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Quoi de neuf / Infolettre
Beaujolais Nouveau Tickets Now Available   

Tickets are now available for Portland's 13th Annual Beaujolais Nouveau festival which will be on Friday, November 21, at the Heathman. Standard tickets are $70; other options are available for "Young Professionals," reserved Table d'Amis communal seating, and VIP reserved tables for 8 (with additional amenities). All tickets include a bountiful gourmet buffet and wine tastings from featured Northwest vintners including WillaKenzie Estate and Pacific Rim, as well as select imported French wines and the vin primeur from Georges Duboeuf and Joseph Drouhin. The event will have live French-themed entertainment and will be emceed by Russ Lewis of KGW Newschannel 8. Click here to reserve; this event often sells out early. 

New Facilities at the Alliance, New Teachers
New facilities: The Alliance is pleased to open up brand new facilities in the historic Kamm House this week. This includes a new area for children's classes, a new classroom for adults, a kitchen and an "en plein air" patio.  International conference: Directors Linda Witt and Rhonda Lynn will participte in a conference in  Washington DC this month that will include the Ambassador of France to the U.S. and the Paris-based president of the Alliance;'s international network (over 800 chapters in 137 countries). Bienvenue Akissi: Welcome to new teacher Akissi Goffinet. Akissi earned her Master's in teaching French as a foreign language in France and has taught in Japan as well as at the prestigious Monterey Institute of International Studies.  
Meet Bénédicte Hardy on Sunday, Oct. 5         
Bénédicte Hardy is the charismatic worldwide brand ambassador and leader of the 150-year-old Hardy Cognac enterprise. A native of Cognac, Bénédicte will visit Portland next week and will host an informal cognac tasting and bottle-signing event at the Jantzen Beach Liquor store (exit 308 off of I-5 North) on Sunday, October 5, from 2pm to 5pm. Think ahead to holiday gift-giving and imagine presenting a fine cognac, autographed by Mme Hardy herself. Try out your French or stick with English - either way, we are sure you'll enjoy her company, the tasting and the great product. Location: Jantzen Beach Liquor store, 11980 N Jantzen Dr. 97217 (503-283-2907). (She is also featured in a tasting in Portland on Monday night, Oct. 6; the Monday event is sold out.) 
Blazers French Night: Tickets Available            
The tradition of the French night at the Blazers continues in this next basketball season -- the 7th annual French Night Batum2011 at the Moda Center will be on Wednesday, February 25 at 7:30 pm. This is a unique opportunity for Portland's French-American community to come together to cheer the Blazers Nicolas Batum as the team takes on the San Antonio Spurs. For this group event, the Blazers are often able to arrange for Batum (and sometimes Tony Parker as well) to meet up after the game for Q&A. Make sure to buy your tickets with the special group code (click here for the flyer with all the details; tickets are available for sale now) in order to qualify for the special post-game event. Questions? Contact our group sales manager, Greg Bauman, at 503.963.3947.    
"Catch All" Reminders             
EVENTS NEXT WEEK are the info session by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) on October 2, and the Diavolo performances Oct. 9-11. Check out details in the Events section on the Alliance website.
PAST ISSUES: Note that past issues of the newsletter bulletin, of particular interest to those of you looking for the job postings, are in an online archive on the website.
LEARNING TIPS: Alliance students were mailed Student Tips last week, containing our teachers' recommendations of study aids and recommendations to support the learning of French. Contact the office if you did not receive that email.
OUTDOOR FURNITURE: The Alliance is seeking some outdoor patio furniture, ideally a rectangular or round table and 4-5 chairs. 
Dates to Remember
Oct. 5: Hardy Bottle-Signing and Tasting Event - Jantzen Beach
Oct. 9-11: White Bird's Diavolo Performance
Nov. 2: Siri Vik Franco-Allemand Concert
Nov. 21: Beaujolais Nouveau at the Heathman
Quick Web Links
 

Limited openings  in Fall Classes. Call 503.223.8388 for info. 

  

Conversation

Groups

Some are hosted by Alliance staff, board members or other volunteers. Drop-ins welcome; membership is encouraged but not required.

NW or Central PDX 

St Honoré on NW Thurman on

Wed., 6pm, Oct.1 & 15     

C'est Si Bon on NE 7th on Tuesdays @ 6pm 

SE Portland

At St Honoré on SE Division, Monday, Oct. 6, at 6pm.

At Chez Machin, Mon., Oct. 13, at 7p.m.

  At Vie de Bohème weekly on Sundays, 4-5:30 p.m.

Vancouver

At Gustav's in Vancouver, Tues., Oct. 7 at 5:30 p.m.

  

 

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French Babysitter, Reader Recommendations and More
  
READER RECOMMENDATIONS
Bulletin readers kindly send in their recommendations for online articles that others will find interesting. Here are few from the past week.
   Cultural Differences: Roger Cohen, a NY Times op-ed columnist, recently published an article explaining how the French sometimes view efficiency as vulgar. Click here to read the article, entitled Truths of a French Village.
   Beer Pipeline: Portland's beer-savvy public will enjoy this article about how the city of Bruges will alleviate traffic problems by laying an underground beer pipeline that is nearly 2 miles long. Click here for the article on Wired's site.
   MilK DECORATION is a French interiors and fashion magazine for kids and hip parents. Their September issue features Portland. Click here for an excerpt (2MB pdf file) - it's a great way to  learn about hidden treasures that were uncovered by French journalists. Merci to MilK Decoration, Julie Boucherat (writer), James Fitzgerald (photographer) and our friends at TRAVEL PORTLAND.
   Flooding in Montpellier: This week's news is of serious flooding in Montpellier - for the French reporting on this, "Ce lundi 29 septembre après-midi l'Hérault est fortement touché par des pluies orageuses," click here.
  Merci to readers Sherri Roberts, Brian Jones, Laura Guimond and Rhonda Lynn for those links.
childcare
FRENCH BABYSITTER
Frenchwoman Sophie Burke is the mother of two teenagers and lives in Hillsboro. She is seeking part-time babysitting jobs in that city. Email her at banrulizandre@frontier.com. 


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