Fabulous Frenchly happenings for you this week include French language workshops, a Musée d'Orsay update, cute notebooks and the big Fête de Paris. We travel from hometown Newcastle, Australia to Paris in this week's links.
Spark Your Child’s Curiosity with French These School Holidays - "Learn, create, and have fun at our French Holiday Workshops for kids aged six to twelve. Led by enthusiastic French-speaking teachers, kids enjoy interactive games, songs, role-playing, storytelling, cooking, arts and crafts, and hands-on projects — exploring French culture, food, art, music and everyday life in the Francophone world." - Alliance Française de Newcastle
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City Dance and Country Dance by Pierre-Auguste Renoir - The special exhibition "Renoir and Love" has now finished so Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s masterworks Dance in the City (Danse à la Ville) and Dance in the Countryside (Danse à la Campagne) have been returned to their permanent viewing location in Room 32 of the Musée d'Orsay’s Impressionist Gallery in Paris. These delightful paintings were painted in 1883 as companion pieces and I was surprised at how large they are when I stood in front of them. They are literally life sized at close to six feet tall! As the paintings are no longer part of a special exhibition, and now returned to the permanent collection you can see them on your regular Musée d'Orsay museum admission ticket.
Shakespeare and Company Iconic Parisian Bookstore Pocket Notebooks - For anyone who has spent time in bookstores in Paris, you'll know about the amazing store just opposite Notre Dame Paris called Shakespeare and Company. Steeped in literary history, its a booklover's paradise, and if you visit in Spring, you'll also be treated to the pretty pink show of blossom on the trees in front of the store. Little notebooks that fit in handbags and totes are just the thing to capture your tiny illustrations, ideas and daily jottings and I really love these foil embossed ones available exclusively at Shakespeare and Company's online store.
La Fête de Paris - Who loves a dress-up? Me, I do. I regularly attend a three day vintage dress-up event in Chichester in England, the Goodwood Revival and thorougly love it. I also love attending the huge medieval festival Fête des Remparts held every two years in Dinan, Brittany. But still on my list to do (and dress up for) is La Fête de Paris. This year the festival is being held on 12 and 13 September. There'll be historic parades, dancing, and a pop-up guinguette (a cabaret, open-air eating and a dance venue all in one). Described as a trip through the ages, travelling from the Middle Ages to the Liberation, with a detour through the Belle Époque.
7th Paris Sausage Walk - The Champs Élysées, Paris will be the place to be on October 4 from 11:00am to 1:00pm if you want to be surrounded by cuteness in the form of four-legged little friends. I'm talking about the dachshund walk for all dachshunds, families and dog lovers. It's a free charitable walk with festival and food to benefit Dachshunds Without a Home (Teckels Sans Doux Foyer). The event also celebrates World Animal Day. I'd love to take my little Oscar on this parade, but I don't think he'd like the thirty-three hours plus of travel, to get there from Australia.
