Wednesday, July 3, 2013

What is the translation of "Bal du moulin de la galette"?

This means "Ball [as in "dance"] of the windmill of the galette [kind of like a pancake]" and it's a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir that is currently at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Le Moulin de la Galette.jpg

It's one of many paintings from the Impressionist period that I've enjoyed seeing there and depicts a very everyday snapshot of the Montmartre region in Paris, which you may know for some of its other landmarks, such as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Basilique du Sacré Cœur)

File:Le sacre coeur (paris - france).jpg

 and the Moulin Rouge (the Red Windmill).

File:Moulin rouge at midnight.jpg

Monday, July 1, 2013

Why is the movie "The Visitors" so awesome?

From a practical perspective, "The Visitors" manages to fit almost all of the most current as well as quite a few of the most archaic profanities into a time span of less than two hours.  On the other hand, it's important to remember that like many ancient languages, the profanities in French have lost a good deal of their literal interpretation.  For an American watching Les Visiteurs with English subtitling, however, consider yourself warned.  The movie itself is an entertaining romp that sees a 13th-century Norman and his squire teleported to the future, where they meet their descendants and attempt to find a way back to their own era.  Along the way, you can view some very typically French moments that evoke the French revolution, the feudal system, the modern French elite, and much more while showing the strength and weaknesses of French culture through the ages in a very situationally comedic fashion.