Season 2, Episode 1

Welcome to our new series: 'Faits historiques macabres' (Gruesome historical facts). In this first episode, host Alexa (Learn French With Alexa) is joined by the lovely Satie and Liam, who learn more about 'La morgue de Paris', or the Paris morgue, while also strengthening their B1 French skills.

Join us on this journey where we practise our French listening skills, enhance our vocabulary and enrich our French cultural knowledge in fun, casual discussions!

Like these lessons? Why not subscribe to more content just like this with even MORE learning materials? The Complete French Course is 15% off for podcast listeners! Use the code "ALEXAPOD" at the checkout.

Objectifs

1. to improve your listening skills & general comprehension
2. to build vocabulary and develop sentence construction
3. to learn unusual facts about France

Niveau

B1 - niveau seuil (intermediate)

Transcription du texte

Au 19e siècle, la morgue de Paris, qui se trouvait à l’époque sur l’île de la Cité, près de la cathédrale Notre-Dame, était presque considérée comme une attraction touristique.
En effet, le lieu était ouvert au public dans le but d’identifier les corps inconnus retrouvés dans la rue ou dans la Seine. Les employés exposaient donc les cadavres derrière une grande vitre, et des milliers de personnes de tous âges (même les enfants !) venaient visiter cette morgue comme on visite un musée. En 1907, la ville a décidé de fermer cet endroit à cause des critiques, mais aussi des problèmes d’hygiène qu’il pouvait provoquer.

Question 1. Quel lieu les gens visitaient-ils sur l'île de la Cité au 19e siècle ?

Question 2. En quelle année cette « attraction touristique » a-t-elle fermé ?

Notes

The verbs highlighted in bold are in the imperfect tense. This tense is covered in detail in Lesson 23 of my Complete French Course, on https://learnfrenchwithalexa.com.

Réponses

Question 1. La morgue

Question 2. En 1907

Traduction

In the 19th century, the Paris morgue, which was located at the time on the Île de la Cité, near Notre-Dame Cathedral, was almost considered a tourist attraction. Indeed, the place was open to the public in order to identify bodies found on the streets or in the River Seine. The staff would display the corpses behind a large glass window, and thousands of people of all ages, even children, would come to visit the morgue like tourists. In 1907, the city decided to close the place because of criticism, but also because of the hygiene problems it could cause.

Question 1. What place did people visit on the Île de la Cité in the 19th century? The Paris morgue

Question 2. When did this “tourist attraction” close? In 1907