Diversity Lottery Now Open: The experts at
Tonkon Torp here in Portland advise us that t
he U.S. Department of State has announced registration dates for the Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery 2017. Online registration began October 1, 2015 and will run through November 3, 2015. The Diversity Lottery allows nationals from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States (including France) to apply through a lottery proc
ess for a diversity immigrant visa (to ultimately become a permanent resident of the United States). For more info click here. Feedback on the movie, The Walk: Thirty lucky Alliance members enjoyed free tickets to a special premiere showing of The Walk, which has been in the press a lot recently. Says one attendee, "Le film, 'The Walk,' était rivetage, un peu drôle aussi! La cinématographie était superbe! J'étais sur le bord de ma chaise! Je voudrais le voir à nouveau!" Free movies are just one of the perks of being a member; check out the
benefits online.
Language Program Cuts at Clark College: Alliance member Doug Mrazek shares the news that Clark College is considering cutting its French and German language programs. Click
here for the news and for how to weigh in on this debate - note the Oct. 9 deadline for providing feedback.
Riviera Weather: If you have friends on the Riviera or fond memories of the region, you'll want to keep up on the latest weather news,
where torrential rainfall has caused 17 fatalities. For an article in French on the elysee.fr site (where you can select ECOUTER to have the text read aloud) click
here. For BBC coverage in English, including photos and videos, click
here. The city of Nice received its total annual rainfall in just two days.
Les intempéries refers to bad weather,
mauvais temps.
Beaujolais Nouveau Auction: The Alliance will bring back a silent auction to this year's Beau
jolais Nouveau event at the Heathman on November 20. Item donations for the auction are welcome! Contact the office by email at
info@afportland.org or at 503.223.8388. Or, simply use the
Donate Items button on the online auction
site to tell us about the item you'd like to donate. Merci. All proceeds benefit the nonprofit
Alliance Fran
çaise of Portland.
Property in France: The site, French Entr
ée, just published four wildly different properties for sale in France. Click
here for that article. The site also has useful posts on property
terminology (a buyer's glossary of sorts) and tips for
ten questions to ask when considering properties for sale. It's also interesting to see the readers'
additions to that list, to which we would also add: "Are the toilets standard ones or are there any
sanibroyeurs (macerating toilets)?" From an earlier post from Adrian Leeds' newsletter and from extensive detractors online (click
here for an online list of comments from folks with experience with the
sanibroyeur), it seems that question should be asked as well.
Conversation update: The Saturday conversation group that normally meets at Philippe's Bread will meet on Nov. 7 at
Palio's Dessert & Espresso House, 1996 SE Ladd Ave.
This infolettre is copyrighted by the Alliance Française of Portland.
mélodies by Debussy, Fauré, Ravel, and Poulenc. The concert, open to the public, will be on Wednesday, November 4, at 12:30pm at the Mago Hunt Performance Hall on the University of Portland campus. Vocabulary note: A mélodie is a French art song, similar to the German lied. Mélodies have been composed since the mid-19th century. A chanson, in contrast, is a folk or popular song. Visit the 
which features more than 600 athletes from as many as 214 different countries from around the world - will be held March 17-20, 2016 in Portland. It begins at the Moda Center with the men's and women's pole vault on March 17, followed by three full days of competition in a temporary 7,000-seat stadium at the Oregon Convention Center. French-speaking volunteers from the community are needed to help with this event. Visit the IIAF Championship's 
Tickets are $20 to the event and include the film (80 minute run time), exhibit, music performances before and after the show, and post-show French-inspired hors d'oeuvres. The documentary tells the story of three French adventurers who were the first to kayak the Green and Colorado rivers. The film is mainly in English; there is some French dialogue which is subtitled in English. Click 
