France Travel And Food.com

The French language named by Americans the “language of romance” is being spoken by around 80 million people around the world as a first language, and another 110 million as a second language. And about 10 million people around the world have learned French as an acquired language.

French is the native language of France of course, but it is spoken in some 54 countries such as Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Francophone Africa.

French is what is called a Latin language. Many words have a Latin root, but it is also a Greek root language obvious in some words as well.

French is an official language in 29 countries which form what is called “La Francophonie“. French is also an official language of the United Nation agencies.   Before the raise of the English language in the

Facteur Cheval

Have you ever heard of the mailman Cheval from Hauterives in the department of Drôme in France?

This man known all over France as “Facteur Cheval” (Mailman Cheval) was born in 1836 and became a mailman in 1867 in the towns of Anneyron and later Hauterives, some 50 kilometers from Lyon.

As he was delivering the mail from door to door on his route of 33 Kilometers (15 miles) of country side he became bored and started to visualize himself building a palace.  “what one could do while walking perpetually in the same scenery, unless one starts thinking.  To entertain my thoughts I was building a magic palace”. Quote from Facteur Cheval.

One day while he was walking his 15 mile long mailing route, he striped on something that threw him to the ground few yards from the road.