The Talking France podcast is back with a look at the plague of mosquitoes targeting France, the latest on the presidential elections, where the French go to get good food, and the many different ways to say ‘you’re welcome’ – plus a little diversion into French colonial adventures in the USA.
Host Ben McPartland is joined by The Local France’s Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and John Lichfield for a look at all the latest news and talking points from France.
We start with a brief diversion to the 1750s to explain why the British king thinks that ‘Americans would be speaking French if it wasn’t for us’, before heading back to the more urgent problem of mosquitoes.
You can find the Talking France podcast on Spotify, Apple or the French platform Deezer or on World Radio Paris. You can download it here or listen on the link below.
As the pesky little biters get more prevalent across France, and mosquito season gets earlier every year, local authorities are turning to novel techniques such as releasing 200,000 sterile male mosquitoes.
Meanwhile four other local authorities are now part of a scheme where drivers caught using their phone at the wheel can have their licences immediately confiscated.
When it comes to booking holidays, the French, as you might expect, take gastronomy seriously – we look at the regions that French tourists go to when they want good food, and recommend a few things to try in the top-rated regions.
And finally, you might have learned ‘de rien‘ in your language class, but there are in fact many different ways to say ‘you’re welcome’ in French – as Emma Albright explains.
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