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,...
Mar 05, 2025•8 min•Ep. 298
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 ...
Feb 26, 2025•6 min•Ep. 297
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 cours...
Feb 19, 2025•8 min•Ep. 296
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 s...
Feb 12, 2025•8 min•Ep. 295
Lisa had a French assignment due on Sunday evening. She had to choose a poem from Book IV of Victor Hugo's Contemplations and then send in a ten-minute audio file in which she presented the poem, explained her choice, read the poem and finally suggested a parallel with a painting. All the poems in the collection deal with the same subject: the disappearance of Victor Hugo's daughter, Léopoldine, and how sad this death made him. The poem Lisa chose was entitled ‘A quoi songeaient les deux cavalie...
Feb 05, 2025•7 min•Ep. 294
Last week, I visited the offices of the newspaper Le Monde. I had an appointment with Nabil Wakim, the journalist who runs the podcast Chaleur humaine. It's a podcast that takes an expert but relaxed look at the various issues surrounding climate change, with expert guests. Each episode takes the form of a question. For example, the last episode was entitled ‘How can we save the Mediterranean Sea? I met Nabil Wakim at the Human Heat Ideas festival last December. I was there with my daughter Mica...
Jan 29, 2025•7 min•Ep. 293
I hadn't really followed the story. Of course, I knew that transport fares were going to change in the Ile-de-France, that the price of a ticket outside Paris was going to be a single rate of 2.50 euros. I imagined some sort of magic ticket that would allow me to go further than Bécon if I suddenly changed my plans. Then, one day when we were coming back from Nordic walking, Thierry mentioned the Navigo Liberté. The Navigo is a pass, with a photo, that allows you to travel throughout the Ile-de-...
Jan 22, 2025•6 min•Ep. 292
Last week, I told you about our trip to the bakery before going to the theatre. We arrived at the theatre half an hour before the play was due to start. It was very busy, and the play was a great success. We showed our tickets and settled in. You could say that there was a performance before the performance when you take the time to watch or listen to what's going on around you. That's what this episode is about. In the notes that come with the transcript, we'll look at three natural turns of ph...
Jan 15, 2025•7 min•Ep. 291
On Friday 27 December, Pietro and I went to see La serva amorosa at the Porte Saint-Martin theatre. The theatre was built in two months on the orders of Marie-Antoinette. It is magnificent. The play is a very beautiful play by the Italian author Goldoni. It was performed by great actors, including Isabelle Carré in the lead role, that of Coraline. Before going to the theatre, we took a walk along the Canal Saint-Martin and stopped to buy a bite to eat at Du pain et des idées, one of the most fam...
Jan 08, 2025•6 min•Ep. 290
Dear listeners, I wish you all une très belle et heureuse année 2025. I wish you a wonderful year filled with the joy of learning another language, opening up to another culture and meeting new people thanks to French! And, of course, good health. In today's episode, we take a look back at our New Year's Eve party. We were invited to dinner at the house of our friends Isabelle and Thierry, who live in a house in Colombes.In the notes that accompany the transcript, we'll be trying to make resolut...
Jan 04, 2025•6 min•Ep. 289
There's a giveaway with the podcast at the moment to win books, you'll find all the details in the latest podcast blog post. I invite you to take part! By the way, I'd like to thank you for all the messages I've already received, it's so exciting to read you and find out what you like about the podcast. This year, as usual, we celebrated Christmas: Christmas Eve on the 24th, opening presents on the 25th in the morning and lunch with a beautiful poultry, a lovely cheese platter and a bûche! We li...
Dec 28, 2024•7 min•Ep. 288
Today we're back with French cheesemonger Augustin Denous. He's the author of a fascinating little book about cheese, which I recommend you get if you want to understand all the different aspects of cheese. Last week, Augustin gave us his definition of a good cheese. In his book, he explains that cheeses have seasons, so I asked him what his favourites were for late autumn. That's the subject of this episode. In the notes accompanying the transcript, we'll see how Ausgustin talks about Comté in ...
Dec 18, 2024•7 min•Ep. 287
On my way back from the Jura, in a shop in Beaune, I came across a little yellow book that caught my eye: Le bon fromage. I looked through it and was immediately won over. Above all, I thought of you, dear listeners. At last, a simple, interesting book that opens up new perspectives and explains a whole host of things: from the importance of the meadow, to the composition of a cheese platter, not forgetting how it's made, the different regions of France, and so on. All in very accessible, yet en...
Dec 11, 2024•8 min•Ep. 286
— We should go and meet our MP. I think your listeners would be interested! Pierre had an excellent idea. After contacting our MP, his parliamentary assistant, Shéri Diop, suggested that we meet at the Assemblée Nationale for an interview. It was very impressive to have an appointment in such a beautiful building and to be welcomed so warmly. Mr Juvin was mayor of La Garenne-Colombes for many years before being elected as a Member of Parliament. He has been an MP since 2022. His electoral distri...
Dec 04, 2024•7 min•Ep. 285
The house was silent and I wondered what Lisa was doing that Sunday afternoon. I could already see her laughing at a Squizzie video on YouTube. Now that I know what she was doing, I think she was sighing, but it wouldn't be long before she was laughing. Lisa was reading for her French class. In the notes that go with the transcript, I'll give you a quick introduction to the author of the text she was reading and some very famous lines. We'll also look at Lisa's sentence construction when she tel...
Nov 27, 2024•7 min•Ep. 284
Are you familiar with the Vendée Globe race? It's a solo round-the-world yacht race on a small boat, a monohull. A race without assistance! It's what we call a ‘sick race’. Every four years, the participants set off from Les Sables d'Olonne, in Vendée, and arrive in Le Sable d'Olonne after sailing around the world from west to east. Pietro is very fond of this race, and has been taking part virtually for several years. What exactly do I mean by ‘virtually’, that's what you're going to find out i...
Nov 20, 2024•7 min•Ep. 283
On Friday, I met up with my friend Anne-Laure for lunch at a cute little restaurant in La Garenne-Colombes. To warm us up, we ordered tea. ‘Let it steep for two minutes’, said the lady in the restaurant. Everything changed when I removed the tea bag. Fortunately, as they say in French, ‘le ridicule ne tue pas’. In the notes accompanying the transcript, we're going to play around with switching certain sentences from indirect speech to direct speech, because it's very useful to know how to do tha...
Nov 13, 2024•7 min•Ep. 282
As I prepare this episode, we still don't know the result of the US elections. I hope this episode will give you a break from the stress of the election campaign. Last week, we were in the Jura mountains. We went for a walk with Eric Wolff, a naturalist guide, around the village of Etival. After climbing ‘Le Mont Paradis’, where we were able to observe a number of different plant species, we went back down a wooded path to look for animal tracks - there were traces of wild boar. In the notes tha...
Nov 06, 2024•7 min•Ep. 281
After going to the bakery, in last week episode, two days later, I went back to Bécon, this time to withdraw money from the ATM. Lisa was with me. Perhaps she'll tell us about her cinnamon roll? In the notes that accompany the transcript, you'll find an assortment of super-practical phrases about withdrawing money from an ATM. Yes, yes, you also need to know how to speak ATM French! So if you want to cultivate your French and have a nice assortment of words about withdrawing money, I invite you ...
Oct 30, 2024•8 min•Ep. 280
Today's episode is a live recording. I recorded it on Monday morning on my way to do an errand. The recording starts outside my building. It's a chance for you to hear some totally natural French, as well as a real dialogue at the bakery. In the notes that accompany the transcript, we'll look at all the expressions that are typical in this dialogue and how you can use them. So, to cultivate and improve your French at the boulangerie, the slow way, I invite you to subscribe to the transcript. www...
Oct 23, 2024•6 min•Ep. 279
On Saturday nights, we eat a slice of homemade pizza in front of the TV. But not on Sunday evenings. this Sunday, Lisa suggested we watch something. By the time we'd agreed, Pietro's soup was ready. We watched a live political debate on France 5. The subject of the debate was the importance of ecology in the new government. There were a few sighs at the beginning of the programme, but by the end we were all hooked. In the notes that accompany the transcript, we'll make a list of practical phrase...
Oct 16, 2024•6 min•Ep. 278
When Micaela was a baby, one of my favourite walks was to the Pont de Levallois. If I saw a barge, I thought I'd won the barge game. If I didn't see one, I'd lost. Sometimes I'd see two or even three barges. It was a real party. Since then, playing the game of barges has become a sort of reflex whenever a member of the family passes over the bridge or on a train over the Seine. In this episode, I tell you about a new version of the game that my father and I are developing. In the notes that acco...
Oct 09, 2024•7 min•Ep. 277
Today we're not going to talk about choux, but about sous (money). Cultural differences are sometimes also differences in financial culture, as my friend Pierre explained to me about mortgages. It's his job, and he knows the French banking industry very well. He's going to compare a few aspects of mortgages in France and the United States. The first difference is that there is no credit score in France. In this episode, Pierre will tell us about a second difference, and then a third. In the note...
Oct 02, 2024•7 min•Ep. 276
On Saturday morning, I had tea near the station with Anne-Laure. We were sitting on the café terrace, slightly in the sun. It was lovely! - So what are you doing this weekend?’ asked Anne-Laure. I explained that I had to go to Paris, to a luthier in the 11th arrondissement, to get Felicia's viola da gamba fixed. The luthier's workshop was located in a typical passageway in this district. Perhaps you remember a flânerie with Anne-Laure in that area two years ago? It reminded me that the luthier w...
Sep 24, 2024•6 min•Ep. 275
Last Thursday, Géraldine and I headed off to Normandy to spend the day. We arrived early in Trouville, by the sea, to see an exhibition dedicated to the painter Augustin Rouart. On the train home, I asked Géraldine how she liked the exhibition. You'll hear our conversation in this episode. In the notes that accompany the transcript, we'll take a look at three natural French expressions used in this episode, as well as suggestions for grammar lessons to brush up on and a link to the whole intervi...
Sep 18, 2024•6 min•Ep. 229
Just before the start of the new school year, I received a text message from my friend Géraldine. She asked me to come with her for a day to Normandy, to see two exhibitions, one of which was on the painter Augustin Rouart, as part of the Normandie Impressioniste festival, which takes place every four years. The name Rouart sounded familiar, but I wasn't really sure why. I said ‘yes’ to her proposal and we decided on a date. In this episode, you'll find out why the name Rouart rang a bell and al...
Sep 11, 2024•6 min•Season 17Ep. 274
You've probably seen it on TV, or perhaps in Paris, the atmosphere at the Olympic Games was extraordinary! Last week we went to a para-swimming event at La Défense and the girls, Pietro and I loved the atmosphere, watching the athletes and seeing their performances. Over at the kung fu club, Alistair got the chance to work for the Olympics thanks to a partnership between his school and OBS (Olympic Broadcast Service). He is a student sound engineer. He accompanied a team of Indian journalists wh...
Sep 04, 2024•8 min•Ep. 273
Last Thursday, Micaela and Anna (Micaela's best friend) returned from their Interrail trip. The trip was part of their plans for this summer. They were away for ten days, visiting Vienna and Munich. We had planned for them to tell us about their trip over dinner on Saturday with Anna's parents, Hélène and Olivier. It's this dinner that we're talking about in today's episode. In the notes that go with the transcript, you'll find the sentence to repeat, of course, but also three expressions that a...
Aug 28, 2024•7 min•Ep. 272
On Wednesday 24 July, we loaded up the car and left Paris with a twinge of regret. - I'm a bit sad we won't be here for the Olympics,’ said Micaela. I have a feeling that the atmosphere is going to be really great. Two days later, we arrived in the Marche region of Italy, after a stopover in Aix-les-Bains and another in Pavia. Our hosts, Kirsten and Massimo, were waiting for us at their house in Barchi, from which we had rented the first-floor flat. We were very excited to be spending more than ...
Aug 21, 2024•8 min•Ep. 271
Micaela and I are at Gare Saint-Lazare for a summer stroll. Since the last renovation, the station has become a real shopping centre. There are numerous stores selling clothes, shoes and beauty products, as well as fast-food outlets and fine restaurants such as chef Eric Frechon's Lazare. I'm dying to try his Paris-Deauville dessert. But our program was more geared towards sweets. There's plenty to choose from at Saint-Lazare! We bought macarons at Ladurée, we also bought some at Dalloyau and fi...
Aug 07, 2024•9 min•Ep. 270
