Our Summer Course

 We are currently planning a week of lectures, visits and entertainment on the theme of

 

From Renaissance to Revolution: French literature in an age of change (1500-1800.)

 

for the week of Monday 16th August (evening arrivals)

to Saturday 21st (after lunch) at Chavagnes International College.

 

Please contact us for more information and in the meantime, here are details of last summer’s successful course, which should give you an idea of how we are going to balance the different aspects of the week:

 

The Great Books: Chavagnes, France:  from 26^th July to 4^th August 2009 

Great Books, great company, great value: a cultural holiday of a lifetime in rural France, 40 minutes from Nantes international airport.

Join in the Great Conversation: 10 days in the Vendee with Professor Anthony O’Hear, Robert Asch, Denis Boyles and Ferdi McDermott …  

… and Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Plato, Socrates, Virgil, Ovid, St Augustine, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Milton, Pascal, Racine Goethe! 

Prepare for a cultural house party that will wake up your brain cells and set them sizzling, as you enjoy French food and wine, excellent company, daily entertainments and fascinating seminars from Professor O’Hear and his colleagues. 

9 days full board accommodation*, lectures, excursions, entertainment for only 850 €.  Email to reserve your place. 

*Accommodation at :  Le Séminaire de Chavagnes (Chavagnes International College), le Château de Ligny or in other local accommodation arranged by the course organisers.  Based on two people sharing, with a twin or double room. A 100 € supplement is payable for a single room. Rooms are comfortable but not en suite. 

Special activities during the course, to keep us in the holiday spirit, include:

Dining aboard the Orient Express! (or at least the Orient Express dining carriages from 1926, on a local picturesque stretch of railway). Yes, together with the other participants in the Great Books Summer Course and some special guests, we’ll be spending an evening aboard a classic train, dining in style just like Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot!

Visit to a local vineyard and a local farm, with tasting of traditional produce

Visits to local sites of historic interest

Historical evening show, La Cinescenie, with 2,000 actors

A Day at the Puy du Fou, the historical theme park (Replica Roman amphitheatre, medieval castle, jousting, falconry, and much more besides).

Great Books Course Itinerary

Sunday 26th July: arrive for evening reception and dinner at 7.30pm.

 

Monday 27th July.

Morning:

8.30: Breakfast

9.30 am : Introduction to the Great Books

10.30 : Coffee Break.

11.00 : Homer I

12.30M : Aperitif, Lunch, Coffee

2.30PM: Homer II

4PM: Tea

Free time

7PM: Aperitif, Dinner,

9PM: Depart for the Medieval Priory of Grammmont, for an evening of Gregorian chant by moonlight and candelight, with the Jachet de Mantoue Ensemble.

Return at about 1am.

Tuesday 28th July :

8.30: Breakfast

9.30AM : Greek tragedy

10.30 : Coffee Break.

11AM: Greek Tragedy II

12.30M : Aperitif, Lunch, Coffee

2.30PM: Virgil I

4PM: Tea

4.30M Virgil II

5.30PM: Free time

7PM: TRANSPORT to Chateau de Ligny, Les Brouzils (home of Denis Boyles and family).  Aperitif, Greek Banquet, Greek Entertainment (Reading of Euripides’ Helen of Troy and other surprises …). Return to Chavagnes afterwards.

 Wednesday 29th July:

8.30: Breakfast

9.30AM : Ovid

10.30 : Coffee Break.

11AM: Ovid II

12.30M : Aperitif, Lunch, Coffee

Rest.

2.30pm: Augustine

4pm: Tea

4.30: Augustine II

5.30pm: Free time

 7PM: Aperitif, Roman Banquet.

Thursday 30th July:

8am: Breakfast

8.45 : Dante

10.00 : Coffee Break.

10.15: Dante II

11.00 : Depart for Mortagne sur Sevre

12-3pm : Lunch aboard the Old Orient Express restaurant cars.

Return to Chavagnes.

Possibility of brief visit to St Laurent sur Sevre.

5PM: Visit to local ‘Foie Gras’ duck farm, with foie gras tasting and aperitifs.

7PM: Duck Dinner at the Farm.

Friday 31st July: Day at the Puy du Fou Historical theme park

Late night historical pageant at the Cinescenie, Puy du Fou.

Saturday 1st August: 9.30AM : Shakespeare

10.30 : Coffee Break.

11AM: Shakespeare II

12.30M : Aperitif, Lunch, Coffee

Free afternoon …

Optional return to the Puy du Fou theme park to see the rest of it !! (Great fun!)

7PM: Aperitif, Dinner, Shakespearean/Jacobean Entertainment (Extracts from Shakespeare), song …

Sunday 2nd August: Free day, but …

 Proposed itinerary:

Early Catholic Mass available, Coffee, Visit to Vineyard (Le Chateau de la Preuille), with picnic at the Vineyard, followed by visit to the medieval town of Clisson.

Dinner: Barbecue back at Chavagnes.

 

Monday 3rd August: 9.00AM : Milton

11AM : Coffee Break.

11.30AM: Pascal and Racine

1.00M : Aperitif, Lunch, Coffee

2.30PM: Goethe

4.30M Tea

5.30PM: Free time

7PM: Aperitif,  Dinner, Entertainment (Selection from Faust ….)

Tuesday 4th August: 9.30AM: Final plenary session

10.30 : Coffee Break.

11AM: Free time for conversation, etc.

12.30M : Aperitif, Lunch, Coffee, Farewells.

Over the course of the week, there will be opportunities for participants to share news of projects they are involved in with the whole group.

 In addition, some additional presentations may be arranged on an ad hoc basis, in the form of short (even humorous!) after dinner talks.

 The exact details of the programme may still be subject to change in the event of unforeseen circumstances.