Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
France
Marion walks us through the Buttes Chaumont, a former limestone quarry transformed into a magnificent park, complete with an artificial lake, a grotto, dramatic cliffs, and even a Roman-style temple. On a more tragic note, the park is also home to a bridge that the poet Louis Aragon once called a "mecca for suicides." Luckily, the bridge is now protected by a wire fence.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
With Christmas just around the corner, it's time to think of decorations and a festive table. You will learn how to fold a napkin in the shape of a flower, which is sure to dazzle friends and family. Do try this at home!
Difficulty: Beginner
France
Joanna is proud to show us her neighborhood. Follow her around her new apartment, her favorite bar, the pretty little garden where children love to play, and learn some useful everyday vocabulary.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
Oldelaf, aka Olivier Delafosse, sings "Je mange" (I Eat). This darkly humorous video paints a portrait of a modern man's dysfunctional relationship with food. If it sounds a little too familiar to you, that could mean it's time for a game of table tennis (with a partner)!
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
In the series "Once Upon a Time... the Discoverers," the Maestro lets off some steam. Some two thousand years ago, Heron invented the steam machine in Alexandria, but it took two millenia to perfect the invention and put it to practical use.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
France
"Maître Restaurateur" (Master Restaurant Owner) is a title bestowed upon a select number of restaurants in France. What does it mean and how does a restaurant achieve this honor? Find out in this episode of "Grain de Sel" (Grain of Salt).
Difficulty: Beginner
France
Daniel Benchimol takes us to the tenth arrondissement to discover the Trinity Church, the "Peinture Céramique" building, and other little havens of peace in Paris. Daniel also introduces us to the Brabant Hotel and the 1950s-themed restaurant Playtime, inspired by Jacques Tati.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Belgium
Singer-songwriter Stromae walks us through his personal creative process and the many choices he has to make to create his beautiful songs, such as the one you will hear in the background called "Papaoutai" (Dad, Where Are You?). Knowing what goes into the complex process of making music only deepens our appreciation of his work.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
In part two of this series, "Once upon a Time... the Discoverers," Maestro talks about Cugnot, the inventor of the steam traction engine.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
Over thirty French bakeries from the Vendée region show off their skills in a galette des rois (Kings' cake) contest. The lucky judges, whose onerous task is to taste those delicious galettes, go to great lengths to explain their choices and make our mouths water. The galette des rois is traditionally served at Epiphany and is notoriously difficult to make. It comes in two varieties, flaky or brioche, and is available at French bakeries throughout the month of January.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
Lionel introduces us to the tiny village of Frémestroff, which has three hundred seven inhabitants and is located twenty-five kilometers from the German border. It boasts one farm, one bakery, a woodworker, and a shepherd. Some of the older residents have a distinctive accent and still speak a dialect from the Lorraine that resembles German.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
In "Je suis Charlie" (I Am Charlie), Fabien Marsaud a.k.a. Grand Corps Malade commemorates the victims of the devastating attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. As the slam poet notes, "I prefer to pick up a pen because tonight I am Charlie."
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
Years of research and trial and error culminated in the invention of the first locomotive on rails. Not bad for a father-and-son experiment. That's what Murdoch and his son George achieved in 1797.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
Daniel Benchimol concludes his tour of Paris's tenth arrondissement by taking us through the "Nouvelle Athènes" (New Athens) neighborhood, home of some of the great figures of nineteenth-century romanticism. The tenth is also home to the smallest house in Paris, at less than five meters (sixteen feet) high!
Difficulty: Advanced
Canada, France
Quebec's current relationship with France is complex. French politicians tend to tread carefully regarding Quebec's sovereignty. For many years France adopted a policy of "neither indifference nor interference," a more neutral stance somewhere between a hands-off policy (which could be seen as complete abandonment) and an overly intrusive relationship. Sarkozy moved away from that policy, but his successor Hollande revived it.
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