All month
Sprechen vous español?
As it’s Learn a Language Month, we’ve
compiled a list of some of our favourite
foreign words and phrases…
Kummerspeck
german
“
Grief bacon”
Comfort food
L’esprit d’escalier
french
“
Staircase wit”
When you think of the right
thing to say too late
Sono pieno come un uovo
italian
“
I’m like an egg”
I’m full (of food)
Macacos me mordam!
portuguese
“
Monkeys bite me!”
Expression of surprise
Gazpacho
spanish
“
Tomato soup”
To be in a mess, predicament
14/12
He said what?!
Sir Ian McKellan
on The
Hobbit: “I suggested to
Peter Jackson that we
should have added a
scene where Gandalf
has a bath. Because you
never see anyone wash
in Middle Earth. The other day a teacher said to me
‘
I introduce my children to Tolkien as early as
possible.’ I said, ‘What is it you approve of about these
characters? They smoke and drink and never wash!’”
The Hobbit is out on 14 December
SKI FALL
Fancy skiing this season but worried about the expense? Fear
not: recent surveys show that prices have taken a tumble since
2011,
with average costs down by 5.7%. The greatest drop was
seen in Swiss resorts – a whopping 14.7% less – but France
(-6.74%)
and Austria (-7.28%) saw drops too. Bulgaria is the
cheapest destination: just €282 for lift-pass, ski hire and tuition.
The end is nigh!
…
or is it? Conspiracy
theorists warn that the
world may well end on
21
December, so if you’re
reading this afterwards,
well done! You survived
Armageddon.
Opens 12/12
Just opened
Now
Louvre II: this time
it’s cultural
A long-awaited second
branch of the Louvre
opens in the French
city of Lens this month
with an exhibition
on the Renaissance,
showcasing works by
masters of the age such
as Raphael, van Eyck,
Dürer and Cranach.
Head to the former
mining community
for stand-outs like
Delacroix’ revolutionary
Liberty Leading the
People
(
top)
,
Raphael’s
Portrait of Baldassare
Castiglione
(
centre
)
and Georges de La
Tour’s chiaroscuro
Mary Magdalene with
a Night Light
(
left
).
louvrelens.fr
DECEMBER
SURVEY
MONEYCORP
/
SNOW FINDERS
2011
2012
21
© MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, DIST. RMN-GP / ANGÈLE DEQUIER/ ERICH LESSING
0 2 7
R E G U L A R S
