Alliance Française de Hartford

ZOOM, June 11, Thursday, 4:00 PM
History of the Parisian Bistro and Paris Bistro Life Today
The Paris bistro is at its heart an unpretentious neighborhood gathering place serving traditional cuisine, having an active bar counter, and open beyond meal hours, with an ever-watchful owner on the premises. Yet use of the term has also evolved over the past 150 years. In this illustrated 1-hour lecture, Gary Lee Kraut examines the development and evolution of bistros in Paris since the late 19th century and tells of the place of old-fashion restaurant-bar bistros in the French capital today. Gary will also talk about various organizations devoted to defending and promoting traditional bistros, cafés and brasseries as essential vectors of sociability and art-de-vivre à la française.

Originally from Trenton, New Jersey, Gary Lee Kraut is an American and French dual citizen who has been inspiring and informing travelers for 35 years through travel writing, consulting, lecturing, and guiding. He is the author of five travel guides and of hundreds of articles about France. He is also the author and voice behind four audio tours created for the VoiceMap app. Since 2009 he has operated the award-winning travel e-magazine France Revisited, francerevisited.com. He lives in Paris.

At home in both French and American journalism circles, Gary served as Secretary General of the Association des Journalistes du Patrimoine, France’s Heritage Journalists Association, from 2016 to 2020.

As a lecturer, Gary has presented extensively in the United States. Speaking at libraries, universities, and to Alliance Française groups, among others, he has made presentations as diverse as Understanding Patrimoine (Cultural Heritage) in France; American War Memories in France (WWI and WWII); the History of the Wines of Burgundy and Champagne; the Jewish History of Paris; Exploring Historic Gardens in Paris; Culinary Explorations in Paris; 3 Villas on the Riviera, and most recently Paris Bistro Life. He is available for any of these presentations via Zoom or, under certain circumstances, in person.

Please visit the site afusa.org to register for this event.
https://www.afusa.org/event-rsvp/bistro

ZOOM, Juin 10, Mercredi, 11:00h
La contribution de la France dans la guerre de l’Indépendance américaine (En français)

Le musée franco-américain de Blérancourt conserve nombre de peintures, dessins, sculptures, estampes, objets d’arts et archives relatifs à l’engagement de la France dans la guerre d’Indépendance américaine. Rejoignez-nous pour une discussion avec Valérie LAGIER, Conservateur en chef du Patrimoine du Musée franco-américain du Château de Blérancourt.

Gratuit pour tous les membres des Alliances Françaises, de l’AATF et de TAPIF. (Pour les membres de l’AATF : le bureau de l’AATF enverra des attestations de participation aux membres qui en feront la demande et fourniront une capture d’écran. Merci d’écrire à : [email protected].)

En partenariat avec l’Alliance Française Miami Métro.

Visitez le site afusa.org pour vous inscrire.
https://www.afusa.org/event-rsvp/la-contribution-de-la-france-dans-la-guerre-dindependance-americaine/

Summer is here and you're awakening from an endless winter coma. So what's a Francophile to do? As luck would have it, there are 3 other Alliances Francaises in Connecticut! Are you feening for some more French language and culture, but can't afford a trip to Europe? Well, if you have a car or bike (and some really strong leg muscles) or a reliable internet connection, check out what our sister AFs are doing.
New Haven https://www.alliancefrancaisenewhaven.org/
Greenwich https://afgreenwich.org/
Northwestern CT https://afnwct.org/

Hey Francophiles, did you know that there are over 1,135 chapters of Alliance Francaise in about 138 countries around the globe and 100+ chapters in the United States? If you're going on vacation in the summer, add a visit to your local AF branch when you're seeing the sites in another state or another country. Sit in on a French film screening, peruse their French bibliothèque, or practice your French and get some great local recommendations in a casual conversation group. Click on the links below to find an AF near you.
https://www.afusa.org/chapters/
https://www.fondation-alliancefr.org/?cat=1
(actor Steve Buscemi as an American tourist in Paris in the film "Paris, Je t'aime" 2006)

🇨🇦 🍁Merci à tous who came and celebrated with us last Sunday. We were honored to host Jeanne Douillard, who shared with us the music, culture, and history of the Québécois from Canada to the United States. We also thank our board member and events coordinator, Christi, for putting it together.

𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑽𝒆𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒛 𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒓 𝒂̀ 𝒍𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆̀𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚, 23 𝑴𝒂𝒚,𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝑭𝑹𝑬𝑬 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑴𝒂𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 𝑵𝒂𝒌𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒔𝒌𝒚. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝑭𝑨𝑩𝑼𝑳𝑬𝑼𝑿!

JOIN US TODAY at 3:00 PM at 57 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford for our ANNUAL CELBRATION. We will begin with a talk by Jeanne Douillard who will present the history and diaspora of French Canadians and Acadians entitled "Silent Presence: The French in New England". This will be followed by a reception including French-Canadian themed desserts. BYOB.

Spring is here, which means Alliance Francaise de Hartford will move to Heirloom Market at Comstock Ferre in Wethersfield for our bi-weekly conversation group. Check out our Calendar of Events for our monthly Club de Lecture (Francophone book club) which follows the conversation group. This week we discussed "Cabane" by Abel Quentin. Our next book will be "La très Catastrophique Visite du Zoo" by Joël Dicker on June 20th. https://alliancefrancaisehtfd.org/event/la-tres-catastrophique-visite-du-zoo/

This week we celebrated Teacher's Appreciation Week (May 4-8) and Teachers' Day (May 5). We thank our amazing French teachers for making our learning social, fun, and helping us continue our educational and cultural enrichment journeys into adulthood. We are now accepting registrations for our summer session classes. Bienvenue à tous! https://alliancefrancaisehtfd.org/afh-catalog/

Each year in May, Alliance Francaise de Hartford organizes the McFarland Memorial Book Award, a special ceremony honoring middle and high school public school students who have distinguished themselves through their progress in French. This event is held in memory of Bob McFarland, a former president of the AFH, and is partially funded by the McFarland family.