French idioms: "Donner sa langue au chat"

The literal translation of "Donner sa langue au chat" is "to give one's tongue to the cat"! This idiom means to give up finding the answer to a question. We use this idiom to ask for the answer to a question after we tried to find the solution.

Example:

- Où se trouve Bruges?

- En Espagne?

- Non!

- En Allemagne?

- Non!

- Je donne ma langue au chat!

- La bonne réponse est la Belgique.
 

Public holidays in France: l'Armistice

Every 11 November, France commemorates the end of the World War I. It's called "l'Armistice". The armistice was signed on 11 novembre 1918 in France. It ended a war that lasted four years and killed millions of people. This public holiday is to pay tribute to the soldiers who died for France on the battlefield. It has been a public holiday since 1922.

In 1920, an unknown soldier who died during World War I in Verdun was buried under the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs-Élysées in order to pay tribute to the unidentified dead soldiers. Every year, flowers are put on the tombstone of the unknown soldier ("La tombe du Soldat inconnu") and a ceremony is held there.

Public holidays in France: la Toussaint

The 1st of November is la Toussaint in France, or "All Saints' day". It's the day when French people commemorate their dead. It's a catholic celebration but as it is a public holiday, most people in France take the opportunity to go to the cemetery. They buy chrysanthemum flowers to put on the grave and light candles to symbolise a happy life after death.

The name comes from "tous les saints" as the celebration is dedicated to all saints.

Since the end of the 1990's, French people celebrate Halloween on the eve of la Toussaint too. It's become more and more popular since then.