Dans le passé, St. Etienne était une ville minière. Les mines étaient très importantes pour l’industrie et l’économie française. Pendant les années quatre-vingts il y avait un grand problème. Les mines étaient épuisées, donc elles étaient fermées et les mineurs étaient au chômage. La vie était très dure pour la ville et les Stéphanois. Les Stéphanois étaient très pauvres.

Le Musée d’Art Moderne est le second plus grand musée en France et il y a des milliers de très belles images des peintres très célèbres.

En ville, il y a le tramway original. Les trams vont à toutes les banlieues. C’est un système qui est rapide, propre et pas cher. Les Stéphanois sont très fiers de leurs trams « classiques ».

Les Stéphanois sont aussi très fiers de leur fameuse équipe de foot, qui est surnommée « les Verts » à cause de leur uniforme. Les Verts sont très forts.

Saint Etienne est vraiment une ville pour les grands sportifs car il y a des patinoires, des stades, des gymnases, des piscines et des centres sportifs. On peut faire des randonnées à la montagne, ou des sports aquatiques à la Loire. En hiver, parce que la ville est à la montagne, il fait froid et il neige et on peut y faire du ski du fond.

Version anglaise

In the past, St. Etienne was a coal mining town, and mining was a very important industry for the French economy. During the 1980s, there was a big problem, as the coal in the mines became exhausted. So they were shut down and the miners found themselves out of work. Life was hard for the town and the towns folk (who are called Les Stéphanois). They became very poor.

Many buildings became derelict as businesses, shops and other industries in the town died, along with the mine.

Today, St Etienne is still surrounded by slagheaps. A slagheap is where the rubbish mined with the coal is heaped.

However, the town has had a rebirth. There is an excellent underground Mining Museum which shows how hard life was for the miners. You can descend in the miners' cage and walk through the mine tunnels and shafts.

There is also the Museum of Modern Art which is the second biggest Modern Art Museum in France next to the Pompidou Museum in Paris. There are thousands of exhibits by famous artists.

In town, the original tramway still exists, with trams going to the suburbs. When most other towns in France dumped their trams in the 1950s in favour of petrol run buses, Les Stéphanois kept theirs. It's a system which is fast, clean and inexpensive. Les Stéphanois are very proud of their "classic" trams.

Les Stéphanois are also very proud of their famous football team which is nicknamed « les Verts » or The Greens because of the colour of their strip. Les Verts are a very strong team.

Saint Etienne is really a town for sports lovers, since there are skating rinks, sports stadia, gymnasiums, swimming pools and sporting centres. You can go bushwalking in the mountains, or do water sports in the Loire river. In winter, because the town is in the mountains, it's cold and snowy, so you can do cross country ski-ing.