Patricia introduces the famous French animated series Il était une fois (Once Upon a Time), which follows a time-traveling family through the high points of human civilization and into the future. We have several episodes available on Yabla, which you can find here, and more coming soon!

Patricia recites a famous poem by Jacques Prévert called "Barbara." The poem is set in Brest, a town that was devastated by German bombs in the Second World War.

Patricia explains the basic principles of French numbers and their usage, and shares a few grammatical points.

In part two of her lesson on numbers, Patricia counts from 41 to 100 in French. Be prepared to do some arithmetic!

Patricia reads "À une passante" (To a Passerby), a classic poem from Charles Baudelaire's collection Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil).

Humanity has always dreamed of flying through the air. That dream was made possible with the arrival of the zeppelin at the end of the nineteenth century.

Patricia discusses the various ways zeppelins were used in the twentieth century, as well as what led to their downfall.

In centuries past, when a person's honor was offended, he would challenge the culprit to a duel. The last duel in France took place as recently as 1967, between two respected politicians!

French Guiana is currently debating a controversial topic: the Montagne d'Or (Gold Mountain), in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. The environmental impact is a major concern, and many people and organizations are opposing the project.

This video from Le Monde explores the popular and scientific views of astrology. After a brief description of how birth charts are created, the video asks whether astrology "works" at all.

In New Caledonia, the last French colony, two societies continue to coexist: the descendants of the white colonists known as "Caldoches," and the native Kanaks, whose numbers were decimated by the colonists beginning in 1853.

In 1988, New Caledonia was on the verge of a civil war as the native population, the Kanaks, rebelled against economic injustice and demanded their independence. A violent incident on the island of Ouvéa prompted the French government to intervene and even bring in a SWAT team. More violence ensued as negotiations failed.

New Caledonia is still part of France and has not gained its independence despite lenghthy negotiations between loyalists and separatists. Now that the Kanak population is a minority, independence seems unlikely. For more info on New Caledonia, check out these links: https://bit.ly/3cnZgzs, https://bit.ly/2EWfOBG, https://bit.ly/2SyqOrw.

The slime mold Physarum polycephalum, nicknamed "the blob," fascinates biologists and the public alike due to its amazing features. You can watch the blob in action moving at a speed of one centimeter an hour at the Vincennes zoo.

Why are there so few streets named after women? The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, decided to change the street-naming regulations to include women's names. Some say that it's far from sufficient, but it's a start!