18 avril 2016

Flamingos, fromage et Côtes du Rhône

Chers Amis,
The next meeting of the Cercle Français de Belfast will be …
on Mercredi 20 avril 2016 à 19h.30 in the Dark Horse Coffee House,
30-34, Hill Street Belfast BT1 2LB

Topic: Flamingos, fromage et Côtes du Rhône
Speaker: Julian Greenwood

While we still have our Assemblée générale on 11th May and our Annual Celebration Dinner on 18th May, April's meeting will be the last talk in the current programme and promises to be a very special event - not to be missed.  Julian, a noted ornithologist, takes us under his wing to share his specialist knowledge and enthusiasm for this beautiful region and he’ll be talking about more than just the wildlife.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Dark Horse Coffee House on Wednesday evening.
À bientôt,
Philip

11 avril 2016

Another great Festival.


Philip was in Dublin last weekend to attend the 17th Annual Franco-Irish Literary Festival.  This year the theme was Food for thought/Les mots à la bouche and 14 writers from France and Ireland reflected on this through a variety of readings, interviews and panel discussions.
Philip, who is now a veteran of these gatherings reports that it was another great festival!  You can get a "flavour" of proceedings and savour the programme at this link.


10 mars 2016

Camille CLAUDEL - an appreciation

We had a very well attended talk last night as not just one but four speakers presented an appreciation of sculptor, Camille Claudel


The main presentation was provided by Philip with Hélène and Claudine voicing the text of letters and other writings from Camille, mostly to Auguste Rodin. John who had recently arrived from Paris for a stay in his native Belfast provided the voice of Rodin.  Translations of the French were provided in English on screen.

The talk was longer than usual since as Camille herself wrote, "the events of my life would fill more than a novel".  It covered the early years of the Claudel family, Camille's formative years and relationship with Rodin. Her creativity was explored through pictures of her sculptures and several reference works had been assembled for browsing.  Quite a few participants had brought their own books and DVDs to recommend to colleagues.

The talk also charted Camille's troubled times, during which she destroyed many of her works, and her eventual confinement and death in an asylum.  However, not wishing to end on such a sad note, Philip talked about growing efforts over the years and particularly in recent times to share her work, noting, for example, a recent exhibition at the Rodin museum.

While acknowledging the sadness and isolation of her final years it was comforting to know that her legacy endures and reaches out to new audiences.

Thanks Philip, Hélène, Claudine and John for a memorable evening.

08 février 2016

James Joyce is alive and well and living in Paris

The next meeting of the cercle is this Wednesday evening at 7.30pm when we have as our theme James Joyce is alive and well and living in Paris...


Our speaker is Anne Taylor, who has led many tours in the footsteps of Joyce and his characters. This amply illustrated talk in English promises to be an informative and entertaining evening for fans of the writer and his work.  As usual the Dark Horse Coffee House in the Cathedral Quarter will make its own distinctive contribution by evoking a little of that 1920s Parisian atmosphere.

And you could contribute to the atmosphere also as we will extend a special bienvenue to anyone dressing in period style...

So please come along, bring a friend and by all means share news of the event.

See you there!


Co-ordinates:
Wednesday 10 February 2016 at 7.30pm
Dark Horse Coffee House, Cathedral Quarter, Belfast BT1 2LB





06 janvier 2016

Fête des rois 2016

Our annual bal musette to celebrate the Fête des rois took place on the sixth!
The now traditional blend of music and dance, provided by Bal Feirste, got everyone into party mood.  This band of musicians and dancers have been sharing their passion for French music and dance in Belfast since 2011 and tonight they were in fine form.

Letting musicians and dancers take a breather, it was time to share out portions of galette. Taking advantage of the break, Claudine explained the practice of family, friends and colleagues getting together throughout January to share a galette and the crowning of a king and queen for the evening - this latter decided by the declared discovery of a bean hidden in the galette.

The galettes, more this year than last, had been baked to perfection by Amelie and were helped on their way with a small glass of cider.  The feves did not remain hidden for long and Our King and Queen were crowned and this year we decided to honour a Princess as well !

Then it waa back to more music and dance...
We'll let these pictures convey the atmosphere of another very successful evening. 















Bonne année 2016 !