_ The Consulate General of France in Houston and the French Alliance of Houston invite you to a Café des Sciences : The Technical and Artistic Knowledge of Upper Paleolithic Men. The "Café des Sciences" is a series of free scientific seminars open to the general public. The seminars are usually in French and enable the audience to learn more about a researcher, scientist, or a specific field (e.g. nanotechnology, archeology, etc…). These seminars are followed by an informal reception to foster networking and discussions.

A team of French archeologists (Carole Fritz, Gilles Tosello, Marc Azema and Genevieve Pinçon) will introduce you to two outstanding sites: the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave and the Roc-aux-Sorciers. The Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave is located in the Ardèche region, Southern France, and contains the earliest cave paintings known to date, ca 32 000 years BP. The Roc-aux-Sorciers is an Upper Paleolithic rock shelter site dating to the mid-Magdalenian cultural stage ca 14 000 years BP, made famous by its prehistoric Parietal sculptures.

Saturday, December 3, 6:00 PM
Alliance Francaise of Houston
427 Lovett Blvd, Houston TX 77006

- HOUSTON -

_ACC’s Le French Club invites students, employees, and the community to Une Chorale de Noël, its annual holiday celebration. Participants will have an opportunity to experience French traditions, sing French Christmas carols, enjoy live music, and take photos with Père Noël (better known as Santa Claus). Refreshments and the French bûche de Noël (Yule log, a traditional dessert) will be served.

“Whether you’re fluent in French or don’t speak un mot, you’ll have fun at this event,” says Véronique Mazet, professor of French.

Sunday, December 4, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, Free
Northridge Campus
11928 Stonehollow Dr, Building 4000, Room 4136, Austin TX 78758

For additional information, visit the Austin Community College website

- AUSTIN -

_ The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents a MFAH Special Lecture - French Marquetry: Learning by Looking. The exhibition Life & Luxury: The Art of Living in Eighteenth-Century Paris includes several masterworks of French marquetry. Marquetry, first described during the 16th century, is decorative work in which elaborate, organic patterns are formed on a surface such as furniture with wood veneers, shell, or ivory. The complexity and opulence of marquetry rose to new heights during the 18th century by the hand of André-Charles Boulle, cabinet-maker to King Louis XIV of France.

Join furniture conservator, designer, and fabricator Alton Bowman to view examples of marquetry in the Life & Luxury exhibition. Then observe a demonstration of a marquetry donkey; view other traditional wood-working tools; and hear about Bowman’s experience at l’École Boulle in Paris, where the art of marquetry is taught today as it was during the 18th century.

Saturday, December 10, at 10:00 PM and 2:00 PM

Museum of Fine Arts - Audrey Jones Beck Building
5601 Main Street
Houston, TX 77005

- HOUSTON -

Introduce your little ones to French in a fun atmosphere!

Alliance Française de Dallas, Bookmarks and Les Petits Livres present a  story time in French for toddlers each Thursday at Bookmarks, a Dallas Public Library at NorthPark Center in Dallas, TX. We will sing and dance, play with our fingers, read books and more... all in French!

Weekly starting Thursday, October 6 at 10:30 AM
Dallas Public Library, NorthPark Center
8687 North Central Expressway, Suite 1514

All details are on the Bookmarks website.

- DALLAS -