Let’s face it. French monuments and tourist spots are about as hard to say as they are beautiful. They invite enough faux pas to make Lady Marianne cringe or the nearest hipster Parisian to laugh quietly behind his beard.

I normally don’t share pronunciations in social media because I would rather have French learners get to know the correct method for pronunciation, but for this one, I’ll make an exemption.

Why, you ask?

Because we absolutely need to put an end to all the pronunciation massacres happening every single day. And of course, I want you to be able to say these French attractions correctly the next time you discuss it with your friends… or when you’re trying to be a French poser with your date.

Remember that this article is focused only on the pronunciations. The details about these top attractions are topics for other days.

So… Without much dawdling, here’s the list, with both phonetic and IPA pronunciations, for whichever method you prefer. (+ scroll down to the end of the article for a little surprise).

Learn the how to pronounce attractions and landmarks French names correctly!

1. La Tour Eiffel

/ lah toor eh-fehl /
[tuʁ‿ɛfɛl]

2. Notre Dame

/ no-tra dahm /
[nɔtʁə dam]

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3. Louvre

/ LOOV-ruh/
[luvʁ]

4. Arc de Triomphe

/ark-duh-tree-AWNF/
[aʁk də tʁijɔ̃f]

5. Champs-Elysées

/shah(n)-zay-lee-ZAY/
[ ʃɑ̃.ze.li.ze]

6. Tuileries

Photo credit: archer10 (Dennis) (63M Views) via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-SA

/tweel-ree/
[tɥilʁi]

7. Père-Lachaise

/pehr-la-shez/
[pɛːʁ laʃɛːz]

8. Sainte-Chapelle

Photo credit: 12thSonOfLama via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-SA

/sah(n)t sha-pehl/
[sɛ̃t ʃapɛl]

9. Palais Garnier

Photo credit: D-Stanley via Visualhunt / CC BY

/pah-le gahrn-ye/
[palɛ ɡaʁnje]

10. Fontainebleau

Photo credit: RoboSchro via Visualhunt / CC BY-NC-SA

/foh(n)-ten-bloo/
[fɔ̃tɛnblo]

11. Hôtel de Ville

/o-tel duh-veel/
[otɛl də vil]

12. les Invalides

/leh zhe(n) va-leed/
[lezɛ̃valid]

13. Panthéon

Via Wikimedia

/pa(n)tee-ohn/
[pɑ̃.te.ɔ̃]

14. Château de Chenonceaux

Via Wikimedia

/sha-to duh she-noh(n)-so/
[ʃa.to də ʃə.nɔ̃.so]

15. Basilique du Sacré-Coeur

/bah-zee-leek doo sah-kray-kohr/
[sakʁe kœʁ]

16. Musée d'Orsay

/myoo-seh dohr-seh/
[myze dɔʁsɛ]

17. Centre Georges Pompidou

Via Wikimedia

/saw(n)truh zhorzh pomp-ee-do/
[sɑ̃tʁ ʒɔʁʒ pɔ̃pidu]

18. Versailles

/vehr-sy/
[vɛʁsɑj]

19. Montmartre

Via Wikipedia

/moh(n)-mar-truh/
[mɔ̃.maʁtʁ]

20. Avignon

Via Wikimedia

/ah-vee-nyoh/
[a.viˈɲɔ̃]

Want to hear the spoken pronunciation of these tourist attractions? Make sure to subscribe to my newsletter to download the PDF with the MP3s to learn how to pronounce landmarks and attractions the right way.

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