French word of the day: Sacré Charlemagne
#PARISFOMO and other stories from France
And just like that it is September. Back to school for my little écoliers, all scrubbed and clean with their shiny new backpacks ready for a new scholastic year. I don't know whether to celebrate or give a wistful sigh at how quickly time flies.
The weather has taken a sharp turn as well for the rentrée. Goodbye heatwave and shorts, and hello rainy weather and trench coat. I'm not sure the weather really needed to coordinate so precisely with the start of September, but there you have it.
This time of year always gets the song « Sacré Charlemagne » stuck in my head. It is a catchy little ditty by French singer Frances Gall, in which the then-16-year-old, in a soft breathy voice, swears at that damn Charlemagne for "inventing school".
That would be the legendary Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne to you and I.
Qui a eu cette idée folle un jour d'inventer l'école, c'est ce sacré Charlemagne, sacré Charlemagne ! Il faut apprendre à compter, et faire des tas de dictées, Oh Oh sacré Charlemagne, Sacré Charlemagne!
Who had this crazy idea one day to invent school, it was that damn Charlemagne, damn Charlemagne! We must learn to count, and do lots of dictations, Oh Oh, damn Charlemagne, damn Charlemagne!
— lyrics of "Sacré Charlemagne" by Frances Gall
This is the guy who conquered most of current day France and Germany, ruling a large part of Western Europe between 768 - 814 AD.
Now in the interest of historical accuracy, I should note that Emperor Charlemagne did not exactly “invent school”. Schools, as they were, already existed in Greece and other ancient civilizations. But Charlemagne had his part to play in bring education to the masses.
It was Charlemagne who founded a school in his palace at Aix-la-Chapelle (today the city of Aachen in Germany) at a time when even the noble elite were illiterate. Boys and young men were taught reading, writing, grammar, arithmetic, astronomy, and the fundamentals of Christianity.
Eventually a large number of monasteries across his kingdom hosted one of his teaching centers. Hence the idea of Charlemagne "inventing school".
And I should mention that Charlemagne himself was likely illiterate. But apparently he loved the idea of learning so much, he hired men to read out loud to him at dinner. He also studied grammar, latin and mathematics in his spare time, and even tried to learn to write.
By historian accounts, Charlemagne’s efforts at learning were not entirely successful in between his other jobs of conquering, enforcing Christianity, and governing. But he made the effort to learn something new, which perhaps is all we can ask for ourselves.
So here's to the children heading back to school and learning something new as this school year begins. Hope you and yours are having a good rentrée!
In other news:
Prime Minister Bayrou has called a confidence vote on Sept 8th, at which point his govt is expected to fall. Until then, he is giving interviews to every tv, radio and newspapers around explaining that the country's debt has spiraled out of control.
To divert from the debt drama, former PM and current Minister of Education Elisabeth Borne would like to change the inscription on the Panthéon from « Aux grands hommes, la Patrie reconnaissante », since it only says “hommes” (meaning men) and not women.
The BBC investigates the new French "water-gate" where Perrier has been accused of filtering its water to clean it, a big no-no under EU rules for "natural mineral water". The problem is not that Perrier's water is unhealthy, but rather that they had to clean it. Well then.
In the blog:
Church of the Madeleine in Paris
A historic church in the center of Paris, dedicated to Mary Magdalene.
Melon and feta salad with balsamic vinegrette
Cool off with this refreshing and colorful melon and feta salad, a quick and easy recipe combining sweet melon, salty feta, and balsamic vinegar.
Light and golden shrimp tempura with a delicate crunch, this simple Japanese classic is perfect for dipping, snacking, or serving as a main.