The Earful Tower: Paris

This episode has three segments:  First, it's our look at five interesting habits of the Bretons.  Second, we review the stunning town of Vannes, Brittany.  Third, we tell the story of getting chased by what may have been a wolf through a small Breton village. *********** The Earful Tower exists thanks to support from its Patreon members. From $10 a month you can unlock almost endless extras inclu...

Hello, we're two weeks into  the honeymoon season  of The Earful Tower and my wife and I are currently in the small village of Plédran in Brittany. We've driven 800 kilometres on the scooter and we've seen more than we can remember. Since the last episode , we've stayed near Deauville, on Normandy farms, and near D-Day beaches, before passing through the top half of Brittany. Now that our time in...

Hello, we're one week into the honeymoon season of The Earful Tower and my wife and I are currently in the small coastal village of Courcelles-sur-Mer in Normandy. We've driven 400 kilometres on the scooter and we've seen a lot, staying in Chantilly, Pacy-sur-Eure, Bernay, and Saint Hymer before arriving on these northern beaches. Here's what we've learned so far about the French countryside and t...

  It's Monday, it's (still) Paris, and the honeymoon is about to begin! Welcome to season four of The Earful Tower, here's an episode laying it all out, playing brand new music from Slim and the Beast (written specifically for this honeymoon trip), and explaining the exciting details for the first leg of the trip.  The song in the episode was Go For a Ride by Slim and the Beast, to stream and purc...

Hi guys, it's the off-season here and I'm off getting ready to be married, so I'm looking back to the most popular episode ever from The Earful Tower.  You'll hear the voice of myself and my old co-host James as we tackle the best of the best French words with the help of 24 guests! Enjoy.  And read the full list here . *********** The Earful Tower exists thanks to support from its Patreon members...

It's the season three finale so I figured we'd get a little introspective. So, I've brought back the star of last season's Finding Mary episode - Eddie Gee my little brother. He co-hosts our chat about the past, present,   and the future of this very podcast, and there's a surprise guest at the end. Who could it be? *********** The Earful Tower exists thanks to support from its Patreon members. Fr...

This week it's comedian Sebastian Marx, discussing the French language, performing comedy in French (even though he's an American), and of course, Paris.  Join us for the 30-minute chat, and consider signing up as a flaneur on Patreon to see our 50-minute Walk Show on the Grands Boulevards of Paris (where we ended up on the stage of a local theatre). And last, but not least, Happy Birthday Seb!! H...

Hello! This week it's Michael Huffman in the studio talking about chocolate. He's the brains and the tastebuds behind the Paris Chocolate Guru,  a group that does chocolate walking and tasting tours in Paris.  We discuss where to find the best chocolate in Paris, what kind of chocolate to bring to a French dinner party, and Michael gets into detail about why chocolate is just as interesting as cof...

The list of the top ten things to see in Paris,  according to the city's Official Visitors Bureau , is fantastic…. but it's a bit  obvious . The Louvre, the Opera Garnier etc etc. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, it's an  iconic  list of things to see. But for your second trip to Paris (or maybe your third), here are some  real pearls  that you should look for instead. Today's guest: Amber Minogue, whose n...

Hi guys, Today's episode is an interview with The Reverend Michelle Wahila, a New Yorker who has called Paris home for six years. Perhaps better known by the moniker Ruffled By Grace , she whips around Paris in lace and Converse sneakers giving blessings to people who want to live out their dreams of a wedding in the City of Light. She was in The Earful Tower studio to discuss just why people are...

Did you know Paris is home to a massive cemetery called Pere Lachaise, where all kinds of famous and interesting people are buried? Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde… and about a million more. And it's the most visited cemetery in the world with 3.5 million people checking it out annually. Anyway, today's guest, Joe Start, has written a book on Père Lachaise and it's called The Chairfather - a...

This week, I'm going to take you on a journey around my newest obsession in Paris - The Philippe Auguste Wall. This wall circled the city 800 years ago, and was gradually torn down, built over, and swallowed up by Paris as the city expanded upwards and outwards - with the wall never to be seen again. Or was it… Unbelievably, some relics, some vestiges of this ancient wall have remained intact, man...

This week's podcast episode is with YouTube superstar Geraldine from Comme Une Francaise . We discuss over 30 minutes the following five points, not to mention a little about where she lives in Grenoble, why she calls her channel Comme Une Francaise, and I retell the story about how I accidentally called all the French guys "My darling" when I moved to France. Here are the mistakes you're probably...

This week it's award-winning author Cara Black, best known for her "Murder in…" Paris series. There's Murder in the Marais, Murder in Belleville… and murders in all but two of the other arrondissements. Anyway, in this podcast episode we spoke about everything from how Cara meets with cops in Paris for research, to why paying in euros 'isn't sexy', and to what Julius Caesar's Paris blog would be a...

Hi guys,  It's quite the episode today - we've got Stefanie Kouatchet from the city hunt company  Paris in Action revealing some of her favourite stories about Paris.  Each of these places are linked to a place in Paris you may have walked past a million times without ever knowing the stories behind them. Featuring: The 'Spiderman' who stole five paintings from the Museum of Modern Art The Paris M...

This week we have Ben and Adeline, the brains behind a new French-learning company called Ilini , and they share some truly interesting things about the French language. This is an episode for you language lovers and language learners out there. Oh yes, and Ilini is a website that helps you learn real life French via videos that are a mix of entertainment and news. Check it out if you want to impr...

This week we're talking all about music and the guest is Bonnie Brown, an Australian concert pianist based in Paris. We talk about everything from life with a piano in your Paris apartment, to how French pupils study classical music in France. We also take about Bonnie's upcoming (free!) concert at the Australian embassy on June 3rd. And at the end, we have Lina in the studio talking about the dev...

What is France's place in Europe? This week I've got fellow podcasters Katy and Dominic from The Europeans Podcast and we're talking about France's place in Europe. So how does the rest of Europe look at France? How important is France? And what have we got to look forward to in France? We also, of course, talk about their podcast. At the end of the episode, Lina is back in the studio to talk abou...

Imagine travelling around the entire country of France on the back of a scooter for your honeymoon.  Crazy, huh? That's what today's guests plan to do in August this year - to ride around France in a big love-heart shape to celebrate their honeymoon.  Oh yes, and the guests are me, your host, and my soon-to-be-wife Lina.  Here's what you can expect for season four of The Earful Tower - the Honeymo...

Hi guys, Here's the first ever LIVE podcast episode for The Earful Tower . Here's what you missed if you didn't tune in on Facebook or the radio station for the actual live event. And here are all the links you need below for more info on the guests. The guests: Amber and Sarah on raising French kids and their new comedy  Becoming Maman . Tour guide April Pett talking about a crazy animal-related...

Hi guys! Let's get something straight. I have no idea why you'd want to annoy a French person. I wouldn't. I love French people.  But perhaps you want to know how to avoid annoying them. In that case, here are a few of the things you shouldn't say if you meet a French person, according to Veronique from the hit blog French Girl in Seattle .  Enjoy the episode, and please consider supporting The Ea...

Earful Tower listeners! Thanks for a record-breaking month in March - why not celebrate with a cocktail or ten? Here are the ten best speakeasies in Paris according to cocktail queen and return guest Forest Collins.  If you're only here for info and no discussion, skip straight to the nine-minute mark, or just check the full list of bars on The Earful Tower's website here.  And email me at oliver@...

This week we've got Guy Griffin in the studio talking about hipsters, coffee, and Paris.  He's the man behind Cafe Oberkampf and Cafe Mericourt in the trendy 11th arrondissement. Check those coffee shops out right now. Some may say Guy is a hipster himself, so who better to discuss hipsters and how they're changing Paris? Guy hung around for a Walk Show after the episode, which you can watch if yo...

If you've not heard of His Excellence the Australian Ambassador Brendan Berne (or 'Bernie' to his mates), you missed him going viral in December.  Yes, his proposal to his partner was the talk of the town and made headlines around the world (watch it here ).  Now, three months on, The Earful Tower heads to the scene of the video - the ambassador's residence on top of the embassy - to talk about th...

How well do you speak French? If you're anything like me, you could probably use some improvement. This week's guest is Camille Chevalier-Karfis, the founder of the French Today website, which teaches both traditional and modern French. She talks about some simple tricks for how to improve your French speaking. In fact, she gives five simple tips.  Regular listeners might remember Camille from Sea...