the Provençal word calenco for "steep"). [Marseille]
car bus : (car = intercity bus, touring coach; autobus = city bus
carreau, vitre window pane
cascade waterfall
castrum : (Roman) fortified village
chaise chair
chambre room, bedroom
chapellerie : hatter's shop; hat industry
chaque each
charcuterie cold cuts
chaud hot
cheval horse
chiner :
- rooting around in the brocantes looking for stuff
chineur :
- someone who roots around in the brocantes looking for stuff
cime : peak, mountain
clue : rift
coiffeur hairdresser
col pass : (mountain pass)
collet : small pass
colline hill
complet full : no more room, applied to public places, buses, hotels, etc.
comté : an independent land ruled by a count
contravention ticket : contravention = traffic ticket; billet = train or plane ticket; ticket = métro or bus ticket
coupe de cheveux haircut
cow vache :
à débrancher to unplug
delta-plane hang-glider
demain tomorrow
drap sheet : (for the bed)
drap de lit bed sheet
droit right :
eau water
écaille scale
échancré low-cut : for necklines
écrire write
embouteillage traffic jam
en plus extra
encore again
éperon : spur; ridge
epicerie grocery store
équitation : horse riding
est east
eté summer
étoile star :
falaise cliff
femme woman
ferme farm
fermeture annuelle : closed for holidays ("annual closing)
fête festival
feu rouge traffic light : [Markets]
foire market : [Markets]
forêt forest
four oven
fraisier strawberry plant
froid cold :
gare station
gargouille : small stream down the central street
garrigue : An extremely stony, limestone ground of the Mediterranean where only the hardiest plants (such as thistle, kermes oak and gorse) can survive.
garrigue garrigue : An extremely stony, limestone ground of the Mediterranean where only the hardiest plants (such as thistle, kermes oak and gorse) can survive. [compare: maquis]
gâteau cake
gauche left
gorge canyon : (gorge, canyon)
gouffre : pit, chasm [Spelunking]
gouttière gutter
grève : a labor strike
grotte cave :
à habiller to dress
haché chopped, minced : steak haché = ground beef, or hamburger
haut high
hebdomadaire weekly
herbe grass
heure hour
hier yesterday
hiver winter
homme man
horaire time-table : (train schedule)
hôtel particulier : town house
huile oil
humide wet, damp :
invité guest :
jardin garden
jaune yellow :
lac lake
lâche coward
lait de noix de coco coconut milk
lauze : slate; a flat stone used for house and roof coverings in the Southeast of France
lavoir : clothes-washing basin
lire read
lit bed :
magasin store : (bigger than a boutique)
- grand magasin = department store
Mairie : City Hall
maison house
à manger to eat
à manquer to miss
maquis maquis : A scrub of thick, dense shrubs and small trees growing in the sandy soil of the Mediterranean region, including myrtles, heaths, arbutus (strawberry trees), rose laurel, ilex, cistus, Holm oak and cork oak. [compare: garrigue]
marché : food market [Markets]
mas : a provencal farm house, usually a very solid building with thick stone walls. The "mas" (plural) are often named (example "mas des oiseaux", which does not mean birdhouse). The "mas", with names, are now used as hotels, restaurants and other such things in the South of France.
matelas mattress : [Markets]
menhir menhir : standing stone; tall column of a single stone (per menhir), possibly neolighic and dating somewhere from 2000 to 4000 years ago. [photo]
miel honey
miroir, glace mirror
monnaie change : coins or bills returned
montagne mountain
monument-aux-morts : war memorial
moulin mill
moulin à farine : flour mill
moulin à huile : [olive]-oil mill
navette shuttle : a shuttle bus or shuttle boat
Noël Christmas
noir black
noix walnut, nut
noix de coco coconut
non compris not included : (for tips or wine: not included in the price)
nord north
nounours teddy bear
nourriture food
number nombre : one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
un/une, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix
oeuf egg
oeuf de Pâques Easter egg
oie goose
oiseau bird
ombre shadow
oppidum : fortified hilltop site - Roman or pre-Roman. "Oppidum" is also a place where the female dinosaur deposited her eggs; dinosaur egg fossils have been found in "oppidum" north of Aix-en-Provence, for example. We use the "fortified site" meaning in Beyond.
or gold
orange orange
oreiller pillow
os bone
ouest west
ours bear
ourson bear cub
ouvert open :
paille straw
pain bread : [Pain à l'Ancienne]
pamplemousse grapefruit
panier basket : usually a wicker basket.
pension complet full board : lodging including breakfast, lunch, dinner (aka American Plan)
pension, demi half pension : lodging including breakfast and one meal, typically dinner (originally for students having lunch at school) (aka Modified American Plan; Demi-Pension)
pic : peak (mountain)
plateau : plateau, high plain
pont bridge : (including a "bridging" day-off between a weekday holiday and the weekend)
pont à bec bridge, beaked : We think this is a small arched bridge with "beaked" supports. Examples: 14th-c at Flassans-sur-Issole in the Var (dept 83); Pont du Riou at Sigale in the Alpes-Maritimes (dept 06) with Romanesque arch and ogivale arch; St.Hippolyte-du-Fort in the Cevennes; Bourdeilles in the Dordogne (dept 24).
poulet chicken
pourboire tip : the tip is usually included in restaurant bill (service compris), usually about 15%; it's customary to leave the small change as an addition tip, if the service is good.
presqu'ile peninsula : literally "nearly island", quite poetic.
prieuré : priory [place]; priorship
prochain next :
recette recipe
réglisse licorice
remise discount
repas meal
réseau network
ressaut : rock-step (mountain)
rhume cold (illness) : catch a cold: "attraper un rhume"
roseau reed
rouge red
rougeole measles
rubéole German measles :
santon figurine : [Santon]
seigneurie : domain, manor (lordship)
selle saddle, bicycle seat
sens direction : sens unique = one-way
sépulture : tomb, sepulture
seul alone : tout seul = all alone
siège seat
ski de fond : cross-country skiing [Ski]
spring printemps
sud south :
taie d'oreiller pillow case
taille size
tardon : Lamb born in the Spring, and raised exclusively on mother's milk and mountain pastures. See Foire aux Tardons on the Guillaumes page.
tesson potsherd : fragments or broken pieces of pottery
ticket ticket : ticket = métro or bus ticket; billet = train or plane ticket; contravention = traffic ticket
tissu cloth, fabric
tourbe peat
tout le monde everybody
trompe-l'oeil trompe-l'oeil : A realistic looking painting (often on a building wall) created as an illusion
tuf tuff : (porous, volcanic rock)
ubac : north-facing (shady) slope [see: adret]
vacherie : dairy farm; barn
valable valid
vannerie : basket making; wicker-work
varicelle chicken pox
veilleuse night light : [Markets]
véritable genuine
vernis varnish
verre glass
verre glass
vert, verte green
vide empty
vitre, carreau window pane
vocable : vocable (sous le vocable de = dedicated to the patron-saint)
voiture, automobile car
voûté vaulted, arched : dairy farm; barn
voyage journey : dairy farm; barn
VTT - vélo tout terrain mountain bike : mountain bike [Velo]
wagon railway car :
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