Difficulty: Intermediate
France
Lionel Brigeot takes us to the northeast of France to the town of Verdun, where the famous Battle of Verdun took place during World War I. Follow Lionel up the Victory Steps, commemorating the battle in which more than one hundred sixty-three thousand soldiers lost their lives.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
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.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
Lionel discusses the French government's recent decision to invoke Article 49-3 of the Constitution in order to push through a controversial labor bill without a parliamentary vote. He also gives a brief description of the differences between the two houses of the French Parliament, the Senate and the National Assembly.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
Lionel L introduces a new social phenomenon called "Nuit Debout" ("Up All Night" or "Rise Up Night"). It's a protest movement born from a general discontent regarding politics, labor laws, and other issues. At 6 p.m. every day, people take to the streets of Paris to discuss ideas and air their grievances. The movement is gathering momentum in other cities and countries as well.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
In this satirical take on generic brand commercials, Lionel reflects on how we can create a better world thanks to science, technology, honesty, and other buzzwords.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
According to Lionel, we hear far too much about Charlie Hebdo and not enough about Le Canard Enchaîné, which is about to celebrate its centenary in 2016. This quality satirical newspaper is in a similar vein to Charlie Hebdo. Both papers even shared the same cartoonist, Cabu, who sadly did not survive the January attack on Charlie Hebdo. Le Canard Enchaîné was no stranger to extremist threats either.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
La Roche-sur-Yon, a friendly town near Brittany, is abuzz with Christmas activities. Local children are busy decorating the town Christmas tree with their own personalized ornaments. Santa is there, of course, taking toy orders. The mayor is also involved and has the town hall organizing ten days of festivities.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
Audrey is a practitioner of yarn bombing, a street art movement originating from the United States. You'll find her art all over the city of Lyon. She crochets colorful pieces that she uses to cover anything that takes her fancy, from bicycle seats to lamp posts and a few statues.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
Meet Sheldon, the friendly robot with friendly eyes that flash little hearts when it interacts with people. Sheldon is a huge attraction at tech fairs, where it is used to entertain and delight the crowds. It certainly lives up to the task.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
Making the news in Grand Lille is the end of an urban legend in the town of Villeneuve D'Ascq. A house that is supposedly haunted is being torn down, along with the stories and the rumors surrounding it. The demolition of the house is fairly uneventful, but will the legend live on?
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
Zombies from many different eras have invaded Lyon! That is, zombie enthusiasts with impressive makeup and costumes have invaded. The ninth-annual Zombie Walk has attracted around a thousand of the undead to roam across the city under the theme "a return to the past."
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
In this "Micro-trottoir" series, people share the best ways of showing kindness. Smiling and making sure to greet people with a smile, it seems, is a universal language. Kindness is an art.
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
The Micro-Trottoir team asks people on the street what it means to age well. For most of them, aging well is staying healthy and being young at heart, not to mention having no wrinkles!
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
In this video, Alessandro goes to the Saint-Ouen flea market, where he talks to a merchant who sells a wide variety of treasures and who believes that everything can be a work of art. Make sure to stop by the next time you're in Paris!
Difficulty: Intermediate
France
When asked about their demands as French citizens, most of the women interviewed in this video call for more gender equality in the workplace and in everyday life. One of the women also stresses the importance of going beyond symbolic celebrations of women's rights (like International Women's Day) toward more concrete political activism.
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