Un Point c'est tout

Music: The Inimitable Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George

02 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

🎻 Joseph Bologne, a forgotten maestro, deserves to be recognized as one of French music history’s greatest artists. Once an esteemed composer, vi...

Food: Gastronomy: a Luxury or a Necessity?

09 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

🍽️ Do you like food? I do… probably like 99.99% of the world's population (and beyond👽). If you're a foodie, you'll undoubtedly ...

Culture: Voulez-vous "Moulin Rouge" avec Moi, Ce Soir?

26 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

💃 Not much to say that you don't already know, right! This week, let's focus on the most famous cabaret in the world, the one that forged a risqué...

Art: Jacques-Louis David, the Classical Avant-Garde

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

🎨 Jacques-Louis David is renowned for his grandiose paintings of Napoleon, as well as for being a leader of the neoclassical movement. Interestingl...

Science: Exploring the Skies in a Montgolfière

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

🎈 Flying had long been a dream of humankind. Yet it was only in the 18th century—the Age of Enlightenment, when science became a source of deep f...

History: The Story of Marie-Antoinette, Caught between Glory and Fate

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

🎀 After the numerous films, books, and series of recent decades, the image of Queen Marie-Antoinette has changed considerably. The ill-fated wife o...

Literature: THE COUNT OF MONTE-CRISTO, of Revenge and Betrayal

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

⚔️ A few weeks ago, Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in prison carrying Alexandre Dumas's novel "The Count of Monte Cristo" under his arm—n...

Cinema: Louis Malle, From Silence to Scandal

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

🎥 Louis Malle, a French film director renowned for his inquisitive spirit and stylistic audacity, his versatility and diversity of themes, and the ...

Travel: The Villages At The Top

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

🏔️ Perched on the hills like eagles' nests, hilltop villages are the stuff of dreams! With their stone streets, castles, and breathtaking vie...

Cinema: Anna Karina, the Discreet Rebel

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

🎬 Actress, model, and singer, she captivated the screen with her elegant yet relaxed style. Anna Karina, an icon of 1960s French cinema, was Jean-L...

Music: Carmen, Love Is A Rebellious Bird

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

💃 Who hasn't heard the song "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" ("Love is a Rebel Bird") and found themselves humming away?...

History: Louis XVI, aka Louis the Last

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

👑 Louis XVI, despite several achievements during his reign, is best remembered for being executed by guillotine. His death became a powerful symbol...

Culture: The Con Man who Sold the Eiffel Tower

11 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

💸 During the Roaring Twenties, Paris was celebrating, but it was also the scene of one of the most spectacular scams of all time. In 1925, con man ...

Literature: Prosper Mérimée, and the Origins of Carmen

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

✍️ 2025: Carmen celebrates its 150th anniversary! But behind Bizet's flamboyant opera lies a discreet writer with a clear, fast-paced, and sim...

Art: Open Cezanne

02 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

👨‍🎨 Paul Cezanne didn't paint reality; he painted his emotions. A major 19th-century French painter, often considered an Impressionist and...

History: the Enlightenment, the Century that Illuminated the World

28 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

💡 The Enlightenment, also known as the "Age of Reason," was a dynamic period of intellectual and cultural development. Thinkers such as V...

Travel: Arles, the Little Rome And Many More

31 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

📷 Arles, in Provence, is most famous for its Roman ruins, including the arena, the ancient theater, and the Thermae of Constantine. It's also h...

Literature: The Voyages Extraordinaires of Jules Verne

24 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

🚀 Let's dive together into the fascinating world of Jules Verne, a visionary master of adventure and science fiction from the 19th-century. Thr...

Sport: Pétanque, Such a Fanny Game!

09 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

🪩 Pétanque, a beloved French sport, combines skill, strategy, and fun. The 2024 World Championship in Dijon showed exciting matches last week, wit...

Music: Édith Piaf, The Sparrow Who Made the World Sing

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

🎙️ Edith Piaf, nicknamed La Môme Piaf, lit up the world with her unique voice and timeless songs. Small in size, but immense in talent, she tran...

Travel: Paris Through the Ages

21 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

🗼 Welcome to a fascinating conversation about Paris, the City of Lights! From its rich history and stunning architecture to its vibrant culture, Pa...

Literature: Albert Camus' "L'Étranger", who's the real Stranger?

30 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

✒️ “The Stranger” by Albert Camus is one of the most widely read books in the world to learn French. With a simple and refined style, in Alger...

Food: What is the Nutri-Score?

23 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

🚥 The Nutri-Score, a nutritional labeling system introduced in France in 2017, helps consumers choose healthier foods by classifying them from A to...

Art: Surrealism, How Far Can We Dig into the Imagination?

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

☂️ Surrealism, an artistic and intellectual movement born after the First World War, revolutionized art by exploring the unconscious and dreams. A...

Fashion: Unbottling the Secrets of Scent

02 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

👃 Let’s dive into the complex and magical world of scents, into the aromas of flowers, fruits, plants and animals. And explore how and why perfum...

Music: What Secrets Lies Beneath the Palais Garnier?

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

🎼 The construction of this architectural masterpiece of the Belle Époque lasted seventeen years. Between assassination attempts, insurrections and...

Art: Who is Marjane Satrapi?

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

🇮🇷 Few artists can boast of bringing together areas of conversation as varied as art, literature, cinema, politics, religion, society and sport....

Culture: How is July 14 (Bastille Day) celebrated?

08 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

🥳 Between the storming of the Bastille in 1789, the great military parade on the Champs-Élysées, the spectacular fireworks, the popular balls and...

Sport: Marie Marvingt, the Fiancée of Danger

24 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

💪 Do you know Marie Marvingt, this forgotten French superhero? Imagine a real life Wonder Woman: flying planes, climbing mountains and winning spor...

Travel: Normandy, From Viking Invaders to Camembert Crusaders

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

🌳 Normandy, where the Vikings exchanged their horned helmets for camembert and cider, is also famous for D-Day on June 6, 1944. Between historic be...

Cinema: Who is Catherine Deneuve?

29 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

☂️ Ready to dive into the magical world of Catherine Deneuve’s films? After six decades of magic (and still active), she is undoubtedly one of t...

History: What are the Treasures of the Louvre?

15 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

⟁ Very few topics manage to combine so many interesting areas. With the Louvre, more than eight centuries of history, arts, architecture, power and ...

Art: Impressionism, the Birth of Modern Art

08 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

🎨 1874 marks the birth of this essential artistic movement that is Impressionism. That year, several dissident artists decided to exhibit together ...

Literature: Marguerite Duras, from French Indochina with Love

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

✍️ With masterpieces like “A Barrage Against the Pacific” and “The Lover,” Marguerite Duras made an essential name in 20th-century French ...

History: The Dukes of Burgundy, France's Best Frenemies

11 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

⚔️ Burgundy in the 15th century, duchy of all excess, luxury and ostentation. Main trading center of north-west Europe and home of the Flemish pri...

Food: What's the Real Traditional Swiss Raclette?

26 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

🧀 A white winter evening. Breathtaking views of hundreds of miles of moonlit Alpine mountains. Inside a chalet, a fireplace crackles while heating ...

Cinema: Ousmane Sembène, Father of African Cinema

05 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

🇸🇳 To celebrate Black History Month by speaking French and watching good movies, let's take a moment to delve into the incredible work of Ou...

Art: Vincent Van Gogh, Between Shadow and Light

29 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

🎨 If you could look up the term "cursed artist" in the dictionary, you would certainly find the name of Vincent Van Gogh in the definitio...

Linguistics: How to Ask Questions?

08 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

❓In this episode, the Beginner will learn how to ask questions, and the Advanced will wonder why asking questions? From the simplest to the most com...

Art: Why is Mona Lisa so Famous?

20 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

👩🏻 Who is she? Why is she smiling? Or is it really a smile? Her eyes don't seem to convey the same emotion. So much history, mystery, fascin...

History: Versailles, Of Power and Beauty

30 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🏰 In 2023, the Château de Versailles is celebrating its 400-year anniversary with a full year of shows and parties on the site. Quite an appropria...

Cinema: Who is Alain Delon?

09 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🕶️ Alain Delon played the role of Caesar in one of the film adaptations of Astérix. For a reason. Alain Delon speaks of himself with the third-p...

Food: The art of harvesting grapes

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🍇 September is that time of the year when wine makers gather the grapes to turn it into wine. Each year's new millésime heavily relies on the ...

Travel: À Avignon / En Avignon ?

11 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🎭 Needless to introduce the widely famous Avignon bridge on which generations of people have danced in circular motion. But Avignon is much more th...

Music: Unveiling the Genius of Maurice Ravel

04 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🎼 About a century ago, composer Maurice Ravel wrote his "Boléro", the most performed piece of music to this day. Yet, despite that succe...

Food: Say cheese!

28 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🧀 What is there to say about cheese, other than the fact that it is delicious and that it makes you smile on pictures? Well, a lot obviously. Where...

History: Clovis, the First King of France

14 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

👑 Cruel, legendary, violent, powerful, intelligent. So many adjectives that could be attributed to this mythical figure. Clovis was real for sure, ...

Science: Ariane, the World is not Enough

07 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🚀 Fifty years of working, growing and improving. Europe's Ariane space launch program is about to send its all-new Ariane 6 vehicles, the next ...

Art: Eugène Delacroix and the Romanticism

24 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

👨‍🎨 High among the great masters of French painting, there is Eugène Delacroix. Born in Paris in 1798, he is one of the leaders of Romanticis...

Philosophy: What are the Pros and Cons of Giving Advice?

17 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🧐 France is probably the country in the world that hosts the most philosophers per square meter. And for the best. There are so many questions with...

History: What's the "Bastille" in Bastille Day?

10 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🏰 Every year on July 14, France celebrates its national day, known in English as "Bastille Day". But what exactly is the so-called "...

Cinema: Alice Guy, Forgotten Pioneer of Cinema

03 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🎥 Alongside the Lumière brothers and other big names in early French cinema such as Léon Gaumont, there is Alice Guy. With more than 700 short fi...

Literature: How Many Musketeers in Alexandre Dumas' Novel?

19 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

⚔️ Following the release of the new film "The Three Musketeers: d'Artagnan", and the anniversary of the death of the real d'Arta...

History: Was the Cardinal de Richelieu Evil?

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

⛪️ The Cardinal Duke of Richelieu, chief minister of Louis XIII, aka the Red Eminence, was made infamous by Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel "...

Literature: Jules Verne's AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (1873)

22 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🌏 Imagine being an Englishman during the Industrial Revolution, and wealthy enough to decide on a sudden impulse to circumnavigate the globe in 80 ...

Linguistics: Poubelle, When a Name Becomes a Noun

15 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🗑 Among the many celebrations of the month of May, there is one particularly joyful: the celebration of trash. "La poubelle" in French. B...

Art: Who is Marc Chagall?

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🎨 Recognized as one of the most influential French artists, Marc Chagall wasn’t actually French at first. Born and raised in a Jewish family of B...

History: The Story Behind Cinco de Mayo

01 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🎺 May 5, 1862, the French troops arrive in Puebla, Mexico, determined to defeat the Mexican army. Better trained and more numerous, they should soo...

History: Louis XV, the Louis between 14 and 16

24 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

👑 If this Bourbon king hadn't received the number 15, he may have been forgotten in the meanders of time. Luckily for him, he reigned just betw...

Cinema: AMÉLIE (2001), the Truth Revealed After 21 Years

17 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🥄 If you haven’t seen this feel-good movie*, you must. Amelie will cheer you up, the same way she cheers up everyone around her. And if you'v...

History: Who Lived in France in Prehistoric Times?

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

👣 If you're traveling in the French countryside, chances are you'll come across one of the many prehistoric caves. There are so many, espec...

Art: Pablo Picasso, the Ubu-iquitous Painter

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🎨 To commemorate Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), numerous museums in France, Spain, the United States and Italy opened exhibitions, focusing on differen...

Literature: Who is Léopold Sédar Senghor?

27 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🖋 The Musée du Quai Branly in Paris has just unveiled its new exhibition: "Léopold Sédar Senghor and the arts" (until Nov 19, 2023). T...

Art: Mime, When Silence Speaks

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🤡 The art of mime is as old and international as the theater itself. But one artist has created a specific character now inseparable from the city ...

Cinema: Who is Brigitte Bardot?

06 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

☀️ This name, Brigitte Bardot, is much more than a person. Like Marylin Monroe or Marlon Brando, it's become a myth, the BB myth. Icon of a genera...

Literature: Uncovering the Secrets of Astérix the Gaul

27 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

💥 50 B.C., a small village in Brittany is the last to resist the Roman invasion. Astérix and Obélix, with the help of the villagers (and a little...

Politics: Are We Allowed to Be Lazy?

20 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

😴 There couldn't be a better moment in time to talk about Paul Lafargue's manifesto "The Right to Be Lazy" (1880). With the protests taking place i...

Cinema: Who is Claude Chabrol?

06 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🎥 Characterized as a "mainstream" New Wave director, Chabrol was certainly one of the most prolific of his time. He was fascinated by Alfred Hitchc...

Food: A Stick Named "Baguette"

30 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🥖 Why is the French baguette so good? Excellent question. The secret lies in the simplicity of the recipe and the intricacy of a craft that has tak...

Literature: The scandalous adventures of Colette

23 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

✒️ Born 150 years ago, on January 28, 1873, the French novelist Colette is very celebrated this week in France. And rightly so. This very original...

Linguistics: Journey to the heart of the word "voyage"

16 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🧳 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. A...

Art: The odyssey of the Statue of Liberty

09 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🗽 Since 1886, this majestic allegorical sculpture has taken center stage in New York Harbor. The statue of Liberty's rich history is tied to Americ...

Science: Louis Pasteur, inventor of modern hygiene

26 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🔬 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 ha...

Literature: Molière in the spotlight

28 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🎭 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 ...

Literature: LE PETIT NICOLAS, a great book for learning French

21 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🪁 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 th...

Food: The Beaujolais Nouveau has arrived

14 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🍷 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 ...

Cinema: Who is Gérard Depardieu?

07 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🎭 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 ...

Science: Spiritism vs spiritualism

01 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

👻 Happy Halloween, everyone. Maybe some of you are celebrating it around a table invoking spirits of deceased people? But is this practice actually...

Art: Niki de Saint Phalle and the New Realism

24 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🤾‍♀️ As the upcoming release of Niki de Saint Phalle’s biopic with Charlotte Le Bon is approaching, let’s get ready with a little in...

Art: Le Palais idéal du facteur Cheval

10 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🕌 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. A...

Fashion: Why is the Basque beret a French cliché?

26 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🧑‍🎨 Today marks the first day of the Paris Women’s Fashion Week. A great opportunity to talk a bit about the famous Basque beret, that hat w...

History: The race to decipher hieroglyphs

19 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

📜 Here is the story of a person who spent every single minute of his time reading books, learning languages and trying to solve the mystery of the ...

Food: The croissant, and how it evolved

05 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🥐 How could such a small thing have so much history and generate so much love? Simply by being irresistible. From the medieval bakeries of Vienna, ...

Music: Sax and the city

29 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🎷 If we had to decide which is the suavest musical instrument, the saxophone would certainly be in the top 5. With its warm sound resemblant the hu...

Cinema: Jacques Tati x Sylvain Chomet, L'ILLUSIONNISTE (2010)

23 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🎩 When the cinematic worlds of Jacques Tati (Mon Oncle) and Sylvain Chomet (Les Triplettes de Belleville: https://youtu.be/6q1E_zwXlUM) meet, there...

Literature: Who is Jean-Jacques Sempé?

15 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

✍️ A few days ago, we lost one of France’s most talented and adored caricaturists. Jean-Jacques Sempé, author of “Le petit Nicolas” as well...

History: Who are the ancient French?

08 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

⏳ Fasten your seatbelts, this week we go back thousands of years in time. Meet the Celts, Romans, Gauls, Franks,… some of the ancient civilization...

Food: Le bouchon lyonnais, flavor of tradition

01 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🥘 If you have been in Lyon, you have certainly come across the “bouchon lyonnais”, that traditional restaurant serving only local dishes made o...

Sport: Le Tour de France Femmes, finally

25 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🚴‍♀️ For about 120 years, the Tour de France has been exclusively for men. There have been a couple of attempts to organize a women's Tour in...

History: How the US influenced the French Revolution

06 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🇺🇸 The 18th and 19th centuries saw multiple revolutions worldwide. All of which have drastically modernized our society and planted the seeds fo...

Food: The origins of "expresso" coffee

27 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

☕️ The coffee vocabulary is Italian, the beans are from South America, Africa and Asia, the best machines come from all over the world, and—as i...

Cinema: Paul Verhoeven's BENEDETTA (2021)

06 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

💒 17th century, Benedetta Carlini becomes a nun in the Convent of the Mother of God in Pescia, Italy. She distinguishes herself for her intense mys...

Linguistics: The false friends, your real enemies

30 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🙇 We’re not talking about loveship and hateship this week. Actually, this is about vocabulary-ship. Regarding the words whose journey through tim...

Art: Jan van Eyck's THE ARNOLFINI PORTRAIT (1434)

23 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🕯 In 1434, Bruges (in the Duchy of Burgundy back then) was home to one of the most important Flemish Masters, Jan van Eyck. Even though little is k...

Cinema: Jacques Audiard's "LES OLYMPIADES" (2021)

02 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🏙 Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust and Bone, …) and Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) are two of the most talented French directors of...

Science: Is nuclear energy "green"?

28 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

☢️ A few weeks ago, the European Commission decided to label nuclear energy as “green” in an effort to meet the objectives of the 2015 Paris A...

Art: Théodore Géricault's "Le Radeau de La Méduse"

21 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

⚓️ One of the most amazing pieces of romantic French art, “Le Radeau de La Méduse” on display in the Louvre, also has one of the most amazing...

Sport: "I was the king of Mont Blanc" (Jacques Balmat)

14 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🏔 The word “alpinism” comes from the Alps, could have guessed that. But when, and under which circumstances was the term created? It finds its ...

Music: Who is Clara Luciani?

07 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

🎤 What’s hot on French radio in 2022? If their equivalent to the Grammy Awards (the Victoires de la Musique) don’t lie, there is quite a lot of...

Travel: The original Spa

28 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

💦 As the political situation in Europe is heating up, I have chosen to do a 180-degree direction turn for our weekly conversations. A good kind of ...