Learn French Through Song
🇫🇷 Au Café à Paris
Because language learning should feel like sitting in a sunny Parisian café. ☀️☕
Watch the full video lesson
🎧 Listen to the song on its own
Le premier couplet
(The first verse)
The song begins with:
Bonjour, bonjour, une table pour moi.
Let’s break that down:
bonjour - hello
une table - a table
pour moi - for me
So it means: “Hello, hello, a table for me.” Marie is simply asking for a table in a Parisian café.
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Marie then goes on to talk about the waiter. She says:
Le serveur est sympa.
The waiter is nice.
You already know est (is) and sympa (nice) from Course 1, but le serveur may be new. There are actually a couple of ways to say “waiter” in French:
le serveur - the waiter (✅ most common today)
le garçon - the waiter (❌ old-fashioned, literally “boy”)
Garçon is still understood, but nowadays it's considered quite outdated, so it’s much better to stick with serveur.
The waiter shows her to a table and says:
Ici ? - Here?
Voilà - Here you go
Ici ? - Here?
Voilà - Here you go
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🪄 A quick note on voilà
Voilà is one of those little French words that seems simple but carries a whole world of meaning. It comes from an old French phrase meaning “see there”, but today it’s used all the time in all sorts of situations.
Examples:
voilà un café - here's a coffee
voilà le menu - here's the menu
et voilà - and there you go / that's that
Examples:
voilà un café - here's a coffee
voilà le menu - here's the menu
et voilà - and there you go / that's that
🎶 Le refrain - The chorus
Au café, à Paris. C’est parfait, c’est la vie.
This means:
At the café, in Paris. It’s perfect, this is the life.
This means:
At the café, in Paris. It’s perfect, this is the life.
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🇫🇷 C’est la vie
C’est la vie is a very common expression in French. It literally means “that’s life”, but it can be used in both positive and negative ways..
In a negative tone:
Mon train est annulé. C’est la vie.
My train has been cancelled. Oh well, that’s life.
Il a oublié mon anniversaire. C’est la vie.
He forgot my birthday. That’s life.
In a positive, life-is-good tone:
Un bon repas entre amis... c’est la vie.
A good meal with friends... this is the life.
Le café chaud... c’est la vie.
Warm coffee… this is the life.
In a more obviously positive way, French speakers sometimes say c’est la belle vie – “it’s the good life” – but that wouldn’t fit the rhythm of the song.
In a negative tone:
Mon train est annulé. C’est la vie.
My train has been cancelled. Oh well, that’s life.
Il a oublié mon anniversaire. C’est la vie.
He forgot my birthday. That’s life.
In a positive, life-is-good tone:
Un bon repas entre amis... c’est la vie.
A good meal with friends... this is the life.
Le café chaud... c’est la vie.
Warm coffee… this is the life.
In a more obviously positive way, French speakers sometimes say c’est la belle vie – “it’s the good life” – but that wouldn’t fit the rhythm of the song.
🌞 Du soleil dans l’air
The second line of the chorus is:
Un café, un éclair, et du soleil dans l’air.
A coffee, an éclair, and sunshine in the air.
Here are the new words:
du soleil - sunshine
dans - in
l’air - the air
Un café, un éclair, et du soleil dans l’air.
A coffee, an éclair, and sunshine in the air.
Here are the new words:
du soleil - sunshine
dans - in
l’air - the air
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☕ Le deuxième couplet
(The second verse)
Marie now places her order for the afternoon in the Parisian café. She says:
Je voudrais un café, la soupe de carottes. Un éclair au chocolat.
je voudrais - I would like
un café - a coffee
la soupe de carottes - the carrot soup
un éclair au chocolat - a chocolate éclair
If you've done 3 Minute French – Course 1, you’ll already know most of this.
Je voudrais un café, la soupe de carottes. Un éclair au chocolat.
je voudrais - I would like
un café - a coffee
la soupe de carottes - the carrot soup
un éclair au chocolat - a chocolate éclair
If you've done 3 Minute French – Course 1, you’ll already know most of this.
🥣 The “soupe de carottes” structure
In English, we’d say carrot soup, but in French, they flip it around and say soup of carrots → la soupe de carottes.
The little word de means “of”.
Here are some more examples of this “noun + de + ingredient” pattern:
la soupe de légumes - the vegetable soup
la soupe de tomates - the tomato soup
la soupe de poulet - the chicken soup
la soupe de poissons - the fish soup
la soupe de champignons - the mushroom soup
The little word de means “of”.
Here are some more examples of this “noun + de + ingredient” pattern:
la soupe de légumes - the vegetable soup
la soupe de tomates - the tomato soup
la soupe de poulet - the chicken soup
la soupe de poissons - the fish soup
la soupe de champignons - the mushroom soup
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🧃 The same structure with juices
You use de in the same way when talking about fruit juices (literally juice of apple, juice of lemon, etc).
le jus de pomme - the apple juice
le jus de raisin - the grape juice
le jus de citron - the lemon juice
le jus de tomate - the tomato juice
le jus d’orange - the orange juice
Notice how de becomes d’ in front of a vowel → jus d’orange.
le jus de pomme - the apple juice
le jus de raisin - the grape juice
le jus de citron - the lemon juice
le jus de tomate - the tomato juice
le jus d’orange - the orange juice
Notice how de becomes d’ in front of a vowel → jus d’orange.
⚡️ What is an éclair?
If you're not sure what a chocolate éclair is, you're missing out.
An éclair is a classic French pastry; it's light, elegant, and absolutely délicieux. It's made from choux pastry, filled with cream, and topped with chocolate.
Fun fact: the word éclair literally means lightning ⚡️
Some say it's because people eat it as fast as lightning.
An éclair is a classic French pastry; it's light, elegant, and absolutely délicieux. It's made from choux pastry, filled with cream, and topped with chocolate.
Fun fact: the word éclair literally means lightning ⚡️
Some say it's because people eat it as fast as lightning.
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🍫 Why is it un éclair au chocolat and not de chocolat?
Here’s the key difference:
✅ Use de when something is made of the ingredient
✅ Use à / au / à la / aux when the ingredient is added or flavoured
la soupe de carottes - the soup made of carrots
le jus de pommes - the juice made of apples
un éclair au chocolat - éclair with chocolate added
une glace à la vanille - vanilla-flavoured ice cream
un croissant au beurre - croissant with butter
une tarte aux pommes - apple tart
✅ Use de when something is made of the ingredient
✅ Use à / au / à la / aux when the ingredient is added or flavoured
la soupe de carottes - the soup made of carrots
le jus de pommes - the juice made of apples
un éclair au chocolat - éclair with chocolate added
une glace à la vanille - vanilla-flavoured ice cream
un croissant au beurre - croissant with butter
une tarte aux pommes - apple tart
la soupe de tomates
the tomato soup
(main ingredient is tomatoes)
la soupe à la tomate
the tomato-flavoured soup
(other ingredients may be present)
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