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Lesson 175 of 240

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Old streets and passageways in French

Sam and Inès are in Vieux Lyon this weekend. She leads him off the cobbles into a dark covered passageway, then into a quiet courtyard.

Silk workers once used these traboules to move between streets. Inès tells him that a little louder than she needs to.

By the end, you'll describe an old neighbourhood, ask to go through, and say it does not look like Paris.

Keep your voice down in the courtyard. The tall ochre buildings feel a long way from rue des Tilleuls.

By the end of this lesson

Describe an old neighbourhood and its history.

  • Ce quartier a des siècles d'histoire.This neighbourhood is centuries old.
  • Ces traboules reliaient les rues entre elles.These passageways used to link the streets together.
  • On peut traverser jusqu'à la cour ?Can we go through to the courtyard?
  • Il faut parler moins fort ici.We should keep our voices down here.
  • Les immeubles sont hauts et ocre.The buildings are tall and ochre.
  • Ça ne ressemble pas du tout à Paris.It doesn't look like Paris at all.

Scene — a dark doorway

Sam and Inès have left the TGV behind. They are in Vieux Lyon, on a steep cobbled street of tall ochre buildings.

Inès finds a dark doorway into a traboule. A quiet courtyard waits at the other end, with high walls and no Paris traffic.

Wide establishing view of a steep cobbled Vieux Lyon street of tall ochre buildings, with Inès at a dark traboule doorway and Sam small on the slope beside her.

Learn — old streets and traboules

Six lines help you talk about an old neighbourhood: its age, its passageways, and how it looks.

You'll also ask to go through, and keep your voice down in a quiet courtyard.

  1. Profile of Inès on the cobbles, one palm open toward the old ochre facades of the neighbourhood.

    Ce quartier a des siècles d'histoire.

    This neighbourhood is centuries old.

    When to use it: Say this when a neighbourhood looks old and has a long past.

    A here means has: the area has centuries of history, not is centuries.

  2. Over Sam's shoulder, Inès stands in the traboule doorway and points down the dim passage that once linked the streets.

    Ces traboules reliaient les rues entre elles.

    These passageways used to link the streets together.

    When to use it: Use this for what the passageways did over a long time.

    Reliaient is the past for a habit that lasted, not a single moment.

    Say it: The final t in reliaient is silent.

  3. Sam steps through the traboule doorway, one hand on the stone frame, peering through toward the courtyard, with Inès about to follow.

    On peut traverser jusqu'à la cour ?

    Can we go through to the courtyard?

    When to use it: Ask this before you walk through a building to a courtyard.

    On peut is the everyday we when you ask if something is allowed.

    Say it: Jusqu'à drops the e of jusque before à.

  4. Close-up of Sam's raised hand in a hush inside the dim traboule, with Inès's hand lowering nearby.

    Il faut parler moins fort ici.

    We should keep our voices down here.

    When to use it: Say this when a place is quiet and someone is too loud.

    Il faut plus a verb means we should, even when it is only a hint.

  5. Low-angle view of Sam in the courtyard, head tipped back toward the tall ochre buildings, with Inès standing aside.

    Les immeubles sont hauts et ocre.

    The buildings are tall and ochre.

    When to use it: Use this to describe tall ochre buildings on an old street.

    Hauts matches the buildings; ocre stays the same after et.

  6. A stone well and high ochre courtyard walls in the foreground, with Sam and Inès soft in the background as Sam turns to take in a place unlike Paris.

    Ça ne ressemble pas du tout à Paris.

    It doesn't look like Paris at all.

    When to use it: Say this when a place looks nothing like the city you know.

    Ne stays in this line; du tout makes the contrast stronger.

Story — her voice carries

Follow Inès and Sam into a traboule in Vieux Lyon, then out into a quiet courtyard.

The highlighted words are the lines you just learned. Turn on Show English if you need it.

  1. The cobbles of Vieux Lyon are steep. Inès stops at a dark doorway.
  2. InèsBon, on y est. Regarde.Right, we're here. Take a look.
  3. InèsCe quartier a des siècles d'histoire.This neighbourhood is centuries old.
  4. SamÇa ne ressemble pas du tout à Paris.It doesn't look like Paris at all.
  5. She pushes the door. A covered passage runs through the building.
  6. SamOn peut traverser jusqu'à la cour ?Can we go through to the courtyard?
  7. InèsVas-y, je te suis.Go ahead, I'm with you.
  8. Stone walls close in. Their steps echo.
  9. InèsCes traboules reliaient les rues entre elles.These passageways used to link the streets together.
  10. Her voice is a little too loud for the stone passage.
  11. InèsLes ouvriers de la soie passaient par là.The silk workers used to go through here.
  12. SamIl faut parler moins fort ici.We should keep our voices down here.
  13. InèsOui, pardon. Je m'emballe.Yes, sorry. I get carried away.
  14. They step into a quiet courtyard. High walls, a well, no street noise.
  15. SamC'est calme.It's quiet.
  16. InèsLes immeubles sont hauts et ocre.The buildings are tall and ochre.
  17. SamOui. Rien à voir avec le 11e.Yes. Nothing like the 11th.

Practice — through to the courtyard

Eleven quick exercises wait here. You'll listen, pick, match, fill a gap, and build a line.

They stay short, so you move from the passageway to the courtyard fast.

0 of 11 done

  1. What did you hear?

  2. Match the pairs

    French

    Ce quartier a des siècles d'histoire.Drop the English here
    Ces traboules reliaient les rues entre elles.Drop the English here
    Les immeubles sont hauts et ocre.Drop the English here

    English

    Drag an English line onto its French, or tap one and then the other.

  3. What do you say?

    You pause at a dark doorway. You want to walk through to the courtyard.

  4. Fill the gap

    These passageways used to link the streets together.

    Ces traboules ____ les rues entre elles.

  5. What does it mean?

    Les immeubles sont hauts et ocre.

  6. Pick the reply

    Inès says:

    Les ouvriers de la soie passaient par là.

    The silk workers used to go through here. Inès says this a little too loudly in the quiet passage. Tell her to speak more quietly.

    And you reply with:

  7. Build the line

    It doesn't look like Paris at all.

    .

    Tap the words in order.

  8. Swap the word

    The courtyard walls go up several floors and glow a warm yellow.

    Les immeubles sont ____ et ocre.

  9. What do you say?

    The traboule is narrow. Someone is coming the other way.

  10. Fill the gap

    It's quiet.

    C'est ____.

  11. What do you say?

    Inès waits at the dark door. Tell her to go ahead; you will follow.

Say it — walk it with her

Now you're Sam in Vieux Lyon. When it's your turn, tap the microphone and speak the line.

Tap ▶ first if you want to hear the line. Your recording stays on your device.

  1. InèsBon, on y est. Regarde.Right, we're here. Take a look.
  2. Sam (you)Tell her this neighbourhood is centuries old.

    Ce quartier a des siècles d'histoire.

    This neighbourhood is centuries old.

0 of 6 said

Recap — what you can say now

FrenchEnglish
Ce quartier a des siècles d'histoire.This neighbourhood is centuries old.
Ces traboules reliaient les rues entre elles.These passageways used to link the streets together.
On peut traverser jusqu'à la cour ?Can we go through to the courtyard?
Il faut parler moins fort ici.We should keep our voices down here.
Les immeubles sont hauts et ocre.The buildings are tall and ochre.
Ça ne ressemble pas du tout à Paris.It doesn't look like Paris at all.
Next: lesson 176The story grows

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Keep practicing with Yak Cards

Want to keep these neighbourhood lines handy? Grab the Yak Cards for this lesson and review them anywhere.

A quick round with the Yak Cards keeps the traboule lines ready for the next old street.

Open Yak Cards