Starting Monday, Nov. 7, Tulane will come alive with the colors of French culture.

From a lively game of pétanque on the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life Quadrangle to a Cajun dance workshop at Elleonora P. McWilliams Hall, the Department of French and Italian will offer many activities to engage students in the spirit of National French Week.

Begun in 1999 by the American Association of Teachers of French, La Semaine du Français has been celebrated across the United States by the association’s 70 chapters and many of their member teachers. The initiative strives to take elements of French language and culture out of the classroom and into the community, promoting interdisciplinary cooperation and appreciation.

Here at Tulane, French Week will enthusiastically observed by many classes within the department. French cuisine can be explored in full on the LBC quad with a tea salon and cheese tasting on Wednesday, as well as crêpe cafés and a Cajun food-tasting on Thursday. Bruff Commons will be participating in the fun as well, offering a French lunch and dinner on Wednesday.

In addition to snacking on these savory delicacies, one can stop by the McAlister Auditorium stage to get a picture snapped in a French photomaton – berets optional, yet encouraged. Those with a passion for film may attend a 7:00 p.m. showing of “Ascenseur pour l’échafaud” on Wednesday. Others just looking for a brief reprieve in between classes can head the LBC quad for activities such as a French trivia contest or a demonstration of living art.

New Orleans is a city rich with French influence, with this same passion for the arts and cuisine diffusing onto Tulane’s multicultural campus. In the spirit of La Semaine du Français, take a walk down McAlister Drive this week and be French for a day.