Cultivate your French : Slow French, at the right pace.

All the information about the transcripts, notes and photo is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com

Last Sunday, it was Felicia’s birthday. We had planned to see my parents and I had ordered a Paris-Brest at Stéphane Glacier’s pâtisserie. Stéphane Glacier is a MOF, Meilleur Ouvrier de France. The Paris-Brest is a cake that was created at the end of the 19th century by a pâtissier from Normandy to celebrate the cycle race between Paris and Brest in Brittany. It is made of pâte à choux which takes the shape of a bicycle wheel and stuffed with praline crème mousseline. It was the first time we had to organize ourselves with the strange circumstances. And there was something we hadn’t planned, this is what you are going to hear in today’s episode.

You are listening to Cultivate Your French podcast, ONE slow french episode every week. 

My name is Laetitia, I’m French, I live just outside Paris and I share with you a small slice of my daily life here in France. I also run the podcast OTH since 2006

All the information about the transcripts, notes and photo is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com

A few days ago, on a cold and cloudy afternoon,I went to see my friend Pauline. She lives in a house at fifteen minutes walking from our home. We had planned to bake a chocolate soufflé together. This was the second time we met about making soufflés, but the first time it was at my home and we had cooked a cheese soufflé. 

Pauline had chosen a recipe from Cyril Lignac. He is a famous chef in France, maybe the most famous, he owns a restaurant in Paris, and several pâtisseries. He’s often seen on TV, he takes part in TV shows about cooking or pâtisserie. Of course, he has written many cookbooks!

He’s a very smiling man and he has a sweet south of France accent. 

In today’s episode, you are going to hear Pauline and I in the kitchen. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to smell the warm chocolate aromas.

You are listening to Cultivate Your French podcast, ONE slow french episode every week. 

My name is Laetitia, I’m French, I live just outside Paris and I share with you a small slice of my daily life here in France. I also run the podcast OTH since 2006

All the information about the transcripts, notes and photo is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com

You know that France has been placed on lockdown for a month now. The ambiance is very different than the first lockdown : people can go working, our children go to school. From our windows, life is almost normal. I can see the trains going to Paris, there are buses and cars on the road, there are people in the streets. 

Last week, Emmanuel Macron, our president, made a live TV appearance to speak about the easing of lowdown in France. he annoucened that lockdown would be until december 15 th and he also announced changes in restrictions. 

In this episode, I tell you about our new life under lockdown and my new favourite sentence.

My name is Laetitia, I’m French, I live just outside Paris and I share with you a small slice of my daily life here in France. I also run the podcast OTH since 2006

All the information about the transcripts, notes and photo is available on www.cultivateyourfrench.com

There is a building site outside our windows. It’s a large one. Three different office buildings are being built at the same time. There are 5 cranes and a lot of workers. 

The earth-moving part happened this summer. It was really noisy. There were so many trucks one after another. The mechanical shovels also make a lot of noise. You don’t really understand why they are moving this pile of earth from there to there and suddenly everything is neat, straight and ready.

We are not very happy with the idea of having buildings in front of us and no more landscape, but I must admit that I was very curious to follow the construction. I quickly realized that I was missing information. I didn’t know anything about this world of construction. I found  a book written by a sociologist. To write his book, This man had worked as a worker on different building sites in Paris. I’m still reading it. It’s very instructive! This world is tough. In this episode, i’m going to tell you about an incident I was witness to. Oh, by the way, chantierman means worker of course. Lisa invented this word and I rather like it!

Today, we are going to the restaurant! Before the holidays began, before the second lockdown began, on a sunny day, my friend Anne-Laure and I went to Paris for a day. We first went to the musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris to have a look at a painting from Robert Delaunay, L’équipe de Cardiff. Anne-Laure had chosen this painting because she really enjoys Robert Delaunay’s work. He did that painting in 1912. It’s a large painting, more than 3 metres high, and 2 metres wide. It represents a rugby team playing in front of the Eiffel tower. Robert Delaunay was involved in a research about colour. The colours of this painting are vivid, they give the impression of movement. On this painting there is also an airplane, the grande roue and the Eiffel tower. These are the symbols of modern Paris. As I was standing in front of this painting I could really feel in my eye the colours. There was a physical sensation. Naturally, my eye then moved to the more peaceful part of the painting : the sky!

After watching the painting, Anne-Laure and I went to a restaurant close to the museum. We recorded ourselves inside the restaurant. This is what you are going to hear in today’s episode. 

All the information about the notes, transcript and photos is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com

Today, we are waiting, like the rest of the world to know who the next American President will be… Suspens. In the meantime, here’s your weekly French pause. 

Last week we were on holidays in the Jura region when our President announced that lockdown was back. The announcement was on Wednesday evening and lockdown started the following day, Thursday, at midnight. People on vacation, like us, were allowed to go back home until Sunday. We came back on Saturday morning. I was a little worried because I didn’t want to queue for shopping. But as you will hear today this confinement starts very differently than the latest one. 

You might be on lockdown yourself, I wish all the best for you. 

All the information about transcripts, notes and photos is available at www.cultivatyourfrench.com

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We are on holidays this week, we came back to the Jura region. Micaela, Felicia and Lisa were eagers to go to the Centre Equestre and ride horses. 

On Tuesday afternoon, Pietro and I went to the village of Etival for a botanical walk with the guide Eric Wolff. He’s a nature guide and we know him from last year. They were five of us to follow him to the Mont Paradis, a hill situated just outside the village. On the way, we regurlaly stopped to have a look at different shrubs with fruits.  Eric Wolff gave us some explanation about those fruits, but he also told us about some stories about the village. For example, the famous stay in Etival in 1912 of the painters Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamps and the poet Guillaume Apollinaire. He also told us that the name Etival comes a word in latin that means « Summer » because a Roman legion was staying there every summer. We finally got on the Mont Paradis which used to be a pasture. This is where today’s episode starts.

Today, I won’t be the one speaking. My daughter Micaela, nearly 15, asked me if she could tell you about her French class. She started lycée this year. In French class, as for every class, there is program to follow. The first part of this program is poetry, starting from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. Micaela’s teacher has elected to have them study examples of « Poésie lyrique » (the one written with verses) in class and « Poésie en prose » (in which there are no verses) at home by asking them to read « Le parti pris des choses » from Francis Ponge. She’s going to tell you about discovering this author and reading his « recueil de poèmes » at home. At the end of the reading there’s been a test in class and Micaela is also supposed to write a poem « à la manière de » Francis Ponge. We are on holidays now, she has to give her poem to the teacher when she comes back to the lycée.

In September, I met Antoine Lescombe. He’s a luthier. He rented me a small viola da gamba for Lisa. I asked him if he would agree to speak about his work for the podcast. He said yes! I was very happy. Antoine Lescombe is the head of a workshop with 3 others luthiers in Caen, Normandy. His « atelier de lutherie » makes violions, restores and takes care of insturments. Antoine Lescombe also adjusts intruments for demanding professionnals. I’m sure you’ll enjoy his nice way of speaking, so it’s him that you are going to hear in the second part of this podcast. In this episode he tells us about the typical day of an instrument maker. What would you bet his favourite part of the day is? morning afternoon or late evening? You will get the answer. 

All the information about the transcript is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com