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On Saturday evening ten days ago, my friend Caroline and I met at Saint-Lazare. We had dinner in a nice pizzeria near the trendy and lively rue Oberkampf, in the eleventh arrondissement, in the east of Paris. But, did we really go that far to have pizza? Not really. We had a plan ! This is what you are going to hear in this episode.  Caroline and I have known each other since our daughters Micaela and Juliette were only a few months old. We were leaving in the same Résidence.  Do you think we started by saying « tu » or « vous » to each other the first time we met? We are almost the same age. Is it difficult to guess? Well, the answer is also in this episode.  In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that you could use in your own French conversations, they are simple but efficient expressions. I will also tell you how we use vous or tu in different everyday life circumstances.  So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com  

It was December the 30th 2022, I had an appointment with Nathalie Iris from the bookshop Mots en marge, in La Garenne-Colombes.  Nathalie is a famous bookseller in France, you can see her on the TV show Télématin. We met during the confinement, during which Nathalie chose some books for my three daughters, Micaela, Felicia and Lisa. She also became a regular guest to talk about books on the podcast One Thing In A French Day that I run beside Cultivate Your French.   That day, in December, Nathalie presented a book that I totally fell in love with : On va déguster Paris. It’s a book written by François-Régy Gaudry a journalist that runs a radio show about food and good products on France Inter. He’s very famous in France. I love his voice and his way of saying things.  With his friends from the radio show, François-Régis Gaudry has already written different books about France, Italy, etc. But this particular book about Paris is really good. It’s full of addresses, recipes, historical stories, pictures and drawings.  In this episode, you are going to hear Nathalie Iris talking about it. You can order this beautiful book from the website Decritre.fr at a fair price. I don’t have any commercial link with them, but I know their service is very good.  In the notes that come with the transcript, we will have an eye on those questions asked at the negative form, on the expression « il y a » that teachers often ask us to avoid and we will see all the different vocabulary about a book page.  So, to cultivate your French, and enjoy the transcript by reading what is said and enjoy the notes that come with the text, you could subscribe at www.cultivateyourfrench.com The subscription costs 4 euros a month ! 

The weather is very bad these days in Paris, but it doesn’t stop me when I have the possibility to have a walk in Paris.  Justement, I had an order to collect rue du Four. This led me to a strange encounter.  In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for your those expressions or words that are typical in French and that you could use in your own conversation.  We will also focus on the vocabulary that I use in this text to talk about my itinerary .  And I will select a particular sentence that you could repeat again and again to improve your pronunciation and your spoken French.  So to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript and receive it by email. The subscription costs 4 euros a month. Rendez-vous at www.cultivateyourfrench.com  

During the holidays, we had the visit of an unexpected visitor : the flue ! Micaela and Felicia and me where its victims, so it ruined the joy of being on holidays. But we had some nice moments and we were the 3 of us well enough to enjoy the traditional Christmas meal with my parents. Pintade aux marrons, plateau de fromages, bûche au chocolat and Clairette de Die are what we enjoyed the most.  But, there where also some nice and positive moments, this is what this episode is about.  In the notes that come with the transcript, I will give you all the information on who is who and what is what in this list. We will also notice the tenses used in this list of moments. Eventually, we will focus on this sentence that starts with « Saviez-vous que… » and see how you could use it in your own French conversations.  So to cultivate your French and improve your listening comprehension, I invite you to subscribe to the transcript, so you can get the text of the podcast by email with the notes and photos. The subscription costs 4 euros a month. You can subscribe at cultivateyourfrench.com

It was cold on that day, when my friend Pauline and I went to Paris for a day. We went to Saint-Germain-des-prés to walk in the nice streets, enjoy the Christmas shop windows like the ones of Alix D.Reynis, Ladurée or Officine Bully. We also visited the very nice Eglise Saint-Germain-des-prés whose ceilings are as nice as the ones of La Sainte-Chapelle. We had tea at Le café des deux magots. And, we went to la Place Furstemberg, one of the most beautiful places in Paris. This episode takes you to this nice little place. This is a double episode, it’s twice longer than usual because next week and the week after the podcast will on holidays.  In the notes that come with the transcripts, you will find photos with comments of the different places Pauline and I went to.  So, to cultivate your French, and improve your listening comprehension, you could subscribe to the transcript and receive the text, notes and photos by email. The subscription costs 4 euros a month. You can subscribe at www.cultivateyourfrench.com

There were a lot of anniversaries in 2022 : the 4th centenary of Molière’s birth, the 2nd centenary of the deciphering of the hieroglyphes by Jean-Francois Champollion, the centenary of Marcel Proust’s death and the centenary of the publication of Ulysses by James Joyce, in Paris.  Yes, in Paris ! It was the American owner of the bookshop Shakespeare and Company, Sylvia Beach, that published the famous book in 1922.  With my friend Françoise, a reader of Ulysses in English,  we went to different places related to James Joyce in Paris. A little odissey of our own. The bookshop Shakespeare and Company owned by Sylvia Beach doesn’t exist anymore, though I’m sure you have heard about a famous bookshop, named Shakespeare and Company, near Notre-Dame. Haven’t you? What is the story of this bookshop? This is what this episode is about. You can imagine Françoise and I in Paris on a cloudy day.  In the notes that come with the transcript, we will focus on all the numbers and dates that this episodes contains.  So, are you ready to cultivate your French? Then, you could subscribe to the transcripts and notes of this podcast at www.cultivateyourfrench.com. The subscription costs 4 euros a month to receive by email the transcript, the notes and photos. 

Last Saturday, there was a Kung-fu completion near Paris. La coupe de France de Kung-fu. It’s opened to anyone belonging to a club. There was 4 of us from my club : Alistair, Julien, Paul (12) and me.  Preparing a competition requires a lot of energy and in my case I have to deal with stress. I presented a routine without weapon (mains nues) and one with a sabre.  What is the aim of going to a competition? This question might occur at some point. This is what this episode is about. In a way, I think we can make a link between this question and learning French. Learning French has the reputation of being difficult. Yes, it is. But step by step you can make progress and be proud of yourself ! I’m proud of you, my dear listeners.  In the notes that come with the transcript, we will focus on natural French sentences and expression. Of course, there will be a special focus on a sentence I have chosen for you «  j’aurais pu sans doute faire mieux ».  So to cultivate your French and improve your listening comprehension by reading the text, you can subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com  

Many famous paintings became famous because they were scandalous. This is the case of Le Radeau de la Méduse by Théodore Géricault. The young painter, aged 27 years old, painted about the wreck of the Medusa near the cost of today’s Mauritania. 147 persons were left on a big raft on which most of them died. Only 15 people survived the 13 days before their rescue.  The wreck happened in 1816 and it was scandalous because the French captain was incompetent.  Géricault gets passionate about the subject; He meets two survivors, study dead bodies in the hospital, study how to paint to sea, etc.  The painting was first shown at the Salon in 1819, only 3 years after the wreck of the Medusa. The Salon is the official art exhibition at that time.  My friend Anne-Laure will tell you how the painting had been received at that time.  In the notes that come with the transcript, we will focus on the vocabulary and expressions that Anne-Laure uses to describe what people felt about the painting.  So to cultivate your French and boost your listening comprehension, subscribe to the transcript at cultivateyourfrench.com. The subscription costs 4 euros a month. When you subscribe you get the 10 latest transcripts for free.  www.cultivateyourfrench.com  

This Monday, I had the chance to visit with a class the Assemblée nationale. The visit was absolutely thrilling. The official seat of the Assemblée nationale is the Palais Bourbon. This palais was build in front of the place de la Concorde, on the left bank of the Seine. It was built in the 18th century for one of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan’ daughter.  There are a lot of nice rooms and nice paintings to see but what we all enjoyed the most was the opportunity to watch the debates going on for 5 minutes. This was really an experience and this is what this episode is about.  In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you the expressions and sentences that you might use when you talk about a speech.  We will also study a specific sentence, the last one because it contains all the elements to understand the used of the passé composé and the imparfait.  www.cultivateyourfrench.com  

A few weeks ago, my friend Anne-Laure and I spent a day in the 11th arrondissement, le quartier du faubourg Saint-Antoine. This neighbourhood in the East part of Paris has a special identity that comes from the Middle Ages. There was a major trading center related to wood and a lot of cabinet-makers had their worshop there. This is the reason why it is organised with courtyard sand passages : when you make furnitures you need space and air. Then, in the 19th century there were a lot of factories. The Seine was not far away, so it was easy to have that type of business there.  Before visiting two different passages, Anne-Laure and I had to find a place to have lunch. Let’s start with this !  In the notes that come with the transcript, we will focus on a specific sentence that uses the gérondif, a form that comes from Latin ! Yes, thrilling ! As usual, I will also highlight for you Voilà, to cultivate your French and work on your listening comprehension you can subscribe to receive the transcript by email at www.cultivateyourfrench.com The subscription cost 4 euros per month. 

Last week, we had a good week, we spent a week in Jura. The girls were eager to go to the Jura sud equestrian centre, for them it’s the best place in the world. They would usually spend the whole week there, but as November the 1st was a bank holiday, it was planned that they would start going on Wednesday. We have a ritual to end those beautiful days, we go to the Crêperie in Pont-de-Poitte.  In this episode, I will tell you about the equestrian centre and the crêperie. And, in the transcript, I will highlight for you the sentences or expressions that are very natural in French and the you could use in your own conversations. We will also focus on a short sentence of the text because it contains a verb at tense that could be surprising !  To cultivate your French and receive the transcript by email, please subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com the subscription costs 4 euros a month ! 

On a Saturday afternoon, last September, I took my bike and met with Emilie Renard. We had ten kilometres to ride together to go to Issy-les-Moulineaux where Emily runs something tipically French : un théâtre de marionnettes, a puppet show, in the parc behind the mairie. On weekends, there are two performances. One at 4.30 pm and, the other one, one hour later. For the first one, I stood in the public to watch the show. It was a very funny story. Emilie has written all of the 12 stories that she performs (one each week). The main character of her stories is the famous Polichinelle, but in this story Polichinelle was only presenting the show. Then, I had the chance to watch the story from behind the scenes. It’s really a permformance to manipulate the puppies with the hands, to have them move in the small scene and to have to speak in the voice of the different characters : there were 6 different characters in this story.  In this episode, you will hear Emilie Renard talking about her work, about the story that I saw and where to go to watch her show. In the transcript, I will highlight for your some very natural French sentences or expressions that you could use in your own conversations. Because, this podcast is about improving your French comprehension, but also cultivating your French !  All the information about the transcript is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com Next week, the podcast will be on holidays, but if you are a subscriber, you will receive a link to keep working on your French.  Le théâtre de Polichinelle, Issy-les-Moulineaux : https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054410202970  

Last Saturday morning, I received a phone call from Claire, Lisa’s viola da gamba teacher. Se was offering to take Lisa and her son to the Comédie Française. The Comédie Française, France’s famous national theater, the house of Molière? Lisa was excited ! The play was La vie de Galilée (Galileo’s Life) by Bertold Brecht. She didn’t understand much, but really enjoyed the moment, and the macaron Claire offered her when they got out.  That same day, Micaela had an appointment with her best friend, Anna. Does it have a link with what I have just said? Yes, you are going to discover it in this episode.  In this episode, you may notice that there are many questions. For example : Quelle pièce allez-vous voir? This gave me the idea to write a list of questions, in the transcript that goes with this episode, that you could be asked about a play.  I have also recorded those questions in an audio file, so you can play with me and answer my questions as if we were having a conversation.  Cultivate Your French at www.cultivateyourfrench.com  

My daughter Lisa had to read a book for school. The French teacher gave her students the choice between different books; There was some rather modern books, classics and easy to read or more difficult ones. The test was due yesterday.  Lisa had chosen a book, but she forgot to take it at the library, then she was supposed to borrow one from a friend. Finally, one week before the test she hadn’t read any book. So, I took the list and we chose to buy Une Amazone from Alexandre Dumas. Yes, Alexandre Dumas who wrote Les trois mousquetaires !  In this short story, the story takes place in Paris, in the years 1850. Edouard fells in love with a young woman at a ball a the Opera. This young woman dictates to Edouard some rules : not to mention that he knows her to anyone (or she will kill him, she’s very talented at using an épée), to break up with is friend Marie and to use a board to meet each other. When Lisa told me about the board, I couldn’t understand. But, the courtyard where Edouard lives is just in frond of the young woman’s home. She asks him to put a board between the two windows and to cross from one place to another on this board below the emptiness.  In this episode, Lisa tells me about the outcome of this story.  In the notes that go with the transcript, we will have a close look at what tenses are used by Lisa and I to tell the story.  www.cultivateyourfrench.com  

This is the last year of lycée for Micaela. Last June she took the French baccalaureate, which is the 1st part of the bac. This year, she is taking the bac for good. Two of the subjects are coefficient 16. For her, it’s mathematics and physics. But she also has to choose what she is going to study next year and where. This is what this episode is about.  In the notes, I will also talk about how to express a choice in French ! As usual, I will also highlight for you expressions that are natural in French and some words to remember.  www.cultivateyourfrench.com  

200 years ago, in Septembre 1822, Jean-François Champollion writes a letter to his friend of L’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles, Monsieur Dacier. In his letter, he reveals that he has deciphered the Egyptian writing, the hieroglyphs.  200 years later, the Collège de France, in which Jean-François Champollion gave a few lessons in 1831, organises a special event : the reading of his first lesson.  In the notes that go with the transcript, I will highlight for you the sentences or expressions that are interesting to understand and to remember. I will also show you a few words to learn because they are useful.  www.cultivateyourfrench.com  

Flâner is typically a Parisian activity. You just let yourself drift from a place to another. You can wander while you visit the Grands magasins, for example. This is what we did my friend Marilyne and I at the Printemps and at the Galeries Lafayette. These two Grands magasins are close to the Opéra Garnier and to the Gare Saint-Lazare. They were both created in the XIXth century, the Printemps first, then a few years later the Galeries Lafayette. What is the difference between these two department shops? This what you are going to hear in today’s episode.  In the notes that go with the transcript, I will highlight for you some typical expressions and tell you in a few words how those stores were created.   www.cultivateyourfrench.com  

How to bring a little bit of Paris in your suitcase? It’s not easy to find those little souvenirs that will make someone happy. For me it’s becoming a game to see them for you. Maybe because I met Lila this summer to whom I offered a key ring from Brittany years ago when she was around ten years old. More than ten years later, she was still using it and loved it.  Donc, in this episode here is a first harvest of a few objects that you might bring back with you.   As you listen to French you work on your listening comprehension. When you read and listen at the same time you boost your comprehension and you see the language, you see how it works. Soon, you will soon listen for what is being said rather than for the language !  In the notes that go with the trasncript, I highlight for you those expressions that are natural in French and that you could use in your own conversations.  You can subscribe to the transcript at cultivateyourfrench.com

After, the detour to Italy last week, this week we are going to end our Promenade de l’été. Do you remember? We were in the quartier de l’Europe. We had met the painters from Le groupe des Batignolles, Manet, Monet, Caillebote to quote a few names. At Saint-Lazare, or right above the station, at Europe, you can take the metro line 3 to Pont de Levallois, Bécon. There you can have a walk to the Seine and to the Ile de la Jatte, where Seurat painted Dimanche après-midi à l’Ile de la Grande Jatte. Maybe a peniche will pass by. La Défense is visbile from there. It’s another world there. Well, now, it’s time to go to the rue du Parc and look for a small green shop. This is where Claire Heitzler has established her pâtisserie. No cakes in the window. No. This place is different. You can order on her Internet website cr discover the cakes at her boutique. They will be showed to you. Claire Heitzler is so famous among pâtissiers, she has an examplary career, won so many prizes. She has chosen to open a shop that is in harmony with what she values most : authenticity.  Let’s listen to her now.  In the notes, that go with the transcript Claire Heitzler will describe to you one of her cakes in a bonus audio file. I will also highlight for you some very natural expressions in French.  www.cutlivateyourfrench.com  

We are back from holidays ! We were in Italy, near Bari in the Puglia region where Pietro still has a lot of family.  We really enjoyed our stay, the region is beautiful and so different from France. Micaela arrived twelve days before us and stayed with Pietro’s aunt, Ada. So when we went to the beach, she had fun understunding what people where talking about on the beach. This is how this episode starts, but it will quickly takes you to another place, the town of Altamura and the town of Monopoli.  In the notes that go with the transcript, I will highlight for you those typical expressions that we use in everyday French. And, of course, with the notes, there are photos of the places that I go to. www.cultivateyourfrench.com