When describing an abandoned ghost town (une ville fantôme), you will often need to point out the one thing that remains in the ruins.
To express "apart from," use the prepositional phrase à part.
| This village is isolated, apart from an old path. | Ce village est isolé, à part un vieux chemin. |
To say "except," use the preposition sauf. It functions very similarly to à part, letting you single out a specific detail in an otherwise empty space.
| While exploring, I see nothing except this cabin. | En explorant, je ne vois rien sauf cette cabane. |
Both à part and sauf are frequently paired with negative pronouns like rien (nothing) and personne (nobody) to emphasize that an area is completely deserted.
| Nothing is intact here, apart from a few wooden buildings. | Rien n'est intact ici, à part quelques bâtiments en bois. |
| Nobody lives here, except a raven that watches. | Personne n'habite ici, sauf un corbeau qui regarde. |
You will also see these prepositions used to contrast an exception against sweeping words like tout (everything). While they usually sit in the second half of a sentence, à part is also frequently placed at the very beginning to draw immediate attention to the exception.
| Everything is silent, except the boards that creak in the wind. | Tout est silencieux, sauf les planches qui grincent dans le vent. |
| Apart from this intact cabin, everything is rotting here. | À part cette cabane intacte, tout pourrit ici. |
