French word of the day: L’ancien et le nouveau
Published: December 18, 2025
We’re off to a surprisingly balmy (but unsurprisingly grey) December here in the Paris area. So warm, the gloves and scarfs have gone back into cabinet!
(I will say gloves are currently a sensitive issue chez nous, as my kids are not happy that I’ve only bought them thick waterproof gloves. Apparently those are “only meant for ski”. Instead, my little Parisians want the thin wool ones, which any Canadian will tell you are completely useless once wet.)
Anyway, it is of course the countdown to Christmas and the New Year, so a bit of a mad scramble at the moment. We are full on in “kid birthday season” at the moment, where we have had at least one kid birthday party every weekend for the past 6 weeks, right up to Christmas.
(As I mentioned in previous newsletters, in France no one schedules a kid birthday party during those multitude of school holidays, so this leads to a surflux of parties on the remaining weekends. Affectionately or non-affectionately known in our home as “birthday season”. There were another 2 parties this past weekend and a last-minute play date this weekend, before it all comes to a stop until after Christmas holidays.)
But speaking of parties, an important note if you are coming to Paris for the holidays: the concert on the Champs Elysées has been cancelled this year for security reasons, although there will be fireworks. I’m more the type to go to a house party for New Year’s than brave the cold and lack of toilets, but this cancellation est un peu dommage quand même (it is a bit sad anyway).
Anyway, there was an interesting albeit random bit of news this week that caught my eye, especially as we are counting down to the New Year. The BBC reports that a massive undersea wall has been found off the west coast of France, near Brittany, dating from around 5,000 BC.
The wall itself is apparently 120-metres wall long, 20 metres wide and two metres high (394 ft long, 65 ft wide, and 6.5 ft high). So you can imagine the scale of this thing, lying just 9 meters underwater. Archeologists are saying it is the “biggest underwater construction ever found in France” and dates back to the Neolithic era. (And as some internauts are speculating, maybe that lost city of Atlantis was French!)
Now I know this sounds a quite random as a news tidbit, but for whatever reason (it could be all these kids’ birthday parties), it made me think of this concept of time marching forward.
Here was this giant wall so close to the coastline, lying undiscovered for 7000 years. How much history we do know and how much we have yet to discover? In this era of AI and self-driving cars, what will rest of our civilization 7000 years from now? I have no answers, but it is quite fascinating to think about.
I never realized until I started visiting smaller towns and villages across France, that there are actually signs of civilisation here dating back thousands and thousands of years. Those roman ruins in southern France are positively new compared to the ancient caves where you can see prehistoric paintings buried deep underground.
The most well known in France are the Lascaux caves in Nouvelle Aquitaine, Grotte Cosquer in Marseille, and the current grand daddy of them all Grotte Chauvet in the center of France dating back about 28,000 – 32,000 years old.
And I say current grand daddy because who knows, in a few years maybe someone stumbles into something new? Or rather something old.
So anyway, as we count the days down to 2026, amidst all the hustle and bustle of gifts, parties, and meal prep, maybe it is nice to just take a deep breath and moment to reflect on who and what we are, and what we are doing….
Happy holidays and all the best for the New Year! Joyeux Noël et bonne année à toutes et à tous!
In other news:
- The Louvre is continuing its series of embarrassing management failures, with a large dirty water leak in the Egyptian antiquities department that has damaged “300-400 works”. (Yes, this is as gross as it sounds.) Some of these are ancient texts that have been damaged permanently. Like other issues, the problem was known for years and the area was supposed to start renovation in September 2026. (No, the stolen artworks have not been recovered yet, and no, no one is responsible for any of these calamities.)
- If you are visiting Paris soon, keep in mind that the Roissybus is ending service on 1 March 2026 due to traffic circulation problems. The bus was a link between Airport Charles de Gaulle to Opera in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. People will now have to take the RER B train or a taxi.
- Making news in French newspapers is a Canadian study that says “eating cheese at night time can cause nightmares“. So far I haven’t seen any French cheese producers protesting outside the Canadian embassy in Paris, but this is clearly a provocation.
And in the blog:
9 Things to do in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes
Discover the top things to do in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes in France, from mountainous landscapes, roman ruins, alpine lakes, charming villages, and standout food.
French appetizers: Easy hors d’oeuvres for every occasion
French appetizers that you can plop on the table to mingle with your guests, these hors d’oeurves that are easy to prepare for a classic cocktail happy hour.
Sweet and sour breaded chicken
Make crispy sweet and sour breaded chicken at home. Juicy chicken coated in golden breading and tossed in a tangy-sweet sauce that is better than takeout.