Le quatorze juillet

Bastille Day, commemorating important day of national celebration in France. The festivities actually begin on 13 July, with dances ("bals") organized in the streets of large towns. On the day itself there is a large military parade in Paris in the morning, and firework displays take place throughout France in the evening.

 Rive droite Rive gauche

The terms rive gauche and rive droite are social and cultural well as geographical ones. The Left Bank of the Seine (ie, the southern half of Paris) is traditionally associated with the arts (especially literature), with students and with a somewhat Bohemian lifestyle. The Right Bank is generally viewed as being more traditionalist, commercially-minded and conformist.

Tu, vous...

There are no hard-and-fast rules about when to address people. Small children can be addressed as "tu", and will often reply using the "tu" form as well. In informal contexts among young people of the same age, "tu" is often used even at first meeting. Among the older generation, "vous" is standard until people know each other well; some older married couples even use the "vous" form to address their spouse. As a general rule for non-native speakers, "vous" should always be used to address adults until the other person uses "tu", or asks permission to do so.

 AOC

AOC is the highest wine meets strict requirements concerning the vineyard of origin, the type of vine grown, the method of production, and the volume of alcohol present.

Festival d'Avignon

Created by the actor-director Jean Vilar in 1947, the Festival is one of the most important events in the French cultural calendar. The town is taken over by theatregoers in late July and early August, and many of its historic buildings are transformed into performance spaces. The most prestigious shows of the festival take place in the courtyard of the "Palais des Papes", the old Papal palace in the town centre.

Note that when translating the phrase "in Avignon" the preposition "en" can be used instead of the usual "à", especially in formal speech or writing (for example, "ce spectacle a été créé en Avignon").

Beur

Beur is the term used to refer African immigrant parents. It is not a racist term and is often used by the media, anti-racist groups and second-generation North Africans themselves. The word itself originally came from the "verlan" rendering of the word "arabe".