Cultivate your French : Slow French, at the right pace.

222 — La gare Saint-Lazare : la rue de Rome et le pont de l’Europe, Caillebotte et Monet (2/4) — mercredi 24 juillet 2024

We're at Gare Saint-Lazare, in the Europe district, whose streets bear the names of capital cities. This summer, I'd like to invite you on a four-part historical, cultural and gourmet summer stroll! 

Where were we?  Ah yes, Micaela and I were walking up Rue de Rome, the street that runs alongside the train station from the Cour de Rome up towards the Batignolles district. We're going to talk about painting today. 

So if you'd like to improve your French comprehension, discover this part of Paris and benefit from all the positive effects of the exact text, as well as the cultural notes, you could subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com.

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221— La Gare Saint-Lazare est une star ! (1/4) — mercredi 17 juillet 2024

Gare Saint-Lazare is a star! What is it? A station that doesn't even have a TGV? A star? But why? 
Well, there are several reasons.

First of all, in terms of passenger traffic, it's the second busiest station in France (after the Gare du Nord). The station serves the western suburbs of Paris, as well as Normandy.

It's also the oldest station in Paris. It opened in 1837. It has been painted by some very famous artists. Would you like some names? Gustave Caillebotte, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Camille Pissaro, among others. 
These are all 19th-century artists. The Saint-Lazare station was fascinating because it embodied modernity and technical progress. These were themes dear to the artists who settled in the new Europe district. 

Micaela swiped her Navigo, I swiped my ticket, and you could hear the automatic gate open. We're at Gare Saint-Lazare, in the Europe district, whose streets bear the names of capitals. I'd like to invite you on a four-part summer stroll through history, culture and food! 

So if you'd like to improve your French, discover this part of Paris and benefit from all the positive effects of the exact text, as well as the cultural notes, you could subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com.

The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.

220 — Des glaces chez Gilles Cresno (Rerun, Journal de bord 67e jour) — mercredi 10 juillet 2024

This episode is a re-run of an episode from 2020, at the end of the lockdown when we started to be able to move around. But it's also a very summery episode! 
This week, I'm on a kung fu course in Reims, the Champagne region! 
In the notes that come with the transcript,I give you a list of words from this episode that I find interesting to know. We'll also take a look at three turns of phrase and you'll see how to use them with examples. 

So if you want tobenefit from all the positive effects of having the exact text of the episode, you could subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com.

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219 — Micaela a assisté au dépouillement — mercredi 3 juillet 2024

We have some major political news in France with the legislative elections since the President, Emmanuel Macron, dissolved the National Assembly. We therefore have to elect new deputies. There is a rise in the far right in France, certainly because people feel misunderstood more than out of racism. Still, it makes everyone a bit nervous. This rise is mainly affecting rural areas. The second round of legislative elections takes place on Sunday 7 July. 

My daughter Micaela is eighteen, so she voted in this year's European elections, the results of which prompted the head of state to dissolve the assembly. 
She took part in the counting of the ballot papers, as the municipality had too many problems with the electronic machines used instead of paper ballots. 

In the notes accompanying the transcript, we'll take a look at a few expressions. You’ll also find the election vocabulary and some sample sentences. This is very useful for following what's happening in France on TV, radio or in the press. 
So if you want to get your French right up to the ballot box and benefit from all the positive effects of having the exact text of the transcript, you could subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com.

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218 — L’affiche des Jeux olympiques avec Anne-Laure — mercredi 26 juin 2024

For the Olympic Games, which start in Paris in a few weeks' time, we have a beautiful poster. It was designed by the artist Ugo Gattoni, who studied art after a spell in the sports and swimming studies section. The poster took two thousand hours of work, and was produced on a graphics tablet, but entirely by hand. Anne-Laure and I got together to talk to you about this poster.

In the notes that come with the transcript, I invite you to try your hand at collecting adjectives based on the last blog post on the podcast. You can share your harvest with me, either orally or in writing. 

So if you want to cultivate your French and harvest a good crop and benefit from all the positive effects of having the exact text of the transcript, you could subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com.

The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.

217 — Paris à vélo : Beaubourg, Brancusi et une question existentielle — mercredi 19 juin 2024

Last week, on Thursday to be precise, our friends Isabelle and Thierry, Pietro and I, got on our bikes for a trip to Paris. Our destination? The Centre Pompidou, also known as Beaubourg. Until 1 July, the museum is showing an exceptional retrospective of the sculptor Brancusi. It's an extraordinary museum, with one of the best views of Paris. On the way back, we took the rue de Rivoli, which is now reserved for bicycles (but still has a lane for buses and taxis) and runs alongside the Louvre and the Tuileries gardens. We turned off towards the Madeleine, then the Gare Saint-Lazare, the 17th arrondissement, Neuilly, the Levallois bridge and we were back home. We left at 1.30pm. So it was a nice ride, which of course also included a gourmet break, as you'll discover in this episode recorded on the spot! 
In the notes accompanying the transcript, I'm going to suggest three sentences for you to repeat! Yes, three because I find them interesting. I'll explain my choice for each one, pointing out a few things along the way, but I can already tell you that the idea behind these choices is to practise speaking French as you would in everyday life. 

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216 — Paris, par un doux soir de printemps : un concert à la maison de la radio — mercredi 12 juin 2024

There was a change in the weather at the start of the week, with the sun that had finally returned giving way once again to rain. It's in keeping with the gloomy mood I've been in since the elections. I don't feel like listening to the news or the radio any more, so to take my mind off things I listened again to the concert by Lea Dessandre, Thomas Dunford and the Jupiter Ensemble, who played pieces by John Dowland and Henry Purcell last Tuesday at the Maison de la Radio. Felicia and I attended the concert, the theme of which was melancholy in love. I'd had the tickets for a long time, hoping that she would be able to come. Everything becomes uncertain as the end of the year approaches. 

In the notes that come with the transcript, we'll look at three very natural expressions in French that I want to tell you about. I'll also share with you some practical phrases relating to culture: going to the theatre, a concert, etc. 

So to cultivate your French without melancholy and benefit from all the positive effects of having the exact text of the transcript, you could subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com.

The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.

215 — Un bouquet de fleurs — mercredi 5 juin 2024

Last week, I dropped by the station in the early evening to drop off a book at the book box. I noticed that a florist had set up a stall there. The station is the focal point of the neighbourhood. It's on the border between Courbevoie, Asnières and Bois-Colombes. The railway line divides the Bécon district into two areas, the one on the Courbevoie side being the most commercial. But with the arrival of a new bakery and a new pastry chef, the area on the Asnières side is coming back to life. The florist was also on the Asnières side. 

In the notes that come with the transcript, we'll focus on practical phrases for talking about prices in shops and three typical expressions of natural French and also three expressions that are interesting to notice. 

So if you want to cultivate your French and benefit from all the positive effects of having the exact text of the transcript, you could subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com. The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.
 

214 — Une soirée à la Comédie Française— mercredi 29 mai 2024

A few days ago, my friend Caroline asked me to go with her to see a play at the Comédie Française: Les Démons, adapted from a novel by Dostoyevsky. The Comédie Française is our national theatre. It's a very prestigious place. Being part of the Comédie Française company is a great honour for actors. I accepted straight away, because I'd never been there before. Caroline had got the tickets from neighbours who couldn't make it to the show. I'm going to tell you about that evening at the theatre. 

In the notes that come with the transcript, we'll look at three expressions that are typical of everyday French and I'll show you how to use them with examples. 

You'll also have a sentence to repeat. A single sentence that I've chosen for you and I'll explain why I chose this particular sentence. Getting into the habit of repeating sentences is an excellent way of improving your pronunciation, but also of naturally constructing sentences in spoken French. 

So, to benefit from all the positive effects of having the exact text of the transcript and and to enjoy the notes, I invite you to subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com.

The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.

213 — Rue du Château d’eau — mercredi 22 mai 2024

When I need to get from one place to another in Paris, I have an itinerary in my head by metro or on foot. I can find my way around the city quite well. I could walk from one place to another without taking too many detours. Well, it depends on the area, of course. But on Thursday morning, my phone suggested a fairly simple route that I decided to follow. I was in Place Saint-Michel and had to go to Rue Yves Toudic to pick up an order. If I had decided to follow my route, I would have got off at République. 
In the notes that come with the transcript of this episode, we're going to imagine that we enter each of the shops mentioned in this episode and say a sentence or two. Simple phrases, but very useful if you decide to go to du Cha^teau d'eau or elsewhere. 
Of course, I'll also point out a particularly interesting phrase for you to repeat in a loud voice, explaining why I chose it.  

So, if you want to improve your French, learn the right phrase, and enjoy all the positive effects of having the exact text of the episode, I invite you to subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com. The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.