Once upon a time …

Posted on by je parle américain

First of all, allow me to apologize for the delay in writing something for you, but things have been in a state of flux since we officially became a French family a fews weeks ago. That little red family register has changed a lot of things for us, the most immediate of which is that now I don’t have to be a full-time student to stay in the country! Given that I was already feeling both overqualified and overwhelmed in my last academic pursuit, I decided to just drop out. In the long term, that means that my schedule will be much more conducive to holding down a full-time job. In the short term, it means my schedule will be much more conducive to pursuing all kinds of personal projects ranging from the mundane like writing for je parle américain, to the utterly useless like learning Irish Gaelic, to the extremely ambitious like … writing a novel.

Yes — writing a novel.
Now, I know that might sound like a pipe dream, and
I know that living in Paris hasn’t transformed me into Ernest Hemingway,
but bear with me for a moment. Continue reading Once upon a time …

Act Two, Scene 5

Posted on by je parle américain

This is the final scene of my play, A Sword Unsheathed, originally written in French and translated into English for publication on the blog. If you haven’t yet read the first scene, you can find it here. You can find all the scenes published so far on this page. The original French version of this scene is found at the end of the post. (Read in French.) Please read the historical note here.

Voici la scène finale de ma pièce, Un sabre dégainé, écrite à l’origine en français et traduite en anglais pour publication sur ce blog. Si vous n’avez pas encore lu la première scène, vous pouvez la trouver ici. Vous pouvez trouver toutes les scènes déjà publiées sur cette page. La version originale en français de cette scène se trouve à la fin de l’article. (Lire en français.) Veuillez lire ici la note historique.

SCENE 5
(Read the previous scene.)

The Characters

ALICE, now about 65 years old
FRANCIS, her grandson, about 7 years old
GILBERT DU MOTIER, the Marquis de Lafayette, now about 67 years old
ROBERT, the Hugers’ slave, now an elderly man

Thirty years later: the year 1825. Charleston. A spring afternoon. A sitting room with a few chairs, a settee, a few other pieces of furniture in the style of the period : a low table in front of the settee, Benjamin’s desk from the plantation house against the wall between two large windows, another small table stage left close to the door. Alice, now 65 years old, well dressed and coiffed, is seated in one of the chairs reading some letters. Through the windows, we see the roofline, some masts with raised sails. Francis, her grandson, is standing at the windows looking into the distance. Continue reading Act Two, Scene 5

Act Two, Scene 4

Posted on by je parle américain

This is the fourth scene of the second act of my play, A Sword Unsheathed, originally written in French and translated into English for publication on the blog. If you haven’t yet read the first scene, you can find it here. You can find all the scenes published so far on this page. The original French version of this scene is found at the end of the post. (Read in French.) Please read the historical note here.

Voici la quatrième scène du second acte de ma pièce, Un sabre dégainé, écrite à l’origine en français et traduite en anglais pour publication sur ce blog. Si vous n’avez pas encore lu la première scène, vous pouvez la trouver ici. Vous pouvez trouver toutes les scènes déjà publiées sur cette page. La version originale en français de cette scène se trouve à la fin de l’article. (Lire en français.) Veuillez lire ici la note historique.

SCENE 4
(Read the previous scene.)

The Characters

FRANCIS HUGER, now about 24 years old
GILBERT DU MOTIER, the Marquis de Lafayette, now about 37 years old
JUSTUS BOLLMANN, a German doctor, about 26 years old
Three Austrian soldiers

The year 1794. A wooded scene, early in the evening. On the horizon, the contours of a fort. Indistinct voices offstage, stage left. Francis, Justus and Gilbert appear, accompanied by a sergeant and two other soldiers wearing Austrian uniforms — dark green coats, white knickers — who follow several yards behind with a single horse. Continue reading Act Two, Scene 4

Act Two, Scene 3

Posted on by je parle américain

This is the third scene of the second act of my play, A Sword Unsheathed, originally written in French and translated into English for publication on the blog. If you haven’t yet read the first scene, you can find it here. You can find all the scenes published so far on this page. The original French version of this scene is found at the end of the post. (Read in French.) Please read the historical note here.

Voici la troisième scène du second acte de ma pièce, Un sabre dégainé, écrite à l’origine en français et traduite en anglais pour publication sur ce blog. Si vous n’avez pas encore lu la première scène, vous pouvez la trouver ici. Vous pouvez trouver toutes les scènes déjà publiées sur cette page. La version originale en français de cette scène se trouve à la fin de l’article. (Lire en français.) Veuillez lire ici la note historique.

SCENE 3
(Read the previous scene.)

The Characters

FRANCIS HUGER, now about 24 years old
NATHANIEL HUGER, his brother

The austere bed chamber from the previous scene. A lighted candlestick is on the nightstand beside the bed. The saber in its scabbard, still attached to the blue silk sash, lies on on the desk. Francis is sleeping. A soft, golden light illuminates the bed. Continue reading Act Two, Scene 3

525,600 minutes

Posted on by je parle américain

Every August 15, a big anniversary rolls around.

August 15, 2010 was the day I left the US with big dreams, 130 pounds of luggage, and a one-way ticket to Charles de Gaulle. The days leading up to the anniversary are always full of reflection and nostalgia for me. I spend a lot of time looking back at what I’ve accomplished — or failed to accomplish — but I also look ahead to what the new year might bring my way. It’s a bit like New Year’s in mid-summer.

Two years ago, on my first anniversary as an expat in France, I recounted the beautiful story of what led me to this country in the first place (“The Patience of a Butterfly“). Last year, as my second anniversary rolled around, I waxed rather philosophical about it all, writing about change as the very essence of life (“Every Beginning is Only a Sequel“). This year, I’m doing something quite a bit different. You see, I have a Facebook tradition every August 15: I start a new photo album into which I will post scores of photos of my life during the upcoming year. A few days ago, in preparation for “Ma vie à Paris: la quatrième année,” I was scrolling through last year’s album, and I was reminded of what a monumental year it’s been: chock full of the usual stresses of expat life, of course, but also charged with exciting developments that promise good things to come. This August 15, then, I’ve decided to share with you a little photographic montage of the last 525,600 minutes of my life as an expat — the mundane and the exciting, the frustrating and the promising, even the delicious and the inebriating … and the sentimental, of course. So … how do you measure a year in the life? Continue reading 525,600 minutes

Act Two, Scene 2

Posted on by je parle américain

This is the second scene of the second act of my play, A Sword Unsheathed, originally written in French and translated into English for publication on the blog. If you haven’t yet read the first scene, you can find it here. You can find all the scenes published so far on this page. The original French version of this scene is found at the end of the post. (Read in French.) Please read the historical note here.

Voici la deuxième scène du second acte de ma pièce, Un sabre dégainé, écrite à l’origine en français et traduite en anglais pour publication sur ce blog. Si vous n’avez pas encore lu la première scène, vous pouvez la trouver ici. Vous pouvez trouver toutes les scènes déjà publiées sur cette page. La version originale en français de cette scène se trouve à la fin de l’article. (Lire en français.) Veuillez lire ici la note historique.

SCENE 2
(Read the previous scene.)

The Characters

FRANCIS HUGER, now about 24 years old
ALICE, his cousin, now about 33 years old

Seventeen years later: the year 1794. The stage is divided. Stage left, an austere bedchamber, stone walls, a small bed against the wall. There is a desk in front of a window, through which we see a cityscape. The lighting is rather cool and blue. The sword in its scabbard, still attached to the blue silk sash, lies on the desk. Stage right is a salon, with a few chairs, a settee, a few other small items of furniture. Benjamin’s desk from the plantation house is in front of two windows through which we see a pastel-painted cityscape, a ship’s mast with folded sails. The lighting is rather warm, pink and orange.

When the curtain rises, Alice enters stage right and sits at the desk, looks out the window a long while, picks up a quill, and begins to write. Francis — now a young man — enters stage left, goes to the window and looks out for a short while, finally sits at his desk. He opens a letter. Continue reading Act Two, Scene 2

franecdote 1670 : Mission Impossible

Posted on by je parle américain

Detail of a portrait of King Charles II of England
by Thomas Hawker

It’s time for the next “franecdote” — an interesting fact or story from “THAT year in French history“ where “THAT year” is this year minus the number of Facebook fans je parle américain has every Thursday.

Screen Shot 2013-07-07 at 11.07.00 PM

Today’s franecdote is from August 1,
when je parle américain had 343 Facebook fans.
So …

The year 2013 — 343 fans = 1670

I’ll never forget from my South Carolina history classes how important the year 1670 was: it’s when England first settled the Carolina colony at Charles Towne, now known as Charleston. Carolina had been named for King Charles I, but Charles Towne was named for his son, Charles II. And it’s that King Charles who figures prominently in today’s franecdote. “But this is about French history, right?” Indeed it is, because the franecdote for today involves not only King Charles II of England, but also King Louis XIV of France. It’s …

Usually there’s a <drumroll> here,
but today this is more appropriate:

The Secret Treaty of Dover Continue reading franecdote 1670 : Mission Impossible

Act Two, Scene 1

Posted on by je parle américain

This is the first scene of the second act of my play, A Sword Unsheathed, originally written in French and translated into English for publication on the blog. If you haven’t yet read the first scene, you can find it here. You can find all the scenes published so far on this page. The original French version of this scene is found at the end of the post. (Read in French.) Please read the historical note here.

Voici la première scène du second acte de ma pièce, Un sabre dégainé, écrite à l’origine en français et traduite en anglais pour publication sur ce blog. Si vous n’avez pas encore lu la première scène, vous pouvez la trouver ici. Vous pouvez trouver toutes les scènes déjà publiées sur cette page. La version originale en français de cette scène se trouve à la fin de l’article. (Lire en français.) Veuillez lire ici la note historique.

SCENE 1
(Read the previous scene.)

The Characters

BENJAMIN HUGER, plantation owner, about 35 years old
FRANCIS HUGER, his son, about 7 years old
ALICE, Francis’s cousin, about 16 years old
ROBERT, a slave
FERGUSON, a captain in the British Army
Several British and American soldiers

This is a short scene without words that functions as a sort of intermission, although the story continues to unfold. Continue reading Act Two, Scene 1

franecdote 1681 : Digging Ditches

Posted on by je parle américain

It’s time for the next “franecdote” — an interesting fact or story from “THAT year in French history“ where “THAT year” is this year minus the number of Facebook fans je parle américain has every Thursday.

Screen Shot 2013-07-07 at 11.07.00 PM

Today’s franecdote is from July 25,
when je parle américain had 332 Facebook fans.
So …

The year 2013 — 332 fans = 1681

There were a lot of interesting things that happened in 1681: King Charles II of England granted a land charter to William Penn, who went on to found the colony of Pennsylvania, a woman was flogged in London for “involving herself in politics,” and the last dodo bird was killed … maybe.

Dodo

But, since this is about France, the franecdote for today is …

<drumroll>

The Grand Opening of
The Canal Royal de Languedoc Continue reading franecdote 1681 : Digging Ditches

Act One, Scene 9

Posted on by je parle américain

This is the ninth scene of my play, A Sword Unsheathed, originally written in French and translated into English for publication on the blog. If you haven’t yet read the first scene, you can find it here. You can find all the scenes published so far on this page. The original French version of this scene is found at the end of the post. (Read in French.) Please read the historical note here.

Voici la neuvième scène de ma pièce, Un sabre dégainé, écrite à l’origine en français et traduite en anglais pour publication sur ce blog. Si vous n’avez pas encore lu la première scène, vous pouvez la trouver ici. Vous pouvez trouver toutes les scènes déjà publiées sur cette page. La version originale en français de cette scène se trouve à la fin de l’article. (Lire en français.) Veuillez lire ici la note historique.

SCENE 9
(Read the previous scene.)

The Characters

BENJAMIN HUGER, plantation owner, about 35 years old
FRANCIS HUGER, his son, about 7 years old
ALICE, Francis’s cousin, about 16 years old

Several weeks later. Morning. The veranda of the house. Benjamin is stage left, seated in a rocking chair, smoking his pipe. Alice is seated beside him. Francis stands downstage right, looking into the distance, as in Scene 1. Continue reading Act One, Scene 9