Le Luxe, c'est quoi ?

Walking the Camino

Louis Boyle, veteran of several trips along the world renowned pilgrimage route through France and on to Santiago in Spain, was the speaker for our December talk.  We learned early on that others too had walked various stages and there was an interesting exchange of tips and suggestions for those who might be considering following in their footsteps.

Louis began with a brief history of the pilgrimage route and then took us to St Jean Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees.  Using a series of photos he conveyed both the sense of challenge and the camaraderie experienced by the walkers.  In the photos it was clear that Louis was travelling light while others seemed to be very heavily burdened.

He explained the importance of documentation for those taking part as well as the need to be organised.  Finding someplace to stay was a priority and Louis noted that some of his French fellow-travellers booked ahead.  He on the other hand found that if he set out early enough in the morning, around 7am, he could arrive in time for lunch, find lodgings, get laundry done and settle in for the evening in time for curfew at 10pm.  He had some amusing albergue anecdotes of staying in the pilgrim only hostels.

Louis displayed items associated with his camino walk.  He drew particular attention to his camino passport, needed for food and lodging en route, his compostella - authentication that he had completed the journey to Santiago and the iconic scallop shell worn as a badge by pilgrims and named after Saint Iago/James/Jacques.

Louis told us that he's off again next year to follow a feeder route starting at the medieval town of Le-Puy-En-Velay in the Auvergne.
We'll follow his journey with interest.
Merci Louis !

Bulletin mensuel: décembre

Chers Amis,
The next meeting of the Cercle Français de Belfast will be …
on mercredi  9 décembre 2015 à 19h.30 
in the Dark Horse Coffee House, 
30-34, Hill Street Belfast BT1 2LB

Topic: Walking the French Camino 
Speaker: Louis BOYLE 

This meeting of our cercle is the first since the attacks in Paris on 13
November and organisers have allocated time before the talk to acknowledge
those tragic events. There will be a short presentation, followed by une
minute de silence. In addition, for members wishing to express sympathy
there will be a Livre de condoléances which will be forwarded to the
French Embassy.

Our evening then returns to our scheduled programme with Louis BOYLE
sharing his experiences of Walking the French Camino. Through a mixture
of slides and anecdotes, Louis will provide suggestions for those who have
been considering setting foot on this world-renowned pilgrimage route...

Cafefrancophilo 16 decembre 2015
La prochaine réunion du caféfrancophilo aura lieu le 16 décembre 2015 au
Dark Horse Coffee House, Belfast 
à partir de 19h.30
Thème: Le Luxe, c'est quoi?
Animatrice: Isabelle Chaboud

Following the successful and very enjoyable caféfrancophilo in
October, another evening of French conversation and chat in the friendly
atmosphere of the Dark Horse Café takes place on 16th December. This time
the motion for discussion is 'Le luxe, c'est quoi?'. Our animatrice for the
evening Isabelle Chaboud will introduce the topic and invite folk to share
their ideas on what they feel constitutes luxury.

Dance Workshop and Bal Folk 12th December 2015

Bal Feirste will be holding their monthly session ...
on Saturday 12th December
from 17.30 until 20.00 in Upstairs Madden's, Berry St, Belfast.

In the workshop (17.30 – 18.00) you will have a chance to learn the Mazurka
(a popular dance of France) and An Dro (from Brittany). Then in the Bal
you can put what you have learned into practice.


La Fête des Rois
This time La Fête des Rois falls on 6th January. This is one of the most
popular events in our programme and this year, as last year, to keep within
the legal capacity of the Dark Horse Café and to ensure that everyone has a
good time, attendance will be limited to those who register in advance.
Watch out for an email with full details arriving in your Inbox soon.

Looking forward to seeing you in the Dark Horse Café in December.


À bientôt, Philip

Paris: Condoléances

Courtesy: Àine MacParland

Members of our cercle français have been in touch to express their support and sympathy for those affected by the Paris attacks of last Friday.  Some recalled our January post, highlighting the words of a song, to affirm that Paris sera toujours Paris .

While many followed and shared updates on social media others used the platforms to convey their own reactions.  Two of those are posted here: the picture above from Àine, who provided our art talk last December, and this heart-felt piece in both French and English from our frequent contributor, Hélène.….. 

Hier soir, alors que je découvrais l’horreur des attaques à Paris et au Grand Stade, je suis tombée sur des commentaires de lecteurs disant que la France n’existait plus, qu’il fallait quitter le navire avant qu’il ne soit trop tard, des messages pessimistes et défaitistes. Au-delà de l’horreur, je découvrais une France qui avait peur. Et puis petit à petit, j’ai lu des nouvelles avec une lueur d’espoir, des récits héroïques sans héros, des histoires de personnes qui ouvraient leurs portes à ceux qui venaient d’être témoins du pire que l’espèce humaine puisse faire, des chauffeurs de taxi qui emmenaient les gens loin de la violence sans les faire payer, des personnes qui allaient au secours d’autres sans penser une seconde qu’ils risquaient leur vie, des personnes hissant de parfaits inconnus sur le toit du Bataclan… Hier soir, malgré l’horreur, au-delà de la violence et de l’horreur humaine, j’ai reconnu la France dont je suis fière, celle où nous restons unis et solidaires et plus forts que les ténèbres.

VIVE LA FRANCE !

#fieredetrefrancaise #notafraid

Last night, as I was discovering the sheer horror of the attacks in Paris, I came across comments about France not being France anymore, about people fleeing away from a sinking ship, messages full of pessimism and defeatism. Beyond the horror, I discovered a country that was scared. Then gradually, as I continued reading, I saw a glimmer of hope through heroic stories with unlikely heroes, stories of Parisians opening their doors to welcome people who had just witnessed the worst thing humans can do to each other, taxi drivers ferrying people away from the violence and not charging them, people rescuing others without thinking that they could lose their own lives, people lifting complete strangers onto the roof of Le Bataclan… Last night, despite the horror, beyond the violence and the horror of humankind, I recognised the France I am proud of, the one where we are united and standing together, stronger than darkness. 

VIVE LA FRANCE!

#proudtobefrench #notafraid

....

Nos plus sincères condoléances. 

.......

Note:  A minute's silence was observed today in Belfast, reported here by BBC Northern Ireland, and a book of condolence for those killed and injured was also opened at Belfast City Hall. The French Embassy in Dublin has offered people the opportunity to e-mail messages of condolence to jesuisparisireland@gmail.com which will then be published online on this dedicated page of its site.

Bulletin mensuel: novembre 2015

In addition to our monthly meeting, November sees a number of events with a French theme taking place in Belfast including a book launch, a Film Festival and of course Bal Feirste's regular session of French music and dance.

The next meeting of the Cercle Français de Belfast will be …

on Mercredi 11 novembre 2015 à 19h.30

in Dark Horse Coffee House,

30-34, Hill Street Belfast BT1 2LB (Directions attached)

Verdun: Devoir de mémoire Nos ADHÉRENTS

It is almost 100 years since the battle of Verdun. In this exploration of War and Memory members of the cercle share their reflections of this devastating event.

New Novel Links Belfast and France

'Snugville Street' by Angeline Kelly is a novel about a French exchange set in the Shankill.

Angeline studied French at university and when she took a career break in January to try to do some writing, her experiences of France were immediately put at the heart of her novel. 'Snugville Street' is a family drama that revolves around a French exchange. It's happy and sad, and layered with themes of identity and language as it moves from Snugville Street in the Shankill to Paimpol in Brittany. So far, the book has had great reviews. 'Snugville Street' will have its Belfast book launch in the Shankill Road Library on Thursday 19th November at 6.30pm.

A Feast of French Films at QFT.

This month QFT welcomes the 23^rd French Film Festival – the only festival of Francophone Films in the UK. QFT will be screening seven films ….

Fri 6 Nov, 9.10pm

Un Homme idéal

A Perfect Man

Dir: Yann Gozlan • France • 2015 • 1 Hr 37 Mins

Subtitled • Age: 15+

Sun 8 Nov, 7.30pm

Comme un avion

The Sweet Escape

Dir: Bruno Podalydès • France • 2015 • 1 Hr 45 Mins

Subtitled • Age: 12+

Fri 13 Nov, 6.30pm

La Tête haute

Standing Tall

Dir: Emmanuelle Bercot • France • 2015 • 1 Hr 58 Mins

Subtitled • Age: 15+

Sat 14 Nov, 8.10pm

Journal d’une femme de chambre

Diary Of A Chambermaid

Dir: Benoît Jacquot • France/Belgium • 2015 • 1 Hr 36 Mins

Subtitled • Age: 18+

Thurs 19 Nov, 6.30pm

Microbe et Gasoil

Microbe & Gasoline

Dir: Michel Gondry • France • 2015 • 1 Hr 43 Mins

Subtitled

Sat 21 Nov, 3.40pm

Le Grand Bleu

The Big Blue

Dir: Luc Besson • France/Usa/Italy • 1988

2 Hrs 18 Mins • Subtitled

Thurs 26 Nov, 8.35pm

Mon Roi

My King

Dir: Maïwenn • France • 2015 • 2 Hrs 8 Mins • Subtitled • Age: 18+

In addition as part of their normal programme Qft is showing …

Belle De Jour

Tues 10 Nov, 8.30pm

Dir: Luis Buñuel • Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel • France/Italy • 1967

1 Hr 40 Mins • Subtitled

For full details of these and QFT's programme for November click here.

The monthly Bal organised by Bal Feirste will take place …

on Saturday 14^th November 2015

Upstairs in Maddens Bar, Berry St, Belfast.

Following the new formate there will be a 30 minute dance workshop at 5.30pm (a chance to learn the steps) followed by dancing from 6-8pm.

Looking forward to seeing you in the Dark Horse Café on Wednesday 11^thNovember.

À bientôt, Philip

Caféfrancophilo Les objets qui vous tiennent à cœur 14 octobre 2015

Please note:

The caféfrancophilo on the theme of: Le Luxe, c’est quoi?

with Isabelle CHABOUD will now take place on Wednesday 16 December 2015 in The Dark Horse Coffee House at 7.30pm

La Nouvelle Vague: Solène GUICHARD: 7 octobre 2015

This evening's presentation on La Nouvelle Vague, given by Solène GUICHARD, drew a large attendance of around 40 people with many new faces at this the first talk of the cercle's new season.

Solène prefaced her presentation with a slide of an important building in Paris inviting her audience to say where it was.  Having been there back in 2012 for a memorable exhibition of Tim Burton's work I ventured La cinemathèque française. Yes it was, but what I didn't know was that it was so influential an institution among film makers that without it there would have been no Nouvelle Vague.

As a concession to her large audience that included francophile as well as francophone participants, Solène switched effortlessly between French and English to introduce key directors and artists associated with the genre.

Next she engaged in an étude comparative between two films (Renoir, 1939 and Resnais, 1959) showing very effectively how the cinematic styles differed from one another: inside/outside; large crew/small crew; much/little equipment; famous/unknown lead actors and the differing reliance on character and text.  In a most interesting segment on the Resnais film, Hiroshima Mon Amour, she talked about le cinèma littéraire highlighting the screenplay for the film which had been written by Marguerite Duras.

Solène's talk moved to focus on what for her were les deux plus grands films de la Nouvelle Vague: François Truffaut's Les 400 Coups (1959) and Jean-Luc Godard's À Bout de Souffle (1959).  It was clear from audience comments that many listening considered these to be among their favourite films also.  Solène concluded with a quote from Jean-Luc Godard, "All you need for a movie is a gun and a girl !"  which provoked a lively exchange of questions and answers that probably could have gone on for quite some time, and certainly beyond our appointed finishing time, had our own film enthusiast, Philip, not stepped into director mode with his Lumières ! Caméra ! On tourne ! and brought proceedings to a close with rounds of audience appreciation for an excellent talk.

Solène. Un très grand merci !