An alphabetical listing of all our resources available for borrowing by members is available to download in .pdf format here.
As we have given up the airport premises, from now on our library resources will be located in the foyer of the Sapphire Aquatic Centre, Pambula. We hope this new location will benefit our members, as it is accessible seven days a week. There is quite a variety of resource material for you to borrow: novels, art books, videos, DVDs. Make a point of using the resources and increase your knowledge of les choses françaises.
To access the materials stored in a locked cupboard you will need to hand your Alliance Française Membership card to the receptionist at the desk. She will give you the key to unlock the cupboard and return your membership card to you once you have borrowed items and locked up the cupboard.
Borrowing guidelines:
• Please respect the 2-week time limit for borrowing.
• If you are going on holidays, ensure that items are returned prior to your departure.
• If you borrow Bien-Dire magazines/CD or French Essentials be aware that many students want to access these learning materials.
• Take special care of the surface of the CDs and DVDs.
• A borrowing book is in the cupboard. Please enter your information legibly.
Some reviews of items from our library:
Plein Air – Les Impressionistes Dans Le Paysage by Stéphanie Grégoire
‘Plein air: Manet, Monet, Sisley, Cézanne, Van Gogh....’ Dans la première partie le livre montre comment le choix de ces motifs nouveaux – guingettes, jardins, champs de courses, bords de rivière – influence les choix techniques pour le cadrage, la couleur ou la composition.
La seconde partie, ' l'invitation au voyage', est un parcours à travers les lieux qui s'identifient aujourd'hui
avec l'histoire du mouvement. Une très abondante iconographie (236 reproductions en couleur, hors des sentiers battus) aide à cette rédécouverte d'un grand sujet. by Carmen Coutts-Smith
The Guide to Lodging in France's Monasteries (Book Review)
This guide by Eileen Barish is one of several she has written to assist travellers to France, Italy and Spain. Her entries include accommodation in historic buildings in unforgettable settings. Details of websites and email addresses allow you to book ahead and take advantage of inexpensive accommodation in cities, towns and and villages.
Many of the places include meals for around 30E per person per day. If you haven't yet discovered the website for the Book Depository in the UK, take a look, as there are 22 million titles available and shipping is free around the world. bookdepository.com I have ordered this Guide and am eagerly awaiting its arrival. by Carmen Coutts-Smith
Many of the places include meals for around 30E per person per day. If you haven't yet discovered the website for the Book Depository in the UK, take a look, as there are 22 million titles available and shipping is free around the world. bookdepository.com I have ordered this Guide and am eagerly awaiting its arrival. by Carmen Coutts-Smith
The Allure of Perfumes
Do you know of a particular scent which stirs up memories of a person or a particular place? As is mentioned in SAVOIR FAIRE, Great Traditions of French Elegance, “a tiny drop of perfume can recall the story of a lifetime.”
Most of us are enticed by Nina Ricci's L'Air du Temps, Je Reviens by Worth, No 5 by Chanel, or Cacharel's Anais Anais etc...but do we associate them with ambergris, musk, herbs, the gummy resin called 'tears' or 'concrete'?
Coco Chanel once said “A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future.” Well, how is your future looking? Packaging perfume is an art in itself with the design of the bottle crucial to the success of the contents. Who hasn't perused the shelves in department stores and commented on the beautiful bottles, the colour of the contents and lightly sprayed the test strip ?
Main ingredients of perfume are natural essences obtained from flowers such as roses, jasmine and tuberose as well as herbs. Tons of flower petals are used together with solvents to create 'concrete'. It takes 350 lbs of jasmine petals to obtain one lb of 'concrete'. Also, it takes one ton of lemons to produce 5 lbs of essential oil for use further in the perfume process.
If you wish to read about the process by which beautiful fragrances are made, then read more in the book Savoir faire to be found in out Alliance Française library. by Carmen Coutts-Smith
