They fall in love in Paris without speaking each other’s language. So why don’t Miles Davis and Juliette Gréco build a life together?

In 1949, a concert at Salle Pleyel brings Miles and Juliette together. Follow their walks along the Seine, the contrast with a difficult dinner in New York, and his return to France to create the music for Ascenseur pour l’échafaud, starring Jeanne Moreau.

A story about love, recognition and the barriers between two worlds, told in slow French with French and English subtitles by Déborah at Feel Good French.

French conversation group
Would you like to discuss the episode in a small French conversation group? Join the waiting list here.

Expressions explained

• de fil en aiguille — one thing leads to another
• se heurter à — to come up against an obstacle
• porter tort à quelqu’un — to cause someone harm

If you want to say “Déborah, continue this series!”, follow the show, leave an honest rating and share your thoughts in the comments.

Chapters
00:00 Miles & Juliette: love without a shared language
01:00 Miles Davis arrives in Paris, 1949
01:40 A backstage encounter at Salle Pleyel
02:26 Juliette’s circle: Sartre and a different welcome
03:49 A difficult dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria
05:04 Back in France: Ascenseur pour l’échafaud
07:11 Sartre asks: why not marry?
08:22 Nina Simone and a question for you
09:22 Join the French conversation group

Music: “Cafe Regrette” by Asher Fulero; “The Jazz Messenger” by Vendla / Epidemic Sound.

Image attribution: “Parijs 1949” by René Defonseca / Family Defonseca; family archive Smiley Toerist. Cropped and animated; adapted image under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Source photograph | License

Learn French through the true story of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald on the French Riviera. In Saint-Raphaël in 1924, Scott works on The Great Gatsby while their marriage reaches a crisis. Years later, Zelda writes her own novel about their shared life—and Scott objects. How can two people live the same story and disagree over who may tell it?

In this episode of Extraordinary Lives in France, Déborah tells their story in slow, clear French for intermediate learners and francophiles.

Expressions to learn:

• marcher sur les plates-bandes de quelqu’un — to enter territory someone considers theirs

• avoir son mot à dire — to have a say

Want to discuss the episode in a small French conversation group? Join the interest list: https://tally.so/r/0Q4DqZ

#SlowFrench #LearnFrench #FrenchListeningPractice #FrenchPodcast #ScottFitzgerald #ZeldaFitzgerald #FrenchRiviera #movetofrance #FrenchStories

Jackie Kennedy wants to bring the Mona Lisa to the United States. Louvre curators fear the journey could damage it. How does a former student of French, with no elected office, help turn a dinner promise into a national art loan?

In this episode of Extraordinary Lives in France, follow Jackie from her year in Paris to her work at the White House, her friendship with André Malraux and the painting’s journey in 1962–63. Listen in clear, slow French, with useful expressions explained as the story unfolds and French and English subtitles in the video version.

Would you like to discuss this story in a small French conversation group? Join the interest list here: https://tally.so/r/0Q4DqZ

Expressions in this episode:

- la soif de connaissances — a thirst for knowledge

- le patrimoine — cultural heritage

- un prêt — a loan

If you enjoyed this episode, listen next to Julia Child’s story about the French meal that changed her life.

Photo credit: Mona Lisa photograph by Fred Romero, cropped for video, CC BY 2.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_Mona_Lisa_(31319341901).jpg | License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Other archival images: Wikimedia Commons, JFK Presidential Library and Museum, and Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Music: “Cafe Regrette” by Asher Fulero.

#JackieKennedy #SlowFrench #LearnFrench #FrenchListeningPractice