What is life like in Montpellier?
Join Garrett in Montpellier as he introduces his family and tells us about his life in the French city.
Exploring Montpellier with Garrett
Garrett: Hi, I'm Garrett. I live just outside Montpellier in France. I live with my dad – mon papa, my mum – ma mère, and my sister – ma sœur. And of course, my two cats – mes deux chats.
On Sundays, me and my mum make crêpes, the French version of pancakes. So you need to flip them and catch them very high. Boom! Ooh. And, well watch out, because crêpes can be very messy.
At the weekend, me and my family have them for breakfast – le petit-déjeuner. With crêpes, there are a lot of different toppings, chocolate spread – pâte à tartiner, banana – banane, poire – pear, sugar – sucre, and of course butter – beurre. In France, it's very important to eat breakfast with all your family.
From where I live, I can cycle to the beach on my bike – vélo. I love cycling, because I can go very fast – rapide. This makes me feel free – Je me sens libre.
This is the beach and today it is windy. So, if I were here with my friends, today, on the beach – la plage, I would be doing some surfing or even some kitesurfing, but today we just hang out.
We live at the edge of the city of Montpellier, one of the biggest cities in France. I go on the tram every day to go to school and I gooften on the weekends to do activities with my friends and family.
In Montpellier, there are many things to do, like go to the museum – le musée, theatre - théâtre and cafés. The best thing in Montpellier is that there are pedestrian streets with little shops – des petites boutiques and restaurants – des restaurants.
There are a lot of markets, like this flea market – le marché aux puces.
Garrett: Excusez-moi s'il vous plaît, c'est combien ?
Market stall holder: C'est cinq euros.
Garrett: Je veux l'acheter. Merci.
Market stall holder: Merci beaucoup.
There's so much to do here. It is impossible to get bored!
Where is Montpellier?
Montpellier is a large city in the south of France, not far from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
Over a thousand years old, it is a medieval city with tiny medieval streets (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.) and beautiful squares (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.). Garrett lives there with his family.
Making crêpes
It is important for Garrett to eat breakfast (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.) with his family and at the weekend he makes crêpes (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.) with them.
Crêpes are like thin pancakes and they are also eaten on the evening of 2 February in France, on Candlemas (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.). In France, tossing the crêpes is said to represent the sun rising higher in the sky and it therefore marks the end of winter.
Can you remember the different crêpe toppings that Garrett mentioned in the video?
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | banana |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | butter |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | spread |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | pear |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | sugar |
Sport in France
Garrett likes to do different things at the weekend. He likes sports, such such as riding his bike (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.), surfing (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.), kitesurfing (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.) or just hanging out with his friends at the beach (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.).
Sport is important in France with football (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.), rugby (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.) and tennis (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.) being very popular.
The biggest cycling race in the world, the Tour de France takes place in France every year. Cyclists race in stages around the country until they reach the final stage in Paris.
There are also sports unique to France, such as Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. or Check your connection, refresh the page and try again., played in parks, where you roll metal balls to get the closest to the jack.
Places in the city
Garret also enjoys exploring the city. Can you think of some of the places he talks about in the video?
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | the cafes |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | the flea market |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | the museum |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | the small shops |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | the restaurants |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | the theatre |
How to buy something in French
Garret looks around the flea market and buys a bracelet. Did you notice what he said to the stallholder?
You could use some of the phrases that Garrett uses to buy something in French:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. – Excuse me
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. – How much is it please?
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. – It’s five euros
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. – I want to buy it
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. – Thank you very much
Key French words
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | crêpes |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | my two cats |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | my mother |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | my dad |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | the breakfast |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | the beach |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | fast |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | my sister |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | the bike |
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