Waves In Paris – Le Métro Is Flooded! Posted by John Bauer on Jul 19, 2017 in Culture
Un orage (a thunderstorm) passed through Paris recently and caused quite a stir. All the rain from l’orage created des inondations (floods) all over Paris, but for many people it was most notable sur le métro (on the subway)!
Photo by byothe on Pixabay. Public Domain.
La Seine is no stranger to la crue (flooding) and has seen many impressive storms in its history, but les inondations still took Parisians by surprise. For many people trying to make their way through la Ville Lumière (the City of Light) it was strange to see their usually route flooded!
One way to see what les Parisiens thought of les inondations is to hop on les réseaux sociaux (social media). Many Parisiens were quick to make jokes about le temps (the weather) and le hashtag #orage (#storm) took over Twitter as people all over Paris reacted to les inondations.
Les blagues (jokes) people were making are not only funny, they’re also a fun way to learn new vocabulary! However, when you’re on les réseaux sociaux it can sometimes be hard to understand everything. People tend to write in a less formal way, often making mistakes and sometimes using le langage SMS.
To help make it easier, here are some fun Tweets about les inondations with translations and explanations when needed:
En fait l’Île-de-France est en train de devenir une île pour de bon 😶. #orage #paris
— Antoine Léaument (@ALeaument) 9 juillet 2017
Île-de-France is actualy becoming an island for real 😶. #storm #paris
Île-de-France litterally means Island of France, which refers to the greater Paris region which is not normally an island.
Ça va trop loin Paris-plage cette année #ratp #ParisPlage #metro #Orage #Paris pic.twitter.com/AOn8rjEEMe
— doudou Jackson (@doudoujackson) 9 juillet 2017
Paris-Beach has gone too far this year #ratp #ParisBeach #subway #Storm #Paris
Paris-Plages is a city initiative to create une plage (a beach) on the banks of la Seine. RATP stands for Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (Autonomous Operator of Parisian Transports) and is the public transport operator for Paris.
Quand le Pass Navigo prends tout son sens …#orage #paris pic.twitter.com/pKAv73MPXP
— Jarjayes (@Jarjayes) 9 juillet 2017
Le passe Navigo (the Navigo pass) is the subway card for Paris. La blague is how Navigo gets its name from the word navigation (boating, sailing).
Sympa la nouvelle sonerie #orage qui vient de réveiller tout Paris, plus besoin de smartphone.
— Benjamin Cornu (@Poufy__GB) 10 juillet 2017
Nice the new #storm ringtone that just woke up all of Paris, no more need for a smartphone.
Qd tu penses être épargné par les inondations dans ta région, elles arrivent par vagues de tweets des Parisiens.#orage #inondations #Paris
— John Doe 🔨 (@John_OhDaeSu) 10 juillet 2017
When you think you’ve been saved from the floods in your region, they come in tweet waves from Parisians.#storm #floods #Paris
I found these Tweets on le site web (the web site), Demotivateur (demotivator). L’article (the article) is in French, but if you’re up to the challenge you can try to read more of les tweets amusants (the funny Tweets) here: Les 20 meilleures réactions de Twitter après les inondations dans le métro parisien.
La canicule and les orages are a part of summer, but hopefully there wont be any more inondations this summer!
Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.
About the Author: John Bauer
John Bauer is an enthusiast for all things language and travel. He currently lives in France where he's doing his Master's. John came to France four years ago knowing nothing about the language or the country, but through all the mistakes over the years, he's started figuring things out.