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
2025
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
27 November: Songs of Paris – Peter Prowse and his guitar
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
22 January: Art in France, 1885 – 1900 – Christopher Doidge
12 February: Gérardmer, Pearl of the Vosges – Sylviane Case
26 February: The Life and Death of Coucy-le-Château – Suzanne Hinton
12 March: Cookery demonstrations – Bob Winton, and members of the Cercle
26 March: Clermont-Ferrand – Bob Winton
9 April: A music hall artist at the Panthéon – Brigitte Thibaut
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