🌟 C'est la vie !! : The French Arts Club 🌟
Details
Important Availability Note:
This event will be free and open to everyone for the winter 2026 period:
10 weeks, from January 1 until March 15, 2026.
Starting mid-March 2026, this will become available only to Starter ($25 USD/mo.) and Premium ($75 USD/mo.) plan holders on The French Club language platform (currently in development).
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🌟 C'est la vie !! : The French Arts Club 🌟
A new series hosted by François Normandeau — all in French — for French learners who love culture, stories, and creativity. This is dedicated to ART, in all shapes, forms and modes of expression.
Each week, we dive into a different art form – cinema, literature, painting, music, architecture, photography, sculpture, drawing, etc. – and use it as a springboard to explore French language and culture from France and French-speaking countries and regions.
This is not a technical art class: it is a relaxed French Club where you watch, listen, react, and create a little, all in good company.
If you enjoy French, are curious about the arts, and are willing to spend almost two hours mostly in French, this is for you.
You need to have a level of French sufficient to read a book in French, watch a movie in French, give a summary in French, interact and ask and answer questions in French, etc. in order to participate fully and understand the ongoing conversations. This is usually a high A2/low B1 level (at the very least) and higher.
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Each session includes:
- Intro
- Guided exploration of the work
- Language and culture discussion where each member can express themselves
- Mini creative activity sometimes
- Takeaway and final feedback from the participants
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Who can attend?
This session is open to all members of The French Club.
We expect around 15 dedicated and motivated participants and everyone is welcome.
The entire event will be in French mostly (English used as a last resort).
Zoom call details:
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5456313643
Passcode: galaxy
It is the same passcode for all events hosted by F. Normandeau
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Schedule and details .....
Week 3: Peinture (21 January 2026)
🌟 Claude Monet – Les Nymphéas
Why? Universally loved, calming, accessible, iconic impressionism that even beginners can appreciate visually & culturally.
- Explore Monet’s life & the birth of impressionism.
- Virtual tour through Giverny or Musée de l’Orangerie.
- Language activity: describing colors/light/emotions.
- Creative task: photograph something with “impressionist light” at home and describe it.
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Week 4: Musique (28 January 2026)
🌟 Francis Cabrel – Je t’aimais, je t’aime, je t’aimerai (1994)
Why? Classic French singer; clear diction; poetic lyrics.
Great for learners because it’s slow and understandable.
- Short intro to Cabrel (major figure in French chanson).
- Analyze metaphors in chorus.
- Vocabulary: love, time, memory.
- Creative task: rewrite one line using your own metaphor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVM_OE7xJic
🌟 Stromae – “Papaoutai” (2013)
Why? Modern, powerful, globally known; rhythmic, great for discussion.
- Discuss Stromae’s Belgian-Rwandan identity & influence.
- Analyze the visuals/music of the video.
- Explore the language: colloquial French in the lyrics.
- Creative task: transform one lyric into a positive message.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiKj0Z_Xnjc
🌟 Jacques Brel – “Ne me quitte pas” (1959)
Why? One of the most famous French songs ever created.
Emotional but universal.
- Discuss Brel’s dramatic performance style.
- Listen and identify key lines.
- Explore core themes: heartbreak, poetry, desperation.
- Language: metaphors, emotion verbs.
- Activity: rewrite 2 lines in a hopeful or positive tone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_bq5mStroM
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Week 5: Architecture (4 February 2026)
🌟 Gustave Eiffel – La Tour Eiffel (1889)
Why? The ultimate “crowd pleaser”— even non-art people care.
- Discuss why Parisians hated the tower at first.
- Explore plans, structure, and innovations.
You can include engineering, tourism, culture. - Analyze language: heights, shapes, comparisons.
- Creative task: design/describe a monument representing your city.
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Week 6: Cinéma (11 February 2026)
🌟 My Internship in Canada (2015)
Why? Gentle political comedy film about cultural adaptation, identity, and the everyday challenges of living and working abroad. An idealistic young Haitian travels to rural Quebec to intern for an independent Member of Parliament when a national debate erupts. The independent politician is thrust into the parliamentary spotlight and has to rely on his Haitian intern to help him navigate the complexities of Parliament Hill. Ideal for international audiences, students, and anyone who has experienced migration, study, or professional transition.
https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80084092
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Week 7: Photography (18 February 2026)
🌟 Robert Doisneau – Le remorqueur du Champ-de-Mars (1943)
Why? Iconic French photography; immediately readable, human, and humorous.
Robert Doisneau is one of France’s most beloved humanist photographers.
- Explore Robert Doisneau, why he is so closely associated with simple, authentic moments of Parisian everyday life, and the “photographie humaniste” movement.
- Analyze the scene: setting, characters, movement, contrast between the ordinary and the monumental (the Eiffel Tower).
- Discuss core themes: daily life, work, humor, scale, and the poetry of the ordinary.
- Language: describing images, spatial vocabulary, present tense, making hypotheses (on dirait que…, peut-être que…).
- Creative task: invent a caption or short story explaining what is happening before or after the photo.
https://enfantphotohumaniste.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/diaporama1926-le-remorqueur-du-champs-de-marspar.jpeg
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Week 8: Sculpture (25 February 2026)
🌟 Auguste Rodin – Le Penseur (1904)
Why? Instant recognizability + deep cultural resonance.
- Who was Rodin? The rebel sculptor. Discuss.
- Explore Le Penseur and its relationship to La Porte de l’Enfer.
- Analyze vocabulary: human body, attitudes, emotions.
- Creative task: describe your “thought” (could be an interpretation).
https://histoire-image.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/rod7_penseur_001f.jpg
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Week 9: Dessin (4 March 2026)
🌟 Bring out the artist in you – Drawing 2 scenes or objects 🌟
Why? Very accessible, relaxing, and playful — you only need curiosity, not experience. Perfect to close the series gently.
- Short warm-up with simple shapes and lines, following easy French instructions.
- Guided drawing of 2 scenes (for example: a small French café + a simple still life or a corner of your room).
- Language: basic drawing and position vocabulary (lines, shapes, objects, in front of / behind, next to) + simple adjectives and opinions.
- Creative task: personalize one drawing with a funny or very “French” detail and present it briefly in French.
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Week 10: Cinéma (11 March 2026)
🌟 La Vie Scolaire (School Life) (2019)
Why? Warm, humorous, and hopeful. La Vie scolaire offers a modern, compassionate look at middle-school life in a disadvantaged area. It celebrates empathy, mentorship, and the quiet power of believing in students — without being naïve or moralizing.
- Explore themes: Education and social inequality, authority vs. empathy, adolescence and self-image, the role of adults in young lives.
- Discussion: What makes a school supportive? Can one adult really make a difference? How are students labeled — and why does it matter? Compare this school to your own experience.
https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/81191429
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We look forward to seeing you there!
— François Normandeau
Founder, The French Club