La Belle Vie: Record-breaking French pastries and new French words to build your vocab
La Belle Vie is our regular look at the real culture of France – from language to cuisine, manners to films. This newsletter is published weekly and you can receive it directly to your inbox, by going to your newsletter preferences in 'My account'.
I love a good
tarte aux fraises
. Every time I walk into a
boulangerie
, I am tempted to buy one. Instead of a chocolate or vanilla birthday cake, I ask for strawberry each year.
Still, I don't think I love strawberry cake as much as the French pastry chefs who
just won a world record
for the world's longest strawberry cake, at 121.8 metres and weighing in at 1.2 tonnes.
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This isn't the first time France has tried to win a baking-related world record. Last year, French
boulangers
attempted to make the
world's longest baguette
. It's fair to say that baking and pastry-making are not taken lightly here.
5 things to know about French pâtisserie
I have heard some allegations recently about French bread getting worse, as more bakeries turn to pre-made, frozen treats.
To my American sensibilities, I am still continuously impressed by the quality at French bakeries, as well as their general availability. In our neighbourhood, we have five within a five minute walk, though to be fair we have picked our top two for bread and our top two for pastries.
'Tastes like straw' - Are French bread and croissants really getting worse?
If you visit your French
boulangerie
next week, you might find that on Thursday the bakery is closed. May 1st is a public holiday in France. This year there is a greater chance of bakeries taking the day off after many got in trouble last year for failing to pay their workers the mandatory double rate.
As for May Day generally, it's an interesting holiday in France. It really captures something unique about the French spirit (and love for protesting), but its origins are actually on the other side of the Atlantic.
What May Day really means to the French
The month of May also comes with two other public holidays this year, and while this might be exciting in terms of days off and trips away, it also means it is
prime strike time
for workers - this year rail unions have filed strike notices over the May holiday weekends.
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French rail services are stepping things up in one area. Starting next year, the new TGV-M trains will hit the tracks, and they are set to include a special two-storey 'cathedral-style' buffet car, but in the meantime SNCF has unveiled a new 'bistro style' menu on on-train meals.
SNCF unveils 'bistro dining' on French train services
In other news, each year the French dictionary Le Petit Larousse unveils the new words it will add to its collection. This year, the dictionary announced 150 new words would make their way into the book.
We got a sneak peak at some of them, and they really showcase the ever-evolving nature of the French language, from the influence of the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games to the constant presence of technology in our day-to-day lives.
TEST: Guess the 15 new words added to French dictionary
And I couldn't help but notice that several of these new words were 'masculine' nouns (meaning you'd add the
le
or
un
in front), for example, the increasingly popular tennis-like sport
padel
is
le padel,
not
la padel.
It can feel like a mystery which words end up as masculine or feminine, but once they become official enough to pass by the desk of the 'immortals' in France's Académie Française, we mere mortals receive a firm answer.
Who decides if new French words are masculine or feminine?
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