francofiled

                                        It was a talk that we had wanted to do for a long time at our French Circle, le Cercle français de Belfast . And so it was that around twenty of us braved the inclement February weather and settled in the warmth of the Dark Horse Coffee House as Claudine McKeown presented her personal look at the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area of Paris, home to many renowned artists and writers and as we were to hear to Claudine herself in her student days Claudine, ably assisted by husband Seamus in managing the technology, explained that her talk would be in French, supported by PowerPoint slides in English.  This approach found favour with many present. She started by locating the area geographically in Paris, highlighting some of the key landmarks of the 6th arrondissement. Claudine then focussed on the construction of the Abbey churc...

One of the things I really enjoy is browsing French newspapers online. It was therefore a lovely surprise to see a photo in Le Berry républicain , of a gentleman I first met over 40 years ago.  There he is, in a group celebrating the heritage of old Vierzon in the Cher département. That's the same Vierzon as in the Jacques BREL song, Vesoul. now over 40 years old itself and incorporating those much quoted phrases: "T'as voulu voir Vierzon,  Et on a vu Vierzon." The Brel song did plenty to confirm Vierzon's position on the map, right in the centre of the Région Centre.  There is an interesting article, also from Le Berry républicain, posted by another blogger  here  and relating the relationship between the song and the town. A few minutes more, and a little bit more digging, revealed that the old Vierzon group has an online presence and there was a postal address. I'll be writing soon to renew the contact. Technology is great, but a greeti...

Chers amis, La première réunion du caféfrancophilo, a u Cercle français de Belfast, aura lieu le 26 février 2014 au Dark Horse Coffee House, Belfast à partir de 19h.3 0. Notre conférencier sera Jim Holland et notre thème: Traduire, c'est trahir? Nous discuterons le po è me, Quand vous serez bien vieille de Pierre de Ronsard et la version de William Butler Yeats. L’entrée sera libre. En espérant vous voir nombreux! Cordialement CfB Posted with Blogsy

Brilliant! The PARISIANER is here and well worth the wait. As explained in a previous post the project was to create a series of covers for an imaginary magazine about Paris. 100 artists were invited to take part and the result is first class. Affectionate; amusing; ascerbic; it is difficult to choose a favourite from the collection. Good then that as part of the crowd funded initiative my subscription included not just the book of covers but a print of one of them. That'll be framed before long. As for the crowd funding itself it surpassed its target. A great idea! Where next?   Posted with Blogsy

The next talk in the Cercle's programme will take place this Wednesday when Claudine McKeown presents her personal look at the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area of Paris, home to many renowned artists and writers. And of course, the famous church that gives the area its name. We'll meet up at the Dark Horse Coffee House at 7.30pm in Belfast's own bohemian and artistic Cathedral quarter. See you then?! À bient ô t! Posted with Blogsy

Last month's réunion of the Cercle français was a colourful and festive occasion. The tables of the Dark Horse Coffee House had been moved to the perimeter to leave plenty of space for dancing and the walls were draped in bleu, blanc, rouge bunting. Musicians from BalFeirste played Breton music on a variety of instruments including the bombarde. The atmosphere at this early stage of the evening was full of buzz and chat. Philip McGrory lived up to the MC in his name and soon had us organised for the evening. First up, he explained was a demonstration of a gavotte. Vanessa and Fergus took to the floor, others of the troupe joined in and our evening got into its rhythm. Following a spell of more music and chat, we were called back to order for a couple of magic tricks. Magic, Magi and the fête des rois. In a nice touch, one of the magician's tricks involved participants who were all French. He supplied them all with menus from the restaurants of famous French chefs and som...