About Us

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Réans, Armagnac, 32 Gers, France
Our objective is to promote friendship between women of all nationalities living in Gascony, SW France, to share our interests and to offer help when needed. The Club started in 2008, with twenty English ladies living in Gascony, using a foreign language and experiencing a new life. Since then, several different groups have been added and our membership has grown into the hundreds, with new ladies moving to the area and ladies who have lived here a while, who have discovered us, who want to make new acquaintances and discover new areas of interest. Today we have eleven nationalities, and our speaking/working language is English. The GLC meets on the second Tuesday of each month, excluding July and August.Every member receives an email each month, giving the name of the restaurant, the chosen, menu and a booking form. In 2014, we became a non-profit making Association, known as Ladies Lunch Club de l’Armagnac and was re-named in 2019 to Gascogne Ladies Club. Our annual subscription fee of 10 € is payable in January each year. Each member of the Club may participate in some or all of our various groups

Thursday 14 July 2016

LLC July 2016 bookclub meeting

LLC Bookclub - What's next? 

Next meeting on Thursday 21st July, 2.30 at Pam’s in Reans.  

The July book is 
As I walked out one midsummer morning – Laurie Lee

At the age of nineteen he sets off from his native Slad in Glos and walked to London and then travelled on foot through Spain, where he was trapped by the outbreak of the Civil War. He writes of an age in which it was considered perfectly reasonable for a teenager to set off "tramping" from home, with a minimum of luggage, to walk 100 miles to London, sleeping in fields and barns along the way, to find gainful employment - which turns out to be manual labour. On a whim, he extends the journey to a foreign country with no forward planning, no means of contacting home besides old-fashioned post, and no safety net. In a way it would hardly matter what the subject matter was - the lyrical prose of Laurie Lee is enough to light up the page. The 19-year old Laurie leaves his home in Stroud and starts walking. He walks to the sea (which he has never seen) to London and subsequently the entire length of Spain. Living on his wits and his ability to play a tune on his violin he finds 1937 Spain a country on the verge of civil uprising. Lyrical, hugely evocative of period and place and beautifully written by a natural storyteller and poet.

The other 2 that were suggested were:

A PLACE CALLED WINTER by Patrick Gale



(Notes from an Exhibition/A Perfectly Good Man) A sage, romance, historical fiction, based loosely on truth and a story of self-discovery. A shy but privileged elder son, Harry Cane has followed convention at every step. Even the beginnings of an illicit, dangerous affair do little to shake the foundations of his muted existence - until the shock of discovery and the threat of arrest force him to abandon his wife and child and sign up for emigration to Canada.Remote and unforgiving, his allotted homestead in a place called Winter is a world away from the golden suburbs of turn-of-the-century Edwardian England. And yet it is here, isolated in a seemingly harsh landscape, under the threat of war and madness that the fight for survival will reveal in Harry an inner strength and capacity for love beyond anything he has ever known before. an irresistible, searching and poignant historical novel of forbidden love, secrets and escape.

The Man who Forgot his Wife – John O’Farrell.

Several novels including The Best A Man Can Get, This is Your Life, May Contain Nuts and The Man Who Forgot His Wife. He has also written 2 very successful history books. A former comedy scriptwriter for shows such as Spitting Image and Alias Smith and Jones, he is the founder of the satirical website NewsBiscuit and is well known for appearing on TV programmes including Grumpy Old Men, The Review Show and Have I Got News For You.

Lots of husbands forget things but Vaughan has forgotten he even has a wife. Her name, her face, their history together, everything she has ever told him, everything he has said to her - it has all gone, mysteriously wiped in one catastrophic moment of memory loss. And now he has rediscovered her - only to find out that they are getting divorced. This book is the funny, moving and poignant story of a man who has done just that. And who will try anything to turn back the clock and have one last chance to reclaim his life. "It's a rare treat to come across a novel that is both comic and thoughtfully acute about love, and life, and stuff... Hilarious and heart-tugging, this is indeed a memorable comedy"

Please bring a few books we can swop for some summertime reading. If anyone has, or has read my other choice, A Place called Winter by Patrick Gale, it would be good to know what it is like.

outlook:


August 18th will be our Garden Party and we’re suggesting anyone, who would like, can bring a poem to read. 

Offers of champagne and canapés welcome!


September 15th: Theme month and we have decided on French authors. So any book written by/about a French author, in English or French. 



October book will be chosen by Caroline (G)
November book will be chosen by Carol (D)

 


Look forward to seeing you on the 21st.

Jackie

Tuesday 5 July 2016

LLC garden group meeting 7th July 2016

Dear Gardeners

Our next outing takes place on Thursday 7th July 2016 at 2.30 pm

We will be visiting

Rue des Isserts, 47200 Marmande

The Jardins de Garonne were renamed the Jardins de Beauchamp in 2009 when the garden was awarded the 'Jardin Remarquable' classification.

There are various themed gardens including an English Garden, Italian garden, beautiful pond and lots more.Water plays an important part in the garden. A large pond has an oriental inspiration and is gorgeous when the water lilies are in full bloom.The Italian garden has long water rill with clipped box on either side and tall cypruses as well as roman style columns.

You can see and be inspired by pretty much everything for the garden from Japanese style ornaments and beautiful koi carp to topiaries, garden pottery and pergolas.

The garden centre, the Jardinerie Jay,  is a good one too and so once you have been inspired you can buy the plants

The garden and associated garden centre - the Jardinerie Jay can be found on the outskirts of Marmande.
how to find  Jardins de Beauchamp  - follow signs to Jardinerie JAY
Rue des Isserts
47200 MARMANDE
CONTACT
Tél. : 05 53 64 30 12
Contacter Jardins de Beauchamp COORDONNÉES GPS 44° 30'35.8"N, 0° 10'16.31"E

We will meet in the car park at 2h30

Tea & cakes will be served after the visit

Entrance fee for a group is 5 euros per person

VENEZ NOMBREUX !!!


For more information about any of the above or our next meeting and venue, please contact:

LLC secretary: lunchclubgascogne(at)gmail.com
or you join the blog here:
follow by email (click on this link if you want regular info) or our
facebook page (see widget on the blog)
Ladies Lunch Club de l'Armagnac.
or
come to the Ladies Luncheon on every 2d Tuesday per month or you join the blog here:follow by email
(click on this link if you want regular info)

We would like to get your suggestions for garden visits.
Please let us know if you have ideas or wishes. Also let us know who would like to host one of the meetings of the garden group.
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