Our Summer BBQ is on a THURSDAY this year but the format will be similar to last year's party, with Ken and Alison providing a BBQ lunch in a garden setting, this time in Grau d'Agde .  Further details will be provided upon registration.

THURSDAY JUNE 27th
25€ per head (payable upon registration)
 
Registration from April 17th -June 12th

DENISE HOSSEINY
SECRETARY
TUESDAY CLUB 

“Natural health for you and your animal friends” Lesley Lewis-Street.

Lesley is going to present to us, a holistic approach to caring for the entire family. How it works and what you can do here in France to help the whole family both two and four legged enjoy more vitality safely naturally and within a budget. She'll share what I’ve learned through continuing education and experience helping animals and their people with complementary alternatives to conventional healthcare with nutrition, herbs and energy modalities including therapeutic touch and reiki. 

 Dr Dave Leather , was a GP in Bolton for 16 years and then moved to a career in Drug research and development, he has worked in the fields of sexual health, drug addiction, vaccines, HIV and respiratory disease amongst others .
His career has taken him from an upbringing in Merseyside to becoming a global leader in research and academia.  Along the way Dave has also been an after-dinner speaker, professional raconteur , professional standup comedian, medical journalist , radio doctor, and adviser to the UK government on the COVID 19 pandemic. All that and he lives in Agde!
In this talk, Dave will give us a taster of his life and pick out 3 or 4 examples from his career that will entertain and inform. Also, there will be audience participation and prizes for winners!  Warning : suitable for over 18s as matters of a personal nature maybe discussed!!!

Sharing Picnic - Venue TBA

Bring a long a dish to share and enjoy an al fresco lunch with your TC friends!

“How I found my grandfather with a DNA test”  Elfie Majoie

Elfie’s mother never knew who her father was; she was raised under a false name in in Paris.  However, last year, Elfie discovered that her grand father had been, no other than, the famous French caricaturist, SEM .   She will tell the story of her grand-father and his art and how she met his family, many cousins who welcomed her warmly; a very emotional and incredible encounter. 
Elfie will introduce us to the Belle Epoque and all the famous people of that time who were caricatured by SEM : Cocteau, Chanel, Colette, Proust, Edmond Rostand.

Georges Goursat (23 November 1863 – 26 November 1934), known as Sem, was a French caricaturist famous during the Belle Époque. Sem attained a level of success through his imaginative portrayals of Paris at the turn of the Century. By capturing the spirit of the subject rather than exact physical traits, Sem produced images that were probably truer to life than formal portraits.

“LSR  (Languedoc Solidarité avec les Réfugiés)”  Pete Cowan
 
A talk by Peter Cowan of the charity LSR, discussing nature and flow or refugees into Europe and outlining the work of the charity.

Vivre la solidarité avec les réfugiés.

Languedoc Solidarité avec les Réfugiés est une Association à but non lucratif composée exclusivement de bénévoles qui apportent un soutien moral, matériel et financier aux réfugiés les plus précaires et les plus démunis.

Qui sommes nous?

Languedoc Solidarité avec les Réfugiés (LSR) a d'abord été l'association informelle d'un groupe de personnes unies par le désir de venir en aide à plusieurs familles de réfugiés syriens arrivés dans la région de Béziers. C'était en 2015.

Aujourd'hui, l'association a grandi et a élargi son champ d'action. A partir de la base initiale du groupe basé à Pézenas et Béziers, des collectifs se sont formés dans le Minervois et dans la Haute Vallée de l'Aude pour venir en aide aux réfugiés dans tout le Languedoc.

Languedoc Solidarité avec les Réfugiés est  une association  à but non lucratif ( loi 1901) déclarée . Elle est reconnue officiellement comme organisme d’intérêt général et peut à ce titre délivrer des reçus fiscaux à ses donateurs et membres afin qu'ils puissent bénéficier d'une réduction d’impôt.

En 2022, après deux ans de Covid et une conjoncture socio-économique et politique tourmentée, la situation des migrants est loin de s'être améliorée et beaucoup reste à faire. Si vous souhaitez faire un bout de chemin avec nous, vous êtes au bon endroit pour faire le premier pas et apporter votre concours.

Visit to Château Laurens in Agde

TWO PLACES STILL REMAIN. 

Guided tour in English –Wednesday May 15th at 10h00

6€ per person . 
Please contact Denise for further details if you would like to take part.
(Those who have registered to take part in the visit will receive further details via email)

Discover Château Laurens, an Art Nouveau gem in Agde

Located in Agde, near Pézénas, Château Laurens, also known as Villa Laurens, is a work of architecture built from 1898 by Emmanuel Laurens, a famous collector (1873-1959).

Unique in its kind, the monument reflects an eclectic style, with a blend of Art Nouveau and neo-Greek styles, as well as majestic decor inspired by Egyptomania and Orientalism. Its architecture creates a true symbiosis between the different arts and styles of its decorations.

Château Laurens will open its doors to the general public in June 2023 after 6 years of renovation.

Mosaics, murals, stained glass, ironwork, furniture… During your visit, discover the taste for art of Emmanuel Laurens, its founder.

This remarkable building is a harmonious blend of Egyptian, Greco-Roman and Oriental influences. Emmanuel Laurens’ decorative and architectural choices give the monument a very special character. It is a place where modern architecture meets the decorative avant-garde, where contemporary creation coexists with past centuries.

Le château Laurens, à la fois villa palatiale et temple antiquisant, fut édifié sur le domaine de Belle-Isle, à Agde. Bordé par le fleuve Hérault et le canal du Midi, entouré d’un vaste parc de douze hectares, il a été construit à partir de 1898 pour Emmanuel Laurens, voyageur éclairé et rêveur impénitent, qui partageait avec Pierre Loti la tentation des pays lointains. Sa demeure tout en couleurs est faite de boiseries délicates, de céramiques, de peintures et des reflets de la lumière qui inonde les différentes pièces au fil de la journée. A mi-chemin entre romantisme fin de siècle et modernisme triomphant, l’architecture audacieuse du lieu, l’agencement et le mobilier mettent en scène un cadre de vie exotique où se succèdent, sur 1 400 mètres carrés, différents espaces inspirés par les voyages en Orient du propriétaire et son goût pour l’Art nouveau. Un véritable joyau classé Monument historique, désormais restauré et ouvert au public.

Accessible depuis le parc de Belle-Isle, le jardin historique du château Laurens est une ode à la déambulation et à la contemplation. Reliés par un discret ruisseau, deux plans d’eau dessinent des allées serpentines et ouvrent autant de perspectives sur le monument que sur le fleuve Hérault et sa petite cascade. - Chateau Laurens, Ville d’Agde.

Jonathan Bradley is an author and former university academic. Jonathan was partly educated in France and he and his wife have owned property in the country for many years. His books include Papiliones and A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies, containing stories and poems inspired by butterflies, as well as Sibling Poets and City Sonnets, both of which are collections of poems. In this talk he will speak about some of the beautiful butterflies that can be seen in France and show a number of photographs of them. His next book on this subject, The Cardinal, Cleopatra and the Pasha, is due to be published later this year.

In the foreword to my book the author and naturalist Matthew Oates writes about this:
“Butterflies have long been in the poet’s eye. This fascination flows back to the ancient Greeks, who believed that the human soul departs from the body on the wings of a butterfly. They created Psyche, the goddess of the soul, from their word for a butterfly – psyche. There is also the symbolism of metamorphosis, which from a poetic angle is deeply profound, offering myriad possibilities and analogies with the human condition.”

I’m inspired by their colour, their vulnerability, their delicacy, their symbolism and their capacity to arouse emotion in human beings, and then I feel like writing about them.

- Excerpt drawn from “an interview with: Jonathan Bradley, author of Papiliones.”

On a trip to the UK, last Summer, Sandra  visited the recently restored Flax Mill in Shrewsbury.
Built 1797 , it is the first iron frame multi storey structure in the world and was the model for later skyscrapers . 

What is Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings?

Situated just outside Shrewsbury town centre, the internationally important Flaxmill Maltings site reflects a time when Shropshire led the way in engineering. The site is home to eight special buildings each with a unique story to tell, including the 1797 Main Mill which is the grandparent of skyscrapers.-Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings.

Visit to Domaine de la Font des Ormes near Caux

(Those who have registered to take part in the tour and tasting will receive further details via email)

"Caveau ouvert sur rendez-vous du lundi au vendredi. A Caux, sur le terroir de Pézenas, en Languedoc, la Font des Ormes vit une métamorphose dans un décor immuable, un vallon bordé de deux coulées de basalte. Notre ambition : refléter dans nos vins en agriculture biologique, l’énergie élégante et sereine du paysage. Notre engagement : le choix de la biodynamie pour atteindre l’équilibre avec notre milieu naturel, activer la vie des sols et renforcer nos vignes." -Domaine de la Font des Ormes.

Welcome back from Easter break.

EASTER BREAK

The club is closed over the easter break but don’t worry we’ll be back in action on the 17th of April 2024, so we look forward to seeing you there.

EASTER BREAK

The club is closed over the easter break but don’t worry we’ll be back in action on the 17th of April 2024, so we look forward to seeing you there.

EASTER BREAK

The club is closed over the easter break but don’t worry we’ll be back in action on the 17th of April 2024, so we look forward to seeing you there.

Nowruz - Team Hosseiny

Nowruz is the Iranian or Persian New Year celebrated by various ethnic groups worldwide that started as a Zorastrian celebration. It is a festival based on the Iranian Solar Hijri calendar, on the spring equinox on or around 21 March on the Gregorian calendar.

The day of Nowruz has its origins in the Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism and is thus rooted in the traditions of the Iranian peoples; however, it has been celebrated by diverse communities for over 3,000 years in Western Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, the Balkans, and South Asia.

Presently, while it is largely a secular holiday for most celebrants and enjoyed by people of several different faiths and backgrounds, Nowruz remains a holy day for Zoroastrians, Baháʼís, and some Muslim communities.

As the spring equinox, Nowruz marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, i.e. the moment at which the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year.

Traditional customs of Nowruz include fire and water, ritual dances, gift exchanges, reciting poetry, symbolic objects and more; these customs differ between the diverse peoples and countries that celebrate the festival.

Louis Paulhan - Tony Swainsbury

Isidore Auguste Marie Louis Paulhan (19 July 1883 – 10 February 1963), was a French aviator from the languedoc region born in pezenas. He is known for winning the first Daily Mail aviation prize for the first flight between London and Manchester in 1910.

Paulhan is credited with the world's first "medevac" when he flew the seriously ill Milan Stefanik to safety during the serbian campaign in the first world war.

Paulhan died on 10 February 1963 at Saint-Jean-de-Luz. He is buried in his home town of Pézenas where a monument has been erected in commemoration; a wall plaque in Rue Conti in Pézenas also recalls his achievements.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Nicole Périé, who spoke to us last year, about her work with Cap-o-cap, will be visiting us again to tell us about another cause which is close to her heart. She is a member of Amnesty International group based in Béziers; 9 volunteers of different ages and backgrounds, all committed to the defence of human rights. 

Who is Amnesty International?

Zoë  from the wine domain (Château La Font des Ormes) whom we met on our visit to Maison Alary has forwarded details of an open day on 24th February.   Clink on the link below for more details.

Les news | La Font des Ormes

Club member, Tania Matchavariani, will be talking to us about a woman who is, undoubtedly the most popular Mexican artist in the world, Frida Kahlo left her mark on art history through poignant works and moving self-portraits.