Are you familiar with the Vendée Globe race? It's a solo round-the-world yacht race on a small boat, a monohull. A race without assistance! It's what we call a ‘sick race’. Every four years, the participants set off from Les Sables d'Olonne, in Vendée, and arrive in Le Sable d'Olonne after sailing around the world from west to east. Pietro is very fond of this race, and has been taking part virtually for several years. What exactly do I mean by ‘virtually’, that's what you're going to find out in this episode, among other slightly wacky things.

In the notes accompanying the transcript, you'll find three useful and natural expressions in French, with examples. We'll also take a closer look at what the little word ‘bien’ can change in a sentence. Especially when you're investigating, my dear Watson.

So, if you want to cultivate your French, not virtually, but the Slow and at the right pace way, I invite you to subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com

On Friday, I met up with my friend Anne-Laure for lunch at a cute little restaurant in La Garenne-Colombes. To warm us up, we ordered tea. ‘Let it steep for two minutes’, said the lady in the restaurant. Everything changed when I removed the tea bag. Fortunately, as they say in French, ‘le ridicule ne tue pas’.

In the notes accompanying the transcript, we're going to play around with switching certain sentences from indirect speech to direct speech, because it's very useful to know how to do that when you're telling someone something, a little adventure that's happened to you, for example. We're also going to identify some pronouns to see how they're used in the sentences in the episode. It's a good opportunity to pick up some automatic patterns, both when you're listening and when you need to express yourself.

So if you want to cultivate your French, the Slow Way, I invite you to subscribe.

www.cultivateyourfrench.com

As I prepare this episode, we still don't know the result of the US elections. I hope this episode will give you a break from the stress of the election campaign.

Last week, we were in the Jura mountains. We went for a walk with Eric Wolff, a naturalist guide, around the village of Etival. After climbing ‘Le Mont Paradis’, where we were able to observe a number of different plant species, we went back down a wooded path to look for animal tracks - there were traces of wild boar. In the notes that accompany the transcript, there will be photos of the walk, but we're also going to look at a word that occurs three times in the text, but in different contexts. If you have time, I'll suggest that you send me a mini-story about the wolf or a phrase to repeat on the podcast answering machine.

So, to cultivate your French, the slow way, I invite you to follow in the footsteps of the wolf, er, of the other subscribers.

www.cultivateyourfrench.com

After going to the bakery, in last week episode, two days later, I went back to Bécon, this time to withdraw money from the ATM. Lisa was with me. Perhaps she'll tell us about her cinnamon roll?

In the notes that accompany the transcript, you'll find an assortment of super-practical phrases about withdrawing money from an ATM. Yes, yes, you also need to know how to speak ATM French!

So if you want to cultivate your French and have a nice assortment of words about withdrawing money, I invite you to subscribe.

www.cultivateyourfrench.com

Today's episode is a live recording. I recorded it on Monday morning on my way to do an errand. The recording starts outside my building. It's a chance for you to hear some totally natural French, as well as a real dialogue at the bakery. In the notes that accompany the transcript, we'll look at all the expressions that are typical in this dialogue and how you can use them. So, to cultivate and improve your French at the boulangerie, the slow way, I invite you to subscribe to the transcript.

www.cultivateyourfrench.com

On Saturday nights, we eat a slice of homemade pizza in front of the TV. But not on Sunday evenings. this Sunday, Lisa suggested we watch something. By the time we'd agreed, Pietro's soup was ready. We watched a live political debate on France 5. The subject of the debate was the importance of ecology in the new government. There were a few sighs at the beginning of the programme, but by the end we were all hooked.

In the notes that accompany the transcript, we'll make a list of practical phrases for debating or expressing your opinion. It's always useful in a discussion.

So if you want to improve your French, the slow way, and debate in French, I invite you to subscribe.

www.cultivateyourfrench.com

When Micaela was a baby, one of my favourite walks was to the Pont de Levallois. If I saw a barge, I thought I'd won the barge game. If I didn't see one, I'd lost. Sometimes I'd see two or even three barges. It was a real party. Since then, playing the game of barges has become a sort of reflex whenever a member of the family passes over the bridge or on a train over the Seine. In this episode, I tell you about a new version of the game that my father and I are developing.

In the notes that accompany the transcript, we'll look at three natural French expressions that come from the text and we'll focus on the phrase in the text that contains the locution ‘en train de’, which means « in the process of », and we'll see how it's very important when we're talking about something.

So, if you're ‘in the process of’ cultivating your French, the slow way, at the right pace, I invite you to subscribe to the transcript.

www.cultivateyourfrench.com

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