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No. 247 juin 2011
Announcing our 2011 Bastille Day celebration!
It is with great pleasure that we formally announce our 2011 Bastille Day event, which heralds a change in direction from previous Bastille Day celebrations. To be held at The Wharf restaurant in Merimbula on Saturday 16th July, and featuring a two-course meal, preceded by a wonderful selection of canapés and a drink in the Aquarium - serving to commence at 6.30. Vegetarians and those with special dietary requirements can be catered for, as long as we are notified at the time of booking. Entry to the Aquarium will be via the external downstairs entry (at fishing platform level) where tickets will be collected for the lucky door prizes.
Wear your dancing shoes to enjoy a spin around the dance floor to the acclaimed Colleen Spillane Quartet after dinner. Price for members is $55 - non-members, $60. Payment by electronic funds transfer is preferred. Members wishing to book a table in advance of the public release of tickets should contact Margaret Gaunson by phone (64953515 – but not until after June 23rd) or email ([email protected]).
A brief word about the original Bastille Day:
On the morning of July 14th, 1789, a group formed of craftsmen and salesmen decided to fight back and ran to the Invalides to steal some weapons. The mob stole 28,000 riffles there, however no powder was to be found. The crowd knew that a pile of powder was stocked in the Bastille, a prison that was a symbol of the King's absolute and arbitrary power. So they decided to attack it. At the time of the storming, the Bastille was only guarded by a few soldiers. There were 80 "invalides", veteran soldiers wounded in the field and around 30 grenadiers from the Swiss mercenary regiments. Marquis Bernard-Rene de Launay was at the time governor of the "Invalides". The crowd was not big enough to impress the guards. The Marquis de Launay, fearing a growing anger among the revolutionaries, accepted nevertheless to meet some of their representatives inside the prison. He hoped to buy time, as he was expecting a rescue team to arrive shortly and to help him secure his castle. But the negotiations ended when a group of revolutionaries entered the Bastille. The guards were ordered to fire, killing hundreds of people. The path of the revolt completely changed when the rescue team showed up and decided not to fight against but with the mob. With their canons and their professional soldier skills, they brought victory to the people of France against Louis XVI's guards in a few hours. At 4pm, the Marquis de Launay surrendered and let the people enter the Bastille. The guards were violently killed and the Marquis de Launay was beheaded, his head put on a stake and carried all over the city as a sign of victory. There weren't many prisoners in the Bastille at the time of the storming; only 7 people were freed. That very night, 800 men began to destroy the Bastille. Some historians found the diary of the King. On that day, July 14th, 1789 he only wrote "Nothing". That was the result of his day's hunting. When the Duc de Liancourt informed the King of what happened at the Bastille, the King asked his advisor "is this a revolt?" and he was answered, "No Majesty, this is a revolution".
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Report on FAFA Annual General Meeting - May 2011 On your behalf I recently attended the FAFA AGM held at the Alliance Française premises in Canberra. Most Australian Alliances were represented and approximately 60 attended the meeting. The proceedings were opened by the French Ambassador, His Excellency M.Michel Filhol, who, together with his wife, later hosted a cocktail party for delegates at the French Embassy Residence in Yarralumla ACT. This was quite an experience in a beautiful building, replete with exceptional artworks. Following the welcome, Alan Edwards, FAFA President presented his report, which indicated the effect the global financial crisis has had on Alliance Française, and the flow on effects to all groups, especially small regional Alliances such as our own. He did not hesitate to say that some Alliances would find it difficult to meet the requirements of the new constitution and the compulsory criteria of the new Guide to Quality Approach, recently produced to assure quality control across the world. The guest speaker was His Excellency David Daly from Ireland, Chief of the Delegation of the European Union to Australia, speaking on the E.U. and his role in Australia. This was an enlightening presentation which informed delegates of the subtle significance of political diplomacy. As of 26th May, following the arrest of Radco Mladic, Serbia may now join the E.U. A relevant part of the proceedings involved meetings of the regional groups discussing their modes of operation, as well as their successes and challenges. It was no surprise that a number of regional alliances felt there would be some difficulty in satisfying the essentials of the Quality Approach Our Alliance is in an uncomfortable position, and it is very important that you note our AGM, MONDAY 12th September, Club Sapphire, Merimbula and make an effort to attend as our future direction will be discussed. Carmen Coutts-Smith (Acting President AF de la Côte de Saphir) French Film Appreciation Event - August
HeartBreaker (L’Arnacoeur)
He’s broken every heart except his own…until now
starring Romain Duris and Vanessa Paradis, directed by Pascal
Chaumeil
“An effervescent delight. The kind of romantic comedy that Hollywood doesn’t seem to know how to make anymore. A soufflé of a comedy, airy and tasty at the
same time” Hollwood and Fine
Monday 15th August 2011 @ 6pm $10.00 (members) $12.00 (non-members) Dolphin Room, Merimbula Bowling Club
We will watch this delightful subtitled French romantic comedy, set amongst deluxe locations in the South of France. The film lasts 105 minutes. Drinks may be purchased from the bar. Afterwards, people may choose to have a meal and discuss the film. This is an Alliance evening one should not miss! Payment at the door of the Dolphin Room. Bookings essential!
Please RSVP to Brigitte Leroy by phone (6495-0781) or email ([email protected]) by Monday 8th August 2011
Places are limited so book early!
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Le calendrier de Juin
• Conversation et déjeuner du dimanche: June 19th (12 o’clock) The Cranky Café - Fishpen, Merimbula. People attending these lunches have a wide range of expertise in French – from native speakers through to beginners. There’s no need to feel shy about your French language skills – come along and enjoy good food with interesting people on the 3rd Sunday of every month. Contact Neil on 64956860 or (preferably) by email ([email protected]) if you’d like to come.
• Pétanque: Alliance members meet to play Pétanque every last Saturday of the month. No prior experience is needed. Just come along, bring your morning coffee and possibly lunch and enjoy the camaraderie of this exciting game. No booking necessary, enquiries please to Dorothea on 6492 2416 June game: 25th June at 10 am at Mandeni Resort, Sapphire Coast Drive, North of Tura Beach, turn off just next to Shell petrol station. Cost is $2 a head for hiring the two pétanque courses.
• Committee meeting: Saturday, 18th June 10:00 – 12:00 am as usual at our airport premises. Members are welcome to peruse our library during these hours.
MEMBERSHIP La Mouette is distributed by email.
Please contact the membership officer if you do not have email. Please complete this form in clear print and mail it together with your payment (cheque not cash) to: The Membership Officer, Alliance Française de la Côte de Saphir, P. O. Box 3, MERIMBULA 2548
Alliance Française RENEWAL/ NEW (Please circle one) MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION for 2011
NAME/S……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
ADDRESS……………………………………………………………………….…….. POSTCODE………….
TELEPHONE………………………………. E-MAIL……………………………………………………………
SUBSCRIPTION (Please circle one) FAMILY $40 SINGLE $ 25 SCHOOL $ 25
I WILL BE ATTENDING AF CLASSES YES / NO (Please circle one)
La Blague du mois
À la ferme, le cheval est très malade. Le vétérinaire dit au paysan : - Je vais lui injecter un remède de la dernière chance, mais si dans trois jours il n'est pas remis, il faudra l'abattre. Le lendemain, le cochon, qui a tout entendu, dit au cheval : - Lève-toi ! Mais le cheval est trop fatigué. Le deuxième jour le cochon dit : - Allez, lève-toi vite ! Le cheval est toujours aussi fatigué. Le troisième jour le cochon lui dit : - Lève-toi, sinon il vont t'abattre ! Alors dans un ultime effort, le cheval arrive à se remettre sur pieds. En voyant cela, le paysan, tout heureux, dit à sa femme : - Le cheval est guéri, il faut fêter ça. On tue le cochon !
Some membership information: The current membership stands at 75 financial memberships, 24 of which are family memberships, with 49 student members. We also have two local high schools as members, and one life membership – Peter and Pat Reilly. It is very pleasing that 85% of our members have elected to receive La Mouette by email – this will enable us to maintain our low membership fees, and reduce the workload of our voluntary editor Regine Kasper.
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An Independent French Musician – Marc Trannoy Marc Trannoy is a French singer/songwirter from Ougney-Douvot, a small village on the Doubs river near Besançon (towards the Swiss border) in the Jura. I met him online through a music site called MacJams, and later, while we were staying in Switzerland in 2009, we met at the Au Bois de la Biche Restaurant (he flew in on his ultralight aircraft – an “ULM”) for lunch. Marc says: “I love music. Vital in the life... By day I'm working, by night I try to compose songs, just for fun. It's possible for me since one year with Garage Band to play music, which I haven't done for more than 20 years... I play a little guitar, keyboard, vocal and I listen to everything done with heart...” He writes very French, modern acoustic music which is very easy to listen to. You can find a collection of his music here at http://www.macjams.com/artist/blaky+smith His song “Sur le Sable” http://www.macjams.com/song/56899 is a French/Australian collaboration - resulting from our meeting.
Neil Porter
Contact us: Alliance Française de la Côte de Saphir
Acting President: Carmen Coutts-Smith 6495 7735 [email protected] Secretary: Margaret Gaunson 6495 3515 [email protected] P.O.Box 3 Treasurer: Neil Porter 6495 6860 [email protected] MERIMBULA 2548 Membership: Neil Porter 02 6495 3515 French Classes: Brigitte Leroy 6495 0781 [email protected] e-mail [email protected] La Mouette: Regine Kasper 6495 0390 [email protected] web:http://afsaphir.blogspot.com
A local food tip: From Regine and Wolfgang – “We just had farewell drinks with neighbours who are real foodies, know their wines and sail in Eden. They showed us an article from the Eden Magnet of 21/4 about a sensational new French cook, albeit part-time, at Eden Fishermen's Recreation Club. His name is Franck François, from Sydney where he ran a patisserie/coffee shop (he used to run "La Gerbe d'Or" in Paddington) and has now semi retired in the Towamba Valley. Apparently he does meals on weekends in the Fishermen's Club restaurant and the review was raving”.
Discounts are offered to our members at the following 5 local businesses:
Alexander & Adams, Veterinary Surgeons, 149 Auckland Street, BEGA (6492 1837) and 56 Moruya Street, COBARGO (6493 6442), 10% discount Brief Affairs, Lingerie Boutique, Shop 12, The Promenade, MERIMBULA, 10% discount Caterer’s Choice Catering, Val Russell, 33 Yarrawood Av., MERIMBULA (6495 3626; mobile 0429 338 715), 10% disc. Peter Dunne Gallery: 2/ 101 Pacific Way, TURA BEACH (6495 9082) at least 10% discount to current members. Opening hours are nearly every Saturday and Sunday from 2pm till 5pm. The Thyme Garden Gallery, 336 Sapphire Coast Drive, TURA BEACH (0428 469 461) 10% discount, excluding books.
