Today we're not going to talk about choux, but about sous (money). Cultural differences are sometimes also differences in financial culture, as my friend Pierre explained to me about mortgages. It's his job, and he knows the French banking industry very well. He's going to compare a few aspects of mortgages in France and the United States. The first difference is that there is no credit score in France. In this episode, Pierre will tell us about a second difference, and then a third.

In the notes that accompany the transcript, we'll look at three useful expressions and then you'll find a list of simple phrases for talking about rates that go up, down and up.

If you'd like to improve your French, the slow way, also about finance culture, I invite you to subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com

On Saturday morning, I had tea near the station with Anne-Laure. We were sitting on the café terrace, slightly in the sun. It was lovely!

- So what are you doing this weekend?’ asked Anne-Laure. I explained that I had to go to Paris, to a luthier in the 11th arrondissement, to get Felicia's viola da gamba fixed. The luthier's workshop was located in a typical passageway in this district.

Perhaps you remember a flânerie with Anne-Laure in that area two years ago? It reminded me that the luthier was not far from a patisserie whose speciality we had discovered, le chou à la flouve, a plant that gives a taste of vanilla and caramel when infused in a crème pâtissière. I offered to bring Anne-Laure some choux.

Did I find any? You'll find out when you listen to this episode in French.

In the notes that accompany the transcript of the episode, I'll focus on three typical French expressions and we'll play with questions, questions to awaken our curiosity and take the time to wander with the language.

So to cultivate your French, the Slow way, but also your curiosity, I invite you to subscribe. www.cultivateyourfrench.com

Last Thursday, Géraldine and I headed off to Normandy to spend the day. We arrived early in Trouville, by the sea, to see an exhibition dedicated to the painter Augustin Rouart. On the train home, I asked Géraldine how she liked the exhibition. You'll hear our conversation in this episode.

In the notes that accompany the transcript, we'll take a look at three natural French expressions used in this episode, as well as suggestions for grammar lessons to brush up on and a link to the whole interview with Géraldine and its transcript, of course! So to make the most of this escapade in Normandy, Slow style, I invite you to subscribe to the transcript.

www.cultivateyourfrench.com

Just before the start of the new school year, I received a text message from my friend Géraldine. She asked me to come with her for a day to Normandy, to see two exhibitions, one of which was on the painter Augustin Rouart, as part of the Normandie Impressioniste festival, which takes place every four years. The name Rouart sounded familiar, but I wasn't really sure why. I said ‘yes’ to her proposal and we decided on a date.

In this episode, you'll find out why the name Rouart rang a bell and also what day we leave for Normandy.

In the notes accompanying the transcript, we'll look at three expressions that are natural in French. There will also be some interesting links on the painter Augustin Rouart, suggestions of grammar points to review (these are only suggestions) and also an episode of the One Thing In A French Day archives to listen to!

So if you want to learn French the ‘slow’ way, I invite you to subscribe.

www.cultivateyourfrench.com

You've probably seen it on TV, or perhaps in Paris, the atmosphere at the Olympic Games was extraordinary! Last week we went to a para-swimming event at La Défense and the girls, Pietro and I loved the atmosphere, watching the athletes and seeing their performances.

Over at the kung fu club, Alistair got the chance to work for the Olympics thanks to a partnership between his school and OBS (Olympic Broadcast Service). He is a student sound engineer. He accompanied a team of Indian journalists who were feeding the Olympickehl Instagram page. It was a fantastic experience for him. Today, in Cultivate Your French, I'm showing you an extract from the interview we had last week.

In the transcript with notes, we'll take a close look at what makes this speech typical of spoken French, we'll also notice the tense changes and of course we'll have three expressions to note down because they're very natural in French. You'll also have the link to the whole episode of the interview with Alistair, with the transcript, of course!

So, to cultivate the Olympics atmosphere with the podcast, I invite you to subscribe to the transcript.

www.cultivateyourfrench.com

Last Thursday, Micaela and Anna (Micaela's best friend) returned from their Interrail trip. The trip was part of their plans for this summer. They were away for ten days, visiting Vienna and Munich.

We had planned for them to tell us about their trip over dinner on Saturday with Anna's parents, Hélène and Olivier. It's this dinner that we're talking about in today's episode.

In the notes that go with the transcript, you'll find the sentence to repeat, of course, but also three expressions that are very natural in French. I'll also give you three suggestions of little things you can do for your French, depending on the time you have.

www.cultivateyourfrench.com

On Wednesday 24 July, we loaded up the car and left Paris with a twinge of regret. - I'm a bit sad we won't be here for the Olympics,’ said Micaela. I have a feeling that the atmosphere is going to be really great. Two days later, we arrived in the Marche region of Italy, after a stopover in Aix-les-Bains and another in Pavia. Our hosts, Kirsten and Massimo, were waiting for us at their house in Barchi, from which we had rented the first-floor flat. We were very excited to be spending more than two weeks in this eco-friendly house in the middle of a hilly landscape. In this episode, I'm going to tell you all about it. In the notes that go with the transcript, we're going to focus on three sentences in the text that contain the conjunction ‘mais’.

So, to Cultivate Your French, ‘’mais aussi‘’ your turns of phrase, I invite you to subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com.

The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.

Micaela and I are at Gare Saint-Lazare for a summer stroll.

Since the last renovation, the station has become a real shopping centre. There are numerous stores selling clothes, shoes and beauty products, as well as fast-food outlets and fine restaurants such as chef Eric Frechon's Lazare. I'm dying to try his Paris-Deauville dessert.

But our program was more geared towards sweets.

There's plenty to choose from at Saint-Lazare! We bought macarons at Ladurée, we also bought some at Dalloyau and finally, we stopped off at Les Merveilleux de Fred. Do you know this meringue and cream dessert? They're a big hit in Paris.

So to cultivate your French, your palate, but also to discover this area of Paris and benefit from all the positive effects of the exact text and cultural notes, I invite you to subscribe. One last thing: the podcast will be on hiatus next week, the week of August 15. I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday August 21.

So if you'd like to improve your French, discover this part of Paris and benefit from all the positive effects of the exact text, as well as the cultural notes, you could subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com.

The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.