Le Rochambeau - mars 2025

Bonjour à tous !

Warm greetings from Alliance Française of Richmond, and welcome to a new sunrise in March 2025. We are hoping for calmer and quieter days ahead.

Here’s the latest activities at the Alliance.

A few weeks ago, a number of us gathered at Echelon Wine Bar in Shockoe Slip for a Bordeaux wine tasting. Our Alliance Française group joined a sold-out tasting event, sampling six wines from around the Bordeaux region. We had a wonderful sommelier who led us through the tasting (and pronounced Alliance Française correctly!). While not a scientific sampling, the Pomerol wine, an all-merlot Bordeaux, seemed to be the preferred wine of the group.

We have a lot going on over the next couple months. Our new schedule for French language courses for the Spring semester are now published. We have a full schedule of classes starting in mid-March. You can find all the details here for those courses. And, our French for Travelers in-person classes are underway. If you’d like to join for the remaining sessions, please contact us here.

This Sunday, March 2nd the French Family Group will be hosting a Mardi Gras Outdoors Playground Meetup. You can find out more details and register your family here.

There are a few items on our calendar that will require some reading in advance and both of these book discussions will be held in person.

First, on March 15th, we will be hosting a book discussion on the novel La Panthère des Neiges at the Richmond West End Library. You can find all the details for the event here.

And on April 16th, we will be hosting an in-person author discussion, also at the Richmond West End Library, with the joint-authors of Assassination in Vichy. Authors Gayle K. Brunelle and Annette Finley-Croswhite will be joining us for a discussion of their intriguing and complex story of betrayal, murder and war set in 1941 Vichy France. You can find more details and register for the event here.

Registration for our children’s French Summer Camps is underway. We are excited to be able to offer two weeks of French summer camp this year. And, we are grateful to Heartwood Grove School for once again hosting our Camp. We have had great feedback on our camps over the last two years and this should be another memorable experience for children who would like to improve their French language skills. You can find our more and register here.

That’s all for now. Best wishes for a wonderful March 2025!

Brian S. Burns

President, Alliance Française of Richmond