The Fête de la Musique slated for June 21 - the first day of summer - will feature a broad range of talent from Portland bands and musicians, many of whom have a French connection. Performers range all the way from a young violin soloist, age 7, who has performed with the Oregon Symphony, to the four-piece Dusu Mali Band, to Cajun/Country and Gypsy Jazz bands. Performers will also include perennial favorites from Gilkey Middle School (FAIS), Ian Clemmons (of Mistral) and Eric John Kaiser. On the feast side of things, look for a tempting assortment of sweet and savory crêpes from the highly popular farmer's market food cart, C'est Si Bon. Click here for general event information and here for quick bios on all the bands who will be performing.

Last week's bulletin featured a summary of Portland's French immersion schools for PS/elementary-age children, through grade 5. There are also three French-language certified childcare centers in Portland for younger children, i.e. infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers. The largest and longest-established is Atlas Immersion Academy. Founded in 2010, Atlas has over 60 children enrolled, with curriculum designed for age-based groupings: infants, early walkers, ages 2-3, 3-4, and 4-5. Two smaller programs, also located in Southwest Portland, are L'Espoir Preschool of the Arts (13 enrollees, ages 2 and 1/2 to 5 years) and Petit Pois Daycare. Petit Pois is a certified family home facility which has 12 enrollees including infants, toddlers and children through age 4. (Photo courtesy of Atlas Immersion Academy.)

The Alliance hosted a visit on Friday, May 24, of Denis Bisson, Cultural Attaché from the Consulate in France in San Francisco. Bisson has, for the past four years, coordinated with several arts organizations - including the Portland Art Museum, the NW Film Center, White Bird Dance and PICA TBA - to bring French performing artists to town. An example is the upcoming October performance of Compagnie Maguy Marin at White Bird Dance. Notes Linda Witt, "We learned from Bisson that the Portland stop is the U.S. premiere and in fact the only place in the entire country that this group will perform." Look for further info in upcoming bulletins. (Bisson is shown here with the Alliance's events coordinator, Pascaline Lefebvre.)

Frenchman Seeks Internship: Victor Millien, a 22 year-old from Paris, is an OSU exchange student and seeks an internship in the Portland area. Victor played soccer for Paris St-Germain Academy, is pursuing a degree in economics, and is fluent in English, French and Swedish. Contact him at victormillien@live.fr.

  Le Monde's fundraiser on May 11, an Iron Chef competition involving teachers and parents, drew close to 100 and several thousand dollars for the school's operating fund. Shown here are parents on one of the teams in the friendly competition.

  Alliance Member Scott Paul Wines offers 2-for-1 night on Friday, June 7, 5-8 pm, in their tasting room in Northwest Portland, at 2537 NW Upshur Street. Click here for more details.

  Zephyr musique will be playing French tunes at the Press Club on SE 26th & Clinton this Friday May 31st, from 8-11pm, no cover charge. (This is the group that played at the Soirée Belle Epoque in April.)   

  Summer Term: Enrollment is underway for the Alliance's Summer Term classes (June 24 - August 31) as well as Intersession workshops. Visit the website for complete online listings.

 Le Parisien, on Parisian Stereotypes: It's sometimes interesting to see how the French make fun of their own stereotypes, such as the city resident who is less-than-helpful to tourists. Le Parisien (the second largest regional newspaper in circulation in France) put together some self-mocking videos as part of an ad campaign. Click here to view a short clip on Les touristes, from the campaign entitled, "Le Parisien, il vaut mieux l'avoir en journal." ("The Parisian - it's better to read one than to meet one" or "better as a newspaper than in person.")