Last week we were on holiday. We needed the perfect destination for this school holiday: to be in the countryside for a change of scenery, but not too far from a big city and other tourist attractions. I didn’t know whether the girls would have a lot of work or not. So I thought about the Strasbourg area. I really liked the city last year when I went there for the kung fu competition. So I found a gîte in a village half an hour from Strasbourg.  We were warmly welcomed by the owners. The lady...

A few weeks ago, during the summer, my friend Lorena and I went to Versailles. We were given the permission to record for the podcast in the gardens. Maybe one day, we will get it to record in the castle itself.  We went to Versailles by train, it’s 30 minutes away from Gare Saint-Lazare.  Did Louis XIV make the most of the gardens? This is the question I asked Lorena.  You are listening to Cultivate Your French podcast One Slow French episode every week.  My name is Laetitia, I’m French, I...

The episode that you are going to hear today was written in September 2013. I read a few days ago, as I was searching for conjugation examples for the advanced French podcast One Thing In A French Day. I didn’t remember that little adventure and found it funny. That day, I was searching for a big one litter bottle at Le vieux campeur. This is a famous shop for camping equipment. In Paris. It’s also famous because, it’s not one shop but a maybe 5 or 6 different shops in the same neighbor hood....

It was in 2019 that we first attended a concert featuring Julia, the niece of Isabelle, my Nordic walking friend. Her niece is a violinist. It’s a small world, because there was also a violist in the group: Stanley. He plays the viola da gamba.  Isabelle suggested that this time we attend a duo concert by Julia and Stanley at a private home. And we’re big fans, so Lisa and I booked our tickets. It’s different from going to a concert hall: you go to someone’s home. We were staying with real...

The gâteau de crêpes, or crêpe cake, came into my life thanks to pastry chef Claire Heitzler, it’s one of her specialities. A few times a year, she makes a soufflé crêpe cake: with strawberries or mandarin marmalade, depending on the season, but also with a chocolate spread. But I also came across the crêpe cake when I was in Nice for the kung fu competition, at breakfast time in the hotel on Sunday morning. I came across it during a conversation between two travelling grannies.  This is what...

When we visited the Cité internationale de la langue française in Villers-Cotterêts last month, I came across an edition of Émile Zola’s Carnets d’enquêtes. The famous novelist took copious notes before writing his novels. His notes were sometimes bits of sentences, words or even complete and precise descriptions. The book was only there for consultation, but I was lucky enough to find a second-hand copy at the Gibert bookshop. This is a unique bookshop in Paris that sells new and second-hand...

Last weekend, I was in Nice for the French traditional kung fu championships. Nice is one of the sunniest towns in France, but not last weekend. It rained a lot. My friend Anthony and I travelled by train. Lomine came by plane. The three of us had put a lot of work into preparing for this competition with our teacher Xie Han. The competitions are also an opportunity to meet other participants. I met Célia who was competing in the same taolu (sequence) as me, but in a different age...

There are new objects in my life at the moment. Their presence and the changes in habits they imply make my life slightly different, and that ’slightly’ feels good.  There’s the chest of drawers in our bedroom, a large oak chest of drawers. There’s also the handbag I recently bought from Nat&Nin on boulevard Beaumarchais. A choice that Micaela and Lisa, who were with me that day, the day we went to the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, ’validated’, as they say.  In the notes that come with the...

Last week, Micaela, Lisa and I spent a day in Paris. We started by shopping at the Forum des Halles, before heading to the Bastille district for lunch and a visit to an exhibition. The exhibition was at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, a beautiful nineteenth-century building now dedicated to urban design in Paris.  It’s this exhibition that I’m going to tell you about.  In the notes that come with the transcript, there will be a sentence to repeat aloud, a sentence that I’ve chosen for you and I’ll...

My daughter Lisa, fourteen years old, dreamt of having her ears pierced. Around here, there’s one name that comes up all the time for ear piercing, and that’s Nico. It’s not the same atmosphere as at the jeweller’s, but the technique is much gentler and very professional. In fact, Nico is a star - people come from far and wide to have them pierced by him. Today, I’m going to tell you what it was like for Lisa.  In the notes that come with the transcript, we’re going to focus on three little...

The other day, when Lisa left for school after lunch, I heard a dog barking. I thought this was strange because there are no dogs on our floor. On the first floor, there’s a quiet little dog called Lana. And there are also two dogs living with a family.  But there are other dogs in our building. I’m going to introduce them to you in this episode.  And we’re going to find out who the dog on our floor was, thanks to Lisa.  In the notes that come with the transcript, we’ll notice together at the...

A few days ago, my friend Alice proposed a sort of challenge: to go and buy a lipstick at the Chanel store on rue Cambon, the brand’s historic store, where Gabrielle Chanel had her apartments and haute couture workshops.  I knew the store very well, always had, but only from the outside. What happens once you open the door?  This is the mystery I propose to unravel today.  In the notes that come with the transcript, we’re going to focus on three expressions that sound simple, but are...

Last week, Micaela had a week’s holiday after her exams. She asked me if we could go away somewhere. I suggested we visit my friend Sylvie who lives in Bordeaux. Neither of us knew the city.  The city changed a lot in the 90s thanks to its mayor at the time, Alain Juppé. Under his mandate, the city acquired four tram lines, many areas were made pedestrian-friendly, the city was literally cleaned up (the city was known for its pollution-black walls), and the water mirror became the city’s...

My daughter Micaela has a friend, Sanam, who can make macarons as good as in a pâtisserie. Macarons are so good, and at the same time they seem so fragile, so complicated to make, so mysterious. So I was thrilled when Sanam invited me to make some macarons in her kitchen.  Sanam was right, it’s not that complicated, in fact it’s quite simple, but there is a tricky moment. This is when you incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites. You have to be slow, but not too much and...

Last week, I went to Paris to do some errands. I had to collect orders I had made at the Pharmacie du four and at Gibert, the bookshop. I love to place orders at these shops because I know that it means going to my favorite places in Paris : Saint-Michel, Saint-Germain, etc. In the notes that come with the transcript, I will give you the reason why I love each place that I mention in this episode. Maybe you already love them too, maybe you would love them too. But also, you will get a...

Très bonne et heureuse année à vous, chers auditeurs du podcast ! On new year’s eve we were at home. We had invited our friends Isabelle and Thierry to have dinner  with us. Isabelle had offered to bring some cheese because she had been staying in Savoie and she also offered to bring the dessert. Lisa asked if she could make her delicious tarte au citron.  How many and what were the cheese that Isabelle had brought? What was the wine that we drunk?  All these mysteries will be revealed in...

Christmas is coming ! It’s time to wrap presents. Don’t tell anyone, the Christmas presents that I bought are in a big box under my bed.  To wrap my presents, I use some wrapping paper, but I also use some papers that are recycled.  In the notes that come with the transcript, we will stop on these verbs that are conjugated at other tenses than present. Each time, there is a specific reason that is nice to be aware of.  So to Cultivate Your French, receive the text by email each time an...

As you may have noticed, the December calendar is about Montparnasse, the famous neighbourhood of Montparnasse where so many artists gathered at the beginning of the 20th century : Apollinaire, Modigliani, Soutine, Picasso, Brancusi, Blaise Cendrars, so many famous names.  Do you remember, two weeks ago when Anne-Laure and I recorded ourselves under the rain, again? And that we thought that Rachilde or André Breton could have been responsible for this? Well today, you are going to hear this...

Last week, when Anne-Laure and I were recording ourselves under the rain, we were in Montparnasse. Do you know this famous Parisian neighbourghood were lived Picasso, Modigliani, Soutine, Brancuse, Hemingway, Marie Vassilief, Man Ray and many others?  I’m sure you have already heard about La Coupole, the famous café that opened in the 1920ies ? Well, the place Anne-Laure and I are going to tell you about opened in 1912, rue Campagne Première. It’s less known than La Coupole and it a smaller...

Last week, Anne-Laure and I had spent our day out in the rain. We also met this week to record some episodes in the same neighbourhood, the weather forecast were clear : no rain !  Well, it was only a forecast, unfortunately. But we may have found the reason why we kept on being under the rain. Maybe someone was unhappy about what we had said about her or him?  In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you some expressions that express the fact that you are unhappy...

Last Thursday was a very rainy day in Paris. My friend Anne-Laure and I spent the day under the rain to record some episodes to come on the podcast. Our feet were wet, we were tired and cold when we started the queue at the museum. I won’t tell you which one not to reveal the subject of the coming episodes. The exhibit that we had planned to visit was supposed to be the best moment of our day, but an incident happened in the queue. This is what this episode is about.  In the notes that come...

We were in the Jura during the Toussaint holidays, during one week. We love that region that is on the road to the Alps. Its foothills and woods are very nice when you like walking. And there are also lakes and waterfalls.  There is a crêperie in Pont-de-Poitte where we love to have an early dinner or lunch : it’s a warm place and the owner Laurence has a wonderful voice. There is something special about that place. We were having lunch there when we met another family : the grands-parents,...

Since September, Micaela, my eldest daughter, takes the train every day to go to Paris. She has classes either near Cité Universitaire or near Luxembourg. Both stations are on the  line of the RER B.  One morning, I took the train with her and ask her about her journey and what was going to be her day.  In the notes that come with the transcript, you will find some info about the text, but also 2 very natural French expressions that are very interesting to focus on. I will also give you a...

This episode comes from the past : it was written  and recorded  in April 2012 for One Thing In A French Day poscast, Cultivate Your French’s big brother.  My grils were little girls at that time. That day, we had invited a friend  of ours to have lunch  with us at a crêperie. She was a nice woman, always keen on joking with the grils as you will see.  In the notes that come with the transcript of this episode, I will give you the crêpes recipe and also show you a very commun word that we...