There are very talented French people in Bristol, find out about Marylin:

Marylin, as well as being a French teacher, is a very talented dress-maker/ designer ( couturière).
Audrey, French tutor with Alliance Française de Bristol, is also in charge of our podcasts, so she went to interview Marylin and also took photos.
Marylin has always been interested in design and specialises in upcyclage.
She explains the difference between recyclage which is to use an object again but for its original purpose like to use a button again ( prendre un bouton sur un vieux manteau et l'utiliser sur un autre vêtement comme bouton).
And upcyclage which is to take a curtain for instance and make it into a skirt ( prendre un rideau et le transformer en jupe, par exemple).
Under the make Marylotte, Marylin designs and makes clothes for children ( des vêtements pour enfants) as well as for adults ( et pour adultes).

She also creates accessories like bags ( des sacs)  made of oil cloth ( toile cirée) or cotton ( coton) or belts ( des ceintures) made of leather ( cuir).

She also likes using upholstery materials ( tissus d'ameublement ) and prints ( des imprimés).
Her final words are:
" De nos jours, le gaspillage n'est plus acceptable" Today, wasting things is not acceptable.

If you would like to listen to Marylin talk about her work, listen to Alliance Française de Bristol podcast, for more info...

Did you know that Alliance Française de Bristol is offering a workshop on discovering the Picardie region?

Elise, French teacher, is going to help students coming to this French workshop discover the countryside, the architecture, the history, the famous people who lived in Picardie and more.... The workshop will be conducted in a fun and interactive way so that students feel that they are learning and using the French language as well as finding out about Picardie. They will also watch photos and a short film. The session will end with eating a speciality of the area ( this is Elise's secret for the timebeing!).
Découvrez par exemple:
Les plages: the beaches
Les falaises: the cliffs
Les oiseaux marins: sea birds

La baie de Somme avec ses oiseaux sauvages et ses marécages: the bay the Somme with its wild life and marshes.
Les hortillonnages near Amiens: small, attractive gardens amid marshes and small rivers
La cathédrale d'Amiens: Amiens cathedral

The level is aimed at people who have a GCSE in French, can cope with basic tenses and can communicate in simple sentences.
This French workshop will take place on Saturday, April 27th for 10 people maximum, please book early to avoid disappointment! For more info...

Some poems in the shape of a kite ( un cerf-volant).

Martine's French class has been working on the vocabulary of the sea ( la mer) and she asked her students to start with one noun ( un nom),  two adjectives ( deux adjectifs) and three verbs ( trois verbes) and finally four nouns ( quatre noms) all linked to the first word then to carry on with trois verbes, deux adjectifs  to end up with un nom. See the results below in the shape of a kite ( un cerf-volant) :

L'océan

Vaste, profond

Inonder, clapoter, se noircir

Vague, clapotement, galet, salinité

Déferler, monter, goûter

Jaune, salée

Flaque.

Geoffrey

Feu

Effrayant, mortel

s'enfuir, repousser, craindre

Evasion, horreur, consternation, espoir

Observer, acclamer, croire

Paisible, éteint

Eau

Maureen

You don't need to be able to write poems to join a class. Alliance Française de Bristol is starting a completebeginners' class on 4th April, if you would like to join this class, please contact us. For more info...

Did you know that Alliance Française de Bath is having a wine tasting evening next Saturday?

Lionel Lamadon, our specialist on French wines, is travelling from Bristol to Bath, to give a talk on rare wines ( les vins rares) especially selected for students taking French tuition in Bath as well as their French teachers, their friends and anyone interested in French wine and the French language.
If you would like to hear about Lionel and his talk, listen to the podcast.

If you would like to find out more on the talk, go to the Alliance Française de Bath event page. For more info...

Here are some sayings about wines by famous writers, poets and a film director:

La vérité est dans le vin. Pline l'Ancien ( Truth is to be found in wine)
Servez-leur du bon vin, ils vous feront de bonnes lois. Montaigne. ( Give them good wines, they'll make good laws)
Le vin est la plus saine et la plus hygiénique des boissons. Pasteur ( Wine is the healthiest and the most hygienic of drinks)
La tentation existe pour que l'on y cède. Maupassant ( Temptation is there to give into it)
Un type qui ne boit pas de vin ne connaîtra jamais le bonheur. Chabrol ( A chap who does not drink wine will never know happiness)
Le vin est le fils du soleil et de la terre. Claudel ( Wine is the son of the sun and of the earth)
Un homme qui ne boit que de l'eau a un secret à cacher à ses semblables. Baudelaire ( A man who only drinks water has a secret to hide from his companions)

Please don't go and drink too much after reading these quotes, remember what every advert says in France these days: Buvez en modération! ( Drink in moderation!)

Did you know that Alliance Française de Bristol is having an evening on Le Mont Blanc and the Chamonix valley next Friday?

Elisabeth, ex French teacher for Alliance Française de Bristol et Bath, gives excellent talks ( interventions) on various French topics.
On Friday, 8th March, she is going to take us to la vallée de Chamonix and up le Mont Blanc with a fantastic selections of photos.

 

We will live through the first climbs ( les ascensions), we will be transported to the first Winter Olympic games ( les premiers jeux olympiques d'hiver), we will discover French writers like Frison Roche who wrote novels set in le Massif du Mont Blanc. We will also see how the tunnel ( le tunnel du Mont Blanc) and tourism are affecting the area and plenty more.
We will finish the evening with a glass of wine and with some French cakes ( des petits gâteaux) made by Isabelle, our French teacher and chef.
These evenings are very popular and this one is full up but look out for some more on our website. For more info...