Category Archives: News

AFCC President’s message: Printemps 2021

Mes Chers Amis et Membres, Bonjour!

First of all, a big “thank you” to everyone for still being faithful to our AFCC and I promise I’ll do my best for all of us to be “back on the deck” ASAP!

Now it’s a year and half that the main subject in all mouths worldwide is Covid 19, and now “Delta” but at least before this second and very strict lockdown, we were so lucky to always be very welcome and enjoy our meetings at the beautiful Diggers Club in Ettalong Beach, where its Managers are looking forward to welcome us back. We were also very busy at the French Market in May and let’s cross our fingers that the next one in November will be held. And very important to share with you that Nouméa is still on the “bucket list” hopefully in 2022.

But this time I decided to get out of Covid 19 and concentrate on a much happier and more special subject. Usually I don’t like to speak about myself but this time I have to…but will be very briefly!

12 years ago I moved from McMahons Point in Sydney to Tascott in our beautiful Central Coast. When sadly my husband passed away, I have been very lucky to have the support of my lovely neighbours, Fran and Ian, who also offered me their precious friendship.

They have two beautiful children, Ben who was 14 at that time, soon to become Juris Doctor in Law, being also a great guitarist, and his sister Nicola who was 12. Now the Nicola I just mentioned is no other than the Nicola, our Super Olympic Champion, who won the Silver Medal in Tokyo and showed the World her brilliant skills in High Jumping!…Yes I am talking of our beautiful Nicola McDermott!…even via its Train Station, all Tascott was proud to let the entire Central Coast know and celebrate her its way!

Now can you believe it? She is still not back home and won’t be back before October. She left Tokyo flying straight to Europe to compete for the Diamond League in Lausanne, Paris, Brussels and Zurich, as well as studying for a Bachelor of Biochemistry through University of Sydney and she is also a very talented pianist. What a legend!

Looking forward to welcoming our Nicola very soon, but her next big challenge will be to join our Alliance Française Central Coast where we’ll take very special care in teaching her French, enough to impress all Parisians, and to win her much deserved Gold Medal in Paris 2024. Now back to our world, my dear friends, it is with great impatience that I wait for the pleasure of finally enjoying our friendly meetings again. In the meantime please make sure to keep safe, healthy and vaccinated, taking very good care of yourself and all your loved ones.

À trés bientôt, j’espère,
Nathalie Adams
President

AFCC President’s message: L’Hiver 2020

Mes Chers Amis et Membres, Bonjour!

Since the last Gazette three months have passed but unfortunately in the worst conditions and you know very well what I mean by that.

All over the world the same words resonate…Pandemic, Covid 19 with all its tragic consequences. But we must not forget how lucky we are in Australia and also not to forget that there are still other illnesses destroying lives.

I’ll try to avoid pronouncing these words but we cannot ignore them. We are in a critical moment of History and it is obvious that a global paralysis is installed but respecting my principles…” There are never problems…only solutions”… for example regarding our French lessons, our teachers Felix and Patricia have worked very hard to introduce and continue their distance teaching via Zoom and I can tell you that the comments from the few students I have spoken with were very positive and they were very impressed…now there you have an example of a solution!

Usually I always have the great pleasure of talking about all the social events that have been organised bringing variety and happiness to you all, my dear friends and members of our AFCC, but unfortunately all those which were scheduled for the last three months had to be cancelled… in fact No … not cancelled just postponed!…except for a few unlucky…or maybe…lucky travellers around the world!

The Pre-Easter picnic… cancelled….but there will be many other picnics, the cruise on the beautiful Brisbane Waters… cancelled… but there will be many other cruises, the French Country Market as popular as it always is… cancelled…but there will be many other French Country Markets!

At least one project for our members/students is still planned and will be carried out in early September IF we are allowed to depart Australia and fly to Noumea where the school is located in a former penal colony. All its historical buildings are intact, including what was the house of the French Governor, the bakery where the prisoners’ duty was to make bread for everyone, the typical chapel … everything is still there!…and all of it with a spectacular view!

In the meantime, my dear friends and members, I really look forward to finally being able to meet you all…in French of course…and if you have forgotten, don’t worry I’ll forgive you and “let’s start again”, to celebrate our reunion probably at the Cheeky Charlie Restaurant with a very special lunch…maybe champagne???…and most importantly to see you all in perfect health and happy to realise how beautiful and precious life is!

À trés bientôt, j’espère,
Nathalie Adams
President

Alliance Francaise Central Coast boat cruise

AFCC members recently enjoyed a cruise on the Brisbane Waters where some could enjoy dancing on the deck!

The cruise on the Brisbane Waters where some could enjoy dancing on the deck
During the cruise some others could enjoy dancing inside next to the fantastic band
During the cruise a group of happy passengers
During the cruise another very happy group on board

Bastille Day 2018 rendezvous and lunch

Please join us for the AFCC annual Fete Nationale (Bastille Day) meeting and lunch.

The rendezvous will happen as usual on Saturday, July 14 at Erina Leagues and will be followed by lunch at Cheeky Charlie’s, Fountain Plaza, Erina.

It will be at 12.30pm, after our regular meeting. Partners and family are welcome.

Please RSVP to Nathalie by Tuesday 10 July.

Interview with Ary Kleiberg, president of the AFCC

So Ary tell us about you. Where are you from and how long have you been president of the AFCC for?

You might say I came out of nowhere. I had been in AFCC only a few months, when after the AGM the elections took place. The president at the time decided to resign and yours truly was duly elected. It was probably was my own fault, because I found that a monthly meeting was not enough if you wanted to have a reasonable chance to practice. So I organized a Meetup to alternate with the AFCC meeting.

That was in February 2014. I found there was a reason that the former president wanted to get out: Paris had decided that only Capital cities Alliances would be supported from then on, so we had to reorganize. It meant writing a new Constitution, organizing our own insurance, dealing with ACNC and the Tax Department. So, a lot of work. Having spent 15 years in Toastmasters and being on the executive there for 14 of those, and president for 3, I was not entirely unprepared.

In those 4 years the committee has reorganized the Rendez-vous to have 3 separate groups, previously there was just one. I noticed that native French speaking visitors did not find much to enjoy, so they did not come back. That was the start of Club Causerie to have an informal setting for them and for the more advanced speakers. We also organized a banner, a waterproof Marquee, table with tri-colour cover for expos, to name a few. Of course, as a committee member we work as a collective in our decision making.

When and where did you start speaking French and what is the story behind?

French was a compulsory subject at school. By the time I was 13 I discovered during holidays that it was actually useful, because you could communicate with people from other countries in their Language. I soon had built up a collection of pen friends in England, France and Germany. Later I spent 3 months in Auvergne when I was in the Army. It resulted in another pen-friend, a retired French teacher. I lost contact with all of them when I was travelling around Australia.

Any particular memory of France or somewhere in France you cherish?

From what I have seen I liked Normandie, I got as far as St Malo in Bretagne. I have passed through the Vosges, which struck me as a rather poor area.

What tips would you give to beginners starting to speak French?

I would watch TV5Monde via Internet (http://www.tv5monde.com/). Under the heading “Apprendre le Français” you find a series of programmes graded according to ability (A1, A2, B1, B2).

These are accompanied by transcriptions in French, Double-clicking on a word gives the translation in your nominated language. These programmes are organized by the Alliance Française.

Any address on the Coast where you find French treats/restaurant/culture?

No idea, I don’t live on the Coast. Well, at least we had the Alliance Française Film festival in Avoca Beach theatre.

(Editor’s note: we recommend Ludo’s Gourmet Kitchen for French patisseries, they are based in Avoca Beach, http://www.ludos.com.au/ and Le Chat Noir, a French Restaurant based in Terrigal, http://www.lechatnoir.com.au/)