You know, I felt like I really looked good today when I left my apartment...but I had no idea the impact my new French jeans would have! I decided to go shopping today in Paris...take advantage of the couple of weeks I have left before school starts. Maybe the Parisian people mistook me for Angelina Jolie. I mean...it could happen. The minute I stepped onto the Paris streets, there were French paparazzi everywhere! I couldn't escape the cameras anywhere in Paris! The French people were screaming things at me too...it must have been some sort of new French slang though because it sounded like another language to me. They almost seemed angry...I guess because I was trying so hard to escape them. What's that? Oh yeah...I knew they were tourists...I was just joking. As if they really wanted me standing in front of the Eiffel Tower! But I did look good in those French jeans you know!
Learning French with FrenchPod101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn French! This French Audio Blog lesson is completely in French and you can pick up the Lesson notes, as well as other helpful learning material on FrenchPod101! In this lesson, you will learn all about the busiest time for tourism in France, where France is the busiest at this time, and how the French deal with it!
Formal French
Souriez Joliment Pour l'Appareil Photo !
C’est bientôt la fin du mois d’août et les « grandes vacances » sont bientôt finies pour les écoliers qui reprennent début septembre. Cette semaine, il y avait encore beaucoup de touristes à Paris mais les parisiens commençaient peu à peu à revenir de vacances.
C’est vraiment bizarre de se balader dans Paris en été car on a vraiment l’impression d’être dans une tour de Babel. En effet, lorsque l’on marche dans la rue, on entend toutes sortes de langues : anglais, italien, chinois, japonais et bien d’autres encore.
Heureusement, on entend encore du français ! Mais j’aime bien entendre toutes ces langues car ça dépayse alors qu’on est dans un endroit que l’on connaît !
A cette période, on voit les bus touristiques qui parcourent Paris pleins de touristes. Les Champs-Elysées où il y a toute l’année des touristes n'est plus vraiment française pendant l’été.
Mais en général、les touristes se baladent uniquement dans les endroits les plus connus de Paris donc dans certains quartiers uniquement, et on est donc épargnés des appareils photos et des flashs en tous genres !
Cette semaine, je suis allé acheter des BD dans le quartier de Saint-Michel avec un ami italien. Ce quartier est très proche de Notre Dame de Paris donc il y a pas mal de touristes. Figurez-vous qu’on a rencontré des italiens et qu’on est allé boire un verre avec eux ! C’est souvent surprenant de rencontrer des gens comme ça mais on passe un très bon moment ! Et on a toujours plein de choses à partager !
Et vous chers auditeurs, avez-vous déjà sympathisé avec des touristes ?
Formal English
Smile Pretty for the Camera!
Paris city of tourists. August is almost over and the big vacation time is almost up for students starting school in September. This week, there were still many tourists in Paris, but Parisians were also gradually returning from their vacations.
It's very strange to walk around Paris in the summer because you feel like you're in the Tower of Babel. When you walk down the street, you hear many different languages: English, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and many others. Fortunately, you can still hear French! But I like to hear all of these languages because I feel like I'm traveling even though I'm in a familiar place.
Around this time, you can see tour buses full of tourists moving all around Paris. The Champs-Elysées, where tourists visit all year, isn't French during the summer. Generally, the tourists only walk around the most famous places in Paris, so in certain other areas you won’t see all the flashing digital and video cameras.
This week, I went to buy some comic books from the Saint-Michel neighborhood with an Italian friend of mine. This quarter is close to Notre Dame de Paris, so there are many tourists. Of course, we came across some Italians, and went out with them for a drink! It's always surprising to run across people like that, but we had a great time! And we always have a lot to talk about.
What about you, FrenchPod101 listeners, have you ever sympathized with tourists?
French / English / Class
reprendre / to begin again / verb
une tour de babel. / a tower of babel / proper noun
dépaysé / disorient / verb
touriste / tourist / noun
se balader / to wander / verb
épargner / to spare / verb
proche / close, near / adjective
surprenant / surprising / adjective
sympathiser / commiserate / verb
revenir / to return, to come back / verb
reprendre
Je reprends l'école demain.
“School begins tomorrow.”
Une tour de Babel.
Je ne sais pas si la tour de Babel a réellement existée.
“I do not know if the Tower of Babel really existed.”
dépaysé
Je suis dépaysé par l'environnement.
“I am disoriented by the landscape.”
Ce restaurant me dépayse totalement.
“This restaurant disorients me completely.”
touriste
Les touristes ne sont pas pressés.
“Tourists are not in a hurry.”
se balader
On s'est baladé au Château de Versailles.
“We went for a walk at the Versailles castle.”
épargner
Je suis épargné de tâches ménagères cette semaine.
“I am spared of house work this week.”
proche
Je suis proche de la retraite.
“I am close to retirement.”
Ils sont proches de la victoire.
“They are close to victory.”
La banlieue parisienne est proche de Paris.
“The Parisian suburbs are close to Paris.”
L'heure approche à grands pas.
“The hour is approaching fast.”
surprenant
Il a une maison surprenante.
“He has a surprising house.”
C'est une idée surprenante que tu as là!
“It's a surprising idea, you have here!”
sympathiser
J'ai sympathisé avec un collègue de travail.
“I sympathized with a colleague.”
revenir
Il peut revenir quand il veut.
“He can come back whenever he wants.”
Je reviens de Toulouse.
“I came back from Toulouse.”