French word of the day: Les arbres
Published: 13 February 2025
Well wouldn’t you know it, we’re already February and Valentine’s day! Yes, Valentine’s day in Paris can be romantic, just be sure to bring that strong wind-resistant umbrella and a warm jacket.
Amidst the grey skies, I will apologize for not writing more often, a relative living in the U.S. passed away after a brief illness, and it has been quite a shock. (Hug your loved ones and do get those medical tests done!)
School holidays start in the Paris region this weekend, and I think we could all use a breath of fresh air. (I tried to say “change our minds” when talking to another American relative, a direct translation of the French expression “se changer les idées“, but I think we can all agree that doesn’t quite work.)
But since we are talking about fresh air, I thought talk about trees, aka les arbres, in this newsletter. Specifically the trees being planted by the Paris Mayoral office. Because who doesn’t love a good ole’ governmental comedy of errors?
In this case, did you know that just like every French citizen, every tree in Paris has a “carte d’identité” or identity card?
As proudly described by the official Paris.fr website:
There is “a computerized database of all trees in Paris that has been operational since 2001…Each tree is followed by its “computer identity card”, bringing together all the information concerning its planting date, successive watering, pruning, health status (physiological state, wounds, fungi, shocks) to facilitate the diagnosis of dangerous trees.”
City of Paris
Yes, the Mairie de Paris takes its 500,000 trees quite seriously. Which is why it made many a newspaper headline when a series of trees were planted, twice chopped down, and replanted all the span of less than a year.
It all took place in a little corner of the charming 5th arrondissementin the Latin quarter where:
- March 2024: 7 oak trees planted.
- April 2024: trees dead on arrival, trees chopped down.
- December 2024: 7 trees replanted.
- January 2025: city workers accidentally chop them down.
- Upcoming: replant 7 trees for a final tally of “21 trees planted!”
It seems unfortunate that the Parisian tree identity cards couldn’t save those 7 little oak trees. (Never mind trying to save the city’s debt of €8.8 billion in 2024.)
But there is even more tree-drama here in Paris. The city has just started work planting 150 trees to create an “urban forest” in front of Paris City Hall.
Now this is one of those things that sounds like a great idea, (because the area could really use some green space) but in their haste to make a big impact quickly, there is a bit of a hitch.
The Mairie has chosen large trees, with 49 largest trees between 9-12 meters tall that were planted last week. Even the Le Parisien newspaper has pointed out that their chances of survival are not great since these trees are too old to be moved around like this. In addition, they can’t be planted that deeply in the middle of a busy city, since there is a metro and the catacombs underneath.
So the question is are these new trees going to survive till the summer? The suspense is on! Let’s all cross our fingers for some sunshine.
In other news:
- The French startup Mistral has entered into the AI wars, ready to go toe-to-toe with Chatgpt, Perplexity and Deepseek. Pronounced le-cha, Le Chat (meaning “the Cat” in French) is now available on your phone and on the web, and you don’t even have to speak French to it.
- This past February 1st, the tiny French island of Île des Faisans (Pheasant island) became Spanish again. It switches back and forth between France and Spain every 6 months, and is also where historically Spanish and French royals used to meet. (Sun King Louis XIV met his wife Maria Theresa of Spain there in 1659.) Surely a nice example of neighborly harmony to follow, yes?
In the blog:
264 Chic French girl names: Pretty and unique with meanings
Get local insight into popular names in France, as well as beautifully unique and rare French names.
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