I think therefore I am

Penser - to think.


je             pense
tu             penses
il/elles      pense
nous         pensons
vous         pensez
ils/elles    pensent


The verb penser is a regular "er" verb. I think, you think, etc, etc.

The Thinker by Auguste Rodin.

Frenchman August Rodin sculpted The Thinker in 1902 out of bronze and marble. The statue has become a symbol for philosophy and depicts a man in deep thought, battling with an internal struggle. The statue was originally intended to be Dante in the front of the gates of hell, as described in his epic poem The Divine Comedy. The Thinker is now in the Musee Rodin in Paris, more information at Musee Rodin.


It was French philosopher and writer Rene Descartes who said I think therefore I am, or as he originally put it "je pense donc je suis" (present tense first person of penser and etre,) in the early 1600s. Descartes is a very important figure in the field of philosophy and was also an influential mathematician. He is credited with the introduction of analytic geometry, which then led on to the discovery of calculus. 

The verb être

être - to be

je           suis

tu           es

il/elle      est

nous       sommes

vous       êtes

ils/elles    sont

The present tense of the verb être - to be. I am, you are, etc, etc. It really helps if you know the most commonly used verbs, helps when you are trying to speak French that is. 

Almond branches in bloom by Vincent Van Gogh.

The BBC has a brilliant site for help with learning French at BBC/languages/french

People First Not Finance

PEOPLE are out on the streets in Nice this week, making peaceful protests against banks for causing financial and economic crisis.

The protests come a few days before a meeting of finance ministers and banking big-wigs of the G20 nations in nearby Cannes. One protester made the point that the so called leaders of nations don't really care about the people, but only about the financial world.

People have come from Germany, Italy and Spain to voice their disgust at corporate greed.

Going to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre

Mona Lisa - possibly the most famous painting in the world

The Louvre is the largest art museum in the world and if you spent a minute looking at every painting it would take you four months to get round! So it's best to do a little bit at a time. There is usually a queue outside to get in, especially at peak holiday times. The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is normally surrounded by a mob of tourists with cameras. It's possible to elbow your way to the front so you can actually see the painting, which is covered by glass and actually quite small.

Da Vinci started painting the Mona Lisa in Florence, Italy in approximately 1503 and finished it shortly before he died in 1519 after he had moved to France. The painting has had an interesting life and has spent  time in the chateaus of Fontainebleau and Versailles. It was also on the wall of Napolean I's bedroom in the palace at the Tuileries in Paris, before it finally came to rest at the Louvre.

The look on Mona Lisa's face has fascinated people for centuries.

At the time of writing it cost 10 euros to enter the Louvre, with under 18s free.

The Paris Metro

The metro is a very good way to travel around Paris. It is simple to use. Once you know the station you need to get to you need to find out which line number it is on. But it is extremely important that you work out which direction you need to travel in. You need to look on the map to find the last destination that the train you want is going to. So if for example you are at the Gare du Nord and you want to get to the Gare de l'Est you will see that both stations are on line 4, which is deep purple, so you look from the Gare du Nord on the map run your eyes past the Gare de l'Est and see that the end of the line is Porte d'Orleans, so that's the direction you want!
In the metro stations there are lots of signs pointing to the different directions, so you follow the sign which says Porte d'Orleans, (remembering it's line 4) all very simple. Once you know that you can work out how to get all over the place, changing trains wherever you need to.

Helpfully outside metro stations it usually tells you which lines that particular station is on. Here at Place d'Italie you can see it's on lines 5,6 and 7.
Click here for a brilliant Paris Metro Map

Bastille Day! The Storming of the Bastille - July 14th

"Prise de la Bastille" (the taking of the Bastille.) 1789, by Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houel.

The Bastille was a fortress built in the 14th century as part of the defenses of Paris, but it was later turned into a very uncomfortable prison. It held political and religious prisoners and writers. It was also well known for locking up people who had had a lettre de cachet served against them. These lettres de cachets were bought by the wealthy and those in power and were used to imprison people who they wanted out of the way. There was no appeal against them.

Hardly surprisingly the bastille was stormed by the people and burnt to the ground on July 14, 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution. Nothing of it remains. Where it once stood is now Place de la Bastille with a column to mark the spot.
There are many cafes, bars and concert halls in the area.

French Food: Moules Marinieres and Moules et Frites

The French take food very seriously. In other words you can usually find really fantastic food in most cafes, restaurants and brasserries.

A very popular and common dish served all over the place is Moules Marinieres. This is the shellfish mussels, cooked in white wine, or sometimes cider, with onions, garlic, cream and a variety of herbs such as parsley, thyme and bay leaves.

Moules marinieres usually arrives at the table in a large steaming pot. You will also be given a dish to put the shells in and a saucer of lemon water to rinse your fingers afterwards. Yes you have to get in and take the mussels out of their shells, but it's very easy, you can use your fingers, a fork, another mussel shell, or just bite it out even.

Moules et Frites or  Moules Frites can be found on menus all over France. It's moules marinieres served with chips, or french fries, depending on what you call them.