Quoi de neuf: Celebrity to Emcee Event, Pigeon-Loving Parisians and More

Quoi de neuf / Infolettre

New Paris Video by Tyler Banks

BBC Travel is showcasing an intriguing video, Bonjour Paris, by New York filmmaker Tyler Banks. The two-minute short film touches on all the immediately

recognizable landmarks (even the catacombs) and communicates what it feels like to be walking Paris' tree-lined avenues. The film is shot using a technique called hyperlapse, a form of time-lapse photography in which the position of the camera is being changed between each exposure in order to create a tracking shot in timelapse sequences. Click here for the video and background info. Merci to Bob Derrick for sharing this link.

Musical Star Susannah Mars at Upcoming Gala

The upcoming Soirée Provençale gala in the Grand Ballroom at the prestigious MAC (Multnomah Athletic Club) will feature one of the best-known musical stars o

f Portland, Susannah Mars. Over the past 25 years she has appeared in more than a hundred productions, concerts and recordings around the country. Susannah is currently a resident artist at Artists Rep, and curates the In Concert series. She is also in TV and film productions, including Grimm. A longtime Alliance supporter and an avid learner of French, Mars is pleased to take on the role of event Emcee at the third annual gala. Tickets to the event are just $75 and include a four-course seated dinner by award-winning chef, Philippe Boulot, as well as live and silent auctions and entertainment. Click here for tickets.

New Faces and Spring Happenings

The Alliance's Spring Term Portes Ouvertes (Open House) on March

24 is an opportunity for current students and newcomers to chat, enjoy a glass of wine, and choose their next class. Staff including the School Director Katy Le Bris will help students select classes for the term that starts March 28. Click here for an overview of new classes and sign up online. Don't miss the early-bird discount: registrations finalized at or before the Open House will save 10%

off the course fee.
New Intern: Welcome to Charlotte, from Angers in western France. She's interning at the Alliance in Portland as part of her Master's program in teaching French as a foreign language. Bienvenue!
Week of Workshops: Experiment a bit by tackling one of the many themed workshops or short-series classes that will be offered to the public during the week of March 21-26. These include short classes on idiomatic expressions ("Edible French") and many other creative classes that will introduce new vocabulary and broaden your skill set. Click here for the complete list.

Wine-Blending Workshop on March 25

Polish your French and learn how to blend wine in this special

workshop on March 25, 1-3pm, with chef and wine specialist, Pascal Chureau. Pascal is the owner and executive chef at Allium. He also owns Field and Vine Events, a full-service catering company that connects greater Portland with Oregon's wine and farm country. This is the first time for him to offer this 2-hour workshop in cooperation with the Alliance. Participants will experience a "doubly French" session that combines discussing wine in French with learning how to blend French wines. At the end, students will take home their own blended bottle of wine. Call the office to enroll; ages 21+ only.

Job Postings: Tech, Teaching and More

LegitScript is a fast-growing Portland company that performs cyber investigations and Internet monitoring in the healthcare sector and other high-risk areas. They are seeking a jobs

bilingual General Analyst fluent in French (reading, writing, speaking). Click here for details.

Valley Catholic High School in Beaverton is seeking a temporary French teacher for the first quarter of the 2016-2017 school year. Email kbray@valleycatholic.org for details.

PTIGlobal is looking for a part-time French Localization QA Tester to support technical Quality Assurance (QA) projects performed at our client's site in Hillsboro, OR. Candidates should be native or fully bilingual French speakers immersed in the French culture. Send resumes highlighting linguistic and computer skills to Patricia Sanda (patriciax.sanda@intel.com).

DATES & QUICK LINKS

March 20 - Seattle's French Fest at Seattle Center

March 21-26 - Spring Intersession Classes and Workshops

March 24 - Spring Open House (Portes Ouvertes)

March 25 - Wine-Blending Workshop with Pascal Chureau

Apr. 9-10 and Apr. 15-17 - Fifth Annual PSU French Film Festival

April 23 - Annual Gala Dinner & Auction: SOIREE PROVENCALE

Quick Web Links

Winter term is underway through Mar. 19. Enrolling now for Intersession (Mar. 21-26) and Spring Session (Mar. 28-June 4). Private lessons also available.

Conversation

Groups

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

NW, N, or Central

St Honoré on NW Thurman on

Wed., 6pm, March 16
*

The advanced group (for levels B2/C1 meets at Palio's in Ladd's Addition on Mar. 5, 11am.

SE Portland

At Chez Machin, Mon., Apr. 2, at 7pm

At Vie de Bohème weekly on Sundays, 4-5:30pm

Vancouver

At Gustav's

on Apr. 12 at 5:30pm.

Merci

Perrier

Consular Appointments in May (Book Now!), Helpful Grammar Articles, Entertainment News and More

Consular Appointments in Portland in May: Le Consulat Général de France à San Francisco organisera une tournée consulaire à Portland du lundi 16 mai au vendredi 20 mai 2016. Les 4 premières journées seront consacrées aux demandes de passeports et la dernière journée aux demandes de cartes nationales d'identité sécurisées (CNIS). Pour toute autre requête, veuillez joindre le Consulat Général directement. Pour prendre rendez-vous pour une demande de passeport ou de CNIS, veuillez contacter le bureau de la Consul

e Honoraire par courriel: consulhonoraireoregon@gmail.com. Click here to see this announcement in English.

Craindre: The verb, craindre, is difficult for learners of French. Check out this article on French Entrée, complete with helpful examples in complete sentences.
CESAR News: Actor Michael Douglas recently received an honorary César award in Cannes. Click here.

Seattle's French Fest, set for this coming Sunday (March 20, 11am

to 6pm) is one of the largest celebrations of Francophonie on the West Coast. Held throughout the Seattle Armory (at the Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle), the event will host French-themed vendors and entertainers from Washington, Oregon and France. Portland's Heather Keizur will perform on the Main Stage and Alliance members OYA Elegant Gemstone Jewelry from Lake Oswego and the Landiers from Traditions de France will join other French-themed vendors on the main floor of the Armory. The event features many educational seminars,

practice dictées (conducted by UW professors), a bilingual career expo, chef-curated French cuisine, raffles, wine-tastings, short films for children, art exhibits, children's activities and much more. Click here for all events, here for the main stage and here for the event's Facebook page.

Raffle Pre-Sales End Wednesday at 5pm: Five-dollar raffle tickets are available for the $1500 raffle prize for the above event. Pre-sales end this Wednesday at 5pm. Click here; winner does not need to be present at the festival, to win.
Paris Travel Tip: Catch Olivier Giraud's comedy, "How to Become a Parisian in One Hour," for its run through June in Paris.

The show, in English, attracts an international audience - nearly half a million guests in the past few years. Look for sample clips on Youtube.

Air France: On an Air France flight last week, a passenger smuggled a toddler in her carry-on luggage, as reported on French news sites. Click here for the report in French, for practice in reading comprehension. Note that English-language news outlets mistakenly reported that an infant was stowed in the baggage, due to confusion with the French word, enfant.
Paris' Pigeons: A recent TimeOut.fr article

discusses, in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, "10 raisons d'aimer les pigeons à Paris"; click here. Official estimates: 80,000 pigeons in Paris, or one for every 25 residents.

Calendar Note: Mark your calendars for free films and a complimentary reception, when PSU has its fifth annual French film festival at 5th Avenue Theater. The dates this year are April 8-10 and April 15-17, 2016. Click here for the event's Facebook page.

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