Making French come alive

DEBRA Burn and Rebecca Mackenzie are two students of Alliance Francaise de Rockhampton who know how to make their French studies come alive.

Rebecca recently toured Europe for five weeks, spending one week in Paris and one week in the south of France.

Debra studied French at a language school in the historic city of Tours in the Loire Valley and then visited the area around Lyon.

In Provence, Rebecca enjoyed living like a local, going to the markets on a Sunday to buy fresh cheese, vegetables and fruit, hiking in the Luberon mountain range, and picking up her favourite olive oil at a mill called the Moulin Jean Marie Cornille.

Another highlight was lunch at the Jules Verne Restaurant on the middle level of the Eiffel Tower.

Debra strongly recommends going couch-surfing, which she says was a fantastic way to get free accommodation and speak a lot of French. (See couchsurfing.com).

She also loved her one-week course at the language school in Tours and her weekend of cherry-picking with friends in a picturesque village in the Rhone Valley, St Cyr sur Rhone.

Both intrepid travellers attend French classes in Rockhampton run by Alliance Francaise each Wednesday evening at Glenmore State School.

They participate in many cultural and social events organised by Alliance Francaise, including French film evenings and the weekly French Conversation Group on a Friday from 1pm to 3pm at the Heritage Tavern on Quay Street.

For details on the program of classes and activities, call Pat Handley on 4934 1363, handleyrandp@activ8.com, or Susan Yates on 0410 878 536, or syates57@hotmail.com.