You are learning numbers and prices: you will read the scene it happens in, learn 10 words and phrases, take apart the pattern behind them (numbers and price vocabulary), hear them in a conversation, rehearse them, and finish by saying one thing out loud to be graded.
The fromager at the Marché d'Aligre, the wine merchant at the cave, the cheese stall at Raspail. Numbers and the price question unlock every Paris market transaction.
The Marché d'Aligre in the 12e arrondissement is the most Parisian of Paris markets — frequented almost entirely by locals, with prices that haven't adjusted for tourism. On Saturday mornings the covered halles section is packed with cheese, charcuterie, wine merchants, and a particular quality of noise that is entirely French.
The stranger stops at the fromager. The wheels of cheese are stacked on a table covered with hay. A man in his fifties with a white coat and extraordinarily efficient hands is cutting portions for three people at once.
«Bonjour ! C'est combien, le comté ?»
«Dix-huit euros le kilo. C'est un vingt-quatre mois — exceptionnel.»
«Je voudrais un petit morceau, comme ça.» He gestures. About 150 grams.
«Comme ça ?» The man's knife hovers. The stranger nods. «Oui, parfait.»
«Deux euros soixante-dix.» The stranger pays cash. «Merci ! Bonne journée !»