No. 270 juillet 2013 From the President Remember all those times you have tried to convince yourself that learning a language was a good thing! Can you remember all the times in your high school language classes that you thought learning verbs by rote was boring? That learning maths tables was useless? That spelling lists were dull and that practising musical scales on your instrument was tedious? Well, think again, now you are older and wiser and have read more widely! Of course we know that having learned foreign language verbs, multiplication tables and musical scales until they were engrained in our brains was important, but little did we know that those very skills we baulked at, would be found by medical researchers to improve our working brains and assist our continued 'brain activity' throughout a lifetime. May I recommend a very interesting book entitled The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge MD first published in 2007. This book shows the improvement to the autistic child, the stroke sufferers and those who are considered 'learning challenged' when they practice exercises to change the plasticity of the brain. And yes, learning a language is an exercise and yes, brain exercising keeps us acute. While you might check it out on Google (and may not actually read the book) allow me to persuade you that learning a language definitely improves the patterns in the brain. Welcome to all our new members and may you join us whenever possible for our French cultural and social activities. Thank you to Denise Brown who has kindly offered to assist us with the monthly conversations. The committee has worked tirelessly over the past few months to ensure an interesting and diverse programme of activities. Many thanks to those involved. Please continue to participate and come along to practice your foreign language skills! Carmen Coutts-Smith, President La blague du mois Toto et la conjugaison C'est la maîtresse de Toto qui lui demande de conjuguer le verbe marcher à toutes les personnes: Toto: - Euhhh?! Je marche … euhhh...tu.....m..arches...euhhh… il...mar...che...euhh… La maîtresse: - Mais Toto plus vite! Toto: - Nous courons! vous courez! ils courent! La conversation en français * * * – vaut le voyage Samedi 15 juin, douze dames sont venues acceuillir Denise (à gauche), notre nouvelle animatrice de la conversation mensuelle au Café Rock Pool à Merimbula. C’était donc un début très encourageant pour tout le monde. Denise vient de l’Afrique du Sud où elle était professeur de français. Avant de venir ici avec son mari, elle vivait à Melbourne. Alors, rejoignez-nous pour la prochaine matinée de conversation le 20 juillet à 10h30, et profitez de cette bonne occasion pour pratiquer votre français. RK Dawn, Margaret, Julie, Erica, Brigitte, Mareta, Denise, Gillian, Bénédicte, Dorothea, Carmen, Gai Le calendrier de juillet Bastille Day Celebration 2013 Less than three weeks to go till our Bastille Day Lunch, the main social event of the year! It will be held at Drystone Restaurant at Mimosa Winery. A great number of members and friends have registered. Gail and Glenn from Mimosa Winery are very enthusiastic about the event. We will be a part of a wider Bastille Day celebration in their restaurant, and we will have live music. This is one of the most highly respected restaurants in our area. Members who have eaten at the Drystone Restaurant will confirm that the food and the atmosphere are of the highest standard. It is certain to be a memorable lunch, and a wonderful opportunity for members to sample the Drystone Restaurant's food and wine. Where: Drystone Restaurant (Mimosa Winery) on the Tathra/Bermagui road http://www.mimosawines.com.au/home.html th When: Sunday, July 14 - for lunch - 12 o'clock. How much: Members $35, Non-members $55 - plus your own drinks. The meal consists of shared entrée plates, main and dessert. They have a great wine-list. Corkage is $20 per bottle if you want to take that special bottle. Kerry Hunting is keeping everyone who registered up-to-date on travel and transport arrangements. The deadline for full payment is June 28th. Pétanque with visitors Capital Pétanque, a group connected with the Alliance Française de Canberra, are coming to Merimbula for a weekend of pétanque. There are three or four couples coming here on the 13th and 14th July: we’ll play pétanque on Saturday, from 10 to 3 o’clock. There is a byo picnic/BBQ lunch and some of the visitors will attend the Bastille lunch on Sunday. Naturally we would like to have as many local players as possible participating. If you have any questions contact Kerry on 6495 9463 or email [email protected]. This means we will have our next pétanque session in the middle of July. Time, place and cost would be as always: Saturday 13th July, 10am, at Mandeni for $2 per player. A Traveller’s Tale I had the pleasure of visiting the Abbaye d’Orval in mid-April this year, when my uncle and cousins took me deep into the Ardennes, in the French speaking part of Belgium known as Wallonie. The monastery is the iconic home of the Trappist Cistercian monks who have been producing cheese and beer there since the 1930s. The “new” monastery, rebuilt with the help of the proceeds of these enterprises during this period, was constructed on the site of the earlier establishment dating from the 11th century. The vicissitudes of history saw the monastery flourish as a farm and spiritual centre for centuries, suffer destruction during political turmoil and finally emerge as a significant participant in modern Belgium’s economy. [left] The new monastery located amid the ruins of the original medieval buildings.– [right] The modern restaurant at Oval. The brewery at Orval Abbey produces one of the world’s premier beers, which is so sought after, that Belgians find it hard to locate in their shops, because so much of the product is sold abroad. The secret is ascribed to the local spring water and the age-old brewing secrets of the monks. Visitors are able to view the process at a special display centre within the monastery, but the plant itself is off limits. There is a charming legend surrounding the origins of the monastery. The widowed Countess Mathilde of Tuscany accidently dropped her wedding ring (“son l’alliance” in French) into the pool fed by a spring. When she prayed for its return, a trout suddenly rose to the surface with the ring in its mouth, and in gratitude Mathilde decided to establish a monastery at that place. The logo of the trout with the “alliance” in its mouth adorns the modern new restaurant adjoining the monastery, where visitors can feast on the hearty cuisine of the Ardennes (pâtés, potato and cheese dishes like “Orvaliflette”, and white asparagus in season) washed down by numerous varieties of the wonderful Orval beer. Orval is accessible by road and is a most enjoyable experience that I would recommend to anyone looking for an authentic perspective of Wallonie. by Dorothea Polonyi For more information, see the monastery’s website: http://www.orval.be/en/ or if you want to read it in French: http://www.orval.be/fr/ ADVERTISEMENT The St James Way across Southern France and Northern Spain Saturday 31 May - Friday 20 June 2014 This tour follows the "St James Way" pilgrim routes through France and across the Pyrenees into northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. Participants travel by coach in the company of emeritus professor Chris Gossip (University of New England, Australia) and Annie Bancroft (CPEDERF, France). This cultural tour has been designed specifically for members of French and Spanish Language & Cultural Associations in Australia, members of the St James' churches and of the branches of the U3A in Australia, - and for anyone to whom the theme and programme appeal. Participants will be asked to gather in Paris on the afternoon prior to the main departure day for a get-together briefing and presentation of the tour, followed by a simple group dinner together. The following morning we travel by TGV to Lyon to get the coach up into the Massif Central to one of the three most important traditional starting points in France for the pilgrimage to Compostela, Le Puy-en-Velay, which is also one of the most remarkable places on the whole tour. There will be visits to sites and monuments every day - most will be with guides, some will be with the use of audio-guides, but all will be in English! Such is the richness of the tour that it will appeal to a wide variety of interests: history (both religious and secular), architecture, art, sculpture, legend and tradition, customs, music, gastronomy - and of course French and Spanish language and culture! Not forgetting that you will pass through some extremely beautiful scenery! This cultural pilgrimage is designed as a coach tour - in a very comfortable coach. Nevertheless, there will be at least two opportunities for those who so wish to walk for a few hours across the countryside along the ancient tracks (always depending on the weather of course!) The tour menus have been decided in close consultation with the restaurants chosen. Every effort is made to give you an experience of both national and local dishes, and despite the pace of the tour there will be time for at least two wine- tastings! Throughout the tour each day you will have a buffet breakfast and one main meal, either lunch or dinner. People will only need to make provision for a lighter meal each day.