FRANCE magazine gets new look !

FRANCE magazine has a brand new look, introduces new sections and columnists and still keeps those in-depth articles that make past issues such useful points of reference. I like it !

As a print and digital subscriber, I've been enjoying the new format for some days now and it's been hard to stay tight-lipped about the changes. The folks @Francemagazine on Twitter have been keeping the new look under wraps until today's official launch date and I wasn't keen to spoil the surprise.

Now that it has hit the shelves, I thought it might be of interest to share what I notice and like about the changes.

What strikes me most is the light, friendly, typeface supplemented in parts by a stylish, cursive font. There's an example of this on the front cover - a sense of adventure. All of the things that I liked about the previous format are still there but revamped and there is a lot of new stuff. This is immediately apparent from the double page contents spread. I much prefer the new look at-a-glance layout with some of the sections headed in French: Joie de Vivre, Bon Appétit and La Culture.

Among the new columnists are Sir Terry Wogan, who writes bi-monthly, starting this issue with a piece from his holiday home in the Gers and Clotilde Dusoulier of the food blog chocolateandzucchini who gives advice on cooking the foodstuffs we bring back from our visits to France.

One of my favourite columns was Carole Drinkwater's Postcard from Provence; it too gets a new look as a series of Vignettes, starting this month with Bruno the goat farmer - Carole's text is illustrated by newspaper cartoonist, Richard Cole.

Another of my favourite sections is Actualités, brilliant for keeping up to speed with what's happening in France. Just comparing the layout and style of the Actualités sections in the September and October issues really shows how much the look has changed. Same goes for a comparison of the Language sections where the new format sees Language and Language Games featuring under La Culture.

There is so much more that could be said.... that the new style seems to allow even more information to be included than before and that the format also transfers very well to the digital edition.... but get your copy and check it out for yourself.

Congratulations to editor, Carolyn Boyd and the editorial team - brilliant, the new look is great

and I'm glad to see we still have the escargot to endpoint the articles.

 

 

CFB programme 2014-15 out now









The Cercle francais de Belfast has launched its new programme d'activites and we hope that there is plenty to interest you.

The programme has been produced as a trifold booklet and we aim to circulate it widely.

The membership push is on so do spread the word and we'll look forward to seeing you at as many events as possible....

And if you haven't yet seen what's in store why not head over now to www.cerclefrancaisdebelfast.org and check it out?

A bientot !

La Maison - a taste of France in Dublin


It was a pleasant Friday evening at the start of a long weekend as we set off to Castlemarket Street in Dublin to dine at La Maison. Knowing that we appreciated French food and wine some friends had recommended the place to us and had talked expansively about their own choices. So with table easily booked online and with some advance checking of the menus we were full of expectation.
The street was packed with scores of people - after-office party goers; young; young-at-heart and visitors like ourselves. We moved through a covered terrace and were shown to a ground floor table near the door. Our warm welcome was soon supplemented by a tray of breads and a pâté of pureed gherkins, onions and shallots - délicieux ! To get further into the mood we settled back with a pastis and took in the surroundings: the most obvious thing about the décor was the crispness of it all - sparkling glassware, white paint and linen, posters and black and white photographs.
Friendly and professional staff took our orders and it wasn't long before we got tucked in to a trio of scallops:


and a side by side dish of escargots and cuisses de grenouille:




This was an impressive start and augered well for the mains to follow. But not quite yet for our waiter arrived with a little something to freshen the mouth between courses. Don't you just love it when that happens?
Then on to the mains: Turbot with a herby pea purée and foam for my other half:




and a substantial, classical cassoulet for me:




both of which were delightfully presented, tasted delicious and were washed down to perfection by a lovely wine, Lombeline - a vin de pays du Gard.

I didn't need it, as the meal was already substantial, but still ordered a side dish of ratatouille. It's not everyday that you are in a restaurant of this quality and it is a dish I don't often get so........ maybe I was a little more gourmand than gourmet!
Remember those friends who had recommended the place? I had quite forgotten their key piece of advice about leaving room for dessert. We hadn't! They had shared a crêpe suzette on their visit and said that we should go for it! Not this time though, that's a pleasure that will await our next visit.
Instead we opted for a couple of digestifs - deux cafés cognac s'il vous plaît - and relaxed over them for a while longer before joining the thinned but still substantial crowd of party goers.
Thanks to Breton chef Olivier QUENET and his team for a most memorable visit and this taste of France right in the heart of Dublin.
We'll be back.

Parisianer pic framed


The PARISIANER picture, as explained in a previous post, arrived as promised and was soon off to be framed. Here it is in its new home and a lovely talking point it is too. Nice to have been associated with this project. Do check out the previous links for more information.

 

Annecy: News to take your breath away



The beautiful Alpine town of Annecy, near the border of France and Switzerland has been in the news recently as a result of poor air quality. Apparently the cold air from the mountains keeps pollutants closer to ground level and causes a build-up of nasty micro-particles.  This is paradoxical in a way because the famous lake at Annecy is one of the cleanest in the world.

Low-cost flights to Geneva make it easy to get to Annecy and that's what we did a few year's ago. We're thinking of going back because it was one of the most relaxing (and we think healthiest) holidays we ever had.

Here is how Le Dauphine newspaper treated the story.

It uses the term coup de grisou which admittedly I had to look up. It means "firedamp", a miner's name for a methane explosion that occurs when the gas comes into contact with air.  Sounds about right.

That got me to thinking though ... what's being done about it?

The town is certainly taking it seriously and according to another report this month, while acknowledging that there are still some instances of pics de pollution, it looks as if there is an improving trend.
Check here for current details.

It does seem that France takes its air quality seriously.  I wondered in all this talk about Annecy being the 2nd most air polluted town in France how our own local air quality compares. At first click, it is not that obvious.  Check this online map to locate your town.

Find it?  What do you think?
Did you notice that the map has details of more towns in France being surveyed than most other EU countries?
Details are given for approximately 70 towns in France, Austria: 4, Belgium:1, Germany 6 and UK: 10 - Belfast not among them.

In fact, air quality in Northern Ireland is widely measured and there is some monitoring equipment near where I live.  It is reassuring to find that pollution at time of writing is low.
Still that way? Check here.

Even so, I think I'd still rather be in Annecy.

Parisian style lovelocks on bridge in Belfast


Having heard about the lovelocks appearing on the Lagan footbridge I took a stroll to see for myself. There may not be as many as on the bridges of Paris where several years worth have been fastened to the metal grilles and the key thrown into the Seine but there are certainly enough to show that the trend has taken hold.

Will they be allowed to stay?
Campaigners in Paris have been urging city officials to remove them arguing that they spoil the view of some of the most beautiful parts of the city. So far, as reported earlier on this blog , no action has been taken. Just last week however a section of railing fell off raising further concerns about the safety of the bridges. Check out this piece on BBC for more on that and a hyperlink to a comment piece on whether locks on bridges are romantic or a menace.
Will they be allowed to remain in Belfast? Should they be allowed? Is there a middle way? An alternative?

 

Saving wine bottle corks



A friend's post on social media directed me to this article  focussing on cork growers and why cork has such a positive effect on the environment.  The challenge is that recycling of cork is a work in progress and much more needs to be done to avoid it ending up in landfill sites.
So from now on I'm saving wine corks like this one from a recently enjoyed Moulin A Vent -  after all what goes around comes around.