Why not come and discover Les Ponts de Paris with Alliance Française de Bath?

Elisabeth, French tutor with Alliance Française, will be taking students who learn French with Alliance Française de Bath on a walk along the Seine, crossing bridges from East to West. You will discover the history of Paris through its bridges as well its painters, musicians and poets. You will be transported through the centuries with stories and anecdotes accompanied by beautiful photos all taken by Elisabeth: A charming talk after which you will want to book a flight to Paris immediately!

Here is what Elisabeth says in her introduction:
Sous le Pont Mirabeau coule la Seine…. nous dit le poète Apollinaire. La Seine a servi de berceau à l’établissement de Paris et les activités de la ville ont été très tôt intimement liées à l’eau. Toute son histoire se reflète dans le cours du fleuve qu’enjambent  depuis des siècles de nombreux ponts, à la fois ouvrages utiles et chefs d’œuvre d’architecture, inlassablement construits, détruits, reconstruits. Ils témoignent de l’histoire de Paris, décorent la ville avec élégance et ont inspiré  les artistes qu’ils soient peintres, musiciens ou poètes. C’est à cette promenade que vous convie cette présentation illustrée de photos et de musique.
Anyone with a GCSE French is welcome, find out about the talk on Saturday 5th March, more info

Le Pont Alexandre III et le Grand Palais

Le Pont des Invalides avec la Tour Eiffel

Anne B's workshop for Alliance Française students was a great success!

The workshop took the form of a dialogue between Anne B and students following a French course with Alliance Française de Bristol and Bath. The students were very impressed by Anne's simplicity, sincerity and spontaneity. Anne was kind enough to sing for the students while accompanying herself on the piano.
She performed two new songs, not yet recorded that everyone really enjoyed.
Quite a few people bought her CD, Outremanche: 
To find out about her concert on 27th March, go to Alliance Française de Bristol events page

Here are some more acrostics written by students who learn French at Alliance Française de Bath

Students taking French tuition in Bath studied the song Outremanche by Anne B and wrote their acrostics afterwards.

B ristol est une belle ville
R egardez le pont
I inspirant pour beaucoup mais
S avez-vous l'autre chose
T oujours en dessous
O bservez les pauvres qui
L ogent dans les rues
Écrit par Jackie

 L ondres c'est excitant:
O uvrez tous les magasins
N ous pouvons maintenant faire les courses
D ior, c'est génial!
R egardez cette robe
E légante
S ix cents euros, non!
Écrit par Pauline

P rescious est le nom de ma favorite
O uvrez la porte et elle vient à moi
U ne petite poulette très jolie
L'oiseau qui pense qu'elle est une chienne
E lle me suit
T ant que je lui fais beaucoup de calins
Écrit par Sandra

P aris au printemps
A nniversaire de mariage
R endez-vous au Moulin Rouge
I noubliable
S oirée
Écrit par la classe

You can join a French class in Bath, for more info

Anne B, French talent of the year 2008, is visiting students taking French tuition in Bristol

Anne B is coming to Bristol next Friday! French tutors and students of Alliance Française de Bristol are really looking forward to meeting her, asking her questions and listening to her sing prior to her concert at the Folk House in Bristol on 27th March.
To find out about Anne B, go to her website

During our French classes, as well as listening to her songs, we have tried to write poetry inspired by her lyrics.
Here are two acrostics:

O O! Que je me sens triste
I immodérément déprimé,
S sans aucun Fred Vargas à lire
E et rien d’autre sur ma liste
A aidez-moi,  je vous implore d’
U urgence venez à mon secours !
Un nul !


L lorsque le printemps a fini
E et le soleil atteint pleine puissance
J j’aime m’asseoir sur le banc
A avec un livre pour me détendre
R retournant aux phrases que j’ai lues
D dans un demi sommeil transparent
I inévitablement j’ai perdu le fil
N ni puis je retrouver le plan.
John.

You can have a go yourselves! And why not join of our French courses?
For more info

Anne B, French singer, French talent of the year 2008, is coming to meet students taking French tuition at Alliance Française de Bristol!

Anne B who trained as a classical pianist, took singing lessons with various jazz vocalists as well as  discovering a passion for Brazilian music. She moved to London in 2006 and decided to embark on a solo singing career in and around London.

 Below a comment after one of her concerts:
“Her voice is pure and sensual, and despite the fact that I have not spoken even basic French since my GCSEs, her nuanced delivery ensured that there was no language barrier. Accompanied by a softly played acoustic guitar, I could have listened on and on…” Remotegoat
http://www.myspace.com/anne.b

Anne B is coming to Bristol on 18th February to run a French workshop for University students as well as students doing a French course with Alliance Française.
One group of students has listened to the lovely song called: Les abeilles ( the bees) and they decided to write some acrostics ( acrostiches) using some of the recurrent words in the song.
Here are a couple:

Ostia  Antica 2010....Impression
T  Tapis blanc devant les    
R  Ruines romaines
È  Été, soleil chaud, ciel bleu, papillons, abeilles
F   Fondations,mosaïques,
L   Les rues étroites,tout
E   Enveloppé  d’un parfum divin….
                                        de trèfle.

Helen  Whitehead   Janvier 2011

O Observe l’aile trempée de rouge, son sourcil crème, pâle,
I  Imagine son vol, à travers des pays glacials ;
S Surprise, j’en ai compté trente, cette journée avant Noël,
E Eparpillés, voletant, dans mon jardin hivernal.
A A la fenêtre, j’ai feuilleté mon livre des espèces,
U Une beauté inouïe que ces grives mauvis me laissent.

Sarah Ball Janvier 2011

Why not come and have fun with songs with our music workshop!!