Several weeks ago, we sat down with French basketball star, Alexis Ajinça, who told us what it’s like to be French in the NBA, his impressions of New Orleans, and what he misses most about France.

Read our interview and meet Alexis in person at French American Night with the Pelicans on January 25. More information and a link to purchase your tickets at a reduced price with special offer code “FRENCH” can be found at our website or on our Facebook.

Read the interview and buy your tickets here.

From November 30 to December 6, 2014, the Arts Council of New Orleans organized, for the first time in Louisiana, the celebration Luna Fête (Light Up Nola Arts). For six nights in a row, the old Mayor’s office of New Orleans, Gallier Hall, was transformed into a magnificent video mapping projection of monumental proportions.

Developing the Project

Sebastien Salvagnac, the artist behind Luna Fête, says that the idea to bring video mapping to New Orleans was born in 2013 when Kim Cook, director of the Arts Council, visited the Festival of Lights in Lyon, France. “We talked for a long time, despite my English,” says Salvagnac of his first meeting with Cook. “It’s complicated. But since she speaks a little French and I speak a little English, we discussed quite a bit.”

Then, six months later, Ms. Cook invited him to New Orleans. It was a trip meant to “try and capture the emotions, the feelings, the vibrations of the city”. For ten days in June, Béatrice Germaine, Artistic Attaché at the Consulate General of France in Louisiana, led Mr. Salvagnac as he discovered New Orleans.
“It allowed me to follow pretty quickly how the city functions before its historical and architectural elements, which are so important…I came back to France with an enormous amount of cultural and social information,” he explained.

One month later, a first storyline and musical markup were sent to the Arts Council.

Continue reading the interview here.

The Consulate General of France in New Orleans wishes to welcome Meagen Moreland, its new Communications Attaché. Meagen is originally from South Carolina. She earned her undergraduate degree from The George Washington University, where she spent a year at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. She later obtained a master’s degree in French from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, before beginning doctoral studies at Tulane in 2012.

Meagen is the founder of a unique website, Voix Verte (www.voixverte.com), which is managed by a team of passionate young writers. Voix Verte produces articles on political and cultural topics in the French and francophone world of interest to American readers, as well as events and discussions of French in Louisiana.

At the Consulate General of France in New Orleans, Meagen is responsible for all levels of communications, including interaction with the press, the promotion of cultural events and educational programs, social media, and The Gazette. If you are interested in becoming more connected with the activities of the Consulate General or the French community in Louisiana as a whole, don’t hesitate to contact her at: meagen.moreland@diplomatie.gouv.fr

Mr. Warren Ostarly of Old Jefferson Parish was presented on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014 with the Legion of Honor Medal, the highest-ranking dignity in France. Consul General of France in New Orleans, Grégor Trumel, presented the award to Mr. Ostarly.

The reverent ceremony, held at Mr. Ostarly’s residence in Old Jefferson, was followed by a spirited celebration with many of his numerous family and friends in attendance. In addition to fighting throughout Northern France, Mr. Ostarly served as part of the 133D Combat Engineers, a division that landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. He was assigned to be a rigger and marksman rifle for his company, leading the way through the hedgerows of Normandy in one of the fiercest battles in the War.

For his acts of bravery, Mr. Ostarly has also been awarded the Victory medal, the European African Middle Eastern Service Medal, the American Theatre Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.

The Consulate General of France in Louisiana thanks Mr. Ostarly, a great American and a proud veteran, for his service and his sacrifice. France will never forget.

Read our article online and see the photos here.

On January 13, the ceremony in honor of Mr. Ostarly was featured in an article on nola.com. You can read it here.

Please feel free to share this important information with French families who have a high school student not enrolled in the French educational system:

If you are of French nationality and will graduate/have recently graduated from a high school program outside of France, and have successfully completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, you are also eligible to sign up for the Admission Post-Bac (APB). You can do so by following the instructions in the “guide du candidat: Titulaire ou futur titulaire du baccalauréat français”.

It has been established this year that “this guide is equally relevant to candidates of French nationality that are preparing for or have achieved a diploma of secondary study abroad.”

Just as the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma grants access to American higher education for foreigners, it now allows French nationals abroad to seek post-secondary studies in France.

If this applies to you, you are not required to provide either an INE/BEA or an OCEAN number.

More information is available here: http://www.admission-postbac.fr/site/guide_2015/Guide_du_candidat_2015.pdf

JANUARY 2015

wednesday to friday
21-23 : The Consul General visits North Louisiana (Ruston, Poverty Point, Monroe, and Shreveport)

sunday
25 : French American Night with the Pelicans

FEBRUARY 2015

sunday
1 : Black History Month Begins

saturday
14 : The Consul General Rides as "Captain" in the International Parade in Alexandria

tuesday 
17 : The Consul General Rides in the New Orleans Mardi Gras Parade REX

wednesday
18 : The Exhibition « Edgar Degas : The Private Impressionist » opens at Newcomb Art Gallery