Garden Club visit
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On Thursday, May 16th, the Garden Club will visit the Jardins de la Houssaye, located at La Houssaye, St Laurent du Mottay. (This is their official address. However, you will find them on Google Maps under “La Houssaye, Mauges-sur Loire”.)
The 1.5 hour guided tour will explain the principles of permaculture, and the history of medicinal and aromatic plants and vegetables. We’ll see a kitchen garden, a mandala garden, aromatic plants, and a greenhouse from the 19th century. We will also learn the history of the castle.
The cost for the visit is 10€ per person, and we can have snacks on premises afterward. You can find more information on their site: https://lesjardinsdelahoussaye.fr
If you would like to join for lunch, a noon lunch has been reserved for us at Un Chef Chez Moi, located at 8 Place Charles deGaulle, St Laurent du Mottay in Mauges sure Loire.
The restaurant will be privatized just for our group, and the menu choices (20€ for entrée/plat/dessert) are as follows.
Entrée:
Assiette composé (taboulé, tomate, féta, œuf mayo) OR
Assiette de charcuterie OR
Terrine de thon.
Plat:
Dos de lieu beurre blanc, pomme vapeur, brocoli OR
Filet mignon de porc sauce cidre pomme de farci OR
Lasagne de légumes et salade.
Dessert:
Brioche perdu pomme caramel beurre salé OR
Tartelette pomme OR
Crème brulée.
If you pass the restaurant (with the restaurant on the right) and take the first left, you will see the “P” sign for a parking lot.
For more information:
Please send an email to GardenClubELLIA@yahoo.com no later than May 8th if you are
interested, indicating whether you will come to just the visit or come for both the visit and
the lunch.
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Write Here, Write Now!
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Welcome to “Write Here, Write Now”! Writing and sharing : join this series of workshops for people who love to write in English and don’t mind sharing what they’ve written (although this sharing is not mandatory). We’ll explore different themes and genres. Keenan Brown, a library volunteer, will guide you through different ways to stimulate your writing, keep you inspired, all in the company of lovers of literature. “You can make anything by writing” (C.S. Lewis). Following Lewis’s invitation, let’s explore the world at large, as well as your own secret gardens through words…while discovering the unknown realms of the writing of others. Workshops will be run Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the library once a month. They are free for library members (maximum of 10 participants). For more information and/or to sign up, please contact the group leader. |
Pizza and board games
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Join us for our ever-popular game night and pizza party! Cost is 7 euros (covers pizza and non-alcoholic drinks, 5 euros for native English speakers and children under 13). Event starts at 6 pm sharp. Last entry at 6:15 pm. First come, first serve with 40 participants max. Children under 13 need to be accompanied by an adult. |
Luncheon Club
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Do you love French food and restaurants? Would you like to speak English more, but in a relaxed environment? Join the Luncheon Club! Enjoy a meal and great conversation in English once a month at a local restaurant. This activity is open to library members. Spaces are limited. For more information or to sign up, please contact the group coordinator here.
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Reading Shakespeare
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Treat yourself to an afternoon of a collective reading of one of Shakespeare’s plays. This activity consists of watching a BBC production on DVD and then reading relative scenes. This is a great activity for lovers of language and fans of the great wit. Free and open to all library members. For more information or to sign-up, please contact the group coordinator here. The number of participants is limited. |
Books and tea
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“Books and Tea” is a monthly meeting, on a Thursday, for bookworms and tea drinkers. Bring a book you’ve really enjoyed, talk about it and pass it on! The group meets from 2:15 to 3:45. Note that the group will be meeting at La P’tite Cigogne, 23 rue du Musée in Angers. No need to sign up, just come and enjoy! |
Bridge Club
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Come and play (simple) Bridge (cardgame) at the library! Engage in a brain-stimulating sport: the Mini Bridge Exclusive Society. Discover, learn and play Mini Bridge in a relaxed, casual and informal ambiance. Mini Bridge, as developed by MBES allows and encourages
…in a nutshell, MBES (Mini Bridge Exclusive Society) proposes a different concept from the competing conventional Bridge Clubs. Feel free to sign up and come and discover this new activity for library members! It is free and open to members of the library. Please contact the library to join! |
Intensive English workshop for “collégiens”: Springtime in the States
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“Springtime in the States” is a 3-day workshop for collégiens. Participants learn English in a fun, interactive way with games, songs and activities with lots of talking and moving around! The workshop will be at the library for three consecutive afternoons from 2:00-5:00. To sign up, please contact the front desk by phone (02 41 24 97 07) or email (info@ellia.org). Limited number of participants so sign-up fast! Cost is 75 euros (includes snack, materials and a one-time library membership for collégiens who sign up for the first time). |
Take your TOEIC test
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The library is an authorised test center for the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test (the Test of English for International Communication). For more information please visit our TOEIC page or to sign up go to the official ETS website. |
Saturday Reading Group
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The Saturday Reading Group is for anyone who loves to read, socialize in English, and meet new people. For this meeting, the group will read “Normal People” by Sally Rooney. The feverishly anticipated second novel from the young author of 2017’s most
acclaimed debut Conversations with Friends. Connell and Marianne grow up in the
same small town in rural Ireland. The similarities end there; they are from very different
worlds. When they both earn places at Trinity College in Dublin, a connection that has
grown between them lasts long into the following years. This is an exquisite love story
about how a person can change another person’s life – a simple yet profound realisation
that unfolds beautifully over the course of the novel. It tells us how difficult it is to talk
about how we feel and it tells us – blazingly – about cycles of domination, legitimacy and
privilege. Alternating menace with overwhelming tenderness, Sally Rooney’s second
novel breathes fiction with new life.
Meetings are once a month on Saturday afternoons starting at 3 pm. Open to all library members. To sign up please contact the group coordinator at bookgroup@ellia.org.
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