In this episode, I dive deep into French literature with Aurélie, a high school French teacher, as we analyze ”L’éphémère” by 19th-century poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore.

Last Tuesday, I went with Micaela to an acrobatics class at a Chinese circus school in Montreuil.

The seventeenth century is a very important century in the history of French. People fight over who has the best French. That’s what Gilles Siouffi will be explaining in today’s episode.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t write letters any more, at least not handwritten ones, because you could say that some emails are letters. So I was delighted to discover the café Pli in Paris, a letter café.

I’m taking you on a unique ride through Paris in the brand new electric Renault R5! Join my friend Pauline and me as we test drive this iconic French car while chatting in natural French.

La semaine dernière, Pauline et moi avons mangé ensemble dans un restaurant à Paris. Il s’appelle Coda et se trouve derrière l’église de la Trinité. C’est un petit restaurant bistronomique, c’est-à-dire un mélange de bistrot et de gastronomie. www.cultivateyoufrench.com

Last week, I saw my friend Caroline. We’d booked tickets to see a play at the Théâtre des Abbesses in Montmartre. We’d arranged to meet at the Place de Clichy. As we had time for a little dinner, Caroline suggested the Bouillon Pigalle, a typically Parisian and inexpensive restaurant. That’s the dinner I’m telling you about in this episode. In the accompanying notes, we’ll take a look at the history of bouillons, as well as the typical restaurant vocabulary developed in this episode. Then you’ll be ready to order! So if you want to cultivate your French “bouillonnant”, the Slow Way, I invite you to subscribe. www.cultivateyourfrench.com

Ce matin, je prenais mon petit-déjeuner et j’écoutais la radio. À 8 heures, j’ai entendu une nouvelle sur EDF (Électricité de France) et le nucléaire. Le nouveau directeur d’EDF veut construire six nouveaux réacteurs. Le prix sera de 100 euros par mégawattheure.

Last week, we were on holiday by the sea. We had rented a pretty little white house with blue shutters and a small garden. In the garden, you could smell the lily of the valley in bloom. One lunchtime, I was coming back from a little walk and when I entered the house, I heard what sounded like an alarm. I got worried, but it was just the Jeu des mille euros that Pietro was listening to on the radio. There’s some percussion during the delay in answering the questions that made me think of an alarm.

Lisa et moi parlons aujourd’hui sans texte préparé. Nous racontons notre aventure de dégustation de tartes. Après avoir goûté des tartes Lola et aux fraises, nous sommes allées dans d’autres pâtisseries près de chez nous : Encore avec la pâtissière Ophélie Barès et Tradition et Gourmandise avec Stéphane Glacier, un meilleur ouvrier de France.

Aujourd’hui, nous sommes à Asnières, une ville près de Paris. Nous sommes devant la mairie, un beau bâtiment du XIXe siècle avec une horloge. C’est ici que j’ai célébré mon mariage avec Pietro. D’abord, nous sommes allées dans une librairie qui s’appelle ”Case à bulles” pour acheter des BD. Nous avons acheté une BD Blacksad pour Lisa et une BD pour Felicia qui va se faire opérer des dents.

Last Saturday, on a warm and sunny afternoon, I met Emilie from the Instagram account @shotdecafeine. It was Micaela who introduced me to her account, because Emilie has a rather creative way of running in Paris. You’ll find out how in this episode. We’ve reached the point in the conversation where Emilie tells me that she had the idea of running along the metro lines after running with a colleague from La Défense, where they work, to his home near the Château de Vincennes for an aperitif and cheese. In the notes that accompany the transcript, we’ll be looking at the patisseries that Emilie has mentioned thanks to her journeys. I’ll tell you what’s special about these pastries and whether they’ve already been mentioned in the podcast. You’re in for a real treat. So if you’d like to cultivate your French in the Slow way and in a creative way, I invite you to subscribe to the transcript.

In this episode, I take you on a journey to Argenteuil, a suburb of Paris made famous by Impressionist painters like Claude Monet. Join me as I travel on bus 164 to a kung-fu competition, while discovering the charming neighborhoods where Monet lived and painted for five years. I share my observations of the Seine river, the historic Argenteuil bridge that appears in many famous paintings, and my plans to visit Monet’s house with its recreated boat-studio. This episode also offers practical French vocabulary about transportation and movement with a focus on the versatile verb ”passer” and the pronoun ”y”. Perfect for intermediate French learners who want to improve their comprehension while discovering French art history and daily life outside Paris. www.cultivateyourfrench.co #LearnFrenchWithPodcast #ImpressionistArtists #ClaudeMonet #Argenteuil #FrenchCulture #FrenchListening #ParisSuburbs #FrenchJourney #PracticalFrench #DailyFrenchLife

Do two and two make five? Yes, sometimes on certain artificial intelligence platforms. So can we say that AIs are stupid? I had a conversation with Olivier, a computer scientist friend who has been passionately following developments in AI for his work for many years. He’s going to give us his answer from a professional’s point of view. This will be an opportunity to discover the vocabulary of AI in French. In the notes that accompany the transcript, we’ll focus on Olivier’s way of speaking. Olivier is a professional who is used to explaining complicated things, adding nuance or asserting facts. How does he do this in French? We’re going to take a look at the subtleties of his speech. And then, perhaps you’ll share with us your uses of artificial intelligence? So, to cultivate your French, subtly and the Slow Way, with or without AI, I invite you to subscribe. www.cultivateyourfrench.com #ArtificialIntelligence #FrenchTech #LearnFrench #FrenchPodcast #AIExplained #FrenchConversation #ChatGPT #TechVocabulary #FrenchListening #FrenchTechnology

In the notes that accompany the transcript, you’ll find the 2020 notes: a list of vocabulary to read before listening to the episode, so that you understand it better the first time, cultural references and three useful expressions to remember, with examples of how to apply them.  So if you want to cultivate your French, the slow way version 2020, I invite you to subscribe to cultivateyourfrench.com

We had Lisa’s Italian exchange student with us for a week. She left yesterday and in 10 days’ time it will be Lisa’s turn to go to Italy. Lisa’s Italian friend did a lot of visiting with her class, but at the weekend she was with us, so we prepared a programme for her: the department stores, a view of Paris from the terrace of Galeries Lafayettes, a play in a small theatre near the Moulin Rouge,  dinner at a crêperie and a trip to the Eiffel Tower in the evening. In the morning, we’d also done a bit of shopping in our neighbourhood. It was Saturday 8 March and we stopped to have a look at the window of the bookshop, which had women’s rights as its theme.  In the notes that accompany the transcript, you’ll find some cultural notes and we’ll look at three useful expressions in French with examples. I often choose expressions that may seem simple, but are in fact typical of natural French.  So, to cultivate your French, the Slow way, I invite you to subscribe to the transcript, a very useful tool in lots of good ways.  www.onethinginafrenchday.com

Every winter vacation, we take the girls away for a few days. The destination is kept secret until the last minute. This year, it was Mont Saint-Michel. Micaela found our destination when I gave the following clue: it’s a controversial place. Indeed, we like to play around in France with the geographical location of Mont Saint-Michel. The Bretons like to say that it’s in Brittany, whereas it’s in Normandy, because the bay of Mont Saint-Michel lies between the two regions. When you arrive by car, you have to walk three-quarters of an hour to get to the Mont via a footbridge. It’s a lovely walk. Then you have to climb a lot of steps to reach the abbey, where we had booked a visit.  In the notes accompanying the transcript, we’ll take a look at the pronunciation of the difficult words in this episode. There will also be three natural French expressions with examples and, of course, photos of our visit!  To cultivate your French, and take the bridge with us, the Slow way, I invite you to subscribe!   www.cultivateyourfrench.com

This week, I invite you to discover or rediscover an episode recorded in February 2020. It was after a period of strikes in the Paris transport system and a month before the start of the lockdown. Lisa was ten at the time. We were both taking Bollywood dance classes on Saturday mornings. In the notes accompanying the transcript, you'll find cultural explanations, but also three expressions that are natural in French, with examples of how they're used. So, to improve your French, the slow way, I invite you to subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com  

So last week we went to the Opéra Garnier to see Castor et Pollux, a lyrical tragedy by Jean-Philippe Rameau, directed by Peter Sellars. I was afraid I wouldn’t enjoy the show. But what did it turn out to be? That’s what I tell you in this episode. In the notes that accompany the transcript, we’re going to make a list of practical phrases for giving your opinion of a show, rather enthusiastically, and discover a range of formulations that may be useful to you in other circumstances too. Of course, there will also be photos of this unforgettable evening! So you’ll discover, as I did, that the Opera is a place where you like to take your time, the Slow Way. I invite you to subscribe to the transcript.  www.cultivateyourfrench.com

A few months ago, Pietro and I were offered a ‘box’, a gift box, to go to the Opera. We chose to go and see Jean-Philippe Rameau’s lyrical tragedy Castor et Pollux, directed by Peter Sellars. The orchestra is the Utopia Ensemble, led by the Greek-Russian conductor Teodor Currentzis.   Before going to this exceptional evening, tomorrow Thursday 13 February, I did some research on the composer, but I also read some reviews of this new staging. I don’t know if it was a good idea.  By the way, when I say ‘the opera’, do I mean ‘the Opéra Garnier’ in central Paris, built by Charles Garnier in the 19th century, or ‘the Opéra Bastille’, inaugurated a hundred years later?  You’ll find out in this episode.  The transcript is a very practical and effective tool for improving your understanding. It has a number of advantages, which I describe in detail on www.cultivateyourfrench.comThat’s where you can subscribe to receive it and cultivate your French, the Slow Way.  This week, in the notes accompanying the transcript, you’ll find a list of very natural expressions from this text and we’ll be focusing on two words in particular with examples of their natural use in French.