Myth or fact: Paris landmarks
Was the Eiffel Tower meant to be temporary? Was the Louvre always a museum? Is there a Statue of Liberty in Paris? Judge eight claims about Paris.
- A2
- 8 claims
- Vrai ou faux ?
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In short
Several surprising Paris facts are true: the Eiffel Tower (1889) was meant to stand for only twenty years, it gets slightly taller in summer heat, and a small Statue of Liberty stands on the Île aux Cygnes. The Louvre, though, began as a royal palace, not a museum.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learnRed watch out
Vrai ou faux ? Decide before you see the verdict.
The Eiffel Tower was built to stand for only 20 years.
La tour Eiffel devait être démontée.
VraiVrai. Built for the 1889 World's Fair, it had a 20-year permit. Its use for radio and science helped save it.
The Eiffel Tower is a few centimetres taller in summer.
Le métal se dilate avec la chaleur.
VraiVrai. Iron expands in the heat, so the top can rise by several centimetres on hot days.
The Louvre was built as a museum.
Le Louvre était un palais royal.
FauxFaux. It was a fortress, then a royal palace. It opened as a public museum in 1793, during the Revolution.
There is a Statue of Liberty in Paris.
Il y a une statue de la Liberté sur l'île aux Cygnes.
VraiVrai. A smaller copy stands on the Île aux Cygnes, near the Grenelle bridge. The original was a gift from France to the United States.
Paris has 20 arrondissements.
J'habite dans le 11e.
VraiVrai. They spiral out like a snail shell from the 1st, in the centre, to the 20th in the east.
The Arc de Triomphe is at the top of the Champs-Élysées.
L'Arc de Triomphe, place Charles-de-Gaulle
VraiVrai. It stands at the western end, on the place Charles-de-Gaulle (formerly l'Étoile), where twelve avenues meet.
Montmartre has always been part of Paris.
Montmartre était un village.
FauxFaux. It was a separate village with vineyards and windmills until it joined Paris in 1860. A small vineyard still survives.
The Seine flows through Paris from west to east.
La Seine traverse Paris.
FauxFaux. It enters from the south-east and leaves to the south-west, flowing on to the sea at Le Havre.
What to take away
Parisians locate everything by arrondissement: j'habite dans le 11e, un resto dans le 5e. The last two digits of a Paris postcode give it away: 75011 is the 11th.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| un monument | a landmark |
| construire | to build |
| démonter | to take down |
| la rive gauche / droite | the left / right bank |
- J'habite dans le onze arrondissement.J'habite dans le 11e (onzième).
Use the ordinal: onzième.
- la Tour Eiffel est construite en 1889la tour Eiffel a été construite en 1889
Past passive: a été construite.