Alliance Française de Bristol students have been very inspired by Autumn:

Frances, a student in an advanced French class with Françoise has written a beautiful, sensitive poem sur l'automne!
Attention: sensitive in English means sensible in French, whereas sensible in English is translated by raisonnable in French. We call these words which appear to be the same in the two languages des faux-amis ( not true friends) as they confuse us ( ils nous trompent) when we are tempted to trust them ( leur faire confiance).

Automne
En septembre
Les arbres,
expirent.
Ils changent.
Ils sentent
la direction
du vent.
Ils savent
la pluie,
comme elle lave
leurs bras
et leurs doigts
en septembre

En octobre,
ils ne portent pas
une robe
verte.
Ils se retiennent
parce que l’air
est frais.
Frémissant,
l’hiver est près.
Ils tremblent
et deviennent frileux
en octobre.
En novembreles feuilles
brunes, oranges
changent de couleurs
jaunes et rouges
comme une fleur.
Dans le bleu
du ciel
ils pleurent.
Quand elles tombent
sur la terre
en novembre

En décembre
les arbres restent
nus et sombre
sans couleurs.
Ils forment une silhouette.
Leur douleur
évidente au monde
Mais leur beauté
Touche le fond
de nos coeurs
Et ils attendent
en décembre.

Frances



You can learn about les faux-amis and all aspects of the French language in our French lessons.
For more info...

On a beautiful sunny day, more poems on Autumn!

Some lovely poems written by Anne' students in her good intermediate French class.

Plaisirs d’Automne
J’aime l’automne quand les jours raccourcissent
et je sens la fraîcheur de l’air
J’aime les arbres quand les feuilles rougissent
et tombent quand le vent souffle et siffle

J’aime l’automne quand les nuits s’allongent
et j’entends les feux de joie, les feux d’artifice
J’aime l’automne quand les fruits mûrissent
et fournissent les repas de la saison

J’aime l’automne quand je pense au passé
et je me souviens les années soixante
J’aime l’automne quand je pense à mes amants
et toujours ma jeunesse me manque 
Felicity

Quand les vents doux d’été soufflent
Les jeunes feuilles sourient et dansent avec joie
Mais quand les vents forts d’automne arrivent
Les feuilles âgées froncent et tremblent avec chagrin

Quand les vents doux d’été soufflent
Les feuilles sont verdoyantes et vertes
Mais quand les vents forts d’automne arrivent
Les feuilles deviennent sèches et brunes

Quand les vents doux d’été soufflent
Les arbres ressemblent à une tignace
Mais quand les vents forts d’automne arrivent
Les arbres poussent leur bras contre le ciel

Courage, ce n’est pas encore l’hiver....
Martin

To find out more about our French tuition, go to Alliance Française de Bristol et Bath website. For more info...

What a beautiful Autumn day today!

A perfect day to publish some poems about Autumn written in Anne's French class a couple of weeks ago.
As you can see Anne had been teaching all the ir verbs to do with colours:  rougir ( to become red), brunir ( to become brown), jaunir ( to become yellow) and there are more like blanchir ( to become white), noircir ( to become black), see if you can find some more...

L'arrivée d'Automne
La moisson a été ramassée
La nuit tombe de plus en plus tôt
Les matins les jardins sont humides de rosée
C'est l’automne et comme il est beau

Les feuilles des arbres, elles flétrissent
elles volent et elles tombent sur l'herbe
elles rougissent et brunissent et jaunissent
C'est l'automne et c’est superbe

Le hérisson il hiberne dans le jardin
L'écureuil cherche et cache les noisettes
Ils savent que l'hiver est tout proche et
Ils savent qu'il faut être prêt
Yvonne

L'Automne est beau
Ces couleurs incroyables
Les feuilles font des tapis remarquables
C'est la saison de la chasse, des baies, des noix et des champignons sauvages
Mais l'hiver sera ici bientôt
Géraldine












To learn more vocabulary about Autumn or about any other topic, join one of our French courses in Bristol or in Bath. For more info...

Students at Alliance Française de Bristol had a great evening at the dégustation of champagnes!

Yet again, Lionel, our French wine expert, captivated his audience with his talk and photos on champagnes. Students taking French tuition in Bristol and their friends and partners tasted  3 champagnes which were accompanied by canapés prepared by Isabelle, French teacher with Alliance Française de Bristol and chef. People were very impressed by ses canapés de concombre garnis de fromage blanc aux fines herbes (cream cheese with herbs) et truite fumée ( smoked trout), sa flamiche aux poireaux ( a sort of quiche/ pizza with leeks) et ses petits sablés avec un zest d'orange. So much so that her French cookery course starting on 15th November is almost full! Hurry up if you would like to join: For more info...
Here is a recipe with champagne offered by Isabelle:

 Un Sabayon au champagne et aux framboises
Pour  quatre personnes.
Ingrédients :
4 jaunes d’œufs
80g de sucre
100ml de champagne
Quelques framboises
La recette :
Séparer les œufs et mettre les jaunes dans une casserole. Ajouter le champagne et le sucre, faire monter avec un fouet.
A feu doux, continuer à fouetter le mélange jusqu’à ce qu’il épaississe, il devrait doubler de volume.
Retirer du feu et continuer à fouetter jusqu’au refroidissement.
Mettre des framboises dans des flûtes à champagne et verser le mélange dessus.
Servir frais.
Bon appétit!

If you would like to have a look at the content of the French cookery courses offered by Alliance Française de Bristol with Isabelle as the French chef, have a look at the website. For more info...
If you would like to find out more about Isabelle, listen to our podcast on Iza and La Cuizine with a z: http://www.myspace.com/afbristol/music/songs/les-vins-rares-84950620
If you would like to read more recipes ( in English), go to Isabelle's website. For more info...

Did you know that our French drama course is starting on 6th November?

Audrey, French tutor at Alliance Française de Bristol, is resuming her very popular French drama courses this Autumn.
Can she tempt you to join up? Here is what she explains:
Bienvenue!
We are very happy to welcome you to this first session to learn French through drama. Learning and experiencing the language will happen in different ways:
 Each session will start with relaxation and breathing exercises, so you’ll learn through listening and being immersed in French ( écoute et immersion)
 We’ll do some pronunciation exercises ( exercices de prononciation)
 We’ll experience French sounds with our whole bodies ( expérimenter les sons du français à travers le corps)
 We’ll work on situations ( travailler à partir de situations)
 We’ll work on how to express feelings ( comment exprimer ses sentiments)
 We’ll discover some new vocabulary in context ( découvrir du vocabulaire en contexte)
 We’ll focus on one or more grammar point that we will particularly explore ( explorer la grammaire)
 We’ll write short dialogues / monologues for you to play ( écrire des dialogues ou monologues à jouer)
I And most of all, we'll have fun! ( et surtout, on va s'amuser!)
There are still a couple of places left on the course, do not hesitate to contact us, for more info...

Here is a short video of what happens at the end of the 10 sessions:

Did you know that L'heure Zéro is at Bath cinéclub next Friday?

Alliance Française de Bath is starting its new cinéclub season with L'heure Zéro adapted by Pascal Thomas from the novel by Agatha Christie called Towards Zero.
Guillaume Neuville has had the brilliant idea to invite his ex-wife ( son ex-femme) and his new wife ( sa nouvelle femme) to spend a few days at his rich aunt' s in Brittany! He would like them to become friends ( devenir des amies), there is a murder ( un crime ) and an enquiry (une enquête) ...... needless to say much more!
If you would like to find out who the murderer ( le meurtrier ou l'assassin) is, what is his/her mobile (son mobile), what clues ( des indices) are available to the police inspector ( l'inspecteur de police), join Alliance Française de Bath students on Friday, October 27th. For more info...
What about having a look at the trailer ( la bande annonce)?
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18746173&cfilm=112190.html

Alliance Française de Bristol is going to have an evening of champagne tasting.

Lionel, specialist in French wines and an ex French teacher, is going to give students taking French tuition in Bristol with their French teachers, as well as their friends, a talk on champagnes followed by some champagne tasting ( dégustation de champagnes).

Here are some of the champagnes on offer:

Champagne Brut Réserve Bérèche     
One of Champagne’s rising stars ( étoile montante), Raphaël Bérèche has been working alongside his father Jean-Pierre at their 9ha estate of Bérèche et Fils since 2004, and today he is putting an increasingly personal stamp on this thoughtfully-run domaine. Bérèche’s wines are full in flavour and finely balanced, always showing a firmness of structure.

Champagne 7Crus Agrapart 
          

Agrapart’s wines are of uniformly excellent quality, with a naturally expressive and vinous character that makes them feel grown rather than made. Les 7 Crus is a consistently reliable value, and the other wines in the range offer increasingly more precise demonstrations of Côte des Blancs terroirs.

Champagne Rosé de Macération B. Lahaye   

Benoit Lahaye is a passionate advocate of natural winegrowing; the estate was fully converted to organic viticulture in 2003, and certified organic ( biologique ) in 2007. Lahaye’s wines are intense without being weighty, showing a vinous, concentrated character that clearly announces an emphasis on quality work in the vineyards.

All rather mouth-watering:  cela vous met l'eau à la bouche!

Here is Lionel explaining how he became passionate about wines in Les vins rares!

 Why not join us on November 2nd at 8pm, for more info...