The François Mitterrand Library, part of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France), is comprised of four large towers in the shape of open books. Lea notes that most of the library's visitors are specialists in art, science, and architecture rather than students.

Lea takes us on a mini tour of Cour Saint-Émilion in the twelfth arrondissement in Paris. Named for the wine that used to be sold there, the Cour Saint-Émilion has suffered fires and floods but was rebuilt a few times and is now a lovely open-air shopping complex.

Lea shows us one of the largest film libraries in the world, the Cinémathèque Française, which contains over forty thousand films. After the Cinémathèque's original home in the Palais de Chaillot burned down, it relocated to a brand-new facility in Paris's twelfth arrondissement.

In this video, Lea takes us to the Parc de Bercy with its large stadium and interesting surroundings. This new renovated neighborhood now offers numerous concerts and cultural events. You might even be able to see Katy Perry there in 2018!

Did you know there are 55,000 different kinds of beer? And more than 5,400 of those are German? You can find quite a few of these at Le Village de la Bière, a shop in popular French city Strasbourg. How long would it take to sample them all…?

Laws in Strasbourg prevent Le Village de la Bière from selling beer for consumption on the premises, but they don’t stop this beer seller from being passionate about his craft.

René-Marc Cohen, a very fine artisan, will show us how to upholster a squat armchair, "un fauteuil crapaud" (literally a "toad armchair").

This video is all about the people of France, from the ancient Franks and Gauls to the present-day population, which currently numbers over sixty-six million inhabitants.

It's been said that Paris is the most romantic city in the world. In this video, you will discover the origin of the word "romantic" and learn about the romanticism movement, which originated not from France as one might expect, but from England and Germany and later took hold in France.

This video will give you an introduction to one of the most important aspects of French grammar: conjugating verbs in the present, past, and future tenses. It's full of fun and practical examples that will help you master conjugation!

This episode of "Le saviez-vous?" (Did You Know?) is about French gastronomy. You will learn a lot of useful vocabulary relating to food, and you can look forward to sampling delicious dishes.

This video takes an in-depth look at the curious French idiom mener une vie de bâton de chaise (to lead a chair-pole life). Though the life of a chair pole might not seem very interesting, the history behind the idiom certainly is!

The Carnival of Nice is famous around the world for its colorful parade of floats covered in flowers. You can even participate in a "battle" of flowers that are grown in abundance in the region.

Where does the expression on n'est pas sorti de l'auberge (we aren't out of the inn) come from? Find out its meaning in this video.

Patricia introduces one of France's most renowned poets, Charles Baudelaire. His major work, Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil), is still the most studied poetry collection in French schools and was as much a source of controversy as admiration in his day. Baudelaire's love affair with his muse, actress Jeanne Duval, was a main source of inspiration for Les Fleurs du Mal.