Did you know that our next French drama workshop is starting soon?

Our next learn French through drama workshop will be run, as usual, by our enthusiastic and experienced French tutor, Audrey. One of her students said: " Audrey obviously has a lot of experience and knowledge and her energy is infectious!"
These French classes do not require any acting skills, they provide an engaging and lively atmosphere which enable the students to pick up the language easily. Anyone with a good GCSE French can join in.
The good news is that there are still a couple of places, for more info...
Why not watch one of the videos taken last Summer?

Did you know that our next French cookery workshop starts soon?

Isabelle, French tutor and chef at Alliance Française de Bristol, will start her next French workshop on Wednesday, 2nd November at 7pm.
The idea is to prepare one dish per session which you can take home and eat with your partner, friend or.... you will not regret it, as one of the students said:
Iza created a friendly, relaxed, chatty atmosphere, we learned some new cookery tips. It was great to match spoken French to a real situation and the food was delicious.
One of the dishes you could be preparing is un gratin de céleri et courge.
There will also be a fish dish and a dessert.
Why not join? There is just one place left! For more info...

Such a lovely day today, we could still be in September!

Here are some poems written in Martine's French class by some of her students. They spent a French lesson talking about September and listening to Barbara' s beautiful song called Septembre and they were inspired!

Septembre

Septembre arrive. Mois trompeur,
au moment critique de l'année,
plein de surprises, l'avant coureur
d'hiver vient, et cache son secret.

Couleurs d'automne illuminées,
doux rayons de soleil divergent
et lancent les silhouettes mouillées
de rosée sur fils de la Vierge.

Ne croyez pas cette douceur,
la générosité de fruits,
la tenue de soirée! L'humeur
changera quand jour succombe à nuit.
Sue

Septembre

Septembre- la rentrée des classes,
Septembre- la saison des chasses.
Septembre- les amants se quittent,
Septembre- les adieux sont dits.

Septembre- mois de la tristesse,
Septembre meurt avec finesse.
Septembre – feuilles aux couleurs gaies ;
Septembre- contrepoint de mai.
Alan

There will be some more poems next week, look out for them or write your own poem in the Comments section. If you would like to get more involved and take French tuition, go to our website: For more info...
Or you may like to cook some Autumn French dishes, why not join our French cookery course, one place left: For more info...

So the French are in the rugby final!

Le XV de France has made it! Just!
How will they cope in the final against New Zealand?
Earlier on in the competition when the two teams were about to play each other, a French commentator on France Inter ( a French radio station) said:
La marée noire risque de submerger les Bleus! ( The black tide may submerge the Bleus)
And the same radio was saying the same thing today.
So: Croisons les doigts! ( Fingers crossed! or Touchons du bois! ( Touch wood!)
Anyway, the players will all look smart at the beginning of the match, wearing their shirt ( leur maillot) with the cockerel ( le coq) on it.
Why le coq? As we all know the Romans invaded France and in Latin, the word Gaulois ( the Gaul) and the word coq were both translated by gallus.
Then, in the middle ages, ennemis of the French would compared them as cockerels as they thought that the French were as vain and as proud as the cockerel. Well, the French decided that le coq was a good symbol for a proud nation and decided to use it.
Nowadays, it is the logo on the rugby shirts of La Fédération Française de Rugby!Alliance Française de Bristol and Bath with its French tutors do not just teach about rugby:
If you wish to take French lessons as a beginner or join an intermediate or advanced French class or learn French through drama or cookery workshops, go to our website: For more info...

You know the French have beaten the English in the rugby world cup!

Le Mondial 2011:
The French ( Les Français) have beaten the English ( Les Anglais) in the quarter final (le quart de finale).
The headline in the famous newspaper, Le Monde, says:
Le XV de France renverse l'Angleterre!
Les Bleus will be playing Wales ( Le pays de Galles) in the semi- final ( La demi-finale) as Wales has beaten Ireland ( Le pays de Galles est vainqueur de l'Irlande).
Watch out for our blog next week as we will be telling you all about the logo of the French team ( le coq) as it appears on Chabal's shirt.
Why not join some of our French lessons to find out more about rugby or other topics, for more info...

Did you know that last night was La nuit blanche in Paris?

La nuit blanche ( The sleepless night) started in Paris ten years ago on the first weekend of October.
The idea is that you can stay up and enjoy a host of unusual activities or shows right through the night.
If you went to Le Sacré cœur last night you would have seen, in the gardens below, 1000 candles ( bougies) reconstituting the night sky as it will be in 2111! The special candles that were used, could resist wind and rain but as it was, the night was warm and calm.
If you wanted to experience purple rain and see a purple night, you could go to L'hôtel d'Albret in the 4th arrondissement. Once in the courtyard, you were given a transparent umbrella and were under Une "Purple Rain" as it was called.
If you were in a surreal mood, you could go la station de métro Anvers in the 9th arrondissement and see a display of urban furniture ( du mobilier urbain) presented in a surreal fashion: un abri-bus ( bus shelter), un parking à vélo ( bicycle park), une poubelle ( a dustbin), un lampadaire ( a lamp post), une horloge ( a clock), un horodateur ( a ticket machine for carparks) une caméra de surveillance ( a CCTV camera) and plenty more...
If you wish to broaden your French vocabulary and discover more about France, why not contact Alliance Française de Bristol or Bath to start some French tuition, for more info...