French word of the day: Les choses à faire
Published: June 11, 2026
It has been a crazy few of weeks of strange weather here in the Paris area. First, there were the days and days of rain, then a major heatwave for a week, and now back to rain. And apparently the heatwave is coming back next week. Nobody knows what to wear anymore, pull the winter clothes back out again, or just brave it out with one sweater and a water spritzer.
And this is June! It’s also the month where every sports activity, work project, school exams, birthday party, and last minute pre-summer event is crammed in.
SSo far, as part of their school curriculum, my kids have:
- classe verte – where they spent a week together in Normandy in a type of camp
- journée velo – where they are going to bike around 15 miles over a full school day. To prepare for this, they needed around 10 afternoons of biking during school hours.
- End of semester swim test – Again, to prepare for this, they needed around 10 afternoons of swimming during school hours.
- Then there is the school choral, school play, end of year fête, etc. etc.
(Have I mentioned that elementary kids in France also don’t have school on Wednesdays? When they actually have the time to learn stuff is a mystery to me.)
But never mind the stuff for kids, there is also a lot of fun stuff for the adults as well. There was the Nuits des Musées (Night of the museums) about 2 weekends ago where I managed to score free tickets to the Louvre.
As you can see the Mona Lisa was still there, hanging around. And so were the crowds.
Although compared to my previous visit a couple of years ago, I think they have reduced the number of visitors allowed in at any given time. (I have been trying to plan a trip for a couple of months, but by the time I thought of a weekend we could go, the tickets for that period were sold out. Hence my excitement at finally planning sufficiently in advance to get tickets.)
Anyway, in case you were wondering there is still no news about those stolen jewels . I can report back that that entire area of the Louvre is still sadly closed off. (We were looking forward to investigating the scene of the crime!)
After the big Museum visit, there is Fête de la Musique coming up in a couple of weeks. And that’s not all. Sprinkle in a bunch of little street fairs every weekend in the small towns surrounding Paris, and all of sudden you really don’t know whether you are coming or going. (If you are in the area and I had to pick, the biggest one nearby would be the Medieval festival in Provins this weekend on June 13 and 14.)
The problem with all these things to do (les choses à faire) is that evidently one cannot attend them all at the same time. (On the other hand, have I mentioned all the tax deadlines are also happening right now? Medieval festival or paperwork, such a difficult choice.)
I’m not exaggerating about all the stuff going on. Several French publications from Madame Figaro to BFMTV have noted that June is the top month for burnout. Madame Figaro calls it the “l’enfer (hell) du mois de juin“ and Doctissimo calls it “cauchemar mentale (mental nightmare)“
The problem here of course is that there are so many blocks of weeks where nothing can be scheduled because of school holidays and long weekends, so everything ends up lumped together on remaining weekends when good weather is expected to be good. (My kid just went to a birthday party last weekend, where the child’s actual birthday was in April.)
Is it a bit “complaining about too much of a good thing”? Yes, very likely. But that doesn’t mean coordinating all this stuff doesn’t require an advanced calendar tracking and tasking system.
And on top of all this, the World Cup starts Thursday night! Our town is ready to stream a couple of France’s games on a big screen in a park so that’ll be another thing to put in the calendar. (In between NBA finals of course, we can’t forget Wemby and the Spurs down against the NY Knicks.) I’ve got my prognostics ready and some rosé in the fridge. Happy summer everyone!
In other news:
- The French air force (La Patrouille de France) is flying formation flights around the U.S. to help their oldest allies celebrate their 250th anniversary. If you are in the area, here are the dates where you can check them out:
- June 9: The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France in 1886; Independence Hall in Philadelphia, birthplace of the U.S. Declaration of Independence; and West Point, as a symbol of military cooperation.
- June 13–14: Ocean City Air Show in Maryland.
- June 15: Yorktown Battlefield Memorial, Williamsburg, and the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, in tribute to the decisive victory of 1781, where French intervention was significant in the Revolutionary War against British rule.
- June 20–21: Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.
- June 22: Washington, D.C., with a flyover of the National Mall, Arlington National Cemetery, and Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.
- June 27–28: Baltimore (Maryland) – SAIL250 and Baltimore Airshow.
- July 4th: New York and the Statue of Liberty for U.S. Independence Day.
- July 14th: Back in Paris for France’s Bastille day
- It is exam time at the moment, and the question for philosophy entrance exam to ENS, one of France’s most selective school was as follows: “The authority of science.” No further description, just go ahead and write 6 hours on this.
- ABC news is reporting that French police are telling drivers to watch out for drunk deer, caused by the consumption of fermented fruits (aka wine and cider).
- They are digging around the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in order to plant a garden, and are finding a number of artefacts from ancient Lutetia 2000 years ago. They are finding so many interesting objects, I’m going to guess that garden is going to be awhile!
And in the blog:
Eiffel Tower: History, construction and why Parisians hated it
Get the history, along with interesting facts about the Eiffel Tower, that instantly recognizable monument that is the symbol of all of France.
Baked pasta gratin: Mushroom and bacon
This delicious mushroom pasta gratin cooked with bacon and parmesan, making a hearty dinner or side dish.
This colorful salad includes corn, avocado, and tomatoes, along with a homemade lemon vinaigrette dressing for a wonderfully light and healthy starter or side dish.