Patricia has unearthed some very interesting, obscure French laws. For example: "Any woman wishing to dress like a man must request permission from the police department." Thankfully, no one obeys these antiquated laws!

Patricia explores the origin of the poisson d'avril (April Fools') tradition. There are numerous theories about this, some of them contradictory.

The first of April is the day of hoaxes, pranks, and jokes. In France, the tradition is to hang paper fish on people's backs and shout, "Poisson d'avril!" (April Fish!).

Patricia takes a close look at some old French laws that are still on the books but no longer enforced. For example, it's technically forbidden to name one's pig "Napoleon."

Patricia continues her series on the feast of Candlemas, which in France is centered around the crêpe. Due to its round shape and golden color, the crêpe was a symbol of the sun in pagan times.

Patricia delves into the festival of la Chandeleur, or Candlemas, which takes place on the second of February. In France, la Chandeleur is traditionally celebrated by eating crêpes.

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....

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....

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.

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 this episode you will learn how Paris officially became the capital in the sixth century under the reign of Clovis. Paris was not built in a day, and in many respects, Paris is still being built today as many significant events, past and present, are still defining the history of the city.

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.

A terrible tragedy struck Nice on what should have been a celebration of Bastille Day, France's national holiday. A driver crashed his truck into a crowd of people who came to watch the fireworks on the famous Promenade des Anglais. The city is in mourning, but the people of Nice are determined not to be defeated by this tragedy.

In this video, you will learn the history of the French flag. Once it was completely white, the color of the French royalty, and now it's blue, white, and red. The French flag has recently been tainted with controversy by nationalist groups who have appropriated it as a symbol of their own causes.