Annual General Meeting – 22 February at Cominos House

Alliance Française de Cairns
Website: www.afcairns.org.au
Email: [email protected]
March 2015
Tel.: 0488 765 550
Annual General Meeting – 22 February at Cominos
House
Paul Charlier, President for 3 years, Sandrine Taillardat, Treasurer & Assistant
Treasurer for 5 years, Peter Handley, Treasurer for 1 year have all resigned from their
position. Thank you to ALL of you for your time, dedication and valuable contribution to
our Alliance. They were all presented with a small token of our appreciation
Welcome to the New Committe
The composition of the new committee for 2015 is as follows:
Executive Committee:
- Marie-Claude Nicot: President
Maryvonne Quero: Vice-President
- Tom Baker: Treasurer
May Morin: Secretary
Committee Members:
- Chris Rigden: Assistant Course Coordinator/French Film Festival
- Annette Eastwood: General Advisor – Newsletter Liaison
- Alex Edwards: Events Rosalind Baker: Events
- Jacqueline Wyatt: General Advisor Maureen Healey - General Advisor
Carl Nielsen: Brochures/IT advisor
Up Coming
Event
Trivia Night –
Friday 27
March
The Environmental Centre
at Edge Hill State School
254 Pease Street
Please use the staff Car Park
entrance on Russell Street
Cost: $10 Students $15
members
$20 non members
Please book by Wednesday
25 March for catering purposes
You can pay online to our
account with Westpac:
BSB 034 167 Account: 377 200
(Don't forget to mention your
name so we can identify your
payment!).
Then email us at
[email protected] giving
us your name and seats
required.
or cash/cheque on Saturday
morning at Dundee's from 11am
French classes
Our French classes resumed on
February 2, 2015. We have 3
classes with 33 students this first
term run by Cecile Carava. Nice to
see so many students coming
back!
Next term starts on 27th April,
please check our website www.afcairns.org.au
(page Learn French) for all details about enrolling.
French Film Festival 1-3 May 2015
Poisson d’Avril
On date traditionnellement son apparition en 1564, l’année où Charles IX
imposa à l’ensemble du royaume de France la date du 1er Janvier
comme premier jour de l’année au détriment du... 1er Avril
(Pour être tout à fait exact, l’année commençait aux alentours du 1er Avril, et
non pas le 1er Avril précisément, le 1er Avril a été gardé à titre, de symbole.). Le
1er Avril est donc, en réaction à la décision du roi, une réponse de ses sujets
conservateurs, qui décidèrent en ce premier jour d’Avril de se remettre de faux
cadeaux et se jouer les uns les autres des tours pendables. Si l’apparition de la
date est à peu près claire, l’origine exacte de l’utilisation d’un poisson reste obscure, plusieurs
tentatives d’explication sont données :
• Certains y voient une référence à l’ichthus chrétien, le premier symbole de ce qui n’était
alors qu’une secte juive, le poisson formé de deux arcs de cercle.
• D’autre le signe zodiacal des Poissons le dernier signe de l’Hiver.
• Le prolongement de la période du carême où il n’était permis de manger que du poisson.
• Toutes ces raisons se confondant en plus avec les usages du Carnaval.
Cette coutume de faire des plaisanteries s’est répandue dans de nombreux pays, bien que le poisson
ne soit pas toujours exporté en même temps : • les Britanniques ont conservé leur April Fool’s Day
(certains Écossais parlent aussi de Gowk ou de Cuckoo)
• les Allemands ont leur Aprilscherz
• en plus de la France, cette coutume existe aussi aux Pays-Bas, en Belgique, au Canada, en Italie, aux
États-Unis, en Suisse ou même au Japon.
Easter (Paques) in France facts and traditions
France, with its strong Catholic history, celebrates Easter with great enthusiasm. The country revels in
Easter festivities and shops are decorated with white and dark chocolate rabbits, chickens, bells and
fish (often associated with Poisson d'Avril). Children wake up on the Easter Sunday morning in search
of Easter eggs (les oeufs de Paques) around their house and garden. There are also many other Easter
traditions.
Cloche volante or flying bells are another important part of the Easter traditions of France. French
Catholics believe that on Good Friday, all the church bells in France fly to the Vatican in Rome, carrying
with them the grief of those who mourn Jesus' crucifixion on that day. These flying bells return on
Easter Sunday morning and bring with them lots of chocolate and eggs.
In France, offering eggs as Easter gifts began in the 4th century A.D. Church law dictated that
Christians must abstain from eating meat or eggs during the 40 days of fasting that preceded Easter.
On Easter Sunday, surplus eggs from hens that continued laying during the period were used to make
an omelette Legend had it that if on Easter Day, the first thing eaten was an egg that had been laid on
Good Friday, you would be protected from illness until the following Easter.
The main Easter meal is a traditional lamb dish (agneau) either 'gigot d'agneau' (leg of lamb) or lamb
stew (navarin is popular).
The famous Mr Rubbish Bin of Paris
This name should have been soft on the ear: ‘Poubelle’. And yet,
Monsieur Eugène Poubelle (1831-1907), a diplomat and Préfet of Paris
gained his fame by introducing the rubbish bin to the people of Paris.
In the 1880s the population of Paris was close to two million and Poubelle
introduced a few revolutionary hygiene measures. On the 7th March 1884,
the Préfet decreed that owners of buildings had to provide those who lived
there with three covered containers of 40 to 120 litres to hold household
refuse. Encouraged by newspaper Le Figaro, which called them ‘Boîtes
Poubelle’, Parisians began to name their boxes after the smart Préfet.
Alliance Book Club
Join our Alliance Book Club, have fun while reading in French. We
will be meeting every second Thursday at 6pm at the Edge Hill
School commencing Thursday 12 March.
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Café Blah Blah Blah
If you would like to join in on
some fun French conversation
and coffee, come down to
Dundee’s (Harbour Lights)
every Saturday morning from
11 am.
Radio FM 89.1
Every Monday from 6 - 8pm, French news, current
affairs. Music from France and French speaking countries,
and everything French in Cairns. Tune in on Cairns FM
89.1.
SBS Television – French News
LE JOURNAL – French News
SBS One: 8.40 am (Everyday)
SBS Two: 5.00 am (Everyday)
Full details of programs can be found at
http://www.sbs.com.au/television
The Alliance Française de Cairns is proudly sponsored by…
We thank them all for their ongoing support!