To our circle of French Story Listeners,
We’re meeting again in a few hours to continue reading and editing Barry’s brand-new book together!
đź“… Today’s Details
Today, Friday, September 18th
đź•“ 4pm UK / 5pm France / 11am EDT / 8am PDT
đź”— Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/launch/jc/84496384817
Meeting ID: 844 9638 4817
Passcode: 678315
Where we left off
Last Friday, we stopped right in the middle of chapter 1, at this lovely little sentence:
“Elle (Tante Dubois) est arrivĂ©e Ă pic pour sauver Bruno !”
A word on “arriver / tomber Ă pic”
This is such a charming expression, and we’re so grateful to Barry for weaving idioms like this into his book.
It’s exactly the kind of authentic language that makes a story come alive.
“Ă€ pic” originally described something falling straight down, vertically. Think of a cliff face, une falaise Ă pic, sheer and steep.
Over time, that image of something landing precisely, exactly, with no room to spare, shifted into a figure of speech.
Arriver Ă pic or tomber Ă pic now means to arrive at exactly the right moment, just in time, right when needed.
So when Tante Dubois arrive Ă pic, she shows up at precisely the moment Bruno needs saving. A perfect little idiom for a perfect little rescue!
Can’t make it today?
No worries at all, you can always catch the replay of our first session here: https://www.aliceayel.com/resources/book-club-le-cercle-de-bruno-session-1/
More book clubs, at every level
All of our past book club replays are now available on the site, with 5 sessions included for each book club!
Simply type “book club” into the search box in the top right-hand corner of the page to find them all.
For our Infant / upper beginner learners: follow along with another adventure of your favorite characters, Marie and her dog MĂ©dor, in OĂą est MĂ©dor ?
It is a gentle, sweet story perfect for building confidence early on.
For our Senior / advanced learners, two beautiful reads await:
- La VĂ©nus d’Ille by Prosper MĂ©rimĂ©e — a bronze statue of Venus is unearthed near a small town in the PyrĂ©nĂ©es, and strange, unsettling events begin to unfold around a young bridegroom on the night of his wedding.
- Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt — the tender story of a young Jewish boy in Paris who forms an unlikely, life-changing friendship with an elderly Muslim shopkeeper, who becomes something like a father to him.
Hope to see you today!
With warmth,
Alice & Ben đź’•
P.S. Take a look at our weekend in Pau this November — a rare chance to meet me in real life for one whole weekend, entirely in French. Only 4 spots are available, so if it speaks to you, don’t wait too long! 👉 https://www.aliceayel.com/live-a-weekend-entirely-in-french/