Eliza Shearer ’24
Visitation is home to a wide variety of clubs ranging from sports to language clubs. Many of these clubs provide opportunities for unique experiences. The French club is especially involved in the Visitation community, hosting multiple events throughout the year that encourage those in the club and in the student body to learn about and partake in French culture.
The French club is run by three co- presidents, Mira Meale `24, Anne-Sophie Gray `24, and Avery Chadwick `24. In the club “people come together. […] It’s open to all students and we do French activities and give people opportunities,” Meale said. “I really like working with Anne-Sophie and Avery because we all have so much fun; it’s such a lighthearted club and we have a really fun moderator.”
One of the first events that the French club held was during Esprit de Noel on Visitation’s campus: “Every year we do Esprit, we make a crepe stand,” Meale said. The French club sold their own freshly made crepes outside on the second floor of the Fisher Athletic Center. They sold an array of options .“We had nutella crepes, strawberry, banana, you could really mix and match,” said Meale. The proceeds from this event went to fund the French Department’s French immersion trip.
The French immersion trip gives the opportunity for 30 students to stay with a host family, traveling to Antibes, France for twelve days and Paris, France for two days. The group of French students will leave on June 10 and return June 24. During their fourteen day experience, they will be able to “immerse [themselves] in French culture,” according to Meale. Throughout their time in France they will attend French language and culture classes and participate in unique French cultural activities. They will join a French cooking class, go on excursions, learn to play French games, and visit museums demonstrating French culture.
The French Club also hosts a Buche de Noel bake sale. “We’re making it a bake sale this year so we can help raise money for financial aid packages for the French trip,” Meale said. There are twenty slots for students to sign up and make this traditional cake. French students will be given first priority and Spanish students can sign up for the remainder. Those that sign up will turn in their Buche to a taste test and the bake sale, allowing the student body and faculty to either buy a full log or slice during lunch on December 20, costing $3 per slice and $15 for a log. At the Bountiful Food Feast, the French Club also held a table. The French Club provided ham and cheese croissant sandwiches, macarons, and a fresh baguette.
The French Club is firmly established in spreading a welcoming and informational environment to learn about French. The attitude radiating from this club is truly infectious: “I love the community of people in the French Club,” Audrey Monlux `25 said.
The Wicket 