Celebrating French culture and language in Barbados
In Barbados, there exists a chapter of Alliance Française, a non-profit organisation that promotes French language and culture. Like other chapters around the world, the Alliance française de Bridgetown organised the Semaine de la Francophonie, a week of activities celebrating French language and culture, in the month of March.
Three schools – Alexandra, Codrington and Queen’s College – and the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus (UWI) participated in these events. Alexandra and Queen’s College are secondary schools while Codrington offers both primary and secondary education. As part of activities, Codrington’s secondary school students gave Powerpoint presentations on Francophonie and francophone countries to the primary students. On March 20, International Francophonie Day, Alexandra students participated in a quiz and gave presentations featuring 10 new words accepted into the French language.
Queen’s College and UWI students participated in a francophone forum organised by the University. Native French speakers from Canada, Belgium, Martinique and the Democratic Republic of Congo shared their culture during a Q&A session. A French movie, ‘Chante ton bac d’abord’ (with English subtitles), a French karaoke singing session and an exhibition on Martinique were also held at the University.
Another event organised to mark the Semaine de la Francophonie was Le Dîner français, which was held at the restaurant, Chez Max. Gastronomic specialities were prepared in honour of the occasion and greatly appreciated by lovers of French cuisine.
We fall squarely into that category and were in for treat. The food was quite simply delicious! Beginning with a Kingfish tartare canapé served on a bed of lettuce and accompanied by a glass of sparkling wine.
Our first course was mussels served in a white wine sauce. We love seafood and thoroughly enjoyed the creamy texture of this dish. Next was a palate cleanser – a refreshing rainbow sorbet drizzled with blue curacao liqueur.
For the second course, we selected Coq au vin (a chicken stew featuring red wine), mashed potatoes and vegetables of the day.
Again, our palates were gratified – the chicken was tender, subtly well-seasoned and delicious, dripping off the bone. We chose a Grenache blanc viognier white wine for this course as well as the others.
Next came the cheese selection consisting of Port salut and goat’s cheese and served with a sliver of toast and grapes.
Finally for dessert, we opted for the decadent three-colour chocolate mousse and again we were well pleased. The texture and flavour were simply divine!
For us, Le Dîner français was the highlight of the Semaine de la Francophonie.
Photography by Stephen R. Smith of Pro Photo Studio-Photo Dynamics Inc.
Rédaction et traduction du blog réalisées par AAA Translation Services. Pour la version française voir ici.