French 

LOTE

On Friday 9 September,  students in Year 10 French class went on an excursion to the National Gallery of Victoria to see the Degas Exhibition: ‘A New Vision’.

The excursion began with a lecture about Degas, and with an emphasis on how life was at the end of the nineteenth century. After World War 1, this period was referred as: La Belle Époque.  It was characterised by economic prosperity and great scientific and technological advancement in Europe.  The Eiffel Tower, centrepiece of the ‘1889 Exposition Universelle’ (World’s Fair), was built in this time.  French inventors patented products with a lasting impact on modern society, and France was a leader in aviation, automobile manufacturing and cinema technology. 

La Belle Époque was also an era of cultural revolution with movements such as impressionism. Edgar Degas is one of the most famous impressionists, having immense impact on modern and contemporary art. The students had the opportunity to walk through the gallery and see masterpieces (see: http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/degas/) normally seen only in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.  

After the exhibition, we enjoyed an authentic French lunch at “Crêperie Bretonne” in Fitzroy (named after Brittany, a region in north-west France), where the students practised what they learned in class by ordering their meals in French.  The students had savoury crêpes (called ‘galettes’), choosing between ham and cheese, salmon, goat cheese with caramelised onions and ratatouille. This was followed by a sweet crêpe for desert, choosing between chocolate, praliné with almonds, jam or crème de marron. The students performed very well interacting with their waiter and learnt a lot about French culture and history.