Patricia discusses the history of the the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise," explaining how the song traveled from the Rhine region to Marseille, where it earned its final name.
She even sings a few lines of the song for us!

Part two of this video on "La Marseillaise" explains how it evolved from a song of war and freedom to its current status as the French national anthem. The fact remains that it still stirs up controversy for its violent content, which some find offensive.

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.

Patricia brings to life Baudelaire's famous poem "L'horloge" (The Clock). The poet laments the passage of time and life's inevitable conclusion: death. Aside from the gloomy message, this poem is also an invitation to seize the day and enjoy all that life has to offer, including this poem!

In the wake of the recent tragedy on the Promenade des Anglais, Nice remains a beautiful and diverse city. In this video, Patricia talks about what makes the city such a great place to live and visit.

Jean de La Fontaine's fables are all-time classics that have been in the French school curriculum for many years, at all levels. It's safe to say that every French person knows at least one of his fables.

In this video, Patricia plays two strangers in a dentist office waiting room. Her characters use the formal vous form for most of the video, but when they realize they aren't strangers after all, they switch to the informal tu.

In this video, you'll hear an informal conversation between two friends who share a strong resemblance....

Patricia takes the opportunity to explain how the French presidential elections work. The vote happens in two stages. In the first round, voters choose from several candidates, and in the second round, they pick the president from the top two scoring candidates of the first round.

In part two of this series, you will learn about the political climate during the 2017 French presidential elections. You will also learn the prerequisites for being able to vote in France.

In this video, you will learn about the famous poet, novelist, and journalist Louis Aragon, who lived in the twentieth century. Many of his poems were set to music by famous French singers such as Georges Brassens, Léo Férré, and Jean Ferrat.

Patricia recites Louis Aragon's heartbreaking poem "Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux" (There Is No Happy Love), which has been set to music by a number of famous singers. You can listen to Françoise Hardy's version here.

Patricia recites one of Jean de La Fontaine's most famous fables, "La Cigale et la Fourmi" (The Cicada and the Ant). After spending the entire summer singing instead of storing food, the cicada is starving come winter. She hopes her neighbor the ant can help her....

Patricia sheds a new light on the renowned fable by Jean de La Fontaine, "The Cicada and the Ant." Maybe the cicada isn't such a bad character after all....

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…?