French-American charter school news. Click here for the news on the latest French charter school opening on the West Coast - La Francophone Charter School will open August 24 in Oakland, California. Portland of course has its own French immersion public charter school, Le Monde Immersion. Le Monde opened its doors in 2012 and now has close to 180 students, in four grades from K through Grade 3. 
   Apartment Rental in Paris for this Summer: Paris resident Sébastien Lefèbvre, brother of Alliance staff member Pascaline, would like to rent his Paris apartment (shown at right) during any portion of July and/or August 2015. It's located in the 11th arrondissement, near the Nation metro station. Click here for more info (on Airbnb) and feel free to contact Pascaline in the office at 503 223.8388. A discount of 10% is offered to Alliance members.
   Catch a French Thriller: In June you can catch the new thriller, The Connection (the French title is "La French"), at Hollywood Theatre in Portland. Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist) plays radically against type in this gripping thriller from the files of the same criminal ring that inspired William Friedkin's classic, The French Connection. Click here for the trailer on Youtube. 
   Dior and I - An award-winning documentary about Dior is playing at Regal Fox Tower on Director Park. This is a colorful homage to the seamstresses of the atelier and is presented mostly in English but with some subtitled French dialogue. Click here for the trailer.

Pearl Studio Apartment for Sublet: Alliance teacher Nathalie would like to sublet her 586-square-foot Pearl District studio apartment (4th floor) in the period from July 3 to August 4, 2015, for $850 total (or a portion thereof; negotiable). Conveniently located on NW Marshall near the streetcar, MAX, Safeway, and Pearl district parks. Email nathalieg@afportland.org for more info and to discuss details on pricing, terms and features.

  Reader Notes: 1) Recently we updated the newsletter formatting to include live links in the section on the upper right, "DATES & QUICK LINKS". 2) We archive past issues online; click here for the archive link. Questions, suggestions or comments? Email volunteer bulletin editor, Linda Witt, at newsletter@afportland.org.
    VIE DE BOHEME in SE Portland will host two French-connected groups in June. First, on June 7 at 7pm, Siri Vik returns to Portland with the show, La Vie en Rose: 100, telling stories and singing songs to honor the Edith Piaf's 100th birthday. Siri's last show in Portland got rave reviews and was performed to a packed house. Click here to buy tickets online via Ticket Tomato; use the discount code PIAF for 20% savings. Then, on June 10 at 7:30pm, the same venue will host an evening of French/Jazz music, led by Alicia Baker (shown at left) on accordion and vocals. The performance will be recorded to create Alicia's newest CD, "C'est Si Bon", a French-café themed collection of music. No cover! Visit Vie de Bohème's website and click on Calendar for more info.
   Consular Notes: This is mostly for our Washington readers, but others may find the data of interest as well: Jack Cowan, Honorary Consul of France in the state of Washington, provides this summary of a recent meeting in San Francisco of the region's consuls, including new statistics on the number of French nationals (i.e., the official count of those who are registered with the Consulate) in this jurisdiction. Click here for the document, in French, and test your reading comprehension.
   French Fitbit Accessory: For Francophiles who are Fitbit fans, please note the latest Fitbit accessory, pictured here. (Yes, we are having a bit of fun with this, but it's truly an option.)
  TV5MONDE: Last chance for three months free; the promotion of three months' trial of French-language channel TV5MONDE ends June 5. Click here for details.
  The Cannes Film Festival winners were announced this week. The film, Dheepan, by Jacques Audiard won the Palme d'or (many readers will remember him from an earlier film, The Prophet). A scandal at Cannes this year, where gender equality was a frequent topic of discussion, was that some women attending the festival were turned away for wearing flat shoes instead of high heels. Click here for the Huffington Post summary of the festival. 
  Les Pickpockets at the Eiffel Tower: Last week the problem of pickpocket gangs at the Eiffel Tower was covered in many publications. Click here for the NY Times report. For similar coverage online in a French article, click here. Note that the word recrudescence in this context means increase or resurgence.