Le Magazine USA by France Publishing

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Sommaire

4 Board of Directors 5 Le Mot de la Présidente 7 Guest Editorial 9 Annual Meeting 2004 12 Table ronde 16 Federation Web site 18 Le conte de fée d’Audrey Tautou 22 Chanel

28 Polly Platt 32 Le Palais Garnier 38 One Book, One Federation 40 Spotlight on Chapters 46 Community Outreach 48 The Year of Languages

32 48

52 Le Service Culturel de l’Ambassade de France 54 Les Alliances Françaises du Canada à l’honneur 56 Chapter Photos and Captions 58 Federation of Alliances Française USA 60 La Recette Le Cordon Bleu 62 Remerciements

Le magazine is produced and published by Media Information publishing - 16 rue brunel 75017 - Paris, France - Tel: +33 (0) 6 60 86 48 36 - Fax: +33 (0) 1 45 72 12 19 www.media-information.fr - email : m.mimouni@media-information.fr - Vice President Development and Advertising Mickael Mimouni - m.mimouni@media-information.fr Chief Editor and communication co-ordinator Bintou Traore - b.traore@media-information.fr - Managing director Samuel Koskas - s.koskas@media-information.fr Advertising manager Olivier Thomas othomas@media-information.fr - Group Art Director Valerie Amato - pao@media-information.fr - Accountants - Sylviane Bourdereau Joelle Valette - Graphic Design by Jerome Bertho - +33 (0)4 67 63 07 06 - www.darsanha.com - contact@darsanha.com Editor-in-Chief - Mary Emory - Artistic Director - Bintou Traoré & her team - Editorial Advisors - Jane Robert & Rebecca Valette - Contributors - Marty Abbott - Jean-Christian Agid Olivia Arditi - Catherine Bashet - Tom Bishop - André Cointreau - Hedwige Cointreau de Bouteville - Patrice Courtaban - Bernard Duhaime - Charles Cogan - Jean-René Gehan Carole Haley - Thomas E. Horn - Melissa Kling - Alain Landry - Julie Lindquist - Casey Mackenzie - Keith Maillard - Sandra Messier - Alain Charles Perrot - Christopher Pinet Polly Platt - Jane Robert - Philippe Schaller - Brenda Stynes - Jean-Louis Turlin - Elaine Uzan Leary - Rebecca Valette - Claire Van Brunt - Randy Williams - Matthew Wyatt Le magazine is distributed by MEP Distribooks Special Thanks - Our Advertisers - Arnaud Adida for Acte 2 Agency - Nicholas Mengin & MEP Distribooks - Alain Charles Perrot - Artmedia Cover photograph by Friedmann Hauss

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Board of Directors

Board of Directors Federation of Alliances Françaises, (USA), Inc. HONORARY BOARD His Excellency, Jean-David Levitte, Ambassadeur de France aux Etats-Unis The Honorable Howard H. Leach, American Ambassador to France Mr. John H. Bryan M. Pierre Cardin M. André Cointreau Mme Hedwige Cointreau de Bouteville Mr. Frank Gehry Mr. Robert Goelet Mrs. Eleanor R. Morse Comte de Pusy La Fayette Ms. Diana Ross Mrs. Eleanor Wood Prince Mrs. Odette V. Wurzburger PRESIDENT Jane M. Robert VICE-PRESIDENT/CORPORATE SECʼY Carole Crosby VICE-PRESIDENTS Mary B. Emory Alan Jones Rebecca M. Valette TREASURER Bernard E. Duhaime BOARD Olivia Arditi Jane Bernbach Misa Bourdoiseau J. Wesley Green Michèle Imhoff Marie-Pierre Koban Annik de Lacaze Keith Maillard Gary W. Marsh Jean-Pierre Piriou Lillian Politella Diana M. Regan Robert H. Ritter Marie-Monique Steckel H. Randolph Williams National Office Melissa Kling, Office Manager E-mail: federation@afusa.org Website: www.afusa.org A 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Le Mot de la Présidente

Le Mot de la Présidente Back to the Future

elving into our colorful past, the Federation has found dormant ideas which will serve as springboards to our promising future! How so? We are bringing back our National Speakers’ Bureau, revising our education handbook, and returning to our original structure of an independent home office within a local AF. These 2005 “retro-initiatives” are conceived to bring state-of-the-art services to your local chapter. The newly resurrected National Speakers’ Bureau, chaired by Federation Board Member Diana Regan, President, AF de Philadelphie, will be a compilation of speakers and programs that member chapters may consult and contact according to their own schedule and budget. Although the directory will include some music, theater and exhibit possibilities, the vast majority of listings will be lecturers of the highest quality accepting to visit an AF for a modest honorarium and expenses. This new opportunity offers many Milwaukee, WI - New home of the Federation office AF’s the possibility of reaching beyond local talent to “custom tailor” programs and lectures. Besides simply responding to invitations, listed presenters will be encouraged to contact local AF’s when they plan travel to that area in an effort to reduce travel expenses. Do you know someone who would like to participate? Let us hear from you! Don’t let your local talent be left off the list! Also, from the depths of our archives, we have dusted off our original education handbook, Guidelines for Setting Up Classes. Created in the early 1990’s by Claudia Hardy, AF de Grand Rapids, MI, and Alain Marquer, Alliance Française de Paris, this publication has now been updated and significantly expanded by Rebecca Valette, President, AF de Boston and Federation Education Chair, in collaboration with Béatrice Hildebrand, President, AF de Sacramento. Great care has been given to assure that this new Federation Guidebook for French Classes will be a useful tool for all AF’s – whether opening a first class or managing an established school. Look for your copy before la rentrée, 2005!

Lastly, back to the beginning: the Federation is once again housed within a local chapter. Directed by Ofﬁce Manager, Melissa Kling, from the heart of the AF de Milwaukee, our new hub has solutions for you. Milwaukee francophiles expressed their excitement at hosting the national headquarters of the Federation during a festive dinner sponsored by the Institute of World Affairs, with keynote speaker Ambassador Jean-David Levitte and attended by Richard Barbeyron, newly-arrived Consul Général de France à Chicago. To stay connected to the above initiatives and to discover the many other ways your Federation continues to support your chapter, don’t forget to consult our web site regularly at www.afusa.org. For instance, as of spring 2005, the Federation is offering a basic template to help chapters create effective web sites at very low cost. And as before, smaller AF member web sites are hosted free of charge on the Federation server. For this wonderful technological advancement, we thank our volunteer webmaster and Federation Board Member, Olivia Arditi, President, AF de Buffalo. We remind all of our members that these cooperative solutions are possible because of our shared expertise and resources. There are no limits to what we can accomplish when we combine our American “can do spirit” with our French “savoir faire”. Join in the fun and let your community members know: the source for French language learning and francophone cultural expression is at their local Alliance Française.

Jane Robert - President federation@afusa.org

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Guest Editorial

Guest Editorial Chers amis, C’est avec grand plaisir que l’Alliance Française de San Francisco accueillera les 27, 28 et 29 octobre 2005 le congrès annuel de la Fédération des Alliances Françaises (USA). Y sont invités non seulement les présidents mais tous les membres de toutes les Alliances des États-Unis et de Puerto Rico ainsi que les représentants de la France, du Canada et du Mexique. Fondée en 1889, l’Alliance Française de San Francisco, située dans un bâtiment historique, est la plus ancienne Alliance des EtatsUnis. Nous ferons de notre mieux aﬁn de vous assurer un congrès fructueux et agréable. Sous la direction de Rebecca Valette de la French Library/Alliance Française de Boston et de Mary Emory de l’Alliance Française de Milwaukee, le programme composé d’ateliers, de conférences et d’interventions sera de très haute qualité et se déroulera dans nos très agréables salles de classe de l’Alliance. L’Assemblée Générale aura lieu dans notre nouvel amphithéâtre. Pour votre confort, nous avons bloqué des chambres à un prix abordable dans deux hôtels très charmants situés à quelques minutes à pied de l’Alliance. Depuis la ruée vers l’or, les Français sont très nombreux dans la région de San Francisco. Ceux qui s’y sont installés actuellement ne voudront pas manquer l’occasion de faire votre connaissance et de vous accueillir à San Francisco. Le Consul Général de France à San Francisco, Monsieur Frédéric Desagneaux et Madame Desagneaux vous inviteront à la résidence de France le jeudi soir du congrès. Et puis, October 27, 28 and 29, 2005 le samedi soir après la clôture du congrès, toute la communauté Federation of Alliances Françaises USA française de la Baie vous invitera à une «soirée française» dans la Annual Meeting in San Francisco Green Room du San Francisco War Memorial, monument historique de style beaux arts, situé en plein cœur de San Francisco. Une Alliance Française de San Francisco soirée exceptionnelle à ne pas manquer! 1345 Bush Street San Francisco, CA 94109 Phone: 415-775-7755 www.afsf.com

Pour vos reservations, nʼhésitez pas à contacter lʼun de ces deux établissements : Hotel Carlton - 1075 Sutter Street San Francisco, CA 94109 Tel: 415-673-0242, 415-292-1182 www.carltonhotel.com (à trois minutes à pied de lʼAF) Hotel Cornell de France - 715 Bush Street San Francisco, CA 94108 Tel: 415-421-3154 www.cornellhotel.com

Je suis aussi heureux de vous faire savoir que l’Ambassadeur de France aux Etats-Unis, Son Excellence Jean-David Levitte et Madame Levitte ont accepté notre invitation de participer au congrès et viendront à San Francisco se joindre à nos activités. Monsieur Levitte nous adressera la parole lors de son «déjeuner de l’Ambassadeur» traditionnel le vendredi à midi. Notre dîner de gala aura lieu dans la célèbre Venetian Room de l’Hôtel Fairmont à Nob Hill le vendredi soir. Si vous n’êtes pas encore inscrits, faites-le aujourd’hui ! Vous ne le regretterez pas. Vous serez tous les bienvenus à San Francisco ! Thomas E. Horn, Président Alliance Française de San Francisco

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Assemblée Générale

Réception à la Résidence de lʼAmbassadeur de France, son Excellence Monsieur Jean-David Levitte.

Thursday

Federation Annual Meeting 2004 Washington D.C.

1 Bintou Traoré, Paris & Mary Emory, Milwaukee 2 Farah Golgolab & Farida Mazhar, Washington D. C., Misa Bourdoiseau & Rosemary Whitney France, Seattle 3 Rebecca Valette & Elaine Uzan Leary, Boston MA 4 Ambassador & Mme Levitte (wearing her new Federation scarf) with Federation President, Jane Robert, St. Louis MO 5 Guests listening to presentation at reception 6 Thierry Chambon, Sarasota, FL; Mary Emory & Anne Hérisson-Leplae, Milwaukee WI; Farida Mazhar, Washington, D. C. 7 Olivier Pellenard, Délégué Général Adjoint; Pierre Hudelot, Délégué Général, Washington, D. C.; Alain Marquer, AF de Paris 8 Madame Levitte dons new scarf with Jane Robert 9 Bob & Marcella Ritter, Toledo OH 0 Ambassador Levitte shows gift of Paris skyline including Alliance Française ¡ Ambassador Levitte speaks with Gary Marsh, (Kansas City, MO), Federation Board, Chair School Development grants Ô Mme Levitte, Ben Wastler, Ambassador Levitte. Georgetown University International Relations major Ben Wastler (St. Louis, MO) enjoys beneﬁts of internship with the Federation.

Le Congrès de la Fédération des Alliances Françaises USA 2004 sʼest tenu à Washington DC, sous lʼégide de lʼAmbassadeur de France Monsieur Jean-David Levitte. Tout au long de ces trois jours, ateliers et tables rondes se sont succédés. De magniﬁques soirées dans les salons de lʼAmbassade de France et au Ritz Carlton à lʼoccasion de la remise du prix Charbonnier ont ponctué ses sessions de travail. FEDERATION FEDERATION OF OF ALLIANCES ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES FRANÇAISES USA USA Le Le magazine magazine

Assemblée Générale

Friday Ateliers, Déjeuner avec lʼAmbassadeur, et Table Ronde à lʼHotel Hilton.

1 Jean-Louis Turlin, editor France-Amérique & Christine Charbonnier, San Francisco CA 2 Bernie & Rosemary Duhaime, Omaha NE; Becca Brodarick, Louisville KY; Anne Hérisson-Leplae, Milwaukee WI 3 Table Ronde panel: Tom Bishop, NYU; Christopher Pinet, Montana State U; Jean-Louis Turlin, France-Amérique; Charles Cogan, Harvard, Boston MA; Elaine Uzan Leary, AF de Boston MA 4 Plamen Roussev, Paris & Moune Stieglitz, Washington, D. C. 5 Julie Pederson & Farah Golgolab, Washington, D. C. 6 Ann Whitlock Swedeen, Indianapolis IN 7 Attendees listen to Table Ronde 8 Moune Stieglitz, Washington, D.C.; Monique Raimond, Paris; Carole Crosby, Grosse Point MI 9 Attendees sharing ideas in workshop 0 Tom Bishop, NY & Marci Cannon, Toledo OH ¡ Agnès Ndiaye Tounkara, Boston MA Ô Béatrice Hildebrand, Sacramento CA; Katharine Branning, NY; Rebecca Valette, Boston MA £ David Lea, Charlottesville VA & Solange Brown, Chicago IL ¢ Display of materials offers current slelection of teaching methods for children and adults as they study French as a foreign language ˆ Les Dames aux Foulards.

10 10

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES USA Le magazine ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES OF FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Assemblée Générale

Saturday Soirée du Prix Charbonnier décerné cette année à Pierre Cardin. Monsieur Cardin était représenté par Monique Raimond. Federation Annual

Meeting 2004 Saturday

1 Monique Raimond, Paris; Tom Horn, San Francisco CA; Ambassador Levitte; Carole Crosby & Larry Wickes; Grosse Point, MI, Agustin Legoretta, President, Federation of Alliances Françaises de Mexique 2 Frédéric Filiodeau, Chef from Le Cordon Bleu, & Monique Raimond 3 Elaine Uzan Leary, Boston; Plamen Roussev, Paris 4 Moune Stieglitz, Mme et Ambassadeur Levitte and Jane Robert congratulate chefs from le Cordon Bleu and Ritz-Carlton 5 Jane Robert, Monique Raimond, Christine Charbonnier, Moune Stieglitz 6 Monique Raimond accepts Prix Charbonnier 7 Christine Charbonnier, San Francisco CA & Anne Hérisson-Leplae, Milwaukee WI 8 Bintou Traoré, Paris; Jane Robert, St. Louis, MO; Mickael Mimouni, Paris 9 John & Mary Emory enjoyed dinner 0 Amb. Levitte, Monique Raimond, Mme Levitte, Jane Robert ¡ One of the Cordon Bleu masterpieces Ô Marie-Christine & Richard Slater, Pasadena CA; Marianne Sprague, Buffalo NY; James Hendrickson, Washington, D. C.; Ann Swedeen, Indianapolis IN; Annie Boutin-King, Ritz Carlton Director of Catering £ Jean-Paul Valette, Boston MA & Mme Levittte

FEDERATION FEDERATION OF OF ALLIANCES ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES FRANÇAISES USA USA Le Le magazine magazine

9 11

Table Ronde

Table ronde Franco-American Relations The Short Term and the Long View

Christopher P. Pinet “Editor-in-Chief” French Review

here were many highlights, including the record attendance, at the annual meeting of the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA. held in Washington, D.C. from October 21-23, 2004, at the Hilton Washington Embassy Row. Certainly one was the luncheon speech of French Ambassador to the United States, Jean-David Levitte, on the history of Franco-American relations and current cooperative ventures such as the war on terrorism in Afghanistan, where the French have committed troops and command staff, and the debt relief promised to Iraq during its reconstruction are positive signs for the future of relations between our two great nations.

Of similar interest was the plenary Round Table entitled “Franco-American Relations: The Short Term and the Long View” featuring ﬁve speakers who addressed a broad spectrum of the problems that have threatened relations between the two countries during the past two years. The panel also offered some strategies that the Federation and Francophiles generally might consider in their effort to counter Frenchbashing. Panelist Charles G. Cogan, a Senior Research Associate at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and author of the recently published French Negotiating Behavior: Dealing with the “Grande Nation,” offered an assessment of how and why things went wrong between France and the United States over the latterʼs decision to wage war on Iraq in 2003. For Cogan it was a case of France “for the ﬁrst time since 1917 voluntarily stepping aside from the Big Three Alliance of Western Powers that had existed since that time.” (He excluded the Suez Crisis of 1956 as an aberration).

“ All of this has resulted in the most serious crisis in French-American relations in history .” Coganʼs thesis is that U.S. and French ofﬁcials misread each other. Cogan asserts that the Americans thought that “in the ﬁnal analysis, the French would abstain in a second resolution that would have opened the way for an attack on Iraq,” and the French thought that in the absence of any tangible reasons the United States was unlikely to go to war. Once the French realized that the Americans were going to go forward anyway they joined with other U.N. members like Germany and Russia in attempting to deter or postpone the U.S. attack. Cogan goes on to analyze what he considers the weakness of Jacques Chiracʼs position; namely that he did not have all of the European leaders with him. Just as George Bush was thwarted by Chirac in gaining U.N. approval for his invasion of Iraq, Tony Blair kept Chirac from getting complete European condemnation. All of this has resulted in the most 12

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

serious crisis in French-American relations in history and has called into question the Western alliance system of the Cold War. This turn of events poses a serious challenge to organizations like the Alliance Française with its long-time goal of promoting French and Francophone culture and language. Cogan attributes the current ignorance and prejudice against France to three factors: longstanding Gallic/Anglo incompatibilities, the lack of a signiﬁcant French immigrant base in the United States, and a relatively weak French presence in American universities and think tanks. At the same time he points to the continuing attraction of Americans to French language and culture as well as the long history of the Franco-American alliance. (The two countries are the only two major powers of the West never to have gone to war with one another.)

“ The two countries are the only two major powers of the West never to have gone to war with one another .” Christopher P. Pinet, Editor in Chief of the French Review, the ofﬁcial journal of the American Association of Teachers of French, and a professor of French at Montana State University, Bozeman, gave a brief history of Franco-American relations and the ambivalence that has characterized them as far back as Thomas Jefferson, who wrote of the French and Europe in a letter from Paris in 1787, “Under the pretence of governing, they have divided their nations into two classes, wolves and sheep. I do not exaggerate. This is a true picture of Europe.” For Jefferson, we Americans offered a “primitive and precious model of what is to change the condition of man over the Globe.”

“ French is doing very well in the United States despite the dominance of Spanish.”

Pinet went on to say that there will always be differences between France and the United States because their national interests are not always the same and because they are moral rivals. Pinet contended that the last two years have seen an unprecedented increase in the politicization of francophobia or French-bashing as evidenced in speeches by government ofﬁcials, newspaper columnists, and television commentators. This has lead to further negative stereotyping on a grand scale. It is the popularization of these negative stereotypes in the media and particularly television talk-show hosts that have made things worse than ever before. Nonetheless, polls conducted by USA/CNN/Gallup Poll in mid-September 2003 seemed to indicate that the worst was over. He handed out an anti-French “comedy” relationship diagram taken from the website miquelon.org (based in Toronto) to show how comedians and talk-show hosts like Conan OʼBrian, Dennis Miller, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Howard Stern, and Lorne Michaels Lipowitz have used anti-French jokes and slurs to discredit the French and French-Canadians. Miquelon.org tracks these discriminatory remarks as well the history of Franco-American relations and responses from members of the French government, including French Ambassador JeanDavid Levitte.

Pinet quoted other polls that show that a great number of Americans are ill-informed about the French and agreed with Charles Cogan that the lack of a strong lobby of French-Americans in the U.S. has meant that no organized opposition has been formed to counter the French-bashing. Pinet concluded with a discussion of the absurdity of the boycott of French products. He pointed out that France is the second largest investor in the United States with over 2,370 companies on American soil. They do over $170 billion dollars of business yearly and employ over 650,000 Americans. The United States, for its part, is the number one investor in France. During the period when Bill OʼReilly called for a boycott of all French products a number of American companies that have nothing to do with France, such as Frenchʼs Mustard and the Idaho potato growers had to issue pleas stating that they were not French so that their business would not be hurt. Cities in the Northwest said that they would not change their French names, and French companies in the United States had to hire extra security for fear of reprisal and to publicly disassociate themselves from their governmentʼs policies. In a poll by Time Magazine conducted in the spring of 2003, 45% of Americans said that they wanted to boycott French products, but only 14% could readily identify a signiﬁcant number of them.

Charles Cogan

E. Uzan Leary

Jean-Louis Turlin

Tom Bishop

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Table Ronde

“ I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.” Pinet believes that the Alliances should start an advocacy program like that recently begun by the AATF. Members should respond in writing to slurs or inaccurate statements against the French and unfair statements about any French-speaking peoples. In large cities the Alliance should make contact with French businesses that might present programs about themselves and France in community settings. Information packets might be prepared and distributed based on Richard Shyrockʼs “French: the Most Practical Language,” found at his website at www.fll.vt.edu/french/whyfrench.html. Tom Bishop, Florence Gould Professor of French Literature and Director of the Center for French Civilization and Culture at New York University, made the important point that professors of French in the United States should not take a defensive stance towards anti-French behavior or adopt the position of victim. French is doing very well in the United States despite the dominance of Spanish. Bishop calls on us to eschew “cultural studies” and the trend toward world literature departments that offer foreign literature in translation. He also deplores multidisciplinary fads and urges us to stand by French culture and the French language. France, a country and people in full evolution, is more worthy of study than ever. Yet the French language cannot be disassociated from culture, which must remain at the heart of our teaching. Bishop believes that if we convey our passion and commitment to administrators and students, we will more than hold our own: our glass is half full if we choose to view it that way. Jean-Louis Turlin, Editor and Director of France-Amérique and a correspondent for Le Figaro, moderated the panel. He emphasized the vitally important role of the 120 Alliances in the United States and their two main functions: to organize French language courses and to provide the very best in cultural programming in cooperation with the Délégation de lʼAlliance Française de Paris, which has recently adopted independent status while continuing to work hand-in-hand with the Federation. Indeed, the délégué général, Pierre Hudelot, his adjunct, Olivier Pellenard, and the conseiller pédagogique, Frédéric Brosson, invited members of the Fédération to a presentation of some of the programs that will be traveling across the United States at the French Embassy. For those Alliances that cannot afford the more expensive programming, there is also a list of local speakers whom they and all Alliances can call on for first-rate presentations. This new initiative by the Federation is a positive development in the current climate, and the list can be found on the website (www. afusa.org). Alain Marquer, the Director of International Relations for the Alliance Française de Paris, made clear the important working relationship that his office maintains with the Federation. Elaine Uzan Leary, Executive Director of the French Library and Culture Center of Boston and Cambridge, discussed a new series of programs called the Leadership Series headed by Dr. Charles Cogan. Expert speakers have made presentations on the war with Iraq, the definition of Judaism in France, conflictive friendship between the United States and France (Michel Rocard). Other topics have included cultural 14

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Tom Bishop, New York University; Chris Pinet, Montana State University, Editor in Chief: French Review; Jean-Louis Turlin, President, France Amérique; Charles Cogan, Harvard University; Elaine Uzan Leary, Executive Director, French Library and Cultural Center / Alliance Française of Boston and Cambridge.

differences that create misunderstandings between the French and the Americans and a panel on multilateralism in the wake of the U.S. presidential election with representatives from France, Germany, and Great Britain. Leary explained that there had been some disagreement about the mission of the French Library/Alliance Française, which is deﬁned as the promotion of language and culture from France and the Francophone world to the greater Boston community. Some have said that there should not be political discussions; others that the mission should be to defend the French position. The discussion topics listed above have brought some negative reactions, but Leary maintains that an open forum for ideas is necessary if we are to overcome misconceptions and increase mutual and world understanding in spite of inevitable differences of opinion between France and the United States. Friendship cannot and should not be deﬁned by agreement alone.

“ Friendship cannot and should not be defined by agreement alone.” One way to promote understanding is by inviting speakers who are willing to talk about their personal experiences of life and culture, such as anti-Semitism. Danielle Lévi Alvarès, for example, spoke about her recently published book, La Réparation. She told of how her father was born Jewish in Paris but converted to Protestantism at an early age because of his positive experience in the French Boy Scouts. Later he became a prominent Protestant Minister, married the daughter of Pétainʼs Minister of State, and raised all his ﬁve children as Christians, something his own parents apparently accepted. After Danielleʼs father died she spent years trying to mend fences and ultimately converted to Judaism. Her perspective was unique and brought new light to French and American cultural differences in a way that a speech by a dignitary or governmental representative could not have, since it did not involve an ofﬁcial governmental policy or position. Leary quoted Charles DeGaulleʼs famous words “I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.” Discussion and dialogue are especially important because 2005 has been designated the Year of Languages by the U.S. Senate. As for the AF of Boston and Cambridge, which celebrates its 108th anniversary in 2005, and the French Library, which celebrates its 60th, they will continue to promote French language and culture, language classes to adults and children, and a wide range of cultural events including discussions of important political topics.

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Federation Web Site

Federation web site By Rebecca M. Valette, Alliance Française de Boston et de Cambridge, Vice President Federation of Alliances Françaises, USA

http://www.afusa.org

by Rebecca M. Valette Alliance Française de Boston et de Cambridge Vice-President, Federation of Alliances Françaises, USA

ave you or members of your Alliance ever had questions and were not sure where to ﬁnd the answers? For example — When and where will the next Annual Meeting be held? Who are the Federation board members and committee heads, and how can I contact them? Where can I get a copy of the Forum Newsletter? Is it possible to see sample questions for the National Concours? How does our AF apply for a School Development Grant? Which Alliances are using which textbooks, and how do I reach their Education Directors? Which Alliances are test centers for DELF/DALF and other exams recognized in France? Where can I ﬁnd a reading guide for the current selection of “One Book - One Federation”? Is there a Federation handbook for teaching AFs, and how can I get one? Home page • Quoi de neuf? News updates and links

Members Only These password-protected pages contain a wealth of useful information for Alliance Française chapters who are members of the Federation. • Federation Board Contact information; activities • AF Chapters Directory of all AFs in the United States and Puerto Rico • National Speakers Bureau Listing of speakers and programs • Education Listing of Education Directors; Survey of teaching materials; Handbook; Templates; Concours questions • Culture Reading guidelines for “One Book – One Federation” selections • Grants Guidelines for application

Wonder no longer! Answers to the above questions and many more are now available at the click of a mouse at the Federation web site: www.afusa.org. Our thanks go to Board Member and Webmaster Olivia Arditi, President of the Alliance Française de Buffalo and Director of the Western New York Regional Information Network at the University at Buffalo, who has spent the past several months expanding and overseeing the redesign of the Federation web site. Now it is much easier to navigate this site and ﬁnd just the information you need. And thanks to the generosity of Board Member Wes Green, president of Champs-Elysées, our new server space is large enough to host at no charge small web sites of Federation members. Here is a brief listing of some of the contents of the web site… but you will actually have to go to www.afusa.org to discover all the helpful information it contains! Happy surﬁng! 16

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

About Us • History History of the Federation from 1902 to the present • Board of Directors Names, brief bios, committee assignments • FAQ Frequently asked questions

Alliances in the USA • Alliance Locator US map showing all AFs, plus addresses and web links • Chapter Programs Photos and descriptions of successful programs and events

Publications • Federation Forum Current and recent newsletters in pdf format

Meetings • Annual Meetings Information on forthcoming meetings; reports of past meetings • Regional Meetings Information on regional meetings and sample programs

Learning French • Language Classes Philosophy and description of AF offerings • Test Centers Descriptions of tests from France; list of test centers • AF National Concours Information; lists of past winners • Community Outreach Photos and descriptions of successful programs • Education Committee Activities of the Education Committee: surveys, publications

French Culture • French American Caucus Description; list of Congressional members • National Speakers Bureau Background information • Reading Groups One Book - One Federation: reading group suggestions • Libraries Description of Project Benjamin

Grants and Awards • School Development Grants Description; list of past recipients • Prize Book Fund Description; list of past recipients • Charbonnier Award History; list of past recipients • Morse Visibility Grants Description and requirements

Federation Boutique • How to order Descriptions and prices: AF scarves, pins, etc.

Membership • Member chapters and Members-at-large How to join • Member services Listing of member beneﬁts

Links • Sponsors and patrons • French Institutions Alliance Française de Paris; Délégation de l’AF aux USA, etc. • Education / Media / Culture / Travel

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Le Conte de Fée dʼAudrey Tautou

Le conte de fée d’

Audrey Tautou U

ne poignée de séduction, une pincée de charme, un soupçon de gentillesse se sont quelques-uns des ingrédients qui composent la réussite dʼAudrey Tautou. A presque 27 ans, Audrey réussi le tour de force de conquérir critiques et cinéphiles à chaque nouveau ﬁlm. Nous retrouvons Audrey Tautou, dans des rôles émouvants et attachants : femme de chambre turque à qui tous les malheurs arrivent (Dirty pretty things de Stephen Frears), ﬁancée oubliée par son compagnon (lʼAuberge espagnole de Cédric Klapisch), ou encore dans celle dʼune jeune femme qui se lance à la recherche dʼun Dieu auquel sʼattacher pour ne pas couler (Dieu est Grand, je suis toute petite de Pascale Bailly). Son talent et sa popularité sont tels que le réalisateur Ron Howard lʼa récemment choisie pour incarner Sophie Neveu dans la prochaine adaptation du best seller de Dan Brown le « Da Vinci Code » . Retour sur le parcours atypique et sans faux pas de la nouvelle grande icône du cinéma Français.

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Le Conte de Fée dʼAudrey Tautou

“ Elle fait aujourd’hui partie de la liste élaborée par le magazine People des 50 personnes les plus belles de la planète.”

té 1978, Audrey Tautou voit le jour. Elle grandit dans une bourgade du centre de la France : Montluçon. Montluçon, cʼest des étendues dʼherbes folles, autour de châteaux en rénovations et de bois à perte de vue. Le vent qui caresse les visages et met du rose sur les joues des jeunes filles. Cʼest peut-être cela qui donne à Audrey cette fraîcheur et cet air innocent qui ne la quittent pas à lʼécran, qui lui fait garder les pieds sur terre lorsque dʼautres se laisseraient emporter, voire noyer dans le tourbillon médiatique qui attend toute jeune actrice dont un premier grand succès caracole en tête des box offices internationaux. Mais ne nous égarons pas. Après avoir passé son baccalauréat, Audrey monte sur Paris poursuivre des études de Lettres Modernes et en parallèle sʼinscrire au Cours Florent : célèbre école dʼart dramatique qui a vu éclore bon nombre de comédiennes telles que Sophie Marceau, Clotilde Courau ou encore Sylvie Testud. De casting, en casting, Audrey finit par décrocher un grand rôle dans le film de Tonie Marshall “Venus Beauté (institut)”. Sa prestation lui vaudra le César du meilleur espoir féminin. Cʼest le début dʼune longue liste de récompenses. En effet, à lʼaube de lʼannée 2000, le réalisateur Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Alien la résurrection, Delicatessen) est à la recherche dʼune actrice qui pourra donner vie au personnage de son prochain film : Le fabuleux destin dʼAmélie Poulain. Jeunet découvre Audrey sur une affiche de “Venus Beauté (institut)”. Quelque chose lui laisse penser que ce bout de femme dʼun mètre soixante trois au sourire désarmant pourrait incarner son héroïne. Audrey est contactée pour une audition et cʼest le coup de foudre via la caméra. Le film à lʼutopie contagieuse, entraînera un enthousiasme sans bornes lors de sa sortie, car le talent dʼAudrey sʼexprime à merveille à travers le personnage dʼAmélie. Cʼest lʼascension de la débutante au rang de star. Les récompenses pleuvent : nomination aux European Film Award catégorie meilleure actrice européenne, nomination aux Césars 2002 dans la catégorie meilleure actrice. Mais Audrey nʼen reste pas là et continue son petit bonhomme de chemin car les réalisateurs se lʼarrachent. On lʼa retrouvée à lʼécran pour : A la folie …pas du tout de Laetitia Colombani, Lʼauberge espagnole de Cédric Klapish, Dirty Pretty things de Stephen Frears, Pas sur la bouche dʼAlain Resnais et Happy end dʼAmos Kollek.

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

En 2004, Audrey rejoint Jean-Pierre Jeunet pour le tournage dʼUn long dimanche de Fiançailles dʼaprès lʼœuvre de Sébastien Japrisot. Projet sur lequel Jeunet travaillait depuis plus de 10 ans. Elle incarne Mathilde qui à la fin de la Première Guerre mondiale part à la recherche de son fiancé quʼelle est la seule à croire encore vivant. Le destin dʼAudrey Tautou semble tout tracé, elle fait aujourdʼhui partie de la liste élaborée par le magazine People des 50 personnes les plus belles de la planète. Et cʼest loin dʼêtre fini, car elle court, elle court toujours. Le tournage du Da Vinci Code devrait débuter cet été. A ses côtés nous retrouverons deux grands acteurs du cinéma international : Jean Reno et Tom Hanks. Gageons quʼAudrey Tautou réussira là encore à nous étonner, à nous épater même. Affaire à suivre… Bintou Traoré

Filmographie: 1999 Venus Beauté (Institut) de Tonie Marshall

2000 Le Libertin de Gabriel Aghion Le Battement dʼailes du papillon de Laurent Firode

2001 Le Fabuleux destin dʼAmélie Poulain de Jean-Pierre Jeunet Dieu est Grand je suis toute petite de Pascale Bailly

2002 A la folie …pas du tout de Laetitia Colombani Lʼauberge espagnole de Cédric Klapish Dirty pretty things de Stephen Frears Pas sur la bouche dʼAlain Resnais Happy end dʼAmos Kollek

2003 Un long dimanche de ﬁançailles de Jean-Pierre Jeunet

2004 Les poupées russes de Cédric Klapisch

2005 Da Vinci Code de Ron Howard (En préparation)

Crédit Photo : Friedmann Hauss

��

�� FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

CHANEL

Showroom

Bienvenue sur le « Red Carpet » Chanel. Un nom synonyme dans le monde entier de luxe et dʼélégance. Lʼélégance discrète de Mademoiselle Coco Chanel sans doute. Pour la collection Printemps/Eté 2005, Karl Lagerfeld revisite pour notre plus grand plaisir, les grandes heures du glamour hollywoodien. Nous nous envolons vers les lumières des projecteurs de la côte Ouest à lʼaide de soies légères et dʼimprimés aux tons beiges. Le rafﬁnement des tailleurs de tweed, des sandales en satin noir rehaussé dʼun solitaire géant, vous habilleront à ravir tout au long de lʼété. Pour un style tendance « bohème chic » des jupes en tweed plus légères séduiront plus dʼune de nos lectrices. Les accessoires me direz-vous ? Là encore un hommage à Mademoiselle Chanel, qui fut la première à bouleverser les codes, à travers un savant mélange de bijoux fantaisie et de colliers de perle. Colliers dont les sautoirs sont illuminés par les symboles de la maison. Il nʼy a pas de doute, le total look Chanel sera une valeur sûre de lʼété 2005. par Bintou Traoré

RED 22 22

FEDERATION ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES OF ALLIANCES OF FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine USA Le magazine

CARPET

Chanel

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Chanel

1 Collier métal doré 2 Sac en tweede 3 Bracelet résine et crystal 4 Bracelet métal, résine et strass 5 Chaussures agneau et veau vernis 6 Sac de golf tissu, cuir et métal 7 Lunette et collier bijoux 8 Bracelet perle

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Crédit photos : Frédérique Dumoulin & Emiliano Grassi FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Chanel

1 Sandales satin et aligator 2 Sac daim et métal blanc 3 Boucles d’oreilles 4 Lunette classique 5 Collier de perles et strass 6 Chaussures agneau 7 Boucles d’oreilles cœur et monogramme 8 Sac panier

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Crédit photos : Frédérique Dumoulin & Emiliano Grassi FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Polly Platt

Polly Platt Open Season on the French

t the breakfast table, around the time of the American invasion of Iraq, my 11-year-old French grandson looked at the morning newspaper with a worried face and then asked me, “Mima, when are the Americans going to bomb France?” A few days later, a cartoon in the International Herald Tribune portrayed a CIA agent brieﬁng President Bush. Pointing at the Eiffel Tower, he said, “We think this is a missile aimed at the United States.” Funny, sort of. Not any more. American degrading and demonizing of the French, online and in the media, has become routine. The two countries, old friends and loyal allies for 200 years, have had spats continually for lots of good cultural reasons which have to do both with similarities -- rivalry -- and differences. Like an old married couple, they always kissed and made up; the basic tissue of fondness and mutual respect was never really threatened.

All that has changed. It is now open season on the French. Never mind that the French were right about Iraqʼs lack of weapons of mass destruction. Never mind that the aftermath of the invasion turned into the nightmare the French predicted and that the French have stoically contained their I-toldyou soʼs. Nevertheless, because France did not go along with the invasion, and did what they could to postpone it, they are now condemned to the sewer. There is no discussion, no discourse, no right of appeal. And not just condemned without a hearing: they are ridiculed, insulted, smeared with slime, deﬁled with muck. It is true that lately both governments have been speaking more softly about and even to each other. And a few days ago, President Bush himself picked up the phone and had a talk with President Chirac of France, something unthinkable even a few weeks ago.

“ The two countries, old friends and loyal allies for 200 years.” Among Americans, if French bashing was rampant, it used to be done behind closed doors with a certain amount of shame and restraint. The bashers, educated adults aware of Franceʼs august past of military superiority and crucial contribution to Americaʼs War of Independence, as well as a beacon of artistic and scientiﬁc innovation, understood the possibility that they themselves might be the problem -- that perhaps they had a skewed perception of these people who confounded them. These were often business people transferred to France who had had no previous exposure to France or to the French language and were feeling as helpless as babies. They were courteous, what used to be called well brought up, and -- except for Mark Twain -- hesitated to condemn a whole culture on the ﬂimsy basis of their own ignorance and personal feelings. With a little cross-cultural nudging they saw that indeed they had been looking through the wrong end of the telescope. Once you absorbed the French cultural differences, you understood that within their own parameters they made sense. These Americans learned to appreciate the French and recognize their right to their own opinions, strategies and ways of doing things.

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

It is also true that the peoples of both countries have cooled off. From the beginning the French have been nonchalant about this present friction. They like Americans and donʼt hesitate to say so, making it clear that it is the present Administration in Washington they have problems with. Americans have by now forgotten about freedom fries and the urge to dump French products onto the street. Now as before, Americans who have visited France almost always come back bubbling over with the kindness of the French and with the fun of eating wonderful food while discovering treasures of the French countryside and museums. Mark Johnson, a Cornell biology major from Syacuse, NY, on an exchange program in Paris, said he was stunned by the niceness of French people and the trouble they took to listen to his French. “I thought theyʼd go straight to English when they heard my stumbling use of their language, but they were pleased that I tried , and did all they could to encourage me,” he said. “Itʼs funny that they donʼt smile at strangers on the Métro -- Iʼm not used to that, even though I come from New York, but I

Polly Platt

figure itʼs just not their way. What is nice is that when they hear your accent and find out that youʼre American, theyʼre curious about everything and ask all sorts of questions.” Gene Weingarten, the Washington Post humor columnist, went to France on an assignment to search for the typical “arrogant, cold, rude Frenchman.” He couldnʼt find one. The ones he found were all charming to him. Rosine Evans, a petite blonde, pretty, elegant and smart, the way only the French make them -- pert comes to mind -- who has lived in Seattle for ten years with her English husband and loves it, is impressed by how open Americans are to revising their prejudices. “Take the American reaction to the new French law banning -- in state schools -- the head scarf worn by Moslem women, she says. “At first they are adamant about its invasion of personal liberty. But they quickly see the point when you explain to them that there are 6 million Moslems in a country of 60 million, threatening to become a state within a state if allowed to follow their own, rather than French laws.... and that the law is life-giving to many young Moslem women who long to integrate in France and hate the scarf but are obliged to obey their father or brother, or be subjected to violence and perhaps death.” Rosine, named for the heroine in the opera “The Barber of Seville”, notices a vast difference in American opinions of the French before and after a trip there. “When normal American people say bad things about the French, it is always because they havenʼt been there,” she says. “So whenever I hear of friends planning a trip, I organize tea or lunches with my French friends in Paris. The Americans always came back transformed.” Yes, but open a newspaper in America or tune into a late-night comedian on the television and youʼll be bombarded with the same anti-French sleaze that began making the rounds after the Iraq invasion. Surf the bloggers and itʼs worse. Unprintable, in fact. In between their four-letter words about the French, they repeat over and over how “ungrateful the French are after having been saved by the US in two world

wars.“ Invariably they say that the fact that America helped them out in two world wars gives the US the right to lead them blindly wherever it wants, forever. One, asked by a Frenchman online what he had against the French, said, “Youʼre assholes and you stink.” Frenchmen like author Antoine Audouard visit New York and are bowled over by American hostility in the media. In a January article in the New York Times with the headline “Behind Enemy Lines,” Audouard describes an ad on a bus shelter for the History Channelʼs current series about the French Revolution: “For Two Hours, It Wonʼt Kill You to Love the French.”

“So whenever I hear of friends planning a trip, I organize tea or lunches with my French friends in Paris. The Americans always came back transformed.” “It has become fashionable -- even commonplace -- in the American media,” he writes, “to associate the French with things cowardly, despicable, unfaithful, ungrateful or foulsmelling...Here in the country of political correctness, where the mainstream press treads on eggshells when talking about race, nation or ethnicity, French-bashing, it would seem, has become politically correct. “ Audrouard ﬁnds that while it is one thing to disagree with another countryʼs politics, a “generalized expression of contempt or hatred for a society, its history, its culture and its people” is disgraceful. “Americans themselves,” he writes, “are sometimes confronted with this kind of absurd hostility abroad. Of all nationalities, they should be the ﬁrst to stay away from it. After all, diversity and respect for other cultures are among the core values on which America was founded -- and by which Americans thrive.”

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Polly Platt

And now a book has come out -- published by Doubleday! -- called “Our Oldest Enemy.” The authors are a polemicist with the National Review, John J. Miller, and a professor at Seton College, Mark Molesky. The book has provoked disgust among critics. Two eminent professors, scholars of France and authors of books about it, Stanley Hoffman of Harvard, and Robert Paxton of Columbia have condemned it to the trash can. “Readers looking for reasons to hate the French, who tolerate selective and slanted scholarship, will applaud,” wrote Paxton. In Foreign Affairs (Nov-Dec 2004). Hoffman wrote: “That a book as biased and shoddy as this one should be published by a reputable press is eminently regrettable.”

“The two countries will grow together again.” Franceʼs most popular philospher, Bernard-Henri Lévy, regretting the bookʼs portrayal of his countrymen as ”corrupt, crafty, insidious, lascivious, stingy and cunning,” calls it a “mad charge against a diabolical nation, the incarnation of evil, bearing in the body and soul of its citizens the stigmata of an ill will the only aim of which throughout the centuries has been the humiliation of America the great.”

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Lévy recognizes that one of the causes of friction between the two countries is rivalry: France and the US, he says, ”both literary nations convinced of their special link to the Universal, cannot let this sinister copycatting in which the only stakes are the grand prize for stupidity, continue.” Edward C. Knox, a prominent Francophile author and professor of history at Middlebury College, agrees that the special feelings of exceptionality of France and of the US are a big reason for suspicion of each other. “Both countries believe they have a mission to tell other countries how to live and behave,” he said in an interview. “But both see the other acting out of its own interests. Neither country is willing to see its interests as solely its interests, rather than a crusade for liberty and democracy, or the reign of reason and civilization, etc. How could there not be tension?” The list of areas of contention betwen the two countries is dense and endless (see my article “Roots of Franco-American Friction,” www.pollyplatt.com) and yet, there is so much in common ... above all, humanitarian goals for mankind and the belief in the rule of law as the basis of democracy. “The two countries will grow together again,” said Jacques Adriani, former French Ambassador to the US and author of a book about America, “but it will take time, much time.”

France’s ESSEC Business School Broadening International Academic Horizons For nearly 100 years ESSEC has remained committed to its core values of innovation, excellence and humanism. Though often the object of criticism - as when it opened its doors to women in 1972, when it created the ﬁrst doctoral program in management among French Business Schools in 1976, or when it launched apprenticeship in 1994 - the Paris based institution has been at the forefront of academic change, cementing its reputation as one of the foremost business schools of France and Europe. In the face of competition, it has adopted an international strategy with a strong US and Asian focus. Despite being denounced by some for ‘going American’, in 1997 it became the ﬁrst school outside North America to win AACSB accreditation. Dean Pierre Tapie tells us about ESSEC’s unique international vision and future.

Le Magazine What is ESSEC’s international growth strategy? Pierre Tapie“This strategy has three main axes: the first is that ESSEC develops a European culture and management. Our aim is to be one of the three leading business schools in Europe. The second is enhancing our commitment to Asia. A world-class business school must imperatively integrate an Asian strategy, and that is what ESSEC has done by creating the ESSEC Asian Center in Singapore. The third axis relates to North America, where our strategy is based on partnerships with prestigious firms and business schools such as Kellogg, Chicago and Berkeley.” And what distinguishes your Integrated MBA from the MBA’s offered by other French, European and American business schools? “Our MBA pushes the logic of the French ‘Grande Ecole’ to its optimum level. ‘Grandes Ecoles’ are very selective and give future graduates great range of thought, and autonomy. Yet, the ESSEC MBA presents all the advantages of an integrated MBA recognized on an international level. As a matter of fact, the ESSEC MBA is ranked among the Top 100 MBA’s by The Economist. Our integrated MBA model combines solid intellectual skills, three different professional experiences and an enriching alternation between academic and professional life. Our model promotes integration of managerial skills at an early age.” What is the profile of an average student on ESSEC’s Integrated MBA program? “Our average student is 25 years of age, has two years of professional experience, five in higher education; he or she has spent long stretches of time abroad and must speak at least three languages. Performance is regularly assessed throughout the program since students must reach a number of milestones. Our program is very interactive and a great accelerator of maturity. Our elite American partners are always impressed by the maturity of our students, often far younger than their peers.”

Do you believe it is possible to truly reconcile the French higher education system with the American one? “This is a key issue. Ideally you need to take the best from the two. The US system puts people in real-life situations and is very interactive, while the French is far more about intellectual conception and abstraction. You need to hybridize them to get the best problem solving approach, based on interdisciplinarity. Our Integrated MBA incorporates professional experience into the curriculum.” In a perfect future where will ESSEC be, and what are its greatest challenges? “Ideally ESSEC will be one of the three best European players in the academic world, while still managing to consolidate financial equilibrium with affordable education for all bright students. We want the idea of public good in higher education to mean something. I think that our greatest challenge will be globalization. Will we be able to develop an innovative European model? How can this European model be relevant for growing countries such as China or Brazil when they define their own system? I believe that we can have a significant impact in shaping the business leaders of tomorrow.” Finally, why do you think young American business leaders of tomorrow should choose to do their MBA at ESSEC? “In Europe we’re lucky to live in such a densely populated region that being multicultural is a natural philosophy. However, as the US is such a vast country, the need to understand other cultures is not so obvious for Americans. Doing their graduate studies abroad will help US students gain great insight. Opening these intellectual frontiers is such an important professional opportunity. I believe that going to a US school is a good opportunity for an EU citizen, but that studying at a prestigious European school is a great opportunity for an American.” Marie-Noëlle Bauer

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Le Palais Garnier

Le Palais

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Le Palais Garnier

Garnier

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Le Palais Garnier

L’Opéra Garnier se refait une beauté Où pourrez-vous voir à Paris, réunis en un même endroit : Rameau, Lulli, Gluck ? On vous le donne en mille : à l’Opéra Garnier. Ces statues de marbre ornent l’entrée du palais, elles vous accueilleront lorsque vous vous y rendrez, pour visiter le Grand Foyer nouvellement restauré. En janvier dernier, lors de son colloque annuel, l’Alliance Française de Paris y a d’ailleurs organisé une visite de nuit. A défaut de pouvoir y assister, nous avons souhaité vous faire découvrir le travail de restauration qui a eu lieu au sein de ce monstre architectural du Second Empire.

En 1860, Paris manquait de salles de spectacles. Pour remédier à cela l’Empereur Napoléon III décida de construire un nouvel édifice. Pour ce faire, il mit en place un concours et c’est Charles Garnier, jeune architecte peu connu à l’époque qui le remporta. La construction du Palais Garnier connu un certain nombre de péripéties durant les 15 années de sa construction, dont notamment la découverte d’un lac souterrain, qui inspira Gaston Leroux pour son œuvre le « Fantôme de l’Opéra ». > Préserver le patrimoine Le temps était venu d’apporter quelques « petites » retouches, à certaines salles dont les ornements ont été fragilisés par le temps et la pollution. Restaurer le Grand Foyer de l’Opéra Garnier ne signifiait pas seulement nettoyer les toiles, c’était aussi et surtout retrouver l’âme insufflée par Charles Garnier. C’est également cette préservation du pa34

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

trimoine que Alain-Charles Perrot, architecte en chef des monuments historiques de la ville de Paris, a gardé à l’esprit tout au long du chantier qu’il a supervisé : « C’est vrai qu’une œuvre qui n’est pas restaurée est plus attachante car elle garde la patine du temps, le côté un peu usé, un peu sale, qui peut être attachant. Mais malheureusement si on laisse les édifices ou les décors s’abîmer avec le temps, ils finissent par disparaître. Ruskin au 19ème siècle et Rodin également ont écrit qu’il ne fallait surtout pas toucher aux œuvres d’art, qu’il fallait les laisser mourir de leur propre mort, car c’est justement cette évolution vers la mort qui était belle et qu’il fallait respecter. Quelque part, ils n’avaient pas tort. Mais si nous les avions écoutés, aujourd hui, nous n’aurions pas la possibilité de visiter les magnifiques palais de Venise. Conserver notre patrimoine est loin d’être une démarche passéiste, bien au contraire, je dirais que c’est avoir foi en l’avenir : on pense à ceux qui vont le voir …demain. »

> Les travaux du grand Foyer Le Grand Foyer est l’un des éléments les plus remarquables du Palais imaginé par Garnier. Il souhaitait en faire « un lieu de communion, de vie où le spectateur devient acteur ». Composé de cinq travées, il est prolongé de chaque côté par un salon octogonal et un petit salon. Vers l’avant foyer, trois grandes baies donnent accès du grand foyer aux circulations qui mènent à la salle. Deux rotondes : celle de la lune et la rotonde du soleil entourent le foyer. De chaque côté de la baie centrale, de grandes glaces de plus de six mètres de haut s’élèvent du sol. Le décor du plafond central, peint par Paul Baudry prend pour thème des allégories de la musique. Les voussures sont une déclinaison de thèmes bibliques et mythologiques. Les panneaux séparant les colonnes représentent différents pays et leurs instruments de musique. Une copie du buste de Charles Garnier sculpté par Carpeaux se trouve au centre, près de l’une des immenses fenêtres qui courent tout le long du foyer. Celles-ci vous permettent d’ailleurs d’apprécier une vue superbe de la place de l’Opéra. En 2003, après près d’un an d’études et de recherches à travers les archives et les planches en couleur laissées par Garnier, les travaux de restauration débutèrent. Plus de 20 corps de métiers participèrent au chantier : des lustriers, des doreurs, en passant par des parqueteurs, des tisseurs, ou encore des brodeurs pour ne citer qu’eux. « Nous avons effectué un travail très complet et de grande minutie. Dans un premier temps, nous avons retiré une partie du parquet, pour remettre l’électricité aux normes. Nous avons ensuite installé des échafaudages pour retirer la peinture marron, et tous les vernis sur les ors aﬁn de retrouver les couleurs d’origines, et les motifs de décoration qui se trouvaient entre les colonnes. Nous avons dégagé l’or blanc, refait les dorures, restauré ou complété celles qui étaient abîmées. Nous avons restitué les tableaux après les avoir préalablement nettoyés, pour atteindre la couche picturale elle-même, aﬁn de voir réapparaître les couleurs d’origines. Et puis nous avons fait retisser les rideaux suivant les modèles d’origine et complété les sculptures qui avaient perdu un bras, ou une jambe » . Le mobilier du grand Foyer, conservé par l’Opéra, a été restitué. Telles les immenses tentures qui encadraient les fenêtres, les fauteuils Louis XIII dont les velours ont été retissés ou encore la grande horloge qui a retrouvé sa place au-dessus de la cheminée. Toute restauration demande à ce que l’architecte-restaurateur, maître d’œuvre, en apportant certaines améliorations prenne garde à ne pas dénaturer, l’œuvre de départ. Tout est question d’appréciation comme le souligne Monsieur Perrot : « Le métier de restaurateur en travaillant à l’Opéra je le comprends mieux, c’est à dire qu’en fait, c’est un petit peu comme le métier de chef d’orchestre. Quand un Chef d’orchestre reçoit la partition d’un compositeur et bien il l’interprète. Quand vous écoutez une symphonie de Beethoven, si elle est jouée par un Chef d’orchestre allemand ou italien, c’est toujours du Beethoven mais ça peut être très différent. Parce qu’il y a une manière, un rythme, un éclat qui sera

différent. Et je pense que la restauration d’un lieu comme l’Opéra Garnier, se situe au même niveau, c’est à dire que vous avez une base qui est donnée, qui est historique, qui est précise, l’architecte-restaurateur va chercher à exprimer ce que souhaitait Charles Garnier avec son œil contemporain. D’une manière inconsciente, il va l’interprètrer avec son propre goût, sa sensibilité dans les choix déﬁnitifs des teintes, à travers l’équilibre des dorures, le niveau de brillance, le choix de l’éclat de la peinture. De plus, on devient complice de l’artiste car on découvre au fur et à mesure du chantier les ajustements qu’il a dû faire. » Les travaux y ont ajouté une lumière supplémentaire. L’esprit d’ensemble est conservé et le plus bel hommage que vous pouvez rendre à ces artistes, est encore de vous rendre au Grand palais lors de votre prochain voyage à Paris. A n’en pas douter, vous serez émerveillé. Bintou Traoré

Les restaurations à venir : • Les marches du parvis de l’Opéra. • La rampe de l’Empereur situe à l’Ouest du Palais Garnier. • Les abords du Palais Garnier : lampadaires, obélisques, colonnes, candelabres. A terme : • Les façades latérales. • La coupole. Adresse utile : Palais Garnier - 8 rue Scribe - 75009 Paris Site Internet : www.operadeparis.fr Informations : 01 41 10 08 10 Crédit Photo : Jean-Pierre Delagarde

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Le Palais Garnier

Colloque International de l’Alliance Française

he 27th annual gathering of presidents, ofﬁcers and directors of Alliances Françaises from around the world took place in Paris on January 27-29, 2005. In attendance were three hundred participants from 83 different countries, including over thirty from the United States making us the most heavily represented foreign country. Those Federation members who arrived a few days early (avoiding the Northeast coast blizzard!) got together informally at the Café de Flore the preceding Sunday afternoon with colleagues from Canada, Mexico and Paris. The keynote speaker at the ofﬁcial opening of the Colloque on Tuesday morning was Monsieur Michel Barnier, Ministre des Affaires étrangères, who was warmly greeted by Jean-Pierre de Launoit, Président de l’Alliance Française, and Jean-Claude Jacq, Secrétaire Général. Throughout the next two and a half days, participants had the opportunity to share ideas and explore such varied topics as Inter-European Cooperation, Cultural Diversity, and Communications (including the premiere viewing of short video vignettes soon to be broadcast on TV5). The closing session focused on the expansion of the Alliance Française network around the world, with the guest participation of Monsieur Philippe Etienne, Directeur général de la coopération internationale et du développement. The cultural highlight of this year’s Colloque was a private visit of the Opéra Garnier on Tuesday evening, followed by an elegant champagne buffet in the Grand Foyer prepared and served by the Cordon Bleu. We hope that our brief description and the colorful photographs will encourage many more of you to be in Paris during the last week in January 2006 so that you can attend this stimulating annual gathering.

From San Francisco to Paris, music and dance are the common languages (except le Français, bien sûr!) Tom Horn, President of the AF de San Francisco shares a cultural moment with Gérard Mortier, Directeur de lʼOpéra Garnier.

Federation of Alliances Françaises USA

Fresh from the ovens of Le Cordon Bleu, a fabulous re-creation of the traditional Opera Garnier Cake. The chefs should well take pride in their creation – it is a one of a kind with a taste more subtle than a lilt in any voice or the drape of the most agile danseur....

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Pierre Deux

"French Art de Vivre"

ierre Deux brings to America the authentic spirit and rich variety of the French art of living well. The very best of France has been carefully selected and gathered together with the American home in mind. The color and warmth of Pierre Deux's distinctive fabrics, antique and reproduction furniture and decorative accessories enhance the comfort and harmony that are the essence of home. Fabrics range from sprightly Provençal prints through elegant toiles de jouy and crisp silks to imposing woven tapestries; coordinating wallpapers are available to complete the look. Table cloths and place mats, colorful faïence dinnerware, hand-blown glass, and pewter flatware beautify the table for entertaining; the classic lines of reproduction furniture, exclusive artisan-made objects from wrought iron chandeliers to cache pots help create a unique ambiance for living well---l'Art de Bien Vivre! Most importantly, the exclusive philosophy and products of Pierre Deux are available all across the United States and in Japan. Visit one of fifteen enticing shops in North America, or the shop in Tokyo, to see the entire collection. To find the nearest Pierre Deux source or to shop from our catalog, call 1-800-7 PIERRE (774-3773). We also invite you to visit our website at www.pierredeux.com.

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

One Book, One Federation

One Book, One Federation Selection for 2005 Announced Les Âmes grises by Philippe Claudel

mong the many events taking place at the Washington meeting in October, the Federation’s One BookOne Federation selection for 2005 was announced. Two members of the selection committee (Jean Leblon, AF Seattle, and Randy Williams, AF Chicago) conducted a work shop in which the novel was analyzed, and methods for discussing the book in reading groups with the reading guide prepared by the committee were presented. If you have ever been asked by a good friend to recommend a book, you have an idea of the challenge facing the selection committee each year when it makes a One Book-One Federation choice. Instead of just one good friend whose tastes we know, it must choose a book that will appeal to a large number of people it has never met in chapters throughout the country. The goal is for the book selected to be an incentive to chapters to try the book, and from a successful trial to launch new reading groups. All the committee members who read this book were enthused with the selection, because it met so many of the criteria that had been set for an appropriate selection. Les Âmes grises by Philippe Claudel won the Prix Renaudot in 2003, and was selected by Lire magazine as the best book of the year – accolades welldeserved. The story takes place in a small village in Lorraine during World War I. While the reader is well aware of a war taking place in the distance, the story is told from the perspective of the village constable and ﬁrst seems to be a straight-forward account of the investigation of a young girl’s murder. Fascinating characters come into and leave the village, and circle in and out of the investigation. As the narrative progresses, however, the situation becomes more dense. Rather than a traditional roman policier in which the layers of mystery are peeled away, like those of an onion, to reach the solution, the novel seems to reverse the process, so that the motivations and complexity of the characters, and the ambiguity about what actually happened, increases with the reading. The author is said to have been inﬂuenced in his own early reading by the work of Simenon, and that is easy to believe. The psychology of the individual characters, and the sociology of the village are sure to inspire lively discussions in your groups. It is because of this compelling story, and the richness of these characters, that many of the committee readers thought that it would be enthusiastically accepted by Alliance reading groups.The committee also thought the novel selected ought to take place in France, and have a strong sense of place. Not only does this book give the reader a geographic sense of Lorraine with its distinctive weather patterns and resulting moods, it also conveys a historic mood of the region in which so many tragic 38

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

events of World War I took place. Perhaps most importantly, the committee felt that the book should be beautifully written, and that its language should be both readable to the primarily American audience with varying levels of experience, but also rewarding to students and aficionados of the French language. Jean Leblon, who has spent a career teaching French to Americans, discussed the levels and refinement of the French used by the author to underscore how well the novel meets these criteria. The groups who read and discuss this novel will also enjoy getting to know something about a new author with a diverse and interesting background. A member of the editorial board of Editions Stock, Philippe Claudel is a relatively young author with a number of books to his credit, but with a fascinating personal life as well. He has left careers as an alpiniste and a teacher of handicapped children to devote himself to writing. His varied experiences and his knowledge of human nature and the psychological needs of individual human beings do indeed enrich his writing. The selection committee has prepared a reading guide which can be found at the Federation’s website, www.afusa.org. We encourage groups throughout the country to become acquainted with and enjoy this magnificent novel, and we ask you to share your experiences with the committee so that we can all continue to encourage the reading and enjoyment of French in the United States. Randy Williams, Literary Programs Chair, AF de Chicago Comité de sélection One Book – One Federation 2005 Martine Camblor (AF Indianapolis) Elaine Harris (AF Chicago) Jean Leblon (AF Seattle) Cindy Marrs (AF Saint Louis) Isabelle Martinez (AF Buffalo) Martine Meyer (AF Milwaukee) H. Randolph Williams (AF Chicago)

One Book, One Federation

A new Saint Louis group reads in English When criticized about his translation of a literary work, Vladimir Nabokov is reported to have said, «If you don’t like it, learn Russian.» While reading in its original language is a great experience, a good translation can be as enjoyable. The St. Louis Alliance has recently formed a group to read French works in English translation. This group is an addition to the very successful French reading groups organized and led by Cindy Marrs in St. Louis.

website, which can be used regardless of which language the group is reading in. Let us know about special activities of your reading groups, so that we can share your ideas with other Alliance chapters. Randy Williams

Besides the classics, a number of modern French works have also been translated into English. Last year’s One Book-One Federation selection, Le testament français, for example, has been translated into English as Dreams of My Russian Summers. A reading guide can be found on the Federation

RENTING A CAR IN EUROPE? WITH RENAULT, LEASE IS MORE (COST EFFECTIVE) It’s no secret that driving is one of the best ways to see all that Europe has to offer. What is a huge secret, however, is that there’s a less expensive, smarter alternative to renting a car. For the past 50 years, Renault Eurodrive has been offering short-term leases to foreign visitors, as a very attractive substitute for long-term rentals. Few people realize that these leases are actually easier to arrange and more flexible than rentals. But most surprisingly, thanks to a special tax-free law they can work out to be an incredible bargain. Technically a «purchase-repurchase» plan, the Eurodrive program is similar to American leasing plans. A new car is registered in the customer’s name; Renault finances the cost of it. Customers are charged only for the time they need the car. The program features the use of a brand-new car with a full factory warranty, unlimited mileage, 24-hour roadside assistance, and a free, comprehensive insurance policy that covers collision, personal injury, fire and theft with no deductible. There are 35 Renault pick-up and drop-off locations in nine countries, and unlike many rentals, it is easy to pick up in one country and drop off in another. To qualify for the program visitors must reside outside Europe and must stay in Europe for no more than 185 days. (In certain cases, leases can even be extended to one year.) Perfect for students, teachers, retirees, expatriates and many others. The minimum age for leasing is just 18 and there is no maximum. Many rental agencies, on the other hand, require customers to be at least 23 or 25 and no older than 70. Although it has been kept a secret for so long, the Renault Eurodrive program has had over half a million satisfied clients since 1954. Now that figure is bound to increase quickly, as more and more visitors learn about this cheaper and hassle-free way to experience Europe -- with not just a brand-new vehicle, but a support system and safety net as well. For information and reservations, contact Renault Eurodrive, 800-221-1052, www.renaultusa.com.

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Spotlight on Chapter

Spotlight Alliance Française de Berkeley

he Alliance Française de Berkeley was incorporated in California as a non-proﬁt organization in 1962. From the outset, we established both cultural and pedagogical functions. The principal cultural activity was a monthly lecture given in French. Classes were conducted in the homes of teachers and later in classrooms rented from various churches.

Information about our current events and classes can be found at the Alliance Française de Berkeley, website : www.afberkeley.org Claire Van Brunt Former President, Former Director

In November 1989, President Anne Métais and Director Claire Van Brunt organized the ﬁrst meeting of the Alliances Françaises of California. It expanded to become an annual reunion of all West Coast AFs, each year in a different location. The sixteenth meeting took place in Seattle on April 16, 2005. Rental prices rose steeply in the 1990s. We looked for a property to buy and found one in a desirable location. Money from our classes had been saved, and along with a fund-raising drive by mail, the Board was able to put a down payment on our “home” in 1994. The house has changed our Alliance life. We have a library, a médiathèque, rooms for classes and meetings for up to 45 people. There is also a lovely garden, tended by the “club vert”, a group of AFB volunteers, and a large kitchen permitting us to host lunches and dinners. Popular monthly events are the café/philo, movie night, and conversation pot-lucks. All events include food and beverages. During the year we offer lectures and parties: such as wine-tastings, Beaujolais and Christmas celebrations, and a Bastille Day barbecue. For the Centennial of the Federation, March 4, 2002, we had a dinner-dance and show, “A hundred years of Parisian music,” by the popular local group Baguette Quartet. Our most recent and very successful fund-raising event was a special holiday concert attended by 50 guests in a beautiful private home. The lovely 16th to 19th century French Christmas choral pieces were followed by a Champagne reception. Front of the house

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Spotlight on Chapter

On Chapters 1

1 A corner of the garden 2 A corner of the library 3 Nicole Courtet’s morning class 4 Setting the table Anthony & Marie-Noëlle Bliss 5 The dining room 6 Accounts, Richard Galton, Vice-president, Claire Van Brunt 7 Audience 8 Food preparation, Claire Van Brunt, Karin Roos (President), Caterine Burns (hostess) 9 Our hostess, Catherine Burns 0 Anthony Bliss & Joe Evinger serve the Champagne ¡ Sara Evinger, Cheryl Keller (sopranos) Miles Graber salute Ô The pianist, Miles Graber

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Spotlight on Chapter

Alliance Française de Hartford

ounded over 50 years ago, the Alliance Française de Hartford thrives today as never before because of its adaptability and innovations. For many years, its administrative and volunteer efforts were due in large part to a strong and charismatic leader, Suzi Smith, whose talents in running the School and as unpaid Directrice helped to attract many members. In recent times, we hired a part-time director and moved into permanent space located in the heart of downtown Hartford. The newly-restored Art Deco building offers us limited but ﬂexible rooms, the doors of which are decorated with delightful Impressionist paintings. Drawing from the northern and mid sections of Connecticut as well as southern Massachusetts, our membership of more than 300 continues to cherish traditional French activities with family and friends, such events as La Rentrée, la Fête du Beaujolais nouveau, la Fête de Noël, Bastille Day, and even an annual Soirée tennis. The Alliance Française de Hartford School is our mainstay. With the support of the School Committee members, our volunteer Chef dʼécole combines her pedagogical expertise as a professor with sensitivity to teacher and student needs, providing encouragement for all who participate. We are duly proud of our Schoolʼs high standards for hiring excellent faculty, their talent and congeniality resulting in strong individual teacher followings. The faculty is diverse in national origin and teaches both «French in Action» and personally designed courses that focus on their own ﬁelds of interest. Our curriculum is currently for the adult learner. Many of our students are neither American nor French, which introduces global perspectives and often leads in turn to bonds that extend beyond the classroom. Recent growth in our School enrollments means new challenges for teacher recruitment, space, and parking. Our volunteer Board also comes with diverse experiences and backgrounds. Members have worked diligently to mesh traditional ways and more current interpretations of what it means to be an Alliance Française chapter in the 21st century. Having recently completed a strategic plan, we are working through its implementation, which includes ways to increase a small budget and recruiting active volunteers. The Alliance Française de Hartford has built an extensive network through collaborations involving a wide variety of cultural events and educational experiences. These efforts have included sharing development efforts (and the spotlight) with the well-known Wadsworth Atheneum and other museums

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

as well as with theaters and musical, artistic, historic, civic and culturally diverse organizations. We work with Trinity Collegeʼs Cinéstudio for French ﬁlm festivals and monthly movies and solicit professors as speakers from this and the many other colleges and universities in the region. Café et Conversation within a restaurant setting and our own book group provide our membership with extended speaking and reading opportunities at all levels of French. We are proud to have established with the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving the endowed Harpin-Rohinsky Scholarship for high school students of Hartford public schools who wish to continue their studies of French at the college level. The Robert M. McFarland Book Awards program reaches out to area high school students, honoring the most successful in French

Spotlight on Chapter

studies. On a broader plain, the four AFʼs of Connecticut--Hartford, New Haven, Northwest, and Greenwich-- share programs and ideas: regional interaction means ﬁnding solutions and offering to the residents of Connecticut a better understanding of the value of being a member of an Alliance Française. We believe it essential to keep at the forefront our mission of promoting the French language and culture and fostering friendship. We support the 2005 Year of Languages through participation in CTYOL, for we are convinced that learning a language is a road to individual fulﬁllment and ultimately world understanding. The Alliance Française de Hartford is a long-time participant in the Fédération des Alliances Françaises, knowing that we can be more successful if we embrace the same mission and sing together «Le jour de gloire est arrivée!» Julie Lindquist President of the Alliance Française de Hartford

House

People in Boat

Mother and Child

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Spotlight on Chapter

Alliance Française de Nashville

he Alliance Française de Nashville is an active member of the century old Fédération des Alliances Françaises des Etats-Unis. Our members share with enthusiasm their passion for the French language and culture to make possible a wide variety of enriching events and activities. The dedicated volunteers maintain an ambitious schedule of programs, events and activities for members. Each Saturday, members of the cercle de conversation discuss in French current events and other topics while enjoying authentic French pastries from Provence Café. Literary works are read and analyzed in French each month during the cercle de lecture. The ciné-club offers exciting occasions to explore French culture through its rich heritage of filmmaking. Soirées, which provide a mélange of educational, cultural, social, and culinary opportunities, are held the last Friday of every month. The Alliance invites historians, artists, distinguished foreign guests, and a variety of other fascinating people to make a presentation and be the invité d’honneur at each event. One month an art historian may intrigue guests with a study of French paintings, while at the next meeting a chef may lead everyone in a hands-on experience. A growing selection of French courses is offered at the Resource Center. Students are placed into classes corresponding to one of four levels of study. Classes are taught at the Resource Center classroom, which is used for Alliance classes and activities almost every day. Through its Cultural and Educational Fund, the Alliance Française de Nashville makes grants to enable certified teachers to study in France. The Fund also provides financial support for special cultural programs. «Nashville has always been one of our ‘Jewels in the Crown’, but fresh ideas keep that jewel shining brightly,” said Jane Robert, President of the Federation of Alliances Françaises. Matthew Wyatt, President of the Alliance Française de Nashville

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Deborah Doineau, Réne-Serge Marty, Consul Général de France, Cécile Vignesoult,and Philippe Doineau at the 2004 Smooth Jazz and Beaujolais Festival.

Reach the largest audience of Francophiles, Members of the Alliances Francaises of the U.S!

You Want to › Sell a property › Post your job offer › Promote your products › Rent an apartment Advertise in the Section “ Petites Annonces ” of Le magazine Contact : lemagazine@media-information.fr

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Community Outreach

Community Outreach Alliance Française de Buffalo The Alliance Française de Buffalo (AFB) offers local high schools a merit program consisting of an Excellence in French Studies Certiﬁcate and an Excellence in French Studies Award. The combined program is a way for active French teachers to become involved in the AFB’s activities, and for motivated students to practice their newly acquired French skills. Each Spring for the past 10 years, the AFB has reached out to the 150 public and private high schools in the eight counties of Western New York, requesting that the head French teacher nominate for recognition the best French student at the school. During his/her graduation ceremony, the selected student is awarded an Alliance Française de Buffalo Excellence Certiﬁcate, along with a one-year honorary membership to our organization, which entitles him/her to receive our bi-monthly, bilingual newsletter, «Les Nouvelles de l’Alliance.» Since 2004 the AFB, in collaboration with a local foundation, the Melodia Jones Fund, has added an extra incentive to the program. The student selected by the head French teacher is eligible to participate in the French Study Excellence Award exam. The three highest scoring students share a prize that amounts to a total of $1150. At the end of the school year, the AFB publishes the names and schools of the Excellence Award winners, on our web site and in our newsletter. After graduation, some of these former high school students remain involved with the AFB, and participate in our weekly conversation groups, thereby further enhancing their ties to French language and culture.

Dearborn entrance, AF de Chicago

Alliance Française de Chicago Chez Kids Academy

Welcome to Chez Kids Academy! The Alliance Française de Chicago’s brand new Children’s Education Center. Our exciting new project features a fun and lively learning environment for children with six colorful and unique spaces aptly named: Le Café, Le Musée, La Cabane, La Classe and Le Théâtre which even includes a puppet theater, which is sure to entertain! Special classes have already begun with the aim of giving children a sound appreciation of French culture as well as an opportunity to discover language, whilst gaining familiarity with basic knowledge, which ultimately will allow them to communicate in French. Chez Kids Academy is also pleased to reintroduce its successful and inspiring children’s Summer Circus camp in July 2005. A lot of hard work, dedication and commitment has been put into this project, which we hope will reﬂect in the success of Chez Kids Academy!

Nadine Beauharnais, recipient of the Excellence Award, and Olivia Arditi, President.

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

The Years of Language

THE YEAR OF LANGUAGE For more information on The Year of Languages, go to www.yearoﬂanguages.org OR visit the ACTFL web site at www.actﬂ.org OR call ACTFL at 703-894-2900.

Ambassador Levitte joins 2005: The Year of Languages Initiative Ambassador Jean-David Levitte has enthusiastically embraced the 2005: The Year of Languages effort by accepting an invitation from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) to serve on the Honorary Council of dignitaries supporting this national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of language learning. Ambassador Levitte was a featured speaker at the ACTFL annual convention in Chicago and again at the press conference in December at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. At the ACTFL convention, Levitte said “Like it or not, you are the only super-power. You have special responsibilities. And, because of that, you must know the world. America must listen, understand and dialogue with other peoples, religions, and cultures. If there is one lesson to be learned from the attacks of 9-11, it is that you cannot live in fortress America, protected from the outside world. You must develop a positive dialogue with the people of the world. And engaging in this positive dialogue ﬁrst requires learning foreign languages.” Marty Abbott, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

The Years of Language

nder the guidance and stewardship of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), 2005 is being celebrated as The Year of Languages in the United States. The goal of The Year of Languages celebration is to advance the concept that every American should develop proficiency not only in English, but in other languages as well. Detailed information on the 2005 Year of Languages can be found on the web site: www.yearoflanguages.org. The Federation of Alliances Françaises USA and its member chapters are happy to join in this initiative by focusing special attention on the academic, social and economic benefits of studying French and francophone cultures. In conjunction with this initiative, chapters are encouraged to engage in community outreach activities so as to help students and parents appreciate the value of knowing another language – in this instance French. As part of the national celebration, the Year of Languages Working Committee, co-chaired by Christine Brown and Marty Abbott, has identified an area of focus for each month of the year. The Federation would like to encourage its member chapters to plan events in their communities that reflect each monthly focus. And, of course, the energy and enthusiasm of the Year of Languages events will not come to an end on December 31. As AF Chapters share their positive experiences with one another in meetings and through the Federation web site (www.afusa.org), the French mission of the Alliance Française is certain to receive new impetus in 2006. By Rebecca M. Valette

January 2005 Language Policy

events or other celebrations involving local francophone communities: Haitians, Cajuns, Franco-Americans, and AF Chapters can work with local and francophone African groups. Programs state policy makers to encourage the can also reach out to those of Hispanic, teaching of French in their communities. Asian and Eastern European origin who have a long tradition of appreciating February 2005 French language and culture. International Engagement August 2005 AF Chapters can highlight the importance Parents of international engagement by working with their local French-American AF Chapters can focus on the important Chamber of Commerce or Délégation role that parents play in providing landu Québec to help students learn about guage opportunities for their children. international business opportunities. AF Chapters can publicize their SaturSister City activities and study abroad day classes, their French camps, the opportunities are to be encouraged. French books and videos for children available in their médiathèques, their March 2005 outreach to Montessori schools, and Connecting Languages to Other similar activities. Areas September 2005 AF Chapters can demonstrate the inter- Heritage Languages relationship between French and other areas such as science, literature, music, AF Chapters can help local francophone cinema, the arts, by co-sponsoring communities maintain their French events with local museums, and hosting language skills by working with puFrench music or ﬁlm festivals. blic schools and offering workshops on francophone cultures to local teachers of April 2005 French. Higher Education October 2005 AF Chapters can cooperate with their local Early Language Learning colleges and universities in encouraging the advanced study of French, and offering AF Chapters can plan a Saturday festival students internship opportunities at their at which young French students are inviAF ofﬁces. ted to present skits, songs and artwork. AF teachers can also bring “After School May 2005 French” into local elementary schools Language Advocacy and even pre-school programs. AF Chapters can reach out to local media, and publicize French-language events, especially those that involve children and young people, such as announcing the winners of the Alliance Française National Concours or other AF-sponsored contests. June 2005 Adult Learning and Language Use

Rebecca M. Valette, Professor Emerita of French at Boston College, is Past President of the American Association of Teachers of French and a charter member of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. She is currently President of the Alliance Française de Boston et de Cambridge and Vice President of the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA.

AF Chapters can publicize their adult language programs, not only structured classes, but also French-language conversation hours, reading groups and ciné-clubs. July 2005 Languages and Communities AF Chapters can highlight French language and culture through Bastille Day

November 2005 Celebrating Accomplishments and Looking Ahead Alliance Française teachers can join with local French teachers in celebrating their accomplishments and collaborating in National French Week activities sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French. December 2005 Culture AF Chapters are encouraged to plan special end-of-year activities which highlight French culture in one or many of its varied aspects, such as, food, wine, fashion, ﬁne arts, theater, music, photography, and so forth.

FEDERATION FEDERATION OF OF ALLIANCES ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES FRANÇAISES USA USA Le Le magazine magazine

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Le Service Culturel

Le Service culturel de l’Ambassade de France aux

Etats-Unis

Par Jean-Christian Agid Responsable de la Communication Service culturel de l’Ambassade de France aux Etats-Unis

u numéro 972 de la Cinquième Avenue à New York, la Payne Whitney Mansion abrite le Service Culturel de l’Ambassade de France. C’est là, une fois, franchie une porte de bronze et après avoir découvert le Cupidon de Manhattan, magniﬁque sculpture attribuée à Michel Ange, qu’est installé le Service culturel de l’Ambassade, dont la mission est de favoriser les échanges culturels entre la France et les Etats-Unis.

breux individus et entreprises. En termes de communication, plusieurs lettres d’information, spécialisées par secteur et/ou par région, ainsi que le site Internet, www.frenchculture.org, présentent un tableau d’ensemble de l’action accomplie ou en cours : plusieurs centaines de projets et programmes, du plus La mission, qui fait partie intégrante ambitieux au plus modeste, qui concoude l’action d’ensemble conduite sous rent chacun à développer et entretenir les l’autorité de l’Ambassadeur, est com- liens entre les Etats-Unis et la France. plexe dans ce pays politiquement, économiquement, et culturellement « pres- Un rôle particulier cripteur », et les projets nombreux et variés. Pour la mener à bien, le Service En mars 2003, au moment où débute la dispose d’une équipe centrale, répartie guerre en Irak, démarre « Sounds French » sur les sites de New York et Washington, un grand festival de musique contemet d’équipes régionales placées auprès poraine française à New York (préparé des Consulats Généraux aux Etats-Unis par le Service culturel, l’AFAA, et leurs (excepté New York et Washington). Si partenaires américains et français bien les moyens, qui sont mis en œuvre dans avant les menaces de conﬂit au Moyenle cadre d’une programmation annuelle, orient et les tensions diplomatiques). proviennent essentiellement du minis- A cette époque, l’Amérique comprend tère des Affaires Etrangères, la partici- mal la position française et les actes pation active à l’action du Service de de French bashing se multiplient. Une très nombreux partenaires américains partie des médias se fait l’écho de cette - et notamment de fondations comme la incompréhension et dénigre la France. Florence Gould Foundation ou la fonda- Tout au long de ce mois de mars pourtion FACE (French American Cultural tant, pas une ligne anti-française ne Exchange) - permet d’associer de nom- sera publiée dans les journaux améri-

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

cains pour dénoncer le festival « Sounds French », au titre devenu alors presque provocateur… Au contraire, les articles élogieux se multiplient, les uns pour saluer une performance exceptionnelle de Pierre Boulez à Carnegie Hall, d’autres pour analyser l’événement dans son ensemble. Mais pas un titre ne viendra dissuader les mélomanes de se rendre dans les salles. Ce qui fut vrai de « Sounds French » le fut également en 2003 pour le cinéma, les livres, les arts visuels, la danse, l’éducation, les échanges intellectuels, ou le théâtre. Cette sanctuarisation de la culture dans un contexte de différend franco-américain témoigne du rôle particulier que joue la coopération culturelle dans les échanges entre nos pays. Fort de ce constat, le Service culturel prépare d’ailleurs pour la mi-2005 avec ses partenaires américains et français une grande saison de théâtre contemporain à New York, « Act French ».

Le Service Culturel

« Les membres du Service culturel sont le plus souvent des professionnels dans leur secteur de spécialité. » Une scène originale

our le Service culturel, dans chacun des nombreux domaines où s’étend son action, la méthode consiste, en l’absence d’un réseau «en dur» de centres ou d’instituts Français (à l’exception de la Maison Française de Washington), à agir avec des partenaires américains reconnus. L’action du Service culturel est donc complexe et se manifeste à des niveaux très divers. Elle peut concerner aussi bien la conception et la coordination d’événements spéciaux (festivals « France Moves », « Playing French », « Sounds French », « Act French ») et la création de programmes structurants franco-américains (fonds franco-américains pour la création contemporaine, pour la coopération universitaire) que l’offre de programmes à destination de la France (programme d’assistants, programme de stages, bourses pour doctorants) et le développement de réseaux (Centres Pluridisciplinaires dans 16 universités, Fondations universitaires, Centres de ressources pour l’enseignement du français), ou encore l’appui et le conseil à des projets plus ponctuels. Créer un contact, apporter un conseil ou financer l’envoi d’un film, organiser une rencontre avec la presse, rechercher des financements pour une exposition importante ou pour un spectacle, mettre en place et suivre la diffusion de festivals de films français dans les université, organiser l’accueil de personnalités artistiques et intellectuelles, monter des programmes d’échanges structurants avec des partenaires privés américains… tous les modes d’action coexistent, et s’adaptent à la demande.

Dans le seul domaine du cinéma par exemple, le rôle des Services Culturels peut consister non seulement à soutenir près de 40 festivals de films français partout aux Etats-Unis, mais aussi à appuyer la sortie commerciale de films spécifiques, à diffuser un programme de mini-festivals de cinéma français dans les universités américaines (« Tournées »), ou à participer à l’organisation de leçons de cinéma délivrées par les plus grands réalisateurs français dans les meilleures écoles américaines (opération « On Set with French Cinema »). Dans le domaine artistique et universitaire, les modes d’actions adoptent également une grande diversité de formats, avec plusieurs fonds de soutien à la création artistique (pour les arts visuels, les arts de la scène, la musique contemporaine) ou, tout récemment, la création d’un fonds de soutien pour les partenariats universitaires franco-américains mis en place avec la fondation FACE.

Des acteurs venus de partout Une centaine de personnes, dont de nombreux américains, travaillent pour le Service culturel dans dix régions des Etats-Unis. Si la majorité de l’effectif est concentré à New York et Washington, des Attachés culturels, et parfois des Attachés audiovisuels spécialisés (à Los Angeles et La Nouvelle Orléans), assurent au niveau régional un suivi et un développement essentiels pour mener à bien une action très riche et variée. Le Conseiller culturel et son adjoint sont installés à New York, ainsi que les services artistique, audiovisuel, livre, et relations publiques / développement. Washington accueille le service des éta-

blissements français, le service éducatif, et le service universitaire, ainsi qu’un chargé de mission pour la coopération non-gouvernementale. Les membres du Service culturel sont le plus souvent des professionnels dans leur secteur de spécialité. Une partie est recrutée à Paris pour exercer aux Etats-Unis sur la base d’une affectation de trois ans ou d’un contrat de quatre ans, d’autres, américains, français, ou étrangers tiers, sont recrutés localement. Un site Internet www.frenchculture. org offre aux internautes anglophones la possibilité d’être informé, région par région, sur les projets et programmes en cours aux Etats-Unis, ainsi que sur de très nombreux événements liés à la France : expositions, pièces de théâtres, concerts, ﬁlms de cinéma, programmes français à la télévision, auteurs, conférences, spectacles de danse. Le site www.frenchculture.org et le site de l’Ambassade offrent également des informations précieuses aux élèves et étudiants intéressés par la France.

Contacts : Service culturel de l’Ambassade de France aux Etats-Unis 972 Fifth Avenue - New York, New York 10021 Tel. 1 212. 439 1400 - www.frenchculture.org Conseiller Culturel, Service Artistique, Service Audiovisuel, Service du Livre, Presse et Relations publiques Service culturel de l’Ambassade de France aux Etats-Unis 4101 Reservoir Road NW - Washington DC 20007 - Tel . 1 202 944 6000 Service des Etablissements Français, Service Educatif, Service Universitaire, Coopération Non-Gouvernementale

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Les Alliances Françaises

Les Alliances Françaises du Canada à l’honneur

A quelques heures des Etats-Unis, le Canada est le domaine des

ballades en motoneiges dans la forêt, de la pêche, des paysages verdoyants et du sirop dʼérable. Cʼest également lʼun des plus grands pays du monde de par sa superﬁcie de 10 millions de km et une population composée de plus de 31 millions dʻ habitants dont la majorité a pour ancêtres des européens. Les deux langues ofﬁcielles sont le français et lʼanglais. Alain Landry, Président de lʼAF dʼOttawa et de la Délégation du Canada et membre du Conseil dʼadministration de lʼAlliance Française de Paris, nous en a présenté les éléments essentiels dans le cadre du discours de clôture du colloque des Alliances Françaises de Paris. Nous vous présentons ici quelques-uns des thèmes abordés.

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Les Alliances Françaises

En 2001, près de 13% de la population canadienne pouvait soutenir une conversation en français, 68% en anglais et 18% dans les deux langues. Même sʼil est encore nécessaire de motiver la population en ce qui concerne son utilisation, le français remporte un franc succès auprès des étudiants et des nouveaux arrivants. En effet, les nombreux immigrants asiatiques par exemple qui arrivent chaque année comptent pour une bonne part des nouvelles inscriptions dans les AF. Les Alliances Françaises Canadiennes qui sont au nombre de onze sont présentes dans presque toute les régions à : Victoria, Vancouver (centenaire en 2003), Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg (centenaire en 2003), Toronto (centenaire en 2002), Ottawa (centenaire en 2005), Moncton (la cadette) et Halifax (centenaire en 2003). Deux nouvelles structures devraient par ailleurs sʼétablir à Saint John et à Iqaluit. Comme le souligne judicieusement Monsieur Landry “ce sera probablement la première Alliance à voir le jour si près du Pôle Nord! ”.

“ Deux nouvelles structures devraient voir le jour a Saint John et à Iqaluit.” Les objectifs pour lʼannée 2005 des AF sont de plusieurs ordres. Tout dʼabord, soutenir lʼapprentissage du français auprès des organismes canadiens. « Dans plusieurs villes canadiennes, les Alliances françaises sont un appui aux politiques de promotion des langues officielles, de la dualité linguistique, du bilinguisme canadien. Les Alliances françaises deviennent ainsi des partenaires privilégiés des associations de communautés francophones du pays, des universités, des théâtres, des galeries dʼart, des ministères, des municipalités, qui sʼintéressent à la langue et à la culture françaises. ». De ce fait, elles motivent leurs collaborateurs pour que ceux-ci sʼintéressent à la langue française et puissent sʼexprimer correctement aussi bien en français quʼen anglais. Les événements culturels de taille organisés par les AF sont des éléments non négligeables dans le cadre de la sensibilisation de la population. Comme le souligne Alain Landry, « nous avons prévu un certain nombre dʼexpositions et de projections de films. Ainsi pour le centenaire de la naissance de Jean Paul Sartre, nous avons invité Madeleine Gobeil, pour une série de conférences et la projection de son film « Portrait croisé Sartre-Beauvoir ». Le dynamisme et lʼoriginalité des activités proposées par les AF canadiennes nʼest plus à démontrer et se définit dans ces derniers mots : « Dans le domaine de lʼenseignement de la langue française au Canada, les Alliances françaises sont en compétition avec dʼautres écoles dʼenseignement du français mais seules les Alliances françaises offrent un volet dʼactivités culturelles françaises et francophones. Voilà un des traits distinctifs des Alliances françaises ».

Adresse utile : Délégation Générale et Alliance Française de la région de la capitale Nationale 352 rue Maclaren, Ottawa, ON, K2P, OM6 Tél : (613) 234 9470

B.T. FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Chapter Photos & Captions

Chapter photos & Captions

Cincinnati Le Trivia, Le Succès ! The Cincinnati chapter of the Alliance Française recently celebrated its most successful event ever with the 4th annual “Le Trivia” party on Wednesday, November 10, 2004. Nearly 200 Alliance members and friends enjoyed a fun and high-spirited game-show like evening of cross-cultural competition that lasted three hours at downtown Cincinnati’s historic Phoenix Restaurant. Guests were seated at tables of eight for cocktails and a three-course dinner during the multimedia “Le Trivia” game. Composition of these “team tables” is critical to success as players must successfully field 50 questions on subjects such as art, sports, geography, history, movies, and literature from both French and American culture. (A mix of nationalities is traditionally essential to winning--2003’s first place team was the French American Chamber of Commerce.) A popular feature this year was the wine and cheese identification with a nod to American sodas and flavors. A committee of 6 French and American Alliance members donated 300 hours to producing “Le Trivia 2004”--an entertaining soirée that included audio and video projections, live results, team ranking and prizes. Among the many company-sponsored gifts and certificates awarded, the 2nd place team received a Mediterraneaninspired handmade mosaic crafted by a dedicated group of “Le Trivia” friends. Tickets were $30 for Alliance Française members, $40 for non-members and $450 for corporate tables. Profit for the evening was $2500.

Agence Internationale de la Francophonie In a meeting at the Agence Internationale de la Francophonie in Paris in January, arranged by M. Abdou Diouf, Secrétaire Général de l’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Keith Maillard, Vice President, AF de San Francisco and Federation Board member makes plans for l’Année Senghor and other projects with Sénégal. The year 2006 will be the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Sénégalese poète and creator of the now familiar and respected: négritude. Keith Maillard (see above) Mme Francine Moock, Attachée de Cabinet, AIF M. Roger Dehaybe, Administrateur Général, AIF; Responsible pour l’Année Senghor

Santo Domingo Executive Director of the AF de Santo Domingo, M. Christophe Chavagneux, welcomed Federation President Jane Robert to the very dynamic island chapter. A three-story building with a library, café, meeting and classrooms is an attraction for many in the area. A unique feature for the AF de Santo Domingo is the radio station created by Christophe and his team, one of whom Geneviève is pictured in the studio. Look them up on the net to learn more: www.afsd.net

Milwaukee

Doylestown PA La Classe Avancée where they read a roman and work on difﬁcult words. Four of the students have been taking the class for 16 years! John Roche, Bill Mandel, Diane Cusumano (teacher sitting) , Edythe Patterson, Rosa Abuzzese, Anne Shultes

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Wednesday Casse-Croûte group welcomes Jane Robert, who visited the new home of the Federation office at the Alliance Française de Milwaukee in December 2004. Standing: Peg Arfman, President, Mary Chemotti, Suki Keita, Lucie Plouffe, Ruth Pike Seated: Jane Robert, Mary Emory, Gwen Plunkett, Lydia Chicoine, Susanne Krasovich, Wil Brazeau, Melissa Kling, Ofﬁce Manager of the Federation, Michelle Sment, Marilyn Squire, Martine Meyer, Takouhie Hussussian.

Chapter Photos & Captions

Saint Louis

AATF

Philadelphie

During his tour of the United States, famous French journalist and political analyst Claude Imbert was welcomed to St. Louis by the Alliance Française. Pictured here on Saturday, October 9 after attending a performance by the St. Louis Symphony at Powell Hall, Mr. Imbert (2nd on the left) is surrounded by (left to right) Ms. Ruth Bryant (President, Alliance Française de St. Louis), Mr. David Halen (Concertmaster and soloist), Prof. Leila Sadat (Washington University School of Law and AF Board Member) and Mr. Paul Azzara (Executive Director, Alliance Française de St. Louis). On the following Monday, October 11, Mr. Imbert gave an engaging lecture regarding the “French Exception” at Washington University’s Whitaker Hall.

AATF Executive Council 2004 Meets in Atlanta prior to the joint conference of AATF and the World Congress of French Teachers. 1st row: Myrna Delson-Karan, Jayne Abrate, Margot Steinhart, Helen Lorenz, Eliane Kurbegov, Diana Regan 2nd row: Danielle Raquidel, April Walsh, Brenda Benzin, Ann Sunderland, Jane Black Goepper 3rd row: Jean-Pierre Piriou, Chris Pinet, Sharon Shelly, Jean-Pierre Berwald, Robert (Tennessee Bob) Peckham, Suzanne Hendrickson, David Graham, Sidney Teitelbaum, Valerie Lastinger (absent).

From left to right: Diana Regan, Chairperson and President of Alliance Francaise de Philadelphie, Mark Squires, former President of AF de Philadelphie, Mme Anne d’Harnoncourt, The George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Ofﬁcer, Philadelphia Art Museum and Joseph J. Rishel, Senior Curator of European Painting before 1900 and Senior Curator of the Rodin Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art. The event was held on July 14 at the Independence Seaport Museum, Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia. A concert featuring Eric Vincent was a collaborative sponsorship of the Alliance Francaise de Philadelphie, the American Association of Teachers of French, Rosemont College, Immaculata University, Cabrini College, Chestnut Hill College and La Salle University. The concert took place on November 7, 2004 and it was the ofﬁcial start of National French Week in Philadelphia.

Monterey Peninsula

Omaha First Class at Alliance Francaise d’Omaha. Left to Right: Rosemary Duhaime, Nancy Lewis, Cat Kennedy, Kay Kelly, Ann Burdette, Jil Barton, Justin Shanahan, French instructor Anne Loring, and President Bernard Duhaime

On the Monterey Peninsula, the Alliance Française members can enjoy great outings with the Paciﬁc Ocean as background. On a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon in December, eight of our members took a hike on Pebble Beach. From left to right, Pauline, Daniel, Danièle, Daniel, Danièle, Gisèle, Gisèle and Alan are taking a deserved rest after their efforts.

San Antonio Bastille Days celebration at a luncheon at “La Normandie” Restaurant by members including Jacqueline Harbin, Annick Huston and Francine Rowden.

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Federation Of Alliances Françaises

Federation of Alliances Françaises USA Members 2004-2005

Aiken (SC) Albuquerque (NM) Annapolis (MD) Austin (TX) Baltimore (MD) Bergen County (NJ) Berkeley (CA) Boise (ID) Bonita Springs (FL) Boston et Cambridge (MA) Buffalo (NY) Central Iowa (IA) Cercle de Conférences Cercle Français de Morgan State University (MD) Chapitre de Grasse, Hampton Roads (VA) Chapitre de Rochambeau, Chester (VA) Charleston (SC) Charlotte (NC) Charlottesville (VA) Chicago (IL) Cincinnati (OH) Clarion (PA) Columbia (SC) Columbus (GA) Connecticut (CT) Detroit (MI) Doylestown (PA) Dupage (IL) El Paso (TX) Fairmont State College (WV) Fayette & Westmoreland (PA) Frederick (MD) French Club of Cottey College (MO) French Institute Alliance Française (NY) French Institute of Michigan (MI) Fresno (CA) Grand Rapids (MI) Greater Orlando (FL) Greater Phoenix (AZ) Greenwich (CT) Grosse Pointe (MI) Hartford (CT) Hawaii (HI) Housatonic French Club (CT) Indianapolis (IN) Jackson (MS) Jacksonville (FL) Kalamazoo (MI) Kansas City (MO) Kent (OH) Knoxville (TN) La Nouvelle Orleans (LA) La Riviera Californienne (CA) La Vallee du Rio Grande (TX) Lake Champlain (VT) Lexington [UK] (KY)

FEDERATION FEDERATION OF OF ALLIANCES ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES FRANÇAISES USA USA Le Le magazine magazine

Los Angeles (CA) Louisville (KY) Lubbock (TX) Lynchburg (VA) Maison Française de Cleveland (OH) Maison Française de Columbia University (NY) Manchester (NH) Marin County (CA) Menphis (TN) Milwaukee (WI) Minneapolis-St.Paul (MN) Missoula (MT) Monmouth County (NJ) Montclair (NJ) Monterey Peninsula (CA) Napa (CA) Nashville (TN) New Haven (CT) Newport (RI) North Shore (IL) North Texas (TX) Northwestern Omaha (NB) Pasadena (CA) Philadelphia (PA) Piedmont (SC) Pinellas County (FL) Pittsburgh (PA) Portland (OR) Providence (RI) Puerto Rico (PR) Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (NC) Riverside et San Bernardino (CA) Rochester (NY) Sacramento (CA) Saint Joseph à Missouri Western State College (MO) Saint Louis (MO) Salt Lake City (UT) Sam Houston State University (TX) San Antonio (TX) San Diego (CA) San Francisco (CA) Santa Clara Valley (CA) Santa Cruz County (CA) Santa Rosa (CA) Sarasota (FL) Seattle (WA) Southern Nevada (NV) State College (PA) Tampa (FL) Toledo (OH) Tucson (AZ) Tulsa (OK) Washburn University (KS) Westchester (NY) Wilmington (DE)

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

La Recette

Le Cordon Bleu FILETS DE ROUGETS POÊLÉS SUR CRÈME DE CAROTTES SAUCE AU VIN ROUGE ET SA SALADE D’HERBES FRAÎCHES Lever les filets du rouget et les réserver au frais. Crème de carottes : cuire les carottes émincées à lʼanglaise*. Passer au mixeur avec le beurre et la crème pour obtenir une purée très fine. Vérifier lʼassaisonnement. Sauce au vin rouge : suer les échalotes ciselées au beurre. Déglacer au vin rouge et faire réduire de troisquarts. Ajouter le fond de veau et réduire à moitié. Vérifier lʼassaisonnement. Passer au chinois et garder au chaud.

Préparer les herbes pour la salade. Préparer une vinaigrette avec le jus de citron, le sel et le poivre du moulin et lʼhuile dʼolive vierge extra. Poêler rapidement les ﬁlets côté peau au beurre et à lʼhuile. Dressage : crème de carottes en fond dʼassiette. Cordon de sauce vin rouge autour. Disposer un ou deux ﬁlets de rougets sur la crème. Salade dʼherbes dressée de vinaigrette en bouquet dessus. à lʼanglaise* Terme utilisé pour une cuisson à lʼeau bouillante salée.

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

La Recette Le Cordon Bleu

4 Personnes

Serves 4

Ingrédients principaux

Principal ingredients

4 rougets- barbets de 180 g chacun beurre, huile

4 x 180 g red mullet butter, oil

Crème de carottes

Carrot purée

Sauce au vin rouge

Red wine sauce

Salade dʼherbes

Herb salad

Vinaigrette

600 g de carottes émincées 1 pincée de sel 40 g de beurre 100 ml de crème liquide poivre du moulin

600 g carrots, sliced 1 pinch salt 40 g butter 100 ml whipping cream freshly ground pepper

60 g dʼéchalotes ciselées 30 g de beurre 200 ml de vin rouge 300 ml de fond de veau sel, poivre du moulin

60 g shallots, ﬁnely chopped 30 g butter 200 ml red wine 300 ml veal stock salt, freshly ground pepper

botte de cerfeuil botte de ciboulette botte de persil

bunch chervil bunch chives bunch ﬂat-leaf parsley

10 ml de jus de citron sel, poivre du moulin 30 ml dʼhuile dʼolive vierge extra

10 ml lemon juice salt, freshly ground pepper 30 ml extra virgin olive oil

PAN-FRIED RED MULLET FILLETS WITH A CARROT PURÉE, RED WINE SAUCE AND HERB SALAD Fillet the red mullets, remove all pin bones. Refrigerate until required. Carrot purée: Cook carrots à lʼanglaise *. Drain, place in food processor and purée with the butter and cream to obtain a ﬁne smooth purée. Correct seasoning. Red wine sauce : Sweat ﬁnely chopped shallots in butter until soft. Add red wine and reduce by two thirds. Add veal stock and continue to reduce by half. Correct seasoning. Strain through a china cap sieve and keep warm.

Prepare the herb salad. Make the vinaigrette with lemon juice, salt and freshly ground pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Quickly pan-fry the red mullet ﬁllets skin side down, in hot butter and oil. To serve : Place carrot purée in center of plates. Pour a ring of red wine sauce around the purée. øArrange one or two red mullet ﬁllets on the carrot purée and top with a bouquet of salad herbs tossed in vinaigrette. à lʼanglaise* To cook in boiling salted water.

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine

Thank you to the Sponsors and Partners of the FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le Magazine Renault USA Le Cordon Bleu Moulin Rouge Lycée français de New York Christian Lacroix ESSEC Pierre Deux TV5 France Télévisions MEP Distribooks FIAP Champs-Élysées FASNY La Maison de la France Logfret Urban Living Lodgis France-Amérique 62

FEDERATION OF ALLIANCES FRANÇAISES USA Le magazine