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