Happy Valentine’s!

Today most people celebrate Valentine’s Day but in 1970’s France it was still quite rare. Not everyone knew what it was. To mark the day, INA shared an old report featuring  street interviews of young and older men. I wonder why no women feature in the report. Maybe it was considered unseemly? But then, the reporter was female…

Anyway, the video is interesting! It allows for a bit of time travelling and the soundtrack features some old love songs. My favourite is Brassens’ song Les amoureux des bancs publics

Here is some vocabulary:

St Valentin: Valentine’s day
Amour: love
Etre amoureux: to be in love
Amoureu(x): lover(s)
Cœur: heart
Célibataire: single
Se marier: to get married
Fêter: to celebrate
Fleurs: flowers