Easy French...

It suddenly occurs to me that it could be useful for all the new students out there to post again the link to Radio France's Les informations en francais facile...

It is indeed quite invaluable when you reach a certain level (ie master the present and past tenses mostly), as it presents a radio news bulletin - in 'easy' French, in other words, substantially (but not stupidly!) slowed down! Besides, they also offer a transcription. Brilliant!!

So if you want to know more about this, click right here!

Audio - soon here?

Quick note to say I am (just about) beginning to master the fine art of 'podcasting', ie including audio files to a web site, which can then potentially be downloaded (hurray!) onto an iPod or an mp3 player...
:-)

Please go and check out my Transsiberian page, and tell me if the audio format is OK (or not, as the case may be)... It will be an opportunity to listen to the lovely Sacha, who distracted us on the first leg of our transsiberian journey!

Lxox

French events in September

Toulouse-Lautrec and the Art Nouveau Poster
"A display of French poster prints, spanning from the Romantic period to the start of the Art Nouveau movement, including 15 works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec."

When? Until 22 October
Where? City Art Centre
How much? £5 (£3.50-£14 family)

Roussillon: Now and Then
"A selection of work by Scottish painter Ian Scott created over the last 30 years in his French base." - Part of the Mackintosh Festival
When? Until 30 September, Mon-Wed 10.00am-4.00; Thu-Sun 10.00am-1.00
Where? House for an Art Lover (Glasgow)
How much? £3.50 (£2.50-£7 family)
More info: www.glasgowmackintosh2006.com

Every Tuesday, 9-11pm: French/English @The World on Thistle Street - come and practise your French or your English with friendly native speakers....

19 September: 1.10pm
Get Organised! - The French Connection: "John Kitchen presents an all-encompassing programme of French music, including ballet music by Lully and Rameau, works from the time of the Revolution such as Balbastre's 'Variations on the Marseillaise along with organ favourites by Franck and Widor."
Where? Usher Hall
How much? £3

20 September: 8.00pm
Tribute to Stéphane Grappelli: "Pioneer jazz violinist Grappelli who formed the first all-string jazz band, the Quintette du hot Club de France, is resurrected by Dutch jazz violinist Tim Kliphuis and the John Russell Trio."
Where? North Edinburgh Arts Centre
How much? £9 (£4-£6)

20 September: 8:30 PM
French Meetup. Monthly event - come and join other French speakers!
Where? Au Bar (101 Shandwick Place)
How much? FREE!

25 September : 6.00 pm
Les Journées Télécinéma
"The INA (French National Institute of television and radio archives) reveal the fruits of their annual foray into their archives, containing more than 60 years of French TV footage, which aims to allow the public to rediscover the best of screen through the free screening of two selected programmes."
Where? Institut Francais d'Ecosse
How much? Free!

Tuesday 26 September only
Le mépris: film by Jean-Luc Godard with Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, Fritz Lang. "A young woman (Bardot) is gradually possessed by an overwhelming contempt for her husband (Piccoli), a writer beset by doubts when he is called in as script-doctor to a film of 'The Odyssey', being made by a director (Lang) who wants to capture the reality of Homer's world, and a crass producer (Palance) who just wants more mermaids..."
Where ? Filmhouse
How much? Cinema price, I suppose!

28 September: 6.00pm
The Edinburgh Quartet and The Auld Alliance: "The Edinburgh Quartet and friends introduce their 2006/2007 season at this exclusive event, performing and discussing a selection of excerpts from their forthcoming French and Scottish pieces."
Where? Institut Francais d'Ecosse
How much? Free


To look forward to in October and December:

4 Oct: 7.30
The Gipsy Kings: "The legendary French band return to keep the flamenco tradition flying."
Edinburgh Playhouse
£36.50

Thursday 5 October at 6.30pm
MARIONAS (concert)
Gordon Ferries is musical director of the Baroque ensemble Symphonie des
Plaisirs and he teaches lute and guitar. This concert is an opportunity to
discover period instruments used in baroque compositions, as well as
French and Spanish, with dancing accents borrowed from mediterranean
music.
Entry free

20 Oct: 12.45
Travel and Study: George Reid in Holland and France
"Dr John Morrison examines George Reid's travels to Utrecht, The Hague and Paris between 1866 and 1871."
Weston Link
Free

24 Oct: 7.00
Phoenix: "Groovy French popsters who marry the best of 70s pop with a club sensibility."
The Arches (Glasgow)
£12

24 Oct: 12.45
Painting Idleness: Boudin in Normandy and the South of France
"A talk on Boudin's paintings of tourists on the Normandy Coast by Frances Fowle."
Weston Link
Free


14 Dec: 7.30
Scottish Chamber Orchestra: The Old Rivalry
"A comparison of dance music and symphonies from France and England featuring the composers Rebel, Charpentier, Haydn, Handel and Purcell by director and harpsichordist Richard Egarr."
More info: www.sco.org.uk
Queen's Hall
£8-£24 (£6-£18)

Penrose as a collector, curator and apologist for Surrealism

Thursday 14 September, 6pm
"Penrose as a collector, curator and apologist for Surrealism"
"Elizabeth Cowling is a specialist in 20th-century European art and particularly in artists' working processes, techniques and use of sources.
Her talk will embrace Roland Penrose's lifelong love affair with France which began in 1922 when he moved to Paris to study painting. In 1925 he married the poet Valentine Boué, through whom he met many of the leading Surrealists. Paul Eluard became a particularly close friend and it was through him that Penrose first met Picasso in 1936, shortly after the major Surrealist exhibition he helped to organise in London. Although he continued to practise as a painter, collagist and maker of 'objets surréalistes', after World War II Penrose became increasingly involved in arts administration, curating exhibitions and writing. In this talk Elizabeth Cowling, author of a recently published book about his forty-year relationship with Picasso, will talk mainly about Penrose as a collector, curator and apologist for Surrealism."

The talk will be in English, and it is free!
Where ? Institut Français d'Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh EH3