The neighbourhood where we live is called « Bécon-les-Bruyères », it is situated at the intersection of three towns : Courbevoie, Asnières-sur-Seine and Bois-Colombes. 

The train station of Bécon-les-bruyères was opened to the public in 1891 and then buildings started to appear around the station, as it happened in all the Parisian suburbs at that time. Even though, they were mainly buildings with flats to let, each of them had it own style! They are often rather colourful because bricks were often used in this period. Architects used to play with the different colours or finish of enameled bricks to draw patterns on the façade. 

During the second lockdown, my friend Anne-Laure and I met every thursday for a walk in our neighbourhood.I had pulled out from my library the excellent book by Historian Pierre Mignot about Paris façades. We often started our walk at the station. Buildings from the same period can be so different. We also noticed the houses. It was important at that time to be close to the railway, close to modernity. There are a lot of very big and very nice houses near the railways. Each walk offered us some nice discoveries, 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 One Thing In A French Day since 2006

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