Once Upon A French

Meet Axelle Gaussen, the artist behind the beautiful series “Petites Lignes”. ✨

Axelle is a ceramic artist based in La Rochelle, where she creates, among other things, pieces designed to *faire vivre l’extérieur* — to bring outdoor spaces to life.

Mini tables, cups, cache-pots… and her distinctive “Petites Lignes” series, with its colourful hand-painted lines.

But Axelle’s creative world doesn’t stop there. She’s always embracing new projects and collaborations, while sharing her love of ceramics through workshops for adults and children — and giving other artists a space to shine in her gallery in the heart of La Rochelle.

J’aime vous faire découvrir La Rochelle autrement. Not only through the French language, but through the people, places and creative worlds that make the city what it is. ✨

Because learning French in La Rochelle is also about experiencing the culture that surrounds you.

Merci de m’avoir ouvert les portes de ta galerie, Axelle ! 🤍

Downtime activity with my girls 🧵💕

We’re sewing a bag and we need… des scratchs! 😄

Yes, in French, un scratch can refer to a Velcro fastening.

And yes, we also say un velcro / des velcros… but des scratchs was just too good not to share. 🇫🇷🇬🇧

French loves borrowing from English… and giving it a French twist! 🇫🇷🇬🇧

✨ Want to take your French further? I offer personalized online French lessons and customized French immersion stays in La Rochelle, France.

Summer isn’t over yet! 🌊☀️

French loves borrowing from English… and shortening it! 😂

Ready for a little water sports quiz? 🇫🇷

🌊 bodyboarding → faire du body
🏄‍♀️ paddleboarding → faire du paddle
💦 wakeboarding → faire du wake
🪁 kitesurfing → faire du kite
🏄 surfing → faire du surf

See the pattern? 👀

Faire du + half the English word! 😂

Okay… not literally half. 😉

🍺 One local beer. One classic French expression.

While wandering through La Rochelle, I spotted this clever brewery slogan:

“Un malt nécessaire.”

It’s based on the French expression un mal nécessaire, which means “a necessary evil.”

By replacing MAL with MALT—the main ingredient in beer—the brewery turns a familiar French expression into the perfect beer slogan. Clever!

💬 Et vous? What’s your mal nécessaire? Tell me in the comments!

🍦🍪 Lingo Pic #8 | The COOLKIE!

First came the BROOKIE 🍪🍫 (Brownie + Cookie).

Then came the CROOKIE 🥐🍪 (Croissant + Cookie).

And now… we’ve spotted the COOLKIE! 🍦🍪

One of my favourite things about English is how creative it can be. New words appear all the time by blending two familiar words into one. They’re called blend words (or portmanteau words), and food is full of them!

This summer in La Rochelle, and teamed up to create the COOLKIE—a delicious cookie and ice cream creation that definitely deserves a place in the Lingo Pic family.

Now it’s your turn, Edmonton! 🇨🇦

Which local ice cream shop should create the Edmonton COOLKIE?

Tag your favourite ice cream shop below! 👇🍦

Merci for inspiring our Brookie Lingo Pic, for the Crookie, and & for the Coolkie!

LaRochelle

⏰ Translation challenge

How would you say in French:

➡️ “We switched to daylight saving time on Sunday.”
➡️ “Daylight saving time started on Sunday.”

The most idiomatic French answers aren’t literal translations.

In everyday French, people usually say:
👉 On a changé d’heure dimanche.

You might also hear:
👉 On est passé à l’heure d’été dimanche.

French uses the terms “heure d’été” and “heure d’hiver”, while English refers to “daylight saving time” and “standard time”.

Another fun detail:
Canada already changed time… but France hasn’t yet! 🇨🇦🇫🇷

That’s because North America and Europe follow different schedules for the time change. For a few weeks each spring, the time difference between France and Canada is one hour shorter.

📍Clock featured in the reel: La Grosse Horloge, La Rochelle