Les vols au Louvre (The Louvre Thefts)

In this week's episode, host Alexa (Learn French With Alexa) and guests, Adam and Josh, dive deep into one of Paris's most famous museums and the most famous thefts! Adam and Josh share many fun facts about the Louvre so you'll improve both your B1 French listening and your Louvre knowledge.

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!

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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)

Texte

Il y a eu plusieurs vols célèbres au Louvre. Celui de la Joconde par exemple. En 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia, un vitrier italien qui avait déjà travaillé pour le musée, est venu au Louvre un jour de fermeture. Il portait son ancien uniforme de travail pour passer inaperçu et a simplement caché le tableau sous ses vêtements avant de sortir tranquillement. Arrêté deux ans plus tard, Perruggia a expliqué que pour lui l'œuvre devait retourner en Italie, son pays d'origine.

En octobre 2025, un autre cambriolage spectaculaire a secoué le musée. En quelques minutes seulement, quatre voleurs se sont introduits dans le musée grâce à un camion nacelle et ont dérobé 8 bijoux d'une valeur de 88 millions d'euros. Et si la couronne de l'impératrice Eugénie a été retrouvée, le reste, lui, s'est volatilisé.

Question 1. Pourquoi la Joconde peinte en 1503 a-t-elle été volée en 1911 ?

Question 2. Quel est le seul bijou qui a été retrouvé après le cambriolage de 2025 ?

Notes

Verbs used in this text are in past tenses: the imparfait (used to express habits in the past, to describe a situation or memories, or events which occurred over a period of time); the passé composé (used to express an action which is over), and the plus-que-parfait (used to express an action which occurred before another action in the past). These tenses are covered in Lessons 15, 23, and 34 of my Complete French Course.

Réponses

Question 1. Le voleur voulait la ramener en Italie, son pays d'origine.

Question 2. La couronne de l'impératrice Eugénie.

Traduction

There have been several famous thefts at the Louvre. That of the Mona Lisa, for example. In 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian glazier who had previously worked for the museum, came to the Louvre on a day when it was closed. He wore his old work uniform to blend in and simply hid the painting under his clothes before walking out calmly. Arrested two years later, Peruggia explained that, in his view, the painting belonged back in Italy, his country of origin.

In October 2025, another spectacular burglary shook the museum. In just a few minutes, four thieves broke into the museum using an aerial lift truck and stole eight pieces of jewellery worth 88 million euros. And while Empress Eugénie’s crown was recovered, the rest of the loot vanished without a trace.

Question 1. Why was the Mona Lisa stolen? The thief wanted to take it back to Italy, its country of origin.

Question 2. What is the only piece of jewellery that was recovered after the 2025 burglary? Empress Eugenie's crown.