40 ---- Paul's photos

It's difficult to leave Oxford. Here are two nice photos which Paul took at Oxford.

You can see the group, very attentive, listening to the Lord Mayor giving information about the courtroom.

And the second picture was taken inside the Dining Hall at Christ Church College....where scenes from a famous film were shot recently. What film is it??? Can you imagine being a student having dinner in the evening there?

39 ---- Oxford-Grenoble concerts, Anne's report, Easter weekend 2009

Flashback --- Flash-forward

Before we go to Thursday, April 9th, 2009, our 4th day of our London trip, here is a quick flashback to Oxford again and a flash-forward to Grenoble.

Thank you Anne for this report.

Thank you Marie Odile for the photos. (The date on the photos is not correct...it was 2009!)

When we went to Oxford for a day, we were received by the Lord Mayor at the Town Hall. It was a success. (Thank you Jean Burrell from the University of the Third Age in Oxford for planning this reception.)

On this occasion, we met Mel Houldershaw, a music teacher and the conductor of the East Oxford Community Choir which is twinned with the Ensemble Vocal Interlude de Grenoble, conducted by Jean Menissier, a soloist singer and choral conductor.

With the choirs, four soloist singers and an orchestra made up of musicians from Oxford and Grenoble, concerts in common are given alternately in England and France.

And, what a lucky coincidence! In Oxford, we learned that the choirs were to have three concerts in Grenoble (salle Olivier Messian, Villard de Lans and Quaix en Chartreuse on the 11th, 12th and 13th of April).

I went to see the one in Quaix en Chartreuse, a village with its charming small church nestled up in the mountains in a splendid setting.

And the sun was once again with us! ....

There were a lot of people. It was a success and this concert delighted me!

The programme was:

• The concerto for trompet in Mib Maj (J. Hayden) with the talented trompetter Stephen Cutting


• Missa Cellensis (J.Hayden) conducted by Jean Menissier


• Zadok the Priest (G.F. Haendel) conducted by Mel Houldershaw

Mel invited the people in the audience who knew the piece to sing along with them. She passed on to us all her vitality, her passion for music, her joy. At the end of the concert, I had the pleasure of meeting her.

A big thank-you to the chorists, soloists, musicians and conductors.

In this small church, I had an unforgettable moment of music, friendship and joy.

Anne

38 ---- After Oxford, Ye Olde London, 8/4/09

We had another very pleasant evening at our second pub Ye Olde London. (The Old London)

Thanks Dany for taking a picture of everyone....except Jean who went to Chelsea to follow the Chelsea vs Liverpool soccer game at a pub in Chelsea!

Jane

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Chelsea vs Liverpool = Chelsea versus Liverpool = Chelsea contre Liverpool

soccer game = football, but not American football!

37 ---- A few more photos at Oxford

Our day in Oxford ended at about 6 p.m. when we took the coach back to London.

A few more photos of Oxford's Town Hall, then we return to London for our second pub!

Here you can see the coat of arms of the City of Oxford.

We all appreciated the special attention which the Lord Mayor gave us. Here we are in the courtroom where the Lord Mayor is explaining the different places in the room and legal procedures. Very interesting.

Thank you Audrey for the photo of the group at Trinity College and thank you Michèle and Alain for the photo of the photographers!

(Sorry for the poor quality of my photos. What a pity.)

Jane

36 ---- Punting?

Here are three nice photos taken by Anne Marie at Oxford.
Two of the photos can tell you the answer to question number 10 in the last post: "What is punting?"

35 --- Oxford Quiz, Part 2

Before we move on to Day 4 and Day 5 of our stay in England, here are 10 questions for you to answer about Oxford:

1. What is the name of Oxford’s Lord Mayor?

2. How long is her term?

3. How many Lord Mayors of Oxford since 1962 have been women?

4. What is the name of the next Lord Mayor? (!)

5. What was the weather like when we visited Oxford?

6. What is the name of the college we all visited with our guides, Peter and Monique?

7. The cloisters in Christ Church college were first built 1000 years ago! What film was recently shot in Christ Church?

8. How is the name Alice associated with Christ Church?

9. What did we do at the Town Hall after listening to the Lord Mayor's speech?

10. And, something important at Oxford, what is punting?

BONUS (to win an extra point!): Who is Bob Hawke and what did he do at Oxford?

(SUGGESTION: Ask Erin!)

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NEED SOME HELP?
Read the reports written by the students in the previous posts and go to Google: Lord Mayors of Oxford, 1962 to today and Christ Church Alice and punting The Oxford Guide. (as possible suggestions)
And if you don't know Erin, google: Bob Hawke Wikipedia (in ENGLISH!) The little chalk drawing on the left gives you the answer!

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move on = go
term = mandat

34 ---- Oxford colleges: 38 or 39?

Some sources tell us that Oxford has 39 colleges; others say that there are 38. We need our guides! Peter and Monique, can you tell us which is correct, 38 or 39?
Jane

33 ---- More students write about Oxford

Monique C., Chantal C. and Simone B. have written about their visit to Oxford.

Monique writes:

Oxford under the sun is a lovely city. I was very surprised because all the colleges (39) are in the city and not in green parks like American campuses!

We were welcomed at the Town Hall by the Lord Mayor, who is a woman actually. After listening to a short speech, we visited the Town Hall. We could see, and we even touched, the big necklace with an important medal of the Mayor: it's heavy to wear it!

Then we had tea, fruit juice, and biscuits and we listened to a song sung by a young woman with a very nice voice.

It was a very pleasant get-together.

Monique

And Chantal C. writes:

The eighth of April, we went to Oxford where we visited Trinity College. Oxford is a beautiful city, a quiet city with an atmosphere which takes us back centuries!

Oxford University is the oldest English university and the most prestigious in the world! There are 18,000 students in 39 independent, self-governing colleges and 7 Permanent Private Halls (usually religious).

Oxford University began when Henri II of England prohibited English students from studying at the University of Paris.

This university has the richest library in the world! They receive one copy of every book published in the country!

President Clinton was a student at Oxford.

The film Harry Potter was shot at Oxford.

Oxford is twinned with Grenoble, so we were guests at the Town Hall; we had tea and biscuits.

You can see a few of my photographs at the top of this post.

Chantal

And Simone writes:

Our day at Oxford took place under bright sunshine! The sun is in England; it exists!

Something we need to know: unlike the French term, COLLEGE designates the place of residence and student life and not their place of study.
There are 39 Colleges and 7 religious foundations which are fully independent of the University.
We saw the college where Harry Potter was filmed.
At the end of the day, we were received at the Town Hall of Oxford. (Grenoble is twinned with the town of Oxford). Very nicely, the Lord Mayor, Susanna Pressel, had us visit of the Town Hall. She gave us explanations of the different rooms. At the end of the reception, we had tea and biscuits.

Simone

32 ---- London video

Go back to Post Number 30. Click April on the right and you can find it. (Or, for now, just scroll down from 32 to 30) There you can find English listening. Perhaps you didn't see this post in April.
Good English listening practice.
Jane
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scroll down = faire défiler vers le bas

31 ---- Oxford: More photos and HELP for the QUIZ

Here are a few more photos taken at Oxford.

A little help for the Oxford Quiz Part 1. WHAT?? You haven't done the quiz yet?

Click Entry Number 20 in the column of posts on the right. Because today is May 1st, a new month, you need to click the arrow next to "April". Then you can find all the posts which were made in April. Click Number 20 and you can find the quiz there.

If you have already taken the quiz, did you find the answer to Number 10????

Search on the internet to find the answers that you don't know. But, can you find the answer to Number 10 on the internet???

Keep returning to the blog for more information, photos, activities and English fun!

Jane