Passport to France | God's World News
Passport to France
Jet Balloon
Posted: July 01, 2021

Keep your seats in their upright and locked positions. We’re landing in . . . the place where mayonnaise was (probably) invented. The place where you can watch a 100-year-old bicycle race. The place where people eat snails and call it fancy.

France, here we come!

What:

France is the largest country in the European Union. But it’s still smaller than Texas. Because of its six-sided shape, the French call their country “L’Hexagone” (the hexagon). A lot of France borders the sea, so make sure you visit the beach!

Who:

Who lives in France? The French do, of course—about 68 million of them. But believe it or not, more people visit France each year than actually live there. France is the most visited country in the entire world, followed by Spain and the United States.

Culture:

Why all the visitors? It might be the bread. The writer of Ecclesiastes says to “Go, eat your bread with joy.” (Ecclesiastes 9:7) The French are very good at that! Many tourists come because France has earned a reputation for the best food in the world. Get ready for baguettes (long, crusty bread loaves), coq au vin (chicken, wine, and mushrooms), chocolate soufflé (puffy dessert made from eggs), French onion soup (cheesy, bread-decked, brown broth), and flaky croissants (crescent-shaped buttered pastries).

Stop by the Eiffel Tower, a magnificent structure engineered by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel—the same fellow who worked on the Statue of Liberty.

Visit the Louvre museum to check out France’s renowned art and fashion. It’s the largest art museum in the world!

 

The Famous French

Painters: Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse

Writers: Victor Hugo (Les Miserables), Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers), Antoine de Saint-Exupery (The Little Prince)

Inventors:

Louis Pasteur invented a process dubbed pasteurization, heating up food to kill pathogens that would cause it to spoil.

French stylist Alexander Godefroy invented the first hairdryer—a bonnet attached to the chimney pipe of a gas stove.

Brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier invented the hot-air balloon in Annonay, Ardeche, France.

 

Parlez-vous Français?

(Do you speak French?)

Bonjour. (bohn-ZHOOR) Hello or Good morning/Good day.

Merci beaucoup. (MAIR-see BOH-coo) Thank you very much.

Excusez-moi. (EX-cue-say MWAH) Excuse me.

Au revoir. (OH reh-VWAH) Goodbye.

Je m’appelle (ZHUH muh-PEL) __. My name is ___.

S’il vous plait. (SEE voo PLAY) Please (literally, “If you please”).