Les Galeries Lafayette
French Listening Comprehension
Study Guide
Take a look at the following for help with any vocabulary that you might not
have understood in Les Galeries Lafayette, then take
the test.
| Vocabulary | |
| un atelier | workshop |
| croquer | to sketch (also, to squander, to crunch) |
| un défi | challenge |
| la dentelle | lace |
| le fouillis | muddle, jumble |
| gérer | to manage, run |
| le goût | taste |
| la griffe | maker's label |
| une marque | brand |
| la mode | fashion |
| une vitrine | store window, display cabinet |
| Notes | |
| The Galeries Lafayette store was designed in 1908 by the architect Georges Chedanne, well-known for his luxury hotels in Monte Carlo and elsewhere. Two years later Chedanne's pupil Ferdinand Chanut took over the planning of the interior, with its famous cupola and staircase. The original staircase was removed in 1974 to create more space (despite what the text here says). The whole has been vastly expanded and, with its rival and neighbor, Printemps, now covers a long section of the Boulevard Haussmann behind the Paris Opéra. Though the four lanes of traffic rushing by in front somewhat undermine the magisterial effect, the Galeries Lafayette remains a great Paris institution, and a proud international success story, too, with outposts in Moscow (the old G.U.M. store), Tokyo, Berlin, Beijing, and New York. | |
| Les Galeries Lafayette French Listening Comprehension Exercise |
||||
| Listen | Study | Test | ||
| Transcript Translation | ||||
| Sound files and transcript
were
originally published in Champs-Élysées audiomagazine (read my review) and are used with the permission of Champs-Élysées, Inc. |
||||
| Listening Index French Dictionaries | ||||
The free, twice-weekly About French newsletter keeps you informed about changes to this site, including new lessons, articles, and forum discussions. Subscribe today!
|
