Bonjour, hello.  Today I'm offering you something a little different.  I'm sharing a post written by Rosemary Kneipp from Aussie in France because it's great!  As simple as that.  Rosemary explains the use of the word "Bonjour" which is far from simple.  This little word which we all know so well is actually fraught with complications.

Friday's French - Bonjour

by Rosemary from Aussie in France, an Australian long-term resident of Paris who writes about her experiences of living in France, sharing insights into the French way of life.   This comes from her weekly post on French language "Friday's French".

Now you might wonder why I am writing a post about bonjour which everyone knows means "hello".

However, Black Cat and I were having a discussion the other day about WHEN and HOW it is used in French which is quite different from the English use of hello.

If I am in a supermarket in Australia and want to ask the man filling the shelves where the coffee is, the most polite way is to go up to him and say, "Excuse-me, but can you tell me where the coffee is".

Now, if I do that in France: "Excusez-moi de vous déranger, mais savez-vous où se trouve le café?", I am likely to get a nasty look. The person will say, "Bonjour" and wait for me to reply "Bonjour", then I have to ask the question again and will get a helpful answer.

If you go into a bakery or a butcher's shop or even a doctor's surgery, you should always say bonjour to the people present, and it's even more polite to follow it with messieurs, or mesdames or messieurs dames depending on who's present. You can also walk in and say messieurs dames without bonjour.  Read more

I urge you all to click through to Rosemary's full post.  It's fascinating and I couldn't have explained it better.  What do you think?

It has to be admitted that it can rain on the Côte d'Azur and at first glance this might not seem like a wet weather-friendly kind of place.  But look around and you'll find there are more indoor activities than you might think.  Here are some ideas for things to do en famille, in no particular order.

1.  Musée Océanographique de Monaco. This world-class oceanography museum sits spectacularly placed on the cliff face looking out to sea on the rock of Monaco. This in itself is worth the journey but perhaps not for the younger members of the family. For them there's an excellent aquarium - not big but perfectly sized for young children - with a touch pool and times to observe the fish being fed. The museum is stuffed full of marine world curiosities. Again, it's not so big that kids lose interest, but just full enough of oddities to capture their imagination. You'll find a whale skeleton and an enormous polar bear alongside 200 year old diving gear and all sorts of pickled sea monsters! The roof terrace has a restaurant and excellent play area next to a turtle enclosure all with 360° panoramic views of Monaco and the Mediterranean.  Open every day of the year except during the 3 days of the Grand Prix (in May) and Christmas Day.

2.  Confiserie Florian - our very own Willy Wonka's candy factory right on our doorstep!  This traditional factory makes delicious sweets, chocolates, jams and candied fruits out of local flowers and fruit.  Its location in the Loup river gorge under a ruined bridge is worth the visit alone and can't fail to impress even in bad weather.  In fact when it's raining the river crashes through the gorge in a spactacular fashion - much more interesting than the little trickle in summer.  What child can resist a chocolate/sweet factory?  And what's more, it's free (until you start buying all the delectable produce!)  It offers free factory tours with tastings throughout the day every day of the year in 5 different languages.

3. Musée International de la Parfumerie.  Grasse is the world centre of perfume-making so what better place to find out all about the history of perfume than in the thick of it?  This excellent museum, which is not too big to tire/bore the kids, has workshops for children and adults alike during school holidays and regularly changing exhibitions.  It has interactive displays especially designed for children too. Open every day during the summer but closed on Tuesdays in winter.  Check the website for opening hours.

4.  Parc Phoenix - 7 hectares of exotic gardens with 2500 plant species and one of the biggest glass-houses in Europe located on the western edge of Nice. It is this pyramid-shaped glass-house with 6 different climatic zones that makes a great escape from cold and damp weather.  It offers the visitor a rich, colourful, steamy, tropical experience even in the rain.  The enormous exotic plants look like they're out of a cartoon they're so bright and wacky and iguanas wander freely.  If the rain holds off there are several excellent outdoor play areas. The whole place is beautifully landscaped and designed for a fun and fascinating day out. Picnics are allowed and there is a small café too.

5.  Fun City Cannes - the biggest indoor softplay area on the Côte d'Azur with ball parks, trampolines, baby play area, go-karts, zip wire and a café for stressed out parents!  It has restricted opening hours during school terms so check the website for times.  Along similar lines there is also a slightly smaller place in Mougins (Boomiland).

6.  St Cézaire Caves.  Interesting, reasonably-priced underground caves near the lovely village of St Cézaire.  The temperature is a constant 14°c all year round no matter what the weather outside is doing, making it a perfect outing for rainy days (or very hot ones).  You have to take a guided tour but even if it's not available in your language the caves speak for themselves and are worth visiting.  The tour isn't long and is perfectable suitable for kids.  It is not suitable, however, for pushchairs as it involves steep steps.  Only open on Saturdays from Nov-Feb but every day of the week during the rest of the year.

7.  Laser Quest - an indoor action game played with lasers similar to Paintball but simpler and without the possibility of getting hurt, suitable from 8 years and up.  Absolutely non-violent but not appropriate for anyone afraid of the dark.  Honestly, not my kind of thing at all, but my older kid has been many times and loves it!  Open every day, check the website for times, located in Cannes.

8. Glass blowing in Biot.  The lovely village of Biot is famous for its unusual bubble glass which can be found for sale in many boutiques throughout the old centre.  But on a rainy day why not visit the glass blowing studios and Eco-museum at the Verrerie de Biot.  Established nearly 60 years ago and run by the same family since 1973 this workshop/studio/museum is fascinating to visit.  You can watch the artists at work, learn all about glass blowing and even have a go yourself.  Open every day.  If the weather permits, a stroll around the medieval hill village just up from the Verrerie is well worth it.

9.  Bowling.  If you haven't been bowling with your children then you should!  It's great fun from about 6/7 years up.  From the moment they put on the dodgy bowling shoes they're hooked.  The nearest bowling alley is in Antibes.  It doesn't have its own website but the link should take you through to another website with all its details.  You need to reserve a lane by phone.  There's a restaurant and bar and it's open every day from early afternoon till late at night.

10.  MAMAC - the Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art in Nice.  Perhaps not the most obvious place to visit with a family but this free museum (rare in France) is a great hit with kids.  The building, a contemporary hive of concrete towers, rooftop walkways, arches, terraces, roof gardens and glass bridges, fascinates and entertains children and this is even without visiting the exhibitions.  Inside the permanent collections of local artists such as Niki St Phalle and Ben are very child-friendly as they are colourful, cartoon-like and accessible. There are plenty of works of art that children "get".

photo of glass blower courtesy of Biot Tourism and photo of M.I.P courtesy of Nice Matin

I've given in.  It's not the normal sort of thing I like to write about, but enough's enough.  I have to admit it, we have rain.  And not just a little...deluges of the stuff.  The Riviera has gone wrong.  Spring 2013 has been the wettest on record which makes it very green and very pretty when the sun comes out for half an hour but it's not what you expect in the south of France.

In fact, the very first time I came to the south of France, back in 1981, I was told in no uncertain terms by the family friend we were holidaying with, that "it never rains in the south of France". Fullstop.  This became a kind of mantra to be repeated every time a grey cloud threatened and it has since entered into my family's folklore.  I have had it going around my brain on repeat for a couple of months now..."it never rains in the south of France", yeah right!

But as I sit here, looking out at the sheets of driving rain battering the spring flowers, wearing a fleece and my furry-lined winter Crocs, I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps this dreadful weather is not so uncommon.  The Cannes Film Festival started yesterday and it's local knowledge here that it always rains during the festival, so no surprises there.  And I'm remembering some of our first guests' visit in May 2010 - we had to provide a heater and DVDs as it was so cold and wet.  As did we last year for guests at the end of April (see image below of private feedback to me on Airbnb's website).  We've even had hail storms in May that look like snow (photo above) but having said all this, the normal thing here is that bad weather doesn't last.  Two or three days maximum has always been the limit, until this year, that is.

Well, I've got  that off my chest, my dirty little secret that it isn't always perfect on the Côte d'Azur, and now maybe we can move on.  Maybe, just maaaybe, by admitting it, it'll now go away, you know, like in a therapy kind of way. Bring on the sun I say!  (But in the mean time look out for a post on what to do on rainy days on the Riviera!) 

May Day in France is all about two things: muguet, pronounced "moo-gay" (lily of the valley in English) and Labour Day. Friends and family offer each other little sprigs, bouquets or whole plants of lily of the valley for good luck.  The more little bell-like flowers the plant has, the better the luck.

While lily of the valley has long symbolised spring and the Celts accorded it the status of a good luck charm, the tradition of giving muguet on the 1st of May dates back to the reign of Charles IX. In 1561 the young King was given a branch for good luck and he liked the idea so much that from then on, each 1st of May, he gave every woman in his court a sprig.

During the 1890s workers marching on the 1st of May started wearing a little red triangle in their buttonholes.  This was replaced by an eglantine rose which became the symbol of the Left.  During the Pétain years in the Vichy Government the eglantine was officially replaced with the lily of the valley, bringing the muguet back the the forefront where it has stayed as the symbol of the 1st of May ever since.

Nowadays, as a juridical exception, it is legal for anyone to sell muguet on the street on the 1st of May without a licence and without having to pay taxes, as long as it is picked wild or homegrown.  This may seem quite understandable for many readers coming from countries where it is legal to sell one's own wares on the street, but this is not the case in France.  It is the only time in the year when this is permissable. Incredible but true!  (See my post on car boot sales for more on this.)