Latest / The Learn French With Alexa Podcast / EP 2 | Les catacombes (The catacombs)

Transcript

EP 2 | Les catacombes (The catacombs) · The Learn French With Alexa Podcast

• 0:00
  I saw kids. Did you?
• 0:01
  Yeah. Why would you take kids in the
• 0:04
  catacomb? Why would you take kids into the
• 0:07
  catacomb? Bonjour et bienvenue à notre
• 0:10
  podcast, Learn French with Alexa.
• 0:13
  Today, I have my two favourite guests.
• 0:18
  Satie, bonjour, Satie. Bonjour.
• 0:21
  Liam, bonjour. Bonjour.
• 0:23
  Just to remind you, if you are jumping straight into episode 2
• 0:27
  and not episode 1, Satie is a pupil of mine.
• 0:32
  Oui. And Liam is ...
• 0:36
  An employee. I work here at Learn French with
• 0:38
  Alexa. Yeah.
• 0:39
  Well, you're more than an employee.
• 0:41
  You're my producer/makeup artist... a lot of things.
• 0:45
  Therapist. Therapist.
• 0:47
  Yeah. All kind, you know.
• 0:50
  Yeah. Now, today, guys, same format as
• 0:55
  the first episode. We are going to talk about a- Is
• 1:01
  it going to be less gruesome than last time?
• 1:03
  It's going to be as gruesome as last time.
• 1:05
  As gruesome. Exactly.
• 1:06
  And it's following up to our conversation as the first
• 1:09
  episode. Right.
• 1:10
  Though you don't need to have listened to the first episode to
• 1:15
  listen to that. Learn French with Alexa teaches
• 1:18
  French, so we have to have an element of teaching.
• 1:21
  I'm going to read a text in French, ask you two questions,
• 1:25
  which you will attempt to answer, and then we'll talk
• 1:29
  about words that you may find difficult based on this, or
• 1:35
  facts about this very topic. Okay.
• 1:39
  Are you ready, guys? Yes, I'm excited.
• 1:42
  I'm ready. Great.
• 1:42
  Well, I think as soon as you're going to hear the title, you're
• 1:46
  going to understand what it's about.
• 1:48
  So now- Wait, can I put ... Yeah.
• 1:51
  Is it going to be about the catacombs?
• 1:54
  The ca-acombs. What was that?
• 1:57
  What was that? That's what I heard.
• 2:01
  That's so rude. Was it like a spin of a southern
• 2:09
  London- Catacombs ... London?
• 2:10
  The catacombs. I thought it sounded Northern.
• 2:12
  Oh, really? Yeah.
• 2:14
  Catacombs. Catacombs.
• 2:17
  The catacombs. Catacombs.
• 2:18
  Apologies. The catacombs.
• 2:25
  The catacombs. Is it?
• 2:28
  Yes. What are you going to do?
• 2:30
  It is. Apart from that.
• 2:32
  You're going to be told off for bullying this episode.
• 2:37
  Okay. Les Catacombes de Paris.
• 2:40
  Absolutely. So let's learn a little bit
• 2:44
  about Paris catacombs. Sorry.
• 2:45
  Just every time it's going to be funny.
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  Ou la ville sous la ville. So do you understand that title?
• 2:52
  La ville sous la ville. The city or the town under the
• 2:57
  town. Exactly.
• 2:58
  Mm-hmm. Okay.
• 3:00
  So the first question I could ask you about this text is: Quel
• 3:03
  est le gros problème de Paris ? Quel est le gros problème de
• 3:07
  Paris au 18e siècle ? Quel est le gros problème de
• 3:12
  Paris au 18e siècle? Another question I will ask you
• 3:16
  about the text is : Combien d'ossements trouve-t-on dans les
• 3:22
  catacombes ? Combien d'ossements trouve-t-on
• 3:25
  dans les catacombes ? I think I know what
• 3:28
  "d'ossements" means, but I'm not entirely certain.
• 3:30
  Ossements. Okay.
• 3:32
  Alors, ossements- Yeah ... c'est le mot.
• 3:35
  D'accord. Qu'est-ce que tu crois que ça
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  veut dire ? Are you confident in that?
• 3:40
  I'm lost. No.
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  I think it's got something to do with bones.
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  Ah. Oui.
• 3:44
  Because it's "os". "Os".
• 3:46
  "Os". Oh, okay.
• 3:47
  "Os" is a- "Un os" is a bone, and weirdly, when you put it in
• 3:53
  the plural form, it's "des os". So you don't pronounce it the
• 3:57
  same way. Mm.
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  It's spelled the same way, O-S, but you don't pronounce it the
• 4:01
  same way. Mm.
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  So "un os, des os". Okay.
• 4:05
  Donc combien. How many bones?
• 4:07
  Oui. Combien d'os.
• 4:08
  We don't have a word in English like that.
• 4:10
  Pour ossements, non. For a collection of bones.
• 4:12
  A collection of bones. No, that's so true.
• 4:16
  Mm. That's so true, actually.
• 4:19
  "Ossements" could be ... If I search "ossements", it
• 4:27
  comes up as "ossement". No, well, that's not- In
• 4:32
  English. Do you know that word?
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  No. I've never heard of that word.
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  Maybe it's a literary word ... maybe it is ...
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  I don't know. Okay.
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  Or maybe it's a specific word. I mean, you could take those
• 4:41
  words. I don't really deal with piles
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  of bones in my everyday life. No, no.
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  Sort of. It's not in my vocabulary.
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  So maybe it is a commonly used word in that industry.
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  In the bone industry. In the bone industry.
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  Okay. Here we go.
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  First question, what is the biggest problem for Paris?
• 4:57
  And second, how many bones are there in the catacombs?
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  Oh, God. Yeah, I'm just not going to
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  speak for the rest of the podcast.
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  But please speak, you are highly entertaining.
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  Okay, here we go. A la fin du 18e siècle, Paris a
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  un gros problème. Les cimetières sont trop pleins,
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  et cela commence à poser de gros soucis d'hygiène pour les
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  habitants de la ville. Une solution insolite est
• 5:27
  trouvée : utiliser d'anciennes carrières souterraines situées
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  dans le 14e arrondissement. Entre 1786 et 1788, les
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  autorités y transportent des millions d'ossements.
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  On estime que les restes de plus de 6 millions de personnes y
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  sont conservés, dont ceux de personnalités telles que Charles
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  Perrault, Robespierre et Danton, mais aussi François Rabelais.
• 6:05
  Okay. So that's the first reading.
• 6:07
  How was that for you? I found that text really
• 6:09
  challenging. Yeah.
• 6:10
  Do you know why? Because the level is B1+.
• 6:14
  So B1+ you start being quite serious about it- Yeah ... when
• 6:19
  you reach B1+, yeah. I understood most of it, I
• 6:23
  think, but ... I think sometimes as well, with
• 6:25
  French numbers, I'm so concentrated on trying to work
• 6:28
  out what the English number is- Yeah ...
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  I miss other parts of the sentence.
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  So do you remember the number that I said?
• 6:34
  Could you figure out? The date or the number?
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  Yeah, the date. I give a date at one point.
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  Oh, 17 something something. 17 something something.
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  That's very- Two, yeah ... Two something.
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  So 17 something something. 17 something something.
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  If you say the number again- Yeah ... just that bit of the
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  sentence without saying anything else- Yeah ... then I can work
• 6:55
  it out. Do you want to hear the numbers
• 6:58
  again? Sure.
• 6:59
  Now, 1786 à 1788. You have to do maths.
• 7:06
  Mille = 1000 Yeah. Sept-cent = 700, quatre-vingt...
• 7:11
  six. 4x20+6. Yeah, 4x20+6 is
• 7:16
  quatre-vingt-six. He's good at that, with French
• 7:17
  numbers. Quatre-vingt-six.
• 7:18
  Yeah. Et 1788, same, it's- ...
• 7:23
  One thousand, seven hundred, eighty-eight.
• 7:26
  So 4x20+8. Yeah.
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  Okay. So remember that when we say 80
• 7:30
  in French, we say 4x20. Quatre-vingt.
• 7:32
  Yeah. Mm-hmm.
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  So 83, 4x20+3. Quatre-vingt-trois.
• 7:36
  Okay. Yeah.
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  Anyway, so : Quel est le gros problème de Paris ?
• 7:42
  Oh, I didn't totally get this, but something about the
• 7:47
  cemeteries in Paris, and it was bad for the people who lived
• 7:51
  there. Mm-hmm.
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  But something ... You said a word- ... that I
• 7:54
  didn't understand, like "d'hygiène" or something.
• 7:56
  Okay. Donc il y a des problèmes
• 7:57
  d'hygiène. Pourquoi il y a des problèmes
• 7:58
  d'hygiène ? What does "hygiène" mean?
• 8:00
  I'm not sure. On a déjà- I remember- On a déjà
• 8:04
  appris ce mot-là- I know ... pendant le premier épisode I
• 8:08
  don't remember it. Okay.
• 8:09
  "Hygiène", hygiene. Oh.
• 8:11
  Oh. Oh, yeah.
• 8:13
  "Hygiène". Yeah.
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  Yeah. Okay.
• 8:14
  What is it with Paris and hygiene?
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  Well, what is it with any big towns and hygiene?
• 8:19
  Yeah. Yeah.
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  In any, especially in- So something about cemetery being
• 8:24
  overfilled- That's it ... and hygiene- Exactly ... affecting
• 8:27
  residents. Yeah.
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  Very good job. How does that work?
• 8:29
  Yeah. Donc c'était un gros problème à
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  Paris. Le gros problème, c'est que les
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  cimetières sont trop pleins. Cemeteries are too filled up.
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  Yeah. Why is that hygiene- It now
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  comes- Oh ... it's a big problem- Why?
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  ... hygiene and decomposing bodies.
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  Well, because- But they're all under the ground, though.
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  Well, no, but that's ... No, especially if you rely on
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  water and sewers, and things like that.
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  So, I think at that point, the hygiene comes from the
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  decomposing bodies and the fact that it's filtering through
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  water and things, and we are drinking the water- Well, how is
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  the water- ... from the Seine River- Okay ... potentially.
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  I don't know. But this is another podcast, and
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  I'm going to ask my creator to find out more about the sewage
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  in Paris. I'm sure they were open graves
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  or something like that. Oh, okay.
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  The mass open graves- Because I don't, yeah ... that caused the
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  problem. Right.
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  Because it would be the smell polluting the air- Yeah ... and
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  obviously nature, and sewage and things.
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  So the origin of the Catacombs of Paris, so the Catacombes de
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  Paris, go back to a tragic accident in 1764.
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  Do you understand 1764? 17- 1764. 1774. 1764.
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  Oh, no. Yeah.
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  So 70 is 60+10, and 74 will be 60+14. ...
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  Why couldn't the French just make up another word for 70 and
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  80? Yeah, I agree with you.
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  Yeah. No, I don't know.
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  Anyway, so a big tragic accident in the 1770s, where you have a
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  huge chasm swallowing up houses on the street near the Place de
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  Denfert-Rochereau. And so what's happening is that
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  some of the cemeteries as well are being engulfed in- Oh ...
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  and walls collapsing, which means that some of the walls
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  collapsing were retaining cemeteries.
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  So you have all these "ossements" Mm ... these bones
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  being there. And so they've got to find a
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  solution of where to put those "ossements".
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  Mm-hmm. Yeah.
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  And so, le cimetière insalubre. Do you understand insalubre?
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  Spell it. Can you spell it, please?
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  Can you use it in a sentence? In English or in French?
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  Use it in a sentence and then in ...
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  What do you mean? In French.
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  Insalubre, I-N-S-A-L-U-B-R-E. Donc, les cimetières insalubres
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  et surpeuplés de la ville furent ainsi condamnés.
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  On a fermé les cimetières parce qu'ils étaient insalubres.
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  Like something about unhygienic. That's it.
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  Unsanitary. Yes.
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  Yes. Very good.
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  Bravo. Come on.
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  Et surpeuplés. Surpeuplés.
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  Surpeuplés? So can you please use it in a
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  sentence? Les cimetières étaient
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  surpeuplés ou la ville est surpeuplée.
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  Overwhelmed. Think "peuple".
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  Qu'est-ce que c'est le peuple ? Populated.
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  Overpopulated. That's it.
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  Oh, nice. That's it.
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  Overcrowded. Nice.
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  Overcrowded. That's exactly it.
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  Yeah. Anyway, so that's causing a huge
• 11:58
  problem. Okay.
• 11:59
  So, they have a solution. Did you hear the word "insolite"
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  in the text? "Une solution insolite est
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  trouvée". "Une solution insolite": can I
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  just say that it was covered in the first episode- ... that
• 12:17
  word, because we talked about- I mean, we did just talk about
• 12:20
  this ... "fait divers" and the "fait
• 12:22
  insolite". "Insolite", we, uh- Oh.
• 12:27
  Do you remember? "Insolite"?
• 12:29
  Mm-hmm. Not solid, I want to say.
• 12:31
  No, that's ... "Insolite" is- I've got to go
• 12:35
  back and watch episode one. Yeah, I need to.
• 12:38
  And then we'll come back. Okay, "insolite" means, unusual,
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  something unusual. Yeah, it was in the newspaper.
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  "Insolite". It's all coming back to me now.
• 12:47
  Yes, knowing it was only last week.
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  So, hmm, okay. Well, in language learning, you
• 12:54
  need it reinforced- Yes ... and I've only heard that one time.
• 12:56
  Exactly. So now I've heard it twice.
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  Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
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  Okay, le gros problème, c'est que les cimetières sont
• 13:03
  surpeuplés. D'accord?
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  Crowded, okay. Il y a des problèmes d'hygiène,
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  [les lieux sont] insalubres. D'accord.
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  Et la 2e question : combien d'os trouve-t-on, combien d'ossements
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  trouve-t-on ? How many bones?
• 13:21
  Six million. Alors, I think more.
• 13:23
  Parce que tu as- ... ... voilà. Alors, tu as 6 millions de
• 13:28
  personnes. Yeah.
• 13:29
  Donc, il y a 6 millions de personnes qui sont estimées être
• 13:34
  dans les catacombes. Donc, ça doit représenter- How
• 13:37
  many bones are in the human body?
• 13:39
  206- Oh ... or something like that, 200 and something.
• 13:42
  I have no idea. I think it's 206 or something.
• 13:44
  Le truc, c'est que ... Have you ever been to the
• 13:48
  Catacomb? Yeah, I've been.
• 13:49
  Okay. And you find the same bones.
• 13:53
  You find "la tête" of the squelette, and the main, bigger
• 13:59
  bones. Mm.
• 14:00
  I don't think you find the toe bone.
• 14:04
  I mean, if you looked, you could probably find a toe bone- ... a
• 14:08
  tarsal, a metatarsal. I'm so sorry.
• 14:11
  I'm so highly visual, that I've just imagined the finger bones
• 14:16
  and the toe bones. I'm so sorry.
• 14:17
  I just ... This is ...
• 14:22
  Yeah. Anyways, so we are estimating
• 14:25
  millions and millions. Yeah.
• 14:26
  Yeah. So you've been?
• 14:30
  Yes, I've been. And how was that for you?
• 14:33
  Very eerie feeling. We went on a bit of a private
• 14:38
  tour of the non-touristy bits as well- Yeah ... which obviously
• 14:41
  are not as well lit, and- Yeah. the quieter bits.
• 14:46
  So all the walls are covered with skulls.
• 14:48
  Pretty much, yeah. Pretty much the whole thing.
• 14:50
  So these people took all these bodies and were like, "Oh, yeah,
• 14:53
  we're going to make it artistic, and stick all the skulls on the
• 14:58
  walls." I don't think it was for art
• 14:59
  reasons. No, it was- Why would they do
• 15:01
  that? They needed ...
• 15:02
  Well, they couldn't do anything else with it, so they had to use
• 15:06
  ... They used a "carrière", a
• 15:09
  quarry, which was underground, in order to store all these
• 15:14
  bones that they had from different cemeteries that had
• 15:17
  collapsed or were overcrowded. And that's- Well, they used them
• 15:21
  for structural reasons as well, right?
• 15:22
  Yes. To prop up- Yes.
• 15:23
  Oh, my God. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 15:25
  Yes. That's crazy.
• 15:27
  Yeah. No, but that's clever.
• 15:29
  And once again, just like the first episode, A tourist
• 15:33
  attraction, "une attraction touristique", les catacombes
• 15:37
  became a tourist attraction in 1809.
• 15:40
  Mm. Yeah.
• 15:42
  Immediately after. No.
• 15:44
  No, hundreds of years after. No, no, a few, 10 years later or
• 15:48
  so- Okay ... because they started- Yeah, yeah ... like
• 15:52
  1770s, they had a problem. 1786, they start doing something about
• 16:00
  the ossuary of Paris. What's that?
• 16:03
  Municipal ossuary. What's that?
• 16:06
  That's ... Well, an ossuary- A place where
• 16:08
  you store bones. Place, yeah.
• 16:10
  I can't say it. Maybe the- Ossuary ... ossuary.
• 16:12
  Well, isn't that to do with birds, an ossuary?
• 16:18
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• 16:21
  about many things. If you're enjoying learning
• 16:23
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• 16:27
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• 16:31
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• 16:39
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• 16:44
  Yeah. Now, I've been to les catacombes
• 16:47
  a few years ago. Did you enjoy it?
• 16:51
  I feel like you would enjoy it. You're laughing a lot about- Do
• 16:55
  you not like- Toe bones ... toe bones and- I think it's very
• 17:00
  much a nervous laugh. It's just, it started with
• 17:05
  catacombes, and from this minute, it just couldn't stop.
• 17:09
  I'm so sorry. I did.
• 17:11
  It's very eerie, you're right- Mm ... and very quiet- Yeah ...
• 17:16
  as well. There is a cold, you feel cold
• 17:19
  as well. I've done the short version,
• 17:22
  which is a 0,5km, but I heard of a special- Yeah ... that you
• 17:27
  could pay for, to add on to- Yeah.
• 17:32
  I have a question for you. How long is the complete network
• 17:36
  of the catacombs? Doesn't it span the whole of the
• 17:40
  underground of Paris? Okay, so I'm giving you choices,
• 17:43
  150 kilometers- Wow ... 150 kilomètres, 300 kilometers, 300
• 17:48
  kilomètres, 1,000 kilomètres, 1,000 kilometers. 300?
• 17:56
  I'm going to go the higher end. Oh.
• 17:57
  Mille kilomètres ? Well, actually, no.
• 17:59
  I'm going 300. I'll go 300 as well.
• 18:01
  It is 300 kilometers. Yes.
• 18:04
  Trois cents kilomètres. So, I suppose you can imagine a
• 18:08
  lot of- Yeah ... underground. I would like to be, if I had to
• 18:12
  be somebody whose body was in the catacombs, I want to be very
• 18:15
  far away. I want to be at the very end
• 18:17
  that you can't- ... You know what I mean?
• 18:19
  I don't want to be where everyone else.
• 18:22
  I don't want to be in the main ...
• 18:24
  Because you said there's a certain mile where everybody
• 18:27
  walks down it. Yes, 1.5.
• 18:27
  I want to be in one of the corners that nobody ever visits.
• 18:31
  Really? Yeah.
• 18:33
  I'm just saying. Okay.
• 18:35
  We'll make a note. Make a note of that.
• 18:38
  All right. Okay.
• 18:40
  So, I've got another question for you.
• 18:45
  What is the French word meaning urban explorer of unauthorised
• 18:51
  subterranean network- Scavenger ... of ancient stone quarries,
• 18:56
  mines, and tunnels, such as the catacombs?
• 18:58
  So, you've got people that go and explore these kind of
• 19:02
  places. Oh, I think I know the British
• 19:03
  word. So, what's the English word?
• 19:05
  What's the English word? Spelunking, right?
• 19:07
  What? Spelunking.
• 19:10
  That is the word. Spelunking.
• 19:13
  Okay. I've never heard of that word,
• 19:15
  so- Spelunking ... okay. Is it A.
• 19:19
  "cataphile", B. "tunnephile", or C."ossophile"?
• 19:24
  That would be "tunnephile" probably, right?
• 19:27
  Yeah, or "cataphile". One of the two.
• 19:30
  So- Tunnels ... like "cataphile"- Yeah ...
• 19:33
  "tunnephile", or "ossophile"? These are people that just enjoy
• 19:39
  as a hobby exploring- It would be "tunnephile", I think ...
• 19:42
  "tunnephile", probably. Yeah, I'm going to go with that.
• 19:43
  Am I not right? It is "cataphile".
• 19:46
  Oh, no. So, a "cataphile" is someone
• 19:49
  who- What did you say? Yeah.
• 19:51
  The same thing. Are you sure?
• 19:52
  Well, I said I thought it was "cataphile" or that one.
• 19:54
  Yeah. "Cataphile" is a urban explorer
• 19:56
  that is exploring the tunnels ... yeah, who ventures into ...
• 20:00
  ... unauthorised places- Because that what tunnels would be.
• 20:02
  But are they all catacombs? Is the whole thing catacombs, or
• 20:07
  are some of them just tunnels- ... without bones?
• 20:11
  I can't answer this question. I did not do some research on
• 20:15
  that, so we could- Let us know in the comments.
• 20:17
  Yeah, let us know in the comments, because you might know
• 20:20
  more than I do. I'm basing myself on the facts I
• 20:24
  was given and that I researched as well.
• 20:27
  And let us know in the comments, because I'm so curious if
• 20:29
  there's an English word for "ossements".
• 20:32
  "Ossements"? Ossuary, I think.
• 20:34
  Yeah. Oh.
• 20:35
  Have we still not figured it out?
• 20:36
  No, we haven't figured this one out.
• 20:38
  But a group of bones- Yeah ... is an ossuary?
• 20:43
  Ossuary The sentence "Les autorités y transportent des
• 20:49
  millions d'ossements" translates as "the authorities transported
• 20:52
  millions of skeletal remains". Yeah.
• 20:55
  Skeletal remains, yeah. So, is it that ...
• 21:01
  What's the difference between "ossement" and- Well, I don't
• 21:03
  think it's "os", but if somebody in the comments ... knows, then
• 21:06
  that's nice. Does it mean a collection of
• 21:09
  bones? Well, I've got to now search
• 21:16
  "ossement". "Ossement désigne un os
• 21:19
  décharné, sec et desséché qui provient du cadavre d'un être
• 21:23
  humain ou d'un animal." An ossement is not a compilation
• 21:26
  of ossement. What does "ossement" mean?
• 21:28
  An "ossement" is an "os". Oh, what?
• 21:31
  Yeah. Then were we just saying it
• 21:33
  wrong the whole time? Yes.
• 21:36
  "Ossement", so what's- C'est un os.
• 21:39
  It's an os. Un ossement, c'est pas une
• 21:43
  compilation d'os. C'est, un ossement, c'est un os.
• 21:49
  Donc on a deux façons de dire "bone".
• 21:53
  On a "os". "Os".
• 21:55
  And "ossement". Anyways, yeah.
• 21:58
  Why not just say bone? Yeah.
• 21:59
  Yeah, "un os". Mais parce que, oui, on aurait
• 22:02
  pu dire des millions d'os. Mais peut-être que os- Isn't it
• 22:05
  des millions d'os? Des millions d'os.
• 22:07
  It's plural, no? Oui.
• 22:09
  So, des os, un os. Oh, sorry.
• 22:12
  Des os. Un os.
• 22:14
  Million d'os. Des million d'os.
• 22:16
  That's weird. It sounds very bizarre actually
• 22:19
  thinking about it. Yeah.
• 22:21
  Sounds very bizarre. Anyway.
• 22:23
  Did you, during the reading, manage to get which
• 22:27
  personalities, which famous people are buried in the
• 22:31
  catacombs? No, you just said four people.
• 22:31
  Yeah, it was the four people at the end.
• 22:33
  Okay. So, I read the last sentence:
• 22:35
  "On estime que les restes de plus de 6 millions de personnes
• 22:40
  y sont conservés, dont ceux de personnalités telles que Charles
• 22:47
  Perrault, Robespierre, Danton, mais aussi François Rabelais".
• 22:53
  So, who are these ... Who's Charles Perrault?
• 22:57
  No idea. You don't know who Charles
• 23:00
  Perrault is? Do you know who he is?
• 23:01
  Is he a revolutionary? No.
• 23:03
  Charles Perrault- Wait, can you give us a clue?
• 23:05
  Charles Perrault- Who was- A writer Oui, c'est un écrivain.
• 23:09
  Ah. Absolutely.
• 23:10
  C'est un écrivain. Il a écrit des contes.
• 23:15
  Vous savez ce que c'est, des contes?
• 23:18
  Par exemple, en français, Les contes de la mère l'Oye.
• 23:24
  Oh, like laws? No.
• 23:28
  L'Oye is the goose. Oh.
• 23:32
  Par exemple, Cendrillon. What is this?
• 23:36
  Fairy tales? C'est, oui.
• 23:38
  Ah. C'est ça.
• 23:39
  Charles Perrault a écrit, par exemple, Cendrillon.
• 23:41
  Qu'est-ce que c'est Cendrillon en anglais?
• 23:43
  C'est Cinderella. Oh.
• 23:48
  Ah. Cinderella.
• 23:48
  I was going to guess that, but I didn't want to look a fool.
• 23:50
  Il a écrit. He wrote Cinderella.
• 23:52
  Oui. The original- The original ...
• 23:55
  story. Some of these popular stories-
• 23:57
  Cinderella ... are Cinderella. He's a French guy.
• 23:59
  Et aussi- He's a French guy. Sorry.
• 24:01
  Et aussi, La Belle au bois dormant.
• 24:04
  Qu'est-ce que c'est ça ? La Belle au bois dormant.
• 24:09
  The beauty of ... Well, Beauty and the Beast?
• 24:11
  Non. I don't know.
• 24:12
  C'est pas La Belle et la Bête. La Belle au bois ?
• 24:14
  La Belle au bois dormant. Oh, oh, oh, so Sleeping-
• 24:18
  Sleeping Beauty. Sleeping Beauty.
• 24:19
  Bravo. Yeah.
• 24:20
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 24:20
  Sleeping Beauty. Dormant.
• 24:22
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. La Belle au bois dormant.
• 24:25
  What was his name? Voilà.
• 24:26
  Charles Perrault. Charles Perrault.
• 24:28
  Charles Perrault. Charles Perrault, he passed away
• 24:32
  in 1703, so he's an early, very early writer from the 17th
• 24:38
  century. So, they really went back then
• 24:40
  and got the old bones as well, not just the ones around.
• 24:43
  Well, no, that's because- ... exactly, it's probably because
• 24:46
  he was in one of the cemeteries that- Yeah ... collapsed, and
• 24:50
  they had to put all of that. Danton and Robespierre were
• 24:56
  politicians during the Révolution française, the French
• 25:00
  Revolution. Danton has only one name?
• 25:02
  Like Beyoncé. Like Beyoncé?
• 25:04
  Yeah. Danton.
• 25:06
  Robespierre, you want to know what Danton's first name was?
• 25:10
  I know, I'm just curious why he's got no first name.
• 25:12
  Because we call them the same way as we called me, Polidoro,
• 25:15
  for example. Okay.
• 25:18
  Georges Danton. Okay.
• 25:20
  He has a first name. He does have a first name.
• 25:22
  Yes. Oh, he was not the most
• 25:25
  attractive of men. Really?
• 25:27
  I'm just showing. Oh.
• 25:29
  Well. Picture will be available on the
• 25:32
  screen for that one. Look, everyone has their own
• 25:36
  beauty in their own way. Yeah, let's not be rude.
• 25:39
  And let's just talk about- Sorry guys ... the things that he did
• 25:41
  for the French people. Just- Was he a good guy?
• 25:43
  Did he- So, well, yes and no. Actually, there were so many
• 25:49
  people involved during the French Revolution, that when one
• 25:55
  political party decided to guillotine, to have the heads
• 26:04
  fall, decapitated. I don't know what's the word.
• 26:08
  Decapitated. That would've been the opposite
• 26:10
  parties, yeah. And then suddenly, during the
• 26:14
  French Revolution, the side flipped.
• 26:18
  Yeah. And so the people that were once
• 26:22
  condemned to be decapitated were the people decapitating- Yeah
• 26:27
  ... the opposite party. I- And I think Danton was one of
• 26:30
  them. I don't know what- He got
• 26:32
  decapitated? Yeah, and Robespierre as well.
• 26:34
  What year did he die? He got beheaded.
• 26:36
  He died on the 5th of April 1794.
• 26:43
  And as for Robespierre- Oh, but that's too late to go into the
• 26:48
  catacombs, isn't it? No, absolutely not, because this
• 26:52
  carried on filling up. Oh, that's why, because they
• 26:55
  didn't like him. What?
• 26:56
  They threw him in the catacombs. Yeah, in the fosse.
• 26:58
  So when did they stop putting bones down there?
• 27:01
  Do we know that? No, I don't have this.
• 27:03
  Yeah, stop asking me questions I can't answer.
• 27:05
  I was going to be like, "Can we do an episode on the French
• 27:08
  Revolution?" because I have no idea what
• 27:10
  happened then. Yeah.
• 27:11
  Okay. We can do that.
• 27:12
  I think people think about it as one revolution, but we're
• 27:15
  actually on the Fifth French Republic now, so it's like
• 27:19
  revolution- Wow ... another revolution, monarchy again,
• 27:21
  revolution again. I just remember something like
• 27:23
  "Let Them Eat Cake"- Yeah ... by Marie Antoinette.
• 27:25
  Yeah. And that's all I know about the
• 27:26
  French Revolution. I think that's the first one.
• 27:28
  Ah. 1789. Whoa.
• 27:32
  That would be impressive if that's accurate. 1789.
• 27:35
  Let us know in the comments. We'll edit you out if that's
• 27:38
  wrong. We'll- We'll edit it right ...
• 27:40
  dub you over with the right one. We'll deep fake me doing it
• 27:42
  right. Anyway, so, to finish, I'm going
• 27:49
  to read this- Oh, did we find out who François something was?
• 27:54
  François Rabelais. François Rabelais is- I've heard
• 27:59
  that name ... a physician, scholar, diplomat, and Catholic
• 28:02
  priest. And later on became known for
• 28:09
  his satirical text, for his depiction of the grotesque, and
• 28:15
  for his larger than life characters.
• 28:18
  So- We did everything, didn't we?
• 28:20
  ... I think maybe Ben, our producer,
• 28:23
  knows Rabelais. Do you know Rabelais?
• 28:26
  No. Okay, he doesn't.
• 28:28
  Look it up. I thought you might.
• 28:31
  I thought you might know Rabelais.
• 28:32
  I'm not familiar with Rabelais' work.
• 28:34
  Who was he? I know that he is studied at
• 28:36
  school, quite a lot. I'm pretty certain I have
• 28:41
  studied him, but because I don't retain any information, I
• 28:45
  unfortunately don't know. Yes, what was your question?
• 28:50
  Oh, I don't know. I don't get what he's saying.
• 28:52
  "Par exemple, Gargantua et Pantagruel" What's that?
• 28:58
  Is a series of four or five books, including "Pantagruel: La
• 29:02
  vie très horrifique du grand Gargantua", usually called
• 29:07
  "Gargantua". "Gargantua and Pantagruel"- I've
• 29:10
  not heard of this. Have you heard of this?
• 29:11
  ... the third book, the fourth book.
• 29:13
  The name rings a bell. Okay, we are talking about an
• 29:18
  author here born in 16-- Not even that.
• 29:23
  In the 15th century- Wow ... he was born.
• 29:27
  Oh, wow. They don't know.
• 29:28
  They think he was born between 1483- When did he die?
• 29:31
  ... and 1494. He died, well, fairly old
• 29:35
  considering the epoch. Mid 1500s.
• 29:39
  Mid 1553. So he was in the ground for
• 29:44
  many, many years. Yes.
• 29:46
  Yeah. Like 200 years, right?
• 29:48
  Yeah. And then they dragged him out
• 29:49
  and put him in the catacombs. But they didn't drag him out.
• 29:52
  I think it was- Oh, that was one of the guys who fell in.
• 29:54
  Yeah, he fell in. Interesting.
• 30:00
  Okay. So, Satie, you've never visited
• 30:03
  Les Catacombes. I have, I think, when I was
• 30:05
  younger, but I don't remember it.
• 30:07
  I don't think you have. Oh.
• 30:08
  There must be an age limit. Oh, really?
• 30:12
  Yeah, I reckon. I saw kids.
• 30:14
  Did you? Yeah.
• 30:15
  Why would you take kids in the catacomb?
• 30:18
  Why would you take kids into the catacombs?
• 30:21
  I did not take any kids into the catacomb.
• 30:25
  I was there for work. Do you feel like going?
• 30:28
  I'm going to go back to Paris soon.
• 30:29
  I think I will go and visit- Okay ... the catacombs.
• 30:32
  Yes. Okay.
• 30:33
  All right. So what about you guys?
• 30:37
  I'm looking at the camera now, and if you're listening to us,
• 30:40
  would you fancy a visit to Les Catacombs de Paris?
• 30:44
  Leave us a comment. What, are we all going together?
• 30:48
  Well, we can. Whenever you are in Paris.
• 30:52
  Whoever leaves the most interesting comment, we will
• 30:54
  take on an all-expenses paid trip- Yes ... to the catacombs.
• 31:00
  Yeah. Maybe we'll meet at the catacomb
• 31:02
  the next time we come to Paris. Mm.
• 31:04
  Which we did in March, and we invited people to come and visit
• 31:09
  us. Nobody came.
• 31:12
  Oh, what? There was a misunderstanding.
• 31:15
  What was the misunderstanding? That I don't think they knew
• 31:19
  where to meet us, and people said they wanted to come and see
• 31:23
  me, and they didn't really. Oh, right.
• 31:25
  So, I thought I was more famous than I am really.
• 31:29
  I'm not. Yeah.
• 31:34
  Anyway, that's very funny. I'm going to read it one last
• 31:38
  time, and the translation is available for you on the support
• 31:44
  guide that is available with this podcast, okay?
• 31:48
  And you can watch this podcast on YouTube as well, and listen
• 31:54
  to it on Spotify, Apple, or whatever.
• 31:56
  Yeah. All platforms.
• 31:58
  Wherever podcasts are available. And if you like this kind of
• 32:02
  podcast, please let us know, and we'll do more.
• 32:05
  So here we go. "Les Catacombs de Paris, La
• 32:08
  ville sous la ville. A la fin du XVIIIe siècle, Paris
• 32:12
  a un gros problème. Les cimetières sont trop pleins,
• 32:15
  et cela commence à poser de gros soucis d'hygiène pour les
• 32:19
  habitants de la ville. Une solution insolite est
• 32:23
  trouvée : utiliser d'anciennes carrières souterraines situées
• 32:27
  dans le 14e arrondissement. Entre 1786 et 1788, les
• 32:34
  autorités y transportent des millions d'ossements.
• 32:39
  On estime que les restes de plus de six millions de personnes y
• 32:44
  sont conservés, dont ceux de personnalités telles que Charles
• 32:49
  Perrault, Robespierre et Danton, mais aussi François Rabelais."
• 32:55
  How was that? Yeah.
• 32:57
  It's a lot easier to understand. Yeah, way more- Funny- ... the
• 33:00
  second time ... because we talked mainly in English.
• 33:03
  Yeah. Which is very funny.
• 33:06
  Yeah. But because we covered the
• 33:08
  context a bit more, and a few words here and there, it became
• 33:13
  clearer. Yeah.
• 33:14
  Yeah? It's good, isn't it?
• 33:16
  I like this format a lot, and if it becomes popular, we shall do
• 33:22
  more. Any other questions before we
• 33:26
  go? No, I want to see a map of it
• 33:31
  now, because you said it started in the 14e arrondissement.
• 33:35
  Yeah, that's what- But if it's 300 kilometers long- ...
• 33:40
  Where does it go? That's a very good point.
• 33:45
  And especially you see only 1.5 kilometer of it.
• 33:49
  I think it could be that it's like a snail underneath, in the
• 33:54
  ground. Or maybe it's many layers.
• 33:56
  Many layers. I don't know.
• 33:58
  It is quite tight. Yeah.
• 34:02
  When you go to the catacombs, you mustn't be claustrophobic-
• 34:05
  Yeah ... because it can get very And being quite a tall person
• 34:09
  was- You can see Liam here in this angle, but Liam is about
• 34:15
  three meters high. The world's tallest man.
• 34:18
  Next to me, all the pictures we've taken of Liam and I next
• 34:23
  to each other, I look like I'm a meter high, and he looks like
• 34:28
  three meters. But it's true.
• 34:29
  It's true. All these official pictures that
• 34:34
  we've taken in the past, it's just I need a little stool next
• 34:38
  time I have a picture taken with Liam.
• 34:41
  And yes, the catacomb is quite tight.
• 34:44
  Mm-hmm. It's a tunnel, which is wide
• 34:46
  enough. Just the going down the stairs,
• 34:49
  you've got to be prepared to go down quite a lot of stairs in a
• 34:55
  tight space. God, they should have lifts
• 34:59
  installed. Do they?
• 35:00
  I don't know. I don't know.
• 35:02
  We can find out. But find out, I'm sure they have
• 35:05
  an official website, which I can tell you now, or it will be
• 35:11
  written on the support guide if you want.
• 35:19
  Catacombes. Catacombes.
• 35:21
  Catacombes. So they have an official
• 35:25
  website, catacombes.paris.fr/en. There you go.
• 35:34
  So everything is ... Wow, 31 euros.
• 35:38
  That seems reasonable. I think when I went it was 80.
• 35:43
  80? 80, because it was one of the
• 35:45
  private tours. Ah, okay.
• 35:48
  But I think, yeah, admission in itself is about 30.
• 35:49
  Blimey, that is very expensive. Okay.
• 35:52
  So that's it for me. Hope you enjoyed that.
• 35:57
  Au revoir, à bientôt, et puis- Bisous ... bisous.
• 36:00
  Should we do one bisous each? Okay.
• 36:03
  Do you want to do that again? That's it for me.
• 36:06
  Au revoir, à bientôt, bisous. Bisous.