Présidentielle 2012: Voeux 2012 des candidats

Les candidats à l’Elysée Eva Joly (Europe Écologie Les Verts), François Bayrou (Mouvement démocrate), Corinne Lepage (Cap21) et Dominique de Villepin (République Solidaire) ont envoyé dès vendredi 30 décembre leurs voeux 2012 aux Français. Via Francetv.fr.

French Christmas Vocab

Marché de Noël à Strasbourg

Handy French Christmas terms by About.com French Language’s prolific Laura K Lawless! What better way to celebrate the birth of Jesus than with vocab.

For more Christmassy online goodies, explore Laura K Lawless’ article on Christmas in France and her bilingual article on Marché de Noël de Strasbourg. The About.com French Language site also features a lively forum, French verb conjugator and an abundance of quizzes.

Advent calendar	un calendrier de l’Avent
angel	un ange
Bogeyman	Père Fouettard
candle	une chandelle
Christmas	Noël
Christmas card	une carte de Noël
Christmas carol	un noël, un chant de Noël
Christmas Day	le jour de Noël
Christmas Eve	la veille de Noël
Christmas feast	le Réveillon

Présidentielle 2012: Dominique de Villepin announces candidature

The charismatic Dominique de Villepin, former Prime Minister under Jacques Chriac, has just announced he will be running for president. The founder of the République solidaire party (RS) stated: “J’entends défendre une certaine idée de la France.” Read more at Lemonde.fr and on de Villepin’s blog.

Présidentielle 2012: Nicolas Dupont-Aignan candidat à l’Elysée “pour sortir de la crise”

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, president of “Gaullist” party Debout la République, has announced his candidature for the 2012 French presidential election. Denouncing the summit at Brussels as a “une gigantesque escroquerie” (giant fraud), he promises to deliver France from the present crisis by “relocalising employment”. Read more at Francetv.fr!

Eurovision 2012: France’s Entry

Anggun

The French Eurovision act for 2012 goes by the name of Anggun. Originally from Jakarta, Indonesia, she released her first record at the age of 9, launched her international career in 1994 and has to date released five albums in French.

A French citizen since 2000, she has become extremely popular, releasing songs in several languages across Europe, the US and Asia. She says that despite not being born in France, the chance to represent the country at Eurovision will be a fantastic opportunity to truly represent the France of today, comprising a mix of many cultures.

The 2012 Eurovision Song Contest is being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, the country which won last year's contest. SBS host Julia Zemiro will be covering the event (broadcast schedules to be announced). To hear her discuss next year’s Eurovision competition as well as an abundance of other fascinating subjects, have a listen to our podcast, where we chat with her over coffee.

Star Bilingue: Marcello Mastroianni

Ce numéro de “L’Homme en question”, consacré à Marcello Mastroianni, est enregistré à Cannes pendant le Festival de 1978. Dans cet autoportrait filmé dans les environs de Rome, Marcello se livre sur sa vie, ses goûts, ses défauts, sa carrière et son statut de star.

Cuisine française: La Bûche de Noël

Marc Frissard parle à Frédéric Suteau de SBS Français dans le cadre de la série de conversations culinaires “A Table!”. Dans cet épisode, ils explorent une tradition française: “La Bûche de Noël”, version Australie.

Want to make your own? Regardez la recette en vidéo de L’atelier des Chefs! Visit their YouTube channel for more stunning French recipes, including Recette de petites brioches au chocolat.

Melbourne French Theatre: Courteline

In their final show of the year, the Melbourne French Theatre presents a collection of comical sketches by Georges Courteline, including: “Monsieur Badin”, “Une lettre chargée”, “L’Extra-Lucide” and “Avant et Après”. Entirely in French with English surtitles.

When? 8pm Saturday 17 December.
Where? La Maison de Maître Building, 203-205 Canning Street, Carlton.
How much? $15 students, French teachers, MFT members, $20 general admission. Tickets include show, wine and refreshments. Bookings online.

Watch the wonderfully over-the-top 1969 video above for a taste of Courteline’s comedy.

Médias Français: L’Œil de Links

L’Œil de Links is a cool French émission from Canal+ that showcases the most interesting and curious clips on the web, along with interviews with their directors. The final clip featured in this edition is a stunning stop motion film by Emmanuel Bernardoux, a visual artist from La Rochelle and La Trobe French Club’s own podcast guest!

Revisiting Simone de Beauvoir Wrap-up

Sheila Malovany-Chevallier

Translators, philosophy buffs, students and francophiles alike had the unforgettable pleasure of an audience this Thursday evening at the Alliance Française de Melbourne with Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, the translators of the first ever unabridged English version of Simone de Beauvoir’s Le Deuxième Sexe.

Illuminating not only the history of the feminist chef-d’œuvre but also the history of its translation, Constance and Sheila revealed to what extent the previous English translation mistreated and cut the original text at the insistence of the American publisher Knopf, in the belief that de Beauvoir suffered from “verbal diarrhoea”.

Constance Borde

Fascinatingly (and sadly), since other translations, such as the Chinese version, were often based on the English version, this mistreatment was only compounded over time.

Constance and Sheila’s 2010 translation, in contrast, is an exercise in extreme fidelity, the two women (American, based in France since the 1960s) having laboured intensely to respect the 800-page work’s original punctuation and syntax, a task made all the more difficult, they explained, by Simone de Beauvoir’s extensive use of the semi-colon. Ultimately, however, they were faithful even to these subtleties, having realised that to change them would “betray her voice”.

Cinéma Français: “L’Ordre et la Morale” de Mathieu Kassovitz

L’Ordre et la Morale, le nouveau film de Mathieu Kassovitz, crée la polémique. Ce film d’action engagé revient, vingt-trois ans après les faits, sur un épisode quelque peu oublié, voire occulté: l’assaut sanglant de la grotte d’Ouvéa en Nouvelle-Calédonie. (Above is the film’s official bande-annonce, below are the reactions to the first screening.)

To learn more about the controversy, see this rigorous article from Le Point. Visit the film’s vimeo channel for extensive behind the scenes footage.

Podcast: Interview with Julia Zemiro

Julia Zemiro, on a warm spring evening with
La Trobe French Club’s Myles and Mia

It is with unbridled pleasure that we post the fourth installment of the La Trobe University French Club podcast, with la femme la plus awesome du monde, Julia Zemiro!

The star of SBS juggernauts Rockwiz and Eurovision, Julia Zemiro is also one of Australia's foremost francophones.

Born in Aix-en-Provence to a French father and Australian multilingual mother, Julia immgirated at an early age to Australia and continues to speak impeccable français (as heard on SBS French).

In this in-depth podcast interview, Julia speaks eloquently and candidly about la politesse anglosaxonne, la fierté française, the schizophrenic nature of Australian culture, the evolution of SBS, l’interdiction de la burqua and her fantasy of doing a bilingual one-woman show.

Melbourne Event: Beaujolais Nouveau

This Friday is Beaujolais Nouveau tasting time at the Alliance Française de Melbourne. Featuring live music from the duo Metro Mademoiselle and door prizes courtesy of La Parisienne Pâtés, your servers at this evening of wine, food and music will include La Trobe French Club members who would love to see you there!

French.about.com’s expert Laura K Lawless writes about this well known wine: “Par définition, le Beaujolais Nouveau est un vin très jeune, et les puristes répugnent donc à le boire. Mais pour d’autres, le troisième jeudi de novembre est simplement une bonne occasion de participer à un évènement marrant, ni plus ni moins.” (Cliquez ici pour lire la suite.)

When? 7pm Friday 7 November.
Where? Alliance Française, 51 Grey Street, St Kilda.
How much? $50 or $35 for Alliance members, includes two glasses of Beaujolais Nouveau and buffet. Bookings essential through 9525 3463 or online.

Médias Français: France 24

France 24 est la chaîne française d’information internationale 24h/24. Sa mission est de couvrir l’actualité avec un regard français et de véhiculer partout dans le monde les valeurs et les perspectives françaises.

Best of all, not only are the videos rich and wonderfully in-depth, but it’s all free and en ligne! Watch the panel discussion below, “2011, annus horribilis pour Nicolas Sarkozy?”, to get a taste.

L’Europe en difficulté, l’automne qui succède au printemps arabe, la crise libyenne ... 2011 semble bien être l’annus horribilis pour Nicolas Sarkozy. Dans sept mois les Francais vont désigner un président, que restera-t-il du quinquennat de Nicolas Sarkozy?

Oh, and did you know you can retrouver Nicholas Sarkozy sur Facebook? The man is actually a Facebook powerhouse, 11,000 people liked his latest satus update!

Cinéma Français: “Un Monstre à Paris”

Those of you who relished the bande-annonce of this new, wonderful french animated feature film (featured on this site earlier), will appreciate this musical extract from Un Monstre à Paris, performed by French national treasures Vanessa Paradis and -M-. Click “read more” to view more extracts!

Site Utile: Corrige-moi

For a speedy online French spell check, visit Corrige Moi, le correcteur orthographique multilingue! Simply type or copy and paste your French into the text field and hit the “Corriger” button. The site also checks some 20 other languages, from Afrikaans to Esperanto. Every misspelt word yeilds a multitude of possibilities, and is therefore probably best used in accompaniment with multilingual dictionary Word Reference or the like.

Other free online French spell check sites include Bon Patron, which also includes grammar check, and Reverso, which forms part of Reverso’s greater site encompassing dictionnaire, conjugaison and grammaire.

Vidéo: Interview avec Marine Le Pen

Marine Le Pen, présidente du Front National et candidate à l’élection présidentielle, est l’invitée de Mardi politique. Elle est interrogée par Guillaume Naudin (RFI), Roselyne Febvre (France 24), Yvon Mezou (20 Minutes) et Saïd Mahrane (Le Point).

Georges Perec Melbourne Salon Wrap-up

From left: Philip Thiel, Norie Neumark,
Maria Miranda and Raphaël Trantoul

Thirty years after Georges Perec visited the Alliance Française de Melbourne, Perec amateurs assembled once again last night to celebrate and dissect this curious genius at “Georges Perec: The Australian Connection, 30 Years On”.

A panel featuring some of La Trobe’s finest, Norie Neumark, Maria Miranda and Raphaël Trantoul, examined Perec’s enduring popularity in Australia, where his books have per capita sold more than anywhere else in the anglophone world. Our love of his gameplay was one hypothesis which arose over the course of the evening’s tantilising discussion.

The evening also featured an alternately moving and hilarious atelier d’écriture, comprising a series of Perecquian literary challenges, such as writing a poem using only the letters of your name.

Finally, listen to SBS French’s interview with Kerry Mullen and Raphaël to discover more about The Melbourne Salon series and, naturellement, Perec.

Vidéo: Au Revoir Pauline

In our first YouTube video, students from La Trobe’s French department farewell tutor and honorary club member, Pauline Balan. Merci à Raphaël pour la vidéo!

2012 La Trobe French Subject: “France in Film”

Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette will be
studied in week 3 of France in Film

Offered for the first time in 2012, “France in Film: The Invention of France 1789-1919” is an innovative subject, available for either History or French credit.

Devised by Raphaël Trantoul and Ian Coller with both French-speaking and non-French-speaking students in mind, the subject’s lectures will be delivered in English, while tutorials will be split according to language (French students’ tutorials will be conducted in French, History students’ tutorials in English).

Running in semester 1, the syllabus will cover the history of France from the French Revolution to the First World War and will encompass such films as Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, Danton, The Other Dumas and Jean Renoir’s French Cancan.

Enquires regarding this subject should be directed to Ian Coller at i.coller@latrobe.edu.au. Click “read more” for the official subject description and poster.

Vidéo: Alain Delon et Romy Schneider

A l’aéroport de Nice, Alain Delon attend Romy Schneider, sa partenaire dans le film de Jacques Deray, La piscine. Interview des deux acteurs, visiblement émus mais heureux de se retrouver. Watch the trailer for La Piscine below!

SBS Podcast: Waffle maker Marc Laucher

Waffle On, just outside Flinders subway

Dans ce nouvel épisode de la série “A Table!”, Frédéric Suteau parle à Marc Laucher sur une petite de douceur de Belgique: La Gaufre de Liege façon Waffle On.

“A Table!” is a regular podcast on SBS French with a Melbourne-based French chef or culinary personality. In this episode, Marc (originally from Versailles) discusses his métier, his life and the difficulties of using Australian flour. His store, Waffle On, is a waffle and sandwich spot in Melbourne’s CBD on Degraves Street.

In other SBS news, you can now download the free “SBS Your Language” mobile app to listen to SBS French anytime or anywhere! Features of the app include live 24/7 streaming, program catch-up, podcasts and program reminder notifications. Available from iTunes.

Vidéo: Interview avec Simone de Beauvoir

Jean-Louis Servan Schreiber reçoit dans son émission “Questionnaire” la philosophe et écrivain Simone de Beauvoir, venue parler des raisons de son engagement en tant que féministe.

Melbourne Event: Revisiting Simone de Beauvoir and “The Second Sex”

Les traductrices, Constance Borde et
Sheila Malovany-Chevallier

The French Studies and Translation Studies Programs of Monash University, the Alliance Française de Melbourne, and AALITRA (The Australian Association for Literary Translation) present an evening around Simone de Beauvoir and the new translation of Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex) (London, Vintage, 2010) with the translators, Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier. Participants in the discussion will also include members of the university and translation communities in Melbourne. Watch a fascinating talk with the translators below!

When? 6.30pm Thursday 17 November.
Where? Alliance Francaise, 51 Grey Street St Kilda.

How much? Free, bookings essential: info@afmelbourne.com.au

“Translating The Second Sex: A Discussion with the Translators of the New English Edition 
of Simone de Beauvoir’s Classic Feminist Work”. (The other eight parts of this video series are available at the Centre for Translation Studies’ youtube channel.)

Star Bilingue: John Malkovich

John Malkovich, American actor best known for his starring roles in such films as Dangerous Liaisons, The Killing Fields and Being John Malkovich, is stunningly fluent in French.

One of his most enduring French-speaking roles is as Javert in the 2000 miniseries adaptation of Les Misérables, co-starring Gerard Depardieu and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Watch a portion of his glacial performance below!

Cours de cinéma: “Belle de Jour”

Les cours de cinéma du Forum des images: un spécialiste du cinéma (enseignant, critique, professionnel de l’audiovisuel) analyse un film d’un point de vue historique et esthétique. Dans ce cours, Noël Simsolo, réalisateur, essayiste et critique, analyse Belle de jour de Luis Bunuel.

Tous les cours sont disponible gratuitement en ligne ici. Il y en a beaucoup!

SBS French Interview with Saliha Lefevre

Saliha Lefevre, photo by AF Dhaka

In this interview on SBS French, Saliha Lefevre, la nouvelle directrice de l’Alliance Française de Melbourne, shares her vision for the future of the Alliance, including the possibility of running classes in Melbourne’s north.

She also describes the slate of forthcoming cultural events at the Alliance and her professional career, spanning posts at the Univeristy of Botswana and the Alliance Française de Dhaka in Bangladesh.

Cinéma Français: Jean de Florette

Jean de Florette est un film français, réalisé par Claude Berri, sorti sur les écrans en 1986. Il est une adaptation du livre éponyme de Marcel Pagnol.

Dans un petit village de Haute Provence, Jean de Florette (Gerard Depardieu) vient s’installer sur le terrain dont il vient d’hériter et rêve à de merveilleuses cultures. Mais Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) a lui aussi un projet pour ce terrain: y faire pousser des oeillets. Le vieil oncle Papet (Yves Montand) va l’y aider.

Followed by the equally stunning sequel Manon de Sources, the two films are amongst the most heartbreaking in cinematic history. A voir!

Volunteering Opportunity: Beaujolais Nouveau

The Alliance Française is recruiting some volunteers for the Beaujolais Nouveau event on Friday 18 November to assist for the following: preparation/decoration of the venue, ticketing/entry door, waiting (food), waiting (bar — RSA required).

The Beaujolais Nouveau event is a wine tasting, celebrating this fresh, young wine airfreighted especially from France. A French tradition not to be missed: with French country style buffet and live music.

If you are interested in volunteering for this event, please contact us at: cultural@afmelbourne.com.au or tel: 8598 9265.

French Connection Day Wrap-Up

Charlotte et Pauline

Students from Melbourne, Monash, RMIT and (naturellement) La Trobe had the immense privilege of attending French Connection Day last night at the magnificent Alliance Française de Melbourne.

Organised by La Trobe’s Pauline Balan and presented by Charlotte (pictured left), the evening also featured a variety of past exchange students, language assistants and a participant from the internship program, all of whom spoke candidly and insightfully about their experiences in France.

Finally, the buffet shall no doubt remain eternally in our collective memories! Il y avait beaucoup de fromages (notamment le chèvre, il était exceptionnel), de pain français et de pâtisseries. C’était une soirée non seulement informative mais aussi délicieuse!

Vidéo: Interview avec Serge Gainsbourg

Bernard Pivot, l’oeil brillant, interviewe Serge Gainsbourg à propos de son premier livre, Evguenie Sokolov, qu’il qualifie de pamphlet à propos de la peinture moderne et de tous les arrivismes. Quant au personnage principal “à priori c’est moi avec une distorsion Francis Bacon”. En fait le presonnage principal du livre est un peintre qui envoie des vents, crée des “gazogrammes” et finit par exploser.

La Trobe Exchange: AIM Overseas “French Intensive” at CAVILAM

Vichy is small but stunning,
rempli de boulangeries magnifiques et
de crêperies pas chères!

Amongst the many exchange opportunities offered by La Trobe is a “French Intensive” short program operated by AIM Overseas. Held at CAVILAM, a thriving, high calibre language school in Vichy, France, the school attracts legions of international students and teachers of French as a second language.

Anglophones, interestingly, are quite scant; I was the only native English speaker in my classes when I was there in July (my fellow students came chiefly from Brazil, Turkey and Spain).

Free petit déjeuner on the balcony
of CAVILAM tous les vendredis

Following a short test, students are placed into language and culture classes (civilsation, communication orale, DELF preparation and so on) according to their level. The classes are rigorous but incredibly fun.

As for the teachers, mine were simply in a class of their own. One was a wonderfully hilarious grammar Nazi, who taught me more French in three weeks than I had learnt in my life, and who gifted me with a French translation of my favourite novel, La conjuration des imbéciles.

Cinéma Suisse: Prud’hommes

Documentaire réalisé par Stéphane Goël , Prud’Hommes est une immersion au coeur d’un Tribunal dans lequel se règlent les conflits entre employeurs et salariés. Cette scène de théâtre d’un genre particulier nous plonge au coeur d’une véritable comédie humaine, reflet de la société d’aujourd’hui.

Littérature: Extrait de “La Disparition” par Perec

La Disparition est un roman écrit par Georges Perec en 1969 et ne comportant pas une seule fois la lettre “e”. The Melbourne Salon consacré à Perec se tiendra le 8 novembre.

Anton Voyl n’arrivait pas à dormir. Il alluma. Son Jaz marquait minuit vingt. Il poussa un profond soupir, s’assit dans son lit, s’appuyant sur son polochon. Il prit un roman, il l’ouvrit, il lut; mais il n’y saisissait qu’un imbroglio confus, il butait à tout instant sur un mot dont il ignorait la signification.

Update: French Club Annual Report 2011

French Club BBQ: (from left) Karena,
Jessica Salafia, Myles, Ksenya & Pauline

Myles Farley
President

Bonjour à tous!!! Quelle année! After beginning 2011 with trying conditions and a dwindling committee, I would have to say I’m greatly impressed at what we’ve all achieved this year.

Among our events we’ve had a BBQ, several crêpe stalls, gone to the French Film Festival as well as a Melbourne French Theatre production and established conversation classes as a regular weekly fixture on the calendar.

However we could not have done all this without our fantastic committee, with Mia as VP/Communications, Jess as Treasurer, Karena as Secretary and our general committee members: Jessica Deprost, Ksenya Masendcz, Rachel Kelson, Tavor Lahat, Sonia Dropsy.

In March, the French Club saw
Les Petits Mouchoirs at
the Alliance Française Film Festival

I might also add that if it wasn’t for Mia’s fantastic work in communications, no one would have heard about us! Our website she developed now contains a treasure trove of information and French cultural snippets, along with podcasts of figures such as Michael Bula of Melbourne French Theatre and French artist Emmanuel Bernardoux.

I would also like to greatly thank all of those in the French program at La Trobe for their unwavering support of our Club and its activities: Raphaël Trantoul, Pauline Balan (who will sadly be leaving us at the end of this year), James Cannon and Laure Bonaventure. Our Club would not have flourished but for your assistance, including the use of your offices to store Club material!

Event: The Melbourne Salon “Georges Perec: The Australian Connection, 30 Years On”

The French writer Georges Perec, author of La Disparition (a novel he wrote without once using the letter “e”) is recognised as one of the most influential and inventive writers of his generation.

Thirty years after Perec’s lecture at the Melbourne Alliance Française in 1981, the Melbourne Salon presents “George Perec: The Australian Connection, 30 Years On”. The event includes a lively discussion with Norie Neumark, Maria Miranda and Raphaël Trantoul, chaired by Philip Thiel. In addition, Philip Thiel and Julien Leyre will run a free writing workshop in French and English using simple Perecquian constraints.

What? George Perec panel discussion and free writing workshop.
When? Tuesday 8 November. Workshop: 5pm till 7pm. Panel: 7pm till 9pm.
Where? Alliance Française, 51 Grey St, St Kilda.
How much? Pour les étudiants des universités qui viennent au workshop, le salon est gratuit mais il faut réserver: themelbournesalon@gmail.com (numbers limited).

Vidéo: Jean-Claude Brialy et Anna Karina

Moment de complicité entre Jean-Claude Brialy et Anna Karina. Il dresse son portrait en lui posant toutes sortes de questions puis parle du caractère “mystérieux” d’Anna. Ils s’embrassent.

Tintin de Speilberg: la critique de l’Express

Il en aura fallu du temps pour que Steven Spielberg vive l’un de ses plus vieux rêves: transposer Tintin à l’écran. Le voilà qui se lance dans l’une de ses plus grandes aventures avec l’envie et la malice d’un grand gamin fondu du célèbre héros de Hergé. Et son élan est contagieux.

Site utile: 1000 images sur le bout de la langue

Quand les poules auronts des dents
En anglais: When pigs fly

1000 images sur le bout de la langue (1000 images on the tip of my tongue) est un site interactif sur les expressions imagées en français, en anglais et en espagnol. Le répertoire trilingue propose plus de 3000 expressions classées par thèmes.

Chaque expression est intégrée dans un court texte qui en indique le sens et qui contient un fichier audionumérique. Le site comprend aussi des exercices et des jeux de même que de petites animations humoristiques qui participent à la découverte du monde fascinant des expressions imagées.

Merci à Raphaël pour le lien!

French Club Event: French Connection Day

French Connection Day poster,
cliquez pour élargir!

Interested in studying or working in France? Curious about the experience of returning exchange students? Looking for practical information about studies in France? Then join us at the Alliance Française’s French Connection Day!

Hosted by La Trobe French Department’s own Pauline Balan, the evening will include a wine and cheese buffet in addition to the main event: the exchange rountable and information session. Tout le monde est bienvenu!

To hear more about French Connection Day, as well as Pauline’s reflections on Australian life, listen to our podcast.

When? 4.30pm till 6pm Saturday 22 October.
Where? Alliance Francaise, 51 Grey St, St Kilda.
How much? Free.

Bande-annonce: Un monstre à Paris

Dans le Paris inondé de 1910, un monstre sème la panique. Traqué sans relâche par le redoutable préfet Maynott, il demeure introuvable ... Et si la meilleure cachette était sous les feux de “L’Oiseau Rare”, un cabaret où chante Lucille, la star de Montmartre au caractère bien trempé?

Un monstre à Paris est un long métrage d’animation français réalisé par Éric Bergeron avec Vanessa Paradis et -M- dont la sortie en France est prévue pour le 12 octobre 2011.

Vidéo: Les candidats face à Elle.fr

In this series of videos, Elle.fr interviews the six socialist candidates about their views on a range of women’s rights and gender equality issues largely neglected by the mainstream media debate.

Recette: Almond, Cranberry and Coconut Florentines by Ksenya

Ksenya is a General Committee
Member of the La Trobe French Club

Welcome to the first installment of the La Trobe French Club Recipe collection! Those of you who made it to our International Clubs Day stand may remember these Florentines; the recipe comes from the Committee’s own Ksenya.

Cette recette est vraiment facile! Ils sont la parfaite gâterie pour l’après midi avec du thé. J’ai utilisé le chocolat de la bonne qualité – Plasitowe Premium Dark Chocolate – qui est disponible au supermarché.

For those of you with a hot oven,
the florentines will cook quickly,
so keep an eye on them!

Ingrédients
1 tbs vegetable oil
3 egg whites
110g icing suger
220g flaked almonds
50g slivered almonds
50g shredded coconut
50g dried cranberries
200g good dark chocolate, chopped
N.B. Makes 14

French Club Event: Annual General Meeting

The French Club’s Annual General Meeting is fast approaching! This is an opportunity to voice your opinions about the club, suggest ideas for future events and run for the 2012 Committee. It’s also a lovely time to join your fellow club members for a boisson and Petit Écolier!

Interested in running for a position on the Committee? N’hésitez pas! The election process is quick and casual; simply get up on the night, announce yourself, the position you’re standing for and why you would love to hold it! Click “read more” to view the position descriptions.

When? 5pm Thursday 19 October (week 12).
Where? ELT1.
Why? To eat free food, drink free beverages, discuss the future of the club, share your ideas and elect the 2012 Committee Members.

Podcast: Interview with Emmanuel Bernardoux

Ecoutez à notre troisième podcast! Our latest installment features the endlessly intriguing Emmanuel Bernardoux, a French visual artist, whose unique works are once again gracing the Alliance Française de Melbourne.

Listen to the audio embedded below to hear Emmanuel’s thoughts on the biblical references in his work (and life), the nature of art, Mad Max and the forthcoming French presidential election. (His time-lapse film of Melbourne, discussed in the earlier part of the podcast, can be found here.)

 Interview with Emmanuel Bernardoux by latrobefrenchclub

Emmanuel’s new exhibition, yM Me(lbourne), runs from 29 September till 22 October at the Eildon Gallery at the Alliance Française (51 Grey Street, St Kilda). Opening night, Thursday 29 September, commences at 6.30pm.

La Trobe Exchange Partner: Université Lyon 2

L’Université Lumière Lyon 2 a ouvert ses portes dès le début du mois pour accueillir ses étudiants. Au cours de cette période d’intégration, 15 000 d’entre eux étaient attendus autour d’un programme varié: réunion de rentrée, initiation à l’environnement numérique de travail, journée à thèmes et visite des deux campus.

See La Trobe Student Exchange for information on studying abroad.

Vidéo: La Grande Pâtée de Paul Bocuse

Paul Bocuse chez lui, à Collonges au-mont-d’or (Rhône), vie avec ses chiens Nelson, Négus, Moka, Mike, Rex (labrador, braque allemand, scottish-terrier, corniaud). Il nourrit ses chiens, les soigne, et joue avec eux. Paul Bocouse can also be seen interviewed in the final episode of French Food Safari.

French Club Event: Crêpe Day!

Cliquez pour élargir!

Venez manger nos crêpes délicieuses! If you missed our amazing crêpe stall in the Ag during Multicultural Week, don’t fret! We’ll be back there on Thursday 6 October, serving up our ever expanding range of delicious crêpes, just right for your palate’s delight.

We’ll be using the freshest range of ingredients, from our own hens’ free range eggs to freshly stewed apple and velvety whipped cream!

Where? The Agora.
When? Midday onwards, Thursday 6 October (Week 10, i.e. first week back after mid-semester break).
How much? $3 per crêpe. Each dollar goes towards the survival of the French Club!

For more info and to stay abreast of all developments, remember to keep an eye on our Facebook event page.

Musique française: Georges Brassens’ La mauvaise réputation

Jeune, Georges Brassens, fils de maçon, n’aime guère l’école hormis les cours de lettres qui lui apprennent l’amour de la poésie. En 1940, il vit à Paris et travaille comme tourneur au sein de l’usine Renault. Parallèlement, il commence à composer, mais le STO le condamne à partir pour Allemagne. De fait, ses camarades déportés constituent son premier public. Après la guerre, il devient anarchiste et collabore au journal Le Libertaire.

Cinéma Français: Princes et Princesses

Princes et Princesses est un film d’animation en théâtre d’ombres (papier découpé) de Michel Ocelot, composé de six contes. Deux enfants créatifs et curieux se retrouvent tous les soirs dans un cinéma désaffecté et, avec l’aide d’un vieux technicien, ils inventent, se déguisent, puis vivent plusieurs histoires dont ils sont les héros.

Sweet, innocent and funny, the film is just one of Michel Ocelot’s immensely popular animated creations in France. Happily, the entire film is available on YouTube with English subtitles! Part 1 of 7 is above. Find Part 2 here (the link to the following video is in the description).

Melbourne Event: Alliance Française Open Day

Discover all things French that the Alliance Française de Melbourne has to offer at their forthcoming Open Day!

Enjoy complimentary coffee and croissants, test your language skills during one of the speed testing sessions organised throughout the day and attend a free trial class (for adults and children aged 6 to 12).

What? Free croissants and activities!
When? 10am to 3pm, Saturday 17 September.
Where? Alliance Française, 51 Grey Street, St Kilda (off Fitzroy Street).
RSVP? Call 9525 3463 or email info@afmelbourne.com.au. Bookings are essential as places are limited.

Multicultural Week Crêpe Stand Wrap-Up

Merci to everyone who helped to devour the French Club’s lovingly-made crêpes today! We sold some 60 freshly-made crêpes and ate many more ourselves so can attest honestly to their deliciousness. Thanks also to all the champion club members who helped out!

Missed out? Ne paniquez pas! Our inaugural Crêpe Day is just around the corner! Thursday October 6 at midday to be exact, again in the Agora. Sign up for our monthly newsletter and keep and an eye on our Facebook to stay au courant.

Like today, there will be a delicious array of toppings at Crêpe Day, including nutella, whipped cream, stewed fruit, jam, sugar and lemon.

Click “read more” to view all the day’s photos.