Sam: Hello and welcome to French en route, the podcast for French learners. My name’s Sam and I’ll be taking you on virtual tour. On this tour we’ll meet native French speakers from around the globe who’ll share their stories with us — all in French, of course! But don’t panic, because that’s where I come in. I'll be here to explain a few things as we go along.

To make things easier, we’ve put together a synchronized transcript that you can read whilst listening. You can find this, alongside images and videos related to each episode, at babbel.com/podcasts or follow the link in the episode description.

Now, here’s a question for you: Do you have a sweet tooth? If you do, then you’ll definitely enjoy today’s story, because we’re traveling to Quebec, in Canada, where Jean-Philippe is going to tell us all about maple syrup production and le temps des sucres — that is ‘sugar season’. This is a celebration during which people get together in woodland cabins to gorge themselves on maple syrup products and other traditional foods! Sounds sweet, right?

So, are you ready? On y va !!! Let’s go!!!

The French spoken in Quebec is known as Québécois or Quebec French. Québécois pronunciation and vocabulary differs quite a bit from that used in France and that’s because Quebec French and European French have evolved separately since the 17th century. But don’t worry about it — everyone still understands each other!

Jean-Philippe: Je m’appelle Jean-Philippe et je vais vous parler d’une tradition québécoise : le temps des sucres.

Au Québec, le temps des sucres c’est la fête de l’érable. Au printemps, pendant un mois, on se retrouve pour faire la fête en famille, entre amis ou entre collègues et manger les produits de l’érable.

Chez moi, c’est une tradition familiale parce que mon oncle et ma tante possèdent une plantation d’érables et une cabane à sucre. 

Ils fabriquent du sirop d’érable, du beurre d’érable et du sucre d’érable.

Sam: As Jean-Phillipe says, sugar season is la fête de l’érable — ‘the maple festival’. This is a month-long, Québécoise tradition.

In spring, people get together with family, friends and colleagues to eat maple products. Not only these, but also typical very rich dishes such as baked beans with bacon, smoked ham, and pea soup.

For Jean-Phillipe it is a family tradition because his uncle and aunt own a maple plantation and have une cabane à sucre — a ‘sugar shack’ where they produce maple syrup, maple butter, and maple sugar.

Jean-Philippe: Chaque année, au printemps, toute ma famille va chez Oncle Clément et Tante Andrée et on part récolter la sève des arbres.

Oncle Clément conduit un tracteur et nous, on marche. Il y a de la neige, il fait froid alors on porte une tuque, des mitaines et des bottes.

Dans chaque arbre, il y a un seau accroché et la sève sucrée coule dedans. 

On prend le seau, on le vide dans un gros baril et on continue.

Moi, je bois la sève directement dans le seau. Je ne peux pas m’en empêcher !

Sam: Each year, Jean-Phillipe’s whole family heads out to his uncle and aunt’s place, where they collect the tree sap, la sève des arbres. His uncle drives a tractor and the rest of them walk. There’s snow, it’s cold and so they wear une tuque, (which is Québécois for winter hat or ‘beanie’) as well as mittens and boots. He tells us there’s a bucket — un seau — hanging from each tree and the sweet sap drips into them — coule dedans. They take the bucket, empty it into a big barrel and continue. Jean-Phillipe confesses that he drinks the sap straight out of the bucket. Je ne peux pas m’en empêcher ! he says: “I can’t resist it!” Sounds tempting, right?

Jean-Philippe: On marche pendant des heures dans la forêt pour prendre le contenu des seaux et quand le baril est plein, on revient à la cabane pour fabriquer le sirop d’érable. Comment on fait ?

C’est très simple : on fait bouillir la sève très longtemps et l’eau s’évapore. À la fin, on a du sirop d’érable. Mais ce n'est pas fini ! On peut aussi faire de la tire. De la quoi ? De la tire d’érable !

On chauffe le sirop d’érable et on le verse dans la neige. Ensuite on enroule la pâte collante sur un bâtonnet. C’est comme une sucette molle. J’en mange plein, c’est super bon !

Sam: Jean-Philippe tells us that they traipse for hours through the forest, harvesting the contents of the buckets, and when the barrel is full they return to la cabane — ‘the cabin’ — to make maple syrup. This is very easy: you have to boil the sap for a very long time until the water evaporates. You can then also make de la tire d’érable — that is ‘maple taffy’, which is a type of chewy candy. To do this, they heat the maple syrup and then pour it onto the snow. He says: Ensuite on enroule la pâte collante sur un bâtonnet. “Then we roll the sticky paste onto a stick.” It’s like a lollipop and Jean-Philippe eats a lot of it: J’en mange plein. I hope he’s got good dental care!

Jean-Philippe: Un jour, pendant le temps des sucres, mon oncle Clément me donne une mission : je dois contrôler la cuisson du sirop et mettre du bois régulièrement pour maintenir la température.

Il me dit : “Attention, le sirop ne doit pas brûler !” Je suis fier de m’en occuper.  Le problème, c’est que je suis très fatigué et que j’ai beaucoup mangé.

Je contemple le feu, ça sent bon la cheminée, il fait chaud. Bien sûr, je m’endors.

Quand je me réveille, je regarde l’heure. Oupelaille, j’ai dormi deux heures et maintenant, le sirop n’est plus chaud ! Il n'y a plus de flamme, plus de bois.

Sam: So, one day uncle Clément gives Jean-Philippe a mission: He has to control the boiling of the syrup and regularly put wood on the fire to maintain the correct temperature. His uncle warns him not to let the syrup burn! Jean-Philippe is proud to be the one to take care of it: Je suis fier de m’en occuper.

The problem, says Jean-Philippe, is that he’s very tired and has eaten a lot. He contemplates the fire, the chimney smells good, it’s hot. And of course, he falls asleep. When he wakes up, he cries Oupelaille ! which is a Québécois word… in France you’d say oups ! or zut ! He’s surprised, because the clock says he’s been asleep for two hours and now the syrup is no longer hot. The fire’s gone out and there’s no wood — what a disaster!

Jean-Philippe: Il faut du bois alors je vais vite en chercher. Mais il n’y a plus de bois ! Alors je cherche mon oncle, ma tante, mes parents.

Mais, c’est bizarre, il n’y a personne. Ils sont repartis vers les arbres ? Je cours dans la neige. J’appelle. Toujours personne.

Je suis inquiet pour le sirop, mais aussi pour moi. La nuit tombe, il neige fort et je suis seul. Où sont les autres ?

Et puis, j’entends du bruit derrière moi. Il y a quelqu’un dans l’arbre. J’appelle mon oncle. Est-ce que c’est lui ? Je regarde mieux.

Je n’en crois pas mes yeux. C’est un ours !

Sam: Jean-Philippe needs wood (du bois) and so he quickly goes looking for some: je vais vite en chercher. But there is no more wood! So he looks for his uncle, his aunt… his parents. Bizarrely, there’s no one around, and he wonders if they’ve gone back into the woods. He runs through the snow, calling for them. He’s worried about the syrup but also for himself. Night is falling, it’s snowing heavily and he’s alone.

And then, he hears a sound behind him. There’s someone in the trees — his uncle, perhaps? Upon taking a better look, he exclaims: Je n’en crois pas mes yeux “I can’t believe my eyes.” It’s a bear! Un ours.

Jean-Philippe: Soudain, j’entends des pas. J’ouvre les yeux. Je suis dans la cabane à sucre. Le bois et l'ours, c'était juste un cauchemar !

Mon oncle arrive. Il s’assoit à côté de moi pour surveiller le sirop. Je lui raconte mon rêve. Il rigole : il n’y a pas d’ours ici !

Le soir, on dîne ensemble avec les cousins et les cousines. Tante Andrée a préparé des fêves au lard. Ça sent le lard grillé. Quel bon moment !

Ah, dommage que le temps des sucres ne dure que quatre semaines !

Sam: So what of Jean-Philippe? Well, he suddenly hears footsteps. He opens his eyes and he’s back in the cabin — the sugar shack. The wood and the bear were just a nightmare, un cauchemar ! His uncle has arrived and sits down next to him to keep an eye on the syrup. When Jean-Philippe tells him about his dream, he laughs: There are no bears in their neck of the woods! So much for ‘sweet dreams’, eh?

That evening, they dine with their cousins. Aunty Andrée has prepared beans with bacon. What a great moment! But what a pity that le temps des sucres only lasts four weeks…

So, while you were listening, did you notice how Jean-Philippe used the little word en (spelled e-n)? En is what we call a pronoun and in this sense it’s used to refer back to something that’s already been mentioned. If you want to learn more about en, just head to our Babbel lessons.

Now if you found all of today’s sweet talk irresistible but a bit much to digest in one go, don’t forget you can replay this episode as many times as you like. Or, if you’re feeling confident but just can’t get enough of Jean-Philippe’s dulcet tones, go ahead and listen to the French-only version without my interruptions!

We’d love to hear your feedback, which you can send us via email at podcasting@babbel.com or directly through your preferred podcast app.

And if you’re super keen, you can also fill in the survey you’ll find in the episode description. Thanks for listening and see you for the next episode of French en route…

A bientôt ! See you soon!