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Once again the luncheon club will be having Christmas Day Lunch at a fabulous restaurant la Vallée du Clairay at Les Rosiers-sur-Loire. The food is absolutely gorgeous and the staff can’t do enough for us. The tables are set out beautifully and the food is absolutely delicious. The cost is about 35€ per person (a ridiculously low price for such cuisine). Wine/softs/coffees are at your charge. Just think of it! No preparation. No washing up. Fab food. Good company. How can you resist? Have a look on their website https://www.lavalleeduclairay.fr/ for a better idea.  The organisers will bring Christmas crackers.

Feel free to ask adult friends or non-members to join us for this Christmas celebration, as it would make this a special day with more of us there.  For reservations or details call 02 41 92 03 07 (leave a message with your name and number) or email: paulette.graydon@gmail.com We will try to arrange lifts for you if you contact us soon.

Hope to hear from you,

Paulette and Richard GRAYDON

The December read for the book club is “School for Love” by Olivia Manning.

Jerusalem in 1945 is a city in flux: refugees from the war in Europe fill its streets and cafés, the British colonial mandate is coming to an end, and tensions are on the rise between the Arab and Jewish populations. Felix Latimer, a recently orphaned teenager, arrives in Jerusalem from Baghdad, biding time until he can secure passage to England. Adrift and deeply lonely, Felix has no choice but to room in a boardinghouse run by Miss Bohun, a relative he has never met. Miss Bohun is a holy terror, a cheerless miser who proclaims the ideals of a fundamentalist group known as the Ever-Readies — joy, charity, and love — even as she makes life a misery for her boarders. Then Mrs. Ellis, a fascinating young widow, moves into the house and disrupts its dreary routine.

To join the book club please send an email to the group coordinator here.

Come along and bring your knitting,

Have a natter while you’re sitting,

Or learn to knit with wool provided,

Needles loaned and stitches guided.

Knitted garments are très chic,

So be in vogue and start this week.

Knit and Natter is a free activity, open to all library members. No need to reserve, just come and enjoy! If anyone has some extra yarn please bring it in.

Join the library community for a special moment to talk about anything and everything (in English of course!) over a cup of coffee or tea. Coffee House is free and open to all library members. Just drop by, no need to reserve!

“Books and Tea” is a monthly meeting for bookworms and tea drinkers. Bring a book you’ve really enjoyed, talk about it and pass it on! The group meets from 2 to 3:30 at the library exceptionally this month. No need to sign up, just come and enjoy!

There are still a couple of spaces left to join the Drama Club which is open to adults and university students, with or without acting experience. These evenings of acting consist of miming, improvising, and acting out published works of theater such as sketches and plays.

This activity is open to library members, the cost is 90€ for the 2019-2020 school year. Sign up at the front desk with the registration form. Take the stage and break a leg! 

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. Limited seating and reservations recommended. 40 participants max.

For music lovers who are not necessarily musicians, the library presents a series of sessions aimed at illustrating English Classical Music in its most beautiful forms. Each session will focus on a composer, with a short presentation of their work as well as listening to select pieces and videos. The point is to share comments and criticism as a group.

Free and open to all library members, for more information or to sign up please contact the group coordinator here.

Looking for that good old Christmas spirit…? Join the members of the English-language Library in Angers for Christmas caroling on Sunday, December 15th. All you need to do is to wear red and green WARM clothes and a red santa hat if you have one! Meet at the library at 2:15 before going out to carol in Angers. If you would like, bring some baked Christmas treat to share with everybody for when we come back to the library. No need to sign up, just come and sing to your heart’s content! Free and open to the public! If you prefer not to sing but would like to listen to the carols here is our itinerary:

• 14:15 – meet at the library to warm up the vocal cords
• 14:45 – caroling on the Esplanade Coeur de Maine
• 15:15 – caroling in the Cathedrale
• 16:00 – caroling in the Château d’Angers
• 16:50 – caroling in or in front of the Grand Théâtre d’Angers
• 17:30 – meet back at the library to share Christmas goodies and drinks (feel free to bring something)

(from 14:45 – 17:30 the library will be locked up)

The Saturday Reading Group is for anyone who loves to read, socialize in English, and meet new people.

The December read for the group is Therapy by David Lodge. By all appearances, Laurence Passmore is sitting pretty. True, he is almost bald and his nickname in “Tubby,” but the TV sitcom he writes keeps the money coming in, he has an exclusive house in Rummridge, a state-of-the-art car, a vigorous sex life with his wife of thirty years, and a platonic mistress to talk shop with. What money can’t buy, and his many therapists can’t deliver, is contentment. It’s not the trouble behind the scenes of his TV show that’s bugging him or even the persistent pain in his knee; it’s this deeper, nameless unease. Is it a spiritual crisis or just one of the midlife variety? Tubby’s quest for the source of it will lead into an obsession with Kierkegaard, brushes with the police, gossip-column notoriety, strange beds and bedrooms worldwide.

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.