From the President

 Chers Amis,

Down here in the Bega Valley it almost feels like we are living in a post-Covid world. On 17 November we saw our first French film of the year. The film ‘Haute Cuisine’ was all about the appointment of a renowned chef from the Périgord to the position of personal cook to the President of the Republic, her commitment to preparing authentic traditional French cooking and her experiences with the petty politics of the Elysée Palace. There was a good attendance at the screening and most of us met for dinner beforehand in the Club restaurant.

The big event of the month though was our visit to John and Sally-Ann Cottle’s garden at ‘Shirley’ for a game of boules followed by a picnic lunch and tour of the gardens. A full report on the day written by Anh-Thu Stuart with some candid photos follows later in this edition. I would like to thank John and Sally-Ann for welcoming our members into their grounds and providing this wonderful venue for our day of picnic and pétanque. 

While on the matter of pétanque, could I ask that you mark the date of 13 December which will be the day of our annual Coupe d’Antibes at Mandeni. Proceedings will begin at 10.00am so bring along some morning tea and a picnic lunch and help us bid farewell (or good riddance) to what has been an extraordinary year. Full details of the arrangements for the day will be e-mailed to you by Mike Warren.

This month La Mouette has a new item for all of our film buffs. Our Club Librarian, Anh-Thu, has kindly written a review of the film ‘Radioactive’ which tells the story of the life and work of the French/Polish scientist, Marie Curie, who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity and won a number of international awards for her work including Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry. 

Finally, I would like to mention that, consistent with our objective of promoting the study of French language and culture, we have donated two French language books as prizes for outstanding students at the South Coast Anglican College. I would like to congratulate the recipients and wish them well in their future studies in French. We also donated a book for French students at the Mumbulla School for Rudolf Steiner Education.   

Meilleurs voeux, Rob McCombie

From the President

Chers Amis

We were all sad to have had our visit to the gardens at Shirley postponed until 27 November but the threat of heavy rain, soggy grounds and cold temperatures in late October were enough for the Committee to make a good and timely decision. The event is now fully subscribed and there is even a waiting list in case of cancellations, so we would like to send a special thanks to our hosts Sally-Anne and John for offering this rare opportunity for our members to enjoy a day of picnic and pétanque in one of the most outstanding gardens of this region.

Before I leave the topic of upcoming events I should remind you that we are having our first post-Covid (?) French Film Night at Club Sapphire on Tuesday, 17 November. Details and a short synopsis of the film appear later in this edition.

Also in this edition is the first of a series of Camino articles written by Wal and Sylvie about their own experiences of the trail. These should whet the appetite of those of us rugged enough to manage weeks (or even months) of trudging through bucolic European landscapes searching for enlightenment, or just enjoying a good walk. I look forward to sharing their reminiscences.

Finally, I would like to send a big thanks to Sylvie for her French conversation group. We are now in a regular rhythm of attending Wednesday meetings at her home and enjoying a late morning coffee and cakes. Somehow or other Sylvie invariably selects topics which provoke lively discussion and stretch our knowledge of French vocab, grammar and syntax. Every now and then we lapse into a type of franglais to get us through the hard bits (or until Sylvie comes to the rescue) but it’s always entertaining and a valuable learning process for us all.

Meilleurs voeux,

Rob McCombie 

From the President

 Chers Amis,

I would like to send a big thank you to all of those who attended our Annual General Meeting at Club Sapphire on 28 September. For just a moment before the meeting was to be opened we were afraid that we might not have a quorum but 13 of our members were seated and socially distanced by the time the meeting was scheduled to begin. As promised, it was a fairly brief affair with none of the committee positions being contested and most of last year’s members being re-elected. Only Liz James who retired from the committee in mid-July to focus on her business will not be with us in the coming year. We were sorry to learn about Liz’s decision at the time as she was always an active and valuable participant in the committee’s discussions and was quick to volunteer to take on any task that needed doing. I would like to thank Liz for her commitment and her hard work towards making our Alliance a success over the last couple of years. The AGM was followed by an even briefer general meeting (as required by our Constitution) at which the Committee’s decision to declare a subscription holiday next year for existing members was endorsed by those present.

I would also like to send my thanks to John and Helen Verhelst for their efforts over the past seven months in entertaining us with regular contributions to La Mouette about their experiences as temporary residents of France. Many of us would gladly spend two years in France but for a variety of reasons are, or have been, unable to actually do it. However, by reading ‘Helen and John’s French Adventures’ we have been able to live their stay in France as if we had been there ourselves and we thank them for the vicarious experience.

Finally, I would also like to recognise the generous offer by Sally-Anne and John Cottle to host our members to a visit to their property ‘Shirley’ at Holt’s Flat (directions on how to get there are in Mike Warren’s e-mail of 6 October). Forty of us will be playing Pétanque and enjoying a BYO picnic lunch in their beautiful gardens on Friday, 30 October. Keep your fingers crossed for fine weather for the day and brush up on your best boule throwing technique.

Meilleurs voeux, Rob McCombie

From the President

Chers Amis,

If you close your eyes and don’t see the face masks people are wearing, you could almost believe that life is returning to normal. The days are getting warmer and the world’s biggest annual sporting event, the Tour de France, is well under way and keeping us up late at night watching the world’s greatest athletes. Even our own little Alliance is starting to emerge from a Covid-induced torpor.

In truth, thanks to a few hardy souls who play pétanque, we never really did shut down completely as they continued playing their weekly games at Mandeni (please contact Mike Warren to register if you would like to join them).  Also, thanks to Sylvie Dubrulle, we have already had two meetings of our new conversation group which is helping us recover some of our very rusty French language skills and learning lots of new vocab and colloquial expressions. In addition, Anh-Thu Stuart is heading up a French film discussion group, so give her a call if you would like to see some great movies and discuss them with friends.

But our most important coming event is our AGM which will be held at Club Sapphire at 6pm on Monday, 28 September. Make a note in your diaries and come along for what will be a fairly short meeting. Many of us will be staying on after the meeting to enjoy dinner and a chat. Keep your distance, keep safe and we’ll see you at the AGM.

Amitiés, Rob McCombie 

From the President

 Chers Amis

Thanks to a favourable alignment of celestial bodies (or whatever it is that’s running the world these days) 42 of our members enjoyed the hospitality of Wheeler’s Restaurant and had lunch to celebrate Bastille Day on Tuesday, 14 July. Compared with our Bastille Day celebrations of the past it was a short and simple affair but restaurant manageress, Jacqui, ensured that there was a wonderful French-inspired menu for us to choose from, and put on her best French beret to make us all feel welcome. It was fitting that formalities on the day were kept to a minimum, however, we still had the opportunity to offer a warm welcome to Sally-Anne and John Cottle as new members of our Alliance. I look forward to seeing them at coming events and thank them for their generous offer to host an Alliance event (picnic and Petanque??) in their garden whenever our lives start to get back to normal.

As foreshadowed in my item in last month’s La Mouette, the Committee met on 21 July, our first meeting since March. Discussions centered mainly on what events would be possible over the next few months and, among other activities, we hope that we may soon be offering a zoom-based conversation group hosted by our own native French speaker, Sylvie Dubrulle. I would like to offer a big thanks to Sylvie for taking on this task and look forward to getting a conversation group up and running again. Many thanks also to Anh-Thu Stuart for proposing a French film discussion group. It would be wonderful to see our members participate in these activities.

The other big decision taken by the Committee was to offer all current members a subscription holiday for next year in recognition of the fact that most of this year has been lost in lockdown. The proposer of this motion was none other than Madame la Trésorière herself so the motion was passed unanimously, and no existing Alliance member will have to pay subs next year - assuming a quorum of members votes in agreement at the AGM. Finally, the Committee fixed a time and date for our next AGM which will be held at Club Sapphire at 6pm on Monday, 28 September. We have normally held the AGM on a French Film Night but we are unable to show films for the moment and are hoping that those attending the meeting will be able to adjourn to the Club restaurant for dinner afterwards.

Meilleurs voeux,

Rob McCombie

From the President

Chers Amis

Last month, given the way the pandemic was progressing through the country, I expected that we wouldn’t be able to hold Bastille Day celebrations this year. Even when the NSW Government began to lift restrictions it was not permitted for groups of greater than 20 people to meet in restaurants. But trying to predict the future in these interesting times can be tricky to say the least.

Even though Melbourne has gone back into lockdown and the NSW/Victorian border is closed, you will know from the e-mails sent by our Secretary, Mike Warren, that not only can all of our members meet in a restaurant, Mike has actually been able to organise a Bastille Day lunch for us at Wheeler’s Restaurant. I would like to say a big thanks to Mike for his good work.

With many of us having had visits from relatives in Melbourne these school holidays, and the vulnerable age of many of our members, please remember to observe the social distancing requirements and the restrictions on handshakes, hugging etc. Things have been very quiet in our little group over the last few months due to the pandemic but we will be holding our first post-Covid Committee meeting on 21 July and hope to restart whatever of our normal activities are possible. We’ll keep you posted. Looking forward to seeing you at Wheelers.

Meilleurs voeux,  Rob McCombie

From the President

Chers Amis

What a year it has been so far; and things don’t look like getting much better very quickly. We have an energetic and imaginative committee full of ideas for new projects for 2020 but the Covid 19 restrictions have prevented us from enjoying even our usual activities of watching movies, enjoying restauranting and tasting French wines. A major casualty this year will be our annual Bastille Day celebrations and depending on how things are progressing in September, we may even have to postpone our AGM. The only bright spots on the calendar have been our well patronised pétanque games which have been fully subscribed and have even had waiting lists. If you need a fix of Alliance Francaise camaraderie contact Mike Warren and put your name down for a game; there won’t be a BBQ but there will still be a socially-distanced morning tea.

As always, it’s an ill wind which blows no good and one great benefit of the Covid lockdown to me and other cycling enthusiasts in our region has been a significant reduction in the number of cars on the road who are trying to murder me every time I go out for a ride. Oh to live in France or the Netherlands where motorists are more thoughtful about sharing the road with other road users!

Last month I spoke about people, including myself, who had travel plans this year. I’m happy to let you know that the airline I booked with has provided me with a cost-free option to re-book any time until the end of calendar year 2021, as has the cruise company which was going to take us for a trip around the Baltic Sea. As an extra bonus, my travel insurer has contacted me and asked if I wanted a refund of my premiums. I hope that all of you who were planning to travel overseas have had similarly happy outcomes.

Meilleurs voeux

Rob McCombie

From the President

Chers Amis

For the majority of us I expect that this will be the most memorable Easter of our lives. Over the past month or so we have seen over a million of the world's population diagnosed with Covid 19 and over 95,000 Covid-related deaths. The disease has caused mayhem for national economies and wrought havoc in the lives of millions around the world who must comply with lockdowns and social distancing. It seems in many respects that Australia has fared better than many countries and while this is something for which we must be grateful, only continuing vigilance will see our good fortune continue. I wish you all 'bon courage' and hope that you all stay safe.

The social distancing requirements of both State and Commonwealth Governments have of course made all of our normal social functions impossible. Regrettably, this includes most of the items we had on our exciting list of proposed new activities for 2020. However, a unique exception may well be the holding of French language discussion groups as it seems that these could be conducted on-line via Zoom or some similar video conferencing facility. Sylvie Dubrulle is still accepting expressions of interest about this activity so please contact her or Mike Warren if you would like to participate.

Finally, I would like to congratulate our new Editor-in-Chief for La Mouette. Trish Dive has taken over from Clive Roberts who was our Editor for so many years.  It was with great regret that we learned that Clive is unwell and unable to continue this work for our Alliance.  I would like to thank Clive for all the many hours he has spent harassing contributors, gathering articles, editing drafts and meeting deadlines as Editor of La Mouette over the years and wish him a speedy recovery. I would also like to thank Trish for her generosity in taking on this serious task in our organisation.  Trish's work will be easier if she receives regular contributions and reports from members so please keep her in mind if you think that you have something to offer.
Robert McCombie

From the President

Chers Amis

The big news for our Alliance this month is the co-opting to the committee of two new members, Sylvie Dubrelle and Wal Wolzak which brings the strength of our committee to nine persons being the maximum allowed under our Constitution. I would like to offer my congratulations to both and thank them for joining us. It will make the Committee’s work much easier to have extra hands to help with running our Alliance. However, the main reason Sylvie and Wal offered to join us arises from their generosity in offering to work on so many of the items on the New Program of Activities identified at last month’s Welcome Party. A full list of these appears later in this newsletter together with the names and contact details of the relevant activity co-ordinator. If you would like to participate in any of these you should e-mail the relevant co-ordinator (cc to Secretary Mike Warren) to register your interest. It may be that some don’t attract a sufficient number of members to warrant implementation and these will not be proceeded with; so you should notify us by e-mail as soon as possible if you would really like to participate. There is no limit to the number of activities you can subscribe to. The introduction of new activities to our annual program doesn’t mean that we will lose any of the items which have been so well patronised in the past and this applies especially to our French Film Nights. So make a note in your diaries for the evening of 31 March when we will offer our first French film for 2020.

Meilleurs voeux

Rob McCombie

From the President

Chers Amis

Our big event to make a start to 2020 was the welcome function held at Mike and Lilias’ place on Saturday, 8 February and was attended by over 40 members and guests. This was an outstanding success given the absence of a number of members who were visiting interstate. A highlight of the evening was the generosity and culinary skill of the many who provided us with a tempting array of entrees, mains and desserts from regional France. I would like to thank all of those who brought something along and made the night a success. Another highlight was the attendance of two new members, John and Helen Verhelst who we welcome most warmly to our group.

Always with a sharp eye for an opportunity, Mme la Trésorière took advantage of the captive audience to canvass members about new activities which they would like to see added to our program this year. Many members made suggestions, some new and some which had been tried in the past, but all of which will be discussed at the next Committee meeting. The Committee is anxious to introduce new activities into our annual program and is open to seeking the assistance of ordinary members with special skills to ensure that they are implemented quickly and effectively. Our Editor is providing a list of the activities later in this edition. Please contact me or one of the other committee members if there is a particular activity which attracts your interest and in which you may be able to assist.

Our next event will be a French film night on 31 March so save the date in your diaries. We will advise you as soon as we have selected a film which, as always, will be sub-titled for the benefit of those who don’t speak French.

Meilleurs voeux

Rob McCombie