Programme
All talks start at 6.30pm at the Brighthelm Centre
A warm welcome from 6pm. All talks and activities are held in French
Talks and events 2024 – 2025
2024
27 November: Songs of Paris – Peter Prowse and his guitar
Peter will share some interesting facts about the history and geography of the ‘City of Lights’, and perform a few well-known songs about Paris, including: Sous le ciel de Paris – Paris a le cœur tendre – Pigalle – Il est 5h, Paris s’éveille – Aux Champs Elysées – Sous les ponts de Paris.
The lyrics of some of the songs will be shown on a screen, so audience members can sing along – although far from compulsory!
11 December: When London turned Impressionist : Claude Monet’s Vues de la Tamise,1899 to 1904 – Karen Serres, Senior Curator of Paintings, Courtauld Gallery, London
Claude Monet (1840-1926) is justifiably famous as one of the key figures of the Impressionist movement – a movement that changed the history of art. Less well known is the fact that some of his most remarkable paintings were made not in France but in London. This conference on his series of Views of the Thames, begun in 1899 and unveiled to the public in 1904, will show the love Monet felt for England.
Image : Claude Monet, Londres, le Parlement. Trouée de soleil dans le brouillard, huile sur toile, musée d’Orsay, Paris
2025
8 January: Cancelled as the Brighthelm Centre is closed for renovations. Please see the additional meeting on 11 June (below).
22 January: Art in France, 1885 – 1900 – Christopher Doidge
After two talks about some of the main characters and the historical events of this period, this illustrated third talk deals with aspects of the wide-ranging changes in the way artists saw and portrayed the world. In the variety of styles that emerged, this decade and a half proved to be one of the most innovative and exciting period in art history.
Image: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibilothèque Nationale de France
12 February: Gérardmer, Pearl of the Vosges – Sylviane Case
Nicknamed « Perle of the Vosges » Gérardmer, this small town is situated by the side of a superb lake of the same name.
We invite you to join us to learn more about some geography and history. Who are some of the celebrities who used to visit it, learn about its industries past and present and leisure which demonstrate its popularity.
26 February: The Life and Death of Coucy-le-Château – Suzanne Hinton
Raised, razed, raised and finally (almost) razed again, this northern French castle has been through the wars.
Image: Shep~commonswiki, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
12 March: Cookery demonstrations – Bob Winton, and members of the Cercle
An evening of watching three cooking demonstration videos of different French recipes, with tasting session.
26 March: Clermont-Ferrand – Bob Winton
A little of the fascinating history of this charming city, and a photo-walking tour around its main sights.
9 April: A music hall artist at the Panthéon – Brigitte Thibaut
Freda J. McDonald, better known as Josephine Baker, arrived in France in 1925 to escape segregation in her own country. As a dancer, cabaret star, singer, actress, muse, she quickly became an iconic artist during the Roaring 20s. But this exceptional woman also played an active role in the fight against racism, as well as against nazism, as a member of the French Resistance during WW2. As a special honour granted by President Macron, her coffin was moved to the Panthéon on November 30, 2021. She thus joined the small group of women who have been given that privilege. As we discover the path she followed from her native Missouri, to Parisian music hall stages, to the Dordogne where she spent the last years of her life, we shall reveal the amazing destiny of an extraordinary woman, as well as the polemic raised by Emmanuel Macron’s decision.
Image: JipéDan – site Facebook, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
23 April: Balzac and the French Revolution – Peter Smith
Balzac’s work depicts a society recovering from the trauma of the French Revolution where the aristocracy (in Ransonnette’s painting) gives way to the bourgeoisie and “The People” begins to assert themselves inspired by revolutionary ideals. A brief look at the stories and characters in the ‘Human Comedy’.
14 May: Corsica – Nathalie Morgan
28 May: AGM and social evening
11 June: Germaine de Staël, la bête noire de Napoléon – Annie Kean
Germaine de Staël was Swiss by birth but French to the core. Born in 1766, she was passionate about politics and ran an influential literary salon. She abandoned her support of a constitutional monarchy to espouse the republcian ideals of Napoleon. However, Napoleon was wary of her, declaring that Gemaine’s “intellect was over-developed for a woman.” He finally drove her into exile.
Image: Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
* * *
Previous talks – Saison 2024
25 September: Social evening and light-hearted quiz
9 October: French politics: an update – Béatrice Moreau-Gray
23 October: Social evening and secondhand French Book Sale
13 November: The real story of the French Revolution – Mike Wells
Previous talks – Saison 2023-2024
27 September: Les Vendanges / The Grape Harvest – Gill Forte and members of the Cercle
11 October: Le français, langue d’Angleterre / French, England’s language – Simon Coffey
25 October: Traduire G Simenon / Translating Simenon – Ros Schwartz (with Claire Peligny)
8 November: Bruxelles / Brussels – Elspeth Broady
22 November: Les abeilles & le miel / Bees and their honey – Alain Caron
13 December: Honfleur – Dan Lippman
10 January: Social evening in French
24 January: Un parcours international / An international career – Jessica van Thiel
14 February: Je t’aime moi non plus / Speak to me of Love – Agnès Baetens
28 February: Madame de Sévigné – Suzanne Hinton et les membres du Cercle
13 March: La Rochelle – Isabelle Martin
27 March: Return to Vietnam – Dany Marx
10 April: Le Lapin Agile – Brigitte Thibaut
24 April: Questions d’actualité / Current affairs – Béatrice Moreau
8 May: Carcassonne – Nathalie Morgan
22 May: AGM in English and social evening (French and English)
Mercredi 12 juin – Matinée en plein air (English and French) Guided visit of All Saints Church in The Drive, Hove, BN3 3QE.
Previous talks – 2022-2023 Season
28 September: Soirée d’accueil / Welcome evening
12 October: Russian immigration to France around 1917 – Annie Kean
26 October: The Auvergne – Adriano Capuano
9 November: Café-théâtre parisien – Béatrice Moreau-Gray
23 November: Les Misérables: The novel of the century – Peter Smith
14 December: The Breton Connection – Frances Stenlake
11 January: Brian Walsh and his guitar
25 January: Belgium, with help from Jacques Brel – Francesca Delescluse
8 February: Fifteen years which transformed France: 1885 to 1900 – Christopher Doidge
22 February: From prisoners to tourists – Isabelle Martin
8 March: The first refugees : the Huguenots in England – Sue Delafons
22 March: Limoges: a town that is not just porcelaine – Robert Winton
12 April: Haute Couture – Brigitte Thibaut
26 April: Learning French through the ages – Suzanne Hinton
10 May: The Gorges of the Tarn – Nathalie Landroit
24 May: AGM