Un Point c'est tout

🧳 Did you know why the word "voyage" in French can be translated into English with journey, travel or trip… but not voyage? Well, I did wonder. And as a pretext to talk with you about the beaches of Côte d'Azur, the Vallée de la Loire, and other awesome places to travel to, I present to you this linguistic exploration at the heart of the word itself.

📕 Daniel Mendelsohn, "An Odyssey, A Father, A Son, And An Epic" (2017)

☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider:

🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🗽 Since 1886, this majestic allegorical sculpture has taken center stage in New York Harbor. The statue of Liberty's rich history is tied to American immigration and the concept of freedom. But if her main role is to welcome immigrants, she is herself one. Lady Liberty hails from France, from the mind of a group of ambitious idealists.

🔗 Read about the Statue of Liberty in Histoire & Civilisations n°87 10/2022, p.70

☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider:

🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🔬 Can the little beast eat the big one? This is the main focus of Louis Pasteur's research in the 19th century. All these years of research that have advanced not only science by leaps and bounds, but also the daily habits of our modern society. Washing hands, sterilizing objects, getting vaccinated, so many things that seem normal to us now when they weren't always.

🔗 "Louis Pasteur : une vie de découvertes au service de la science" : https://www.histoire-et-civilisations.com/thematiques/epoque-contemporaine/louis-pasteur-une-vie-de-decouvertes-au-service-de-la-science-84717.php

☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider:

🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🎭 Four hundred years ago, in 1622 (((not 1662 as misspoke in the audio…))), the most classic of French classic writers was born. So classic that even his stage name, Molière, has been universally associated with the name of the language itself. French is "the language of Molière". Let's get on the boards and learn a bit about 17th century theater literature. 

🔗 "La Langue de Molière": https://www.lefigaro.fr/langue-francaise/actu-des-mots/pourquoi-parle-t-on-de-la-langue-de-moliere-20220105

☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider:

🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🪁 When René Goscinny and Jean-Jacques Sempé (https://youtu.be/C9mSQi2DGuU) met in the late 1950s, they gave birth to the Petit Nicolas, one of the most adored figures of French kids’ literature. Nicolas is an ordinary schoolboy in an ordinary school, whose adventures are … quite ordinary too. Yet, that excess of ordinary becomes extraordinary when told with so much humor and tenderness.

📕 Read "Le Petit Nicolas": https://www.amazon.com/Petit-Nicolas-French-Sempe/dp/0828822875/

☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider:

🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🍷 J-3 before the Beaujolais Nouveau 2022 is released in stores worldwide. This will be the first wine of this year's harvest. Since we have 3 days to wait, why not spend 3 minutes of those listening to this episode.

🎵 Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ

☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider:

🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🎭 His life is as hectic as his films are eclectic, his persona as colorful as some of his characters, we’re talking about Gérard Depardieu. The French actor is adored by the public, attracting the most audience of any living French actor. But the man behind the mask seems to have quite a few demons he’s struggling with. Should that make him less likable?

🔗 Gérard Depardieu's filmography: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmographie_de_G%C3%A9rard_Depardieu

☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider:

🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

👻 Happy Halloween, everyone. Maybe some of you are celebrating it around a table invoking spirits of deceased people? But is this practice actually called spiritualism or spiritism? While the word spiritualism can mean several things, the word spiritism is specifically limited to the occult science. And, it has been introduced by a Frenchman who believed he was the reincarnation of a Celtic druid…

📕 Read Allan Kardec's "Le Livre des esprits" (Fr): https://www.cslak.fr/bibliotheque-edition/78-livres/1160-allan-kardec-le-livre-des-esprits

☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider:

🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🤾‍♀️ As the upcoming release of Niki de Saint Phalle’s biopic with Charlotte Le Bon is approaching, let’s get ready with a little introduction of this artist of the 20th century. Not only has she made iconic art with her huge “nanas” in bright colors, but she was also a political activist on several fronts. Little bonus: yes, she is the artist of the Stravinsky fountain in Paris, next to the Centre Pompidou :)

🎬 Watch Niki de Saint Phalle talking about her art in this archive from the RTS television (Fr): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfkYhHntcnk

☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider:

🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🕌 If you can't buy your dream house, just build it. That's what Ferdinand Cheval, a postman in the south of France, decided almost 150 years ago. And he built it until the last stone. He created a massive palace including each and every one of his fantasies and dreams. He made what he thought was the "ideal palace". To this day, you can still visit the eccentric building in Drôme, it is open to the public. What would be your ideal palace?

🔗 "Le Palais idéal" sur BeauxArts: https://www.beauxarts.com/vu/le-palais-ideal-du-facteur-cheval-un-reve-de-pierre-dans-la-drome/

☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider:

🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com