Course Description

This course is designed for "post-bonjour" beginners, either for first-time learners with a smattering of French or those who want to refresh their French at a basic level.

Throughout the course students will acquire the essential French skills (writing, speaking, pronunciation) needed to function in everyday-life situations.

Each class will take place in a lively and friendly atmosphere that encourages students' enjoyment and active participation. Along with  linguistic exercises, references to French culture and gastronomy will also be presented.

The course meets twice a week for 90 minutes  (1.5 hours in person downstairs at the Impact Cafe on Mondays and 1.5 hours on Zoom on Thursdays) and is conducted in French. When necessary, supplementary explanations may be given in English.
The class does not meet during the second week of French school holidays: 2-6 March 2026.
Contact Languages@wice-paris.org with any questions

About the instructor

Nathalie Allain is a native French speaker with a master’s degree in FLE (French as a foreign language) who is also fluent in English, German, and Japanese. To future students, she says: “In addition to textbooks, I like to make French come alive by using the language to discover the culture and history of Paris in one field trip each month.”

 

Course Description

This lively French course will improve your ability to deal with an array of everyday life situations in French. This level is for students who understand simple, straightforward information and can express themselves in familiar contexts and take part in an everyday conversation on simple, predictable topics.

Using interactive methods to ensure learner engagement and lasting progress, the course will help you develop your vocabulary, oral and written expression, comprehension, and pronunciation.

Geared for learners with an intermediate knowledge of French,  the course meets twice a week for 90 minutes  (1.5 hours in person downstairs at the Impact Cafe on Mondays and 1.5 hours on Zoom on Tuesdays) and is conducted in French. 
The class does not meet during the second week of French school holidays: 2-6 March 2026.
Contact Languages@wice-paris.org with any questions.

About the Instructor

Nathalie Allain is a native French speaker with a master’s degree in FLE (French as a foreign language) who is also fluent in English, German, and Japanese. To future students, she says: “In addition to textbooks, I like to make French come alive by using the language to discover the culture and history of Paris in one field trip each month.”

Course Description

This French Guided Discussion Group is open to people who have a strong intermediate or advanced level of French. Group leaders provide participants with engaging weekly readings on a wide range of topics prior to each dynamic and fast-paced seminar. If you enjoy reading, speaking, presenting, and engaging in varied, topic-centered discussions, this group is for you. In addition to learning through focused conversation with other participants, you will also have the opportunity to get personalized constructive feedback. The French Guided Discussion group speaks only in French for 90 minutes which gives participants an excellent space to practice.

Please note: the Discussion moves to Wednesday evening this trimester so that Paris0based members can attend the WICE apéro on Thursdauys. Classes do not meet during the two weeks of vacances scolaires: 21 February - 9 March.
A Zoom link will be provided the day before the course begins. Be sure to check your email for it
Contact Languages@wice-paris.org with any questions

About the Instructors

Brice Dardel and Brigitte Le Quéré, both native French speakers with extensive experience leading discussions, alternate weekly sessions.

Course Description

This English Guided Discussion Group is open to people who have a strong intermediate or advanced level of English. Our group leaders suggest interesting topics and readings prior to each group discussion. If you enjoy reading, speaking, presenting, and engaging in diverse topic-centered discussions, this group is for you. In addition to learning and developing through guided conversation with other participants, you will also have the opportunity to get personalized constructive feedback. The group speaks only in English for one
hour.

The class will not meet on 6 March (vacances scolaires).

Note: A Zoom link will be provided the day before the
course begins. Be sure to check your email for it.

Contact languages@wice-paris.org with any questions.

Ce groupe de discussion guidée anglaise est ouvert aux personnes qui parlent anglais presque couramment (niveaux intermédiaire-avancé ou avancé). Nos animateurs proposent des sujets intéressants et des textes avant chaque groupe. Si vous appréciez la lecture, la communication, la présentation et la participation à des discussions
diverses, ce groupe est pour vous. En plus d’apprendre et se développer à travers des discussions guidées avec d'autres participants, vous aurez également la possibilité d'obtenir des
commentaires constructifs. Ce groupe de discussion guidée est un endroit idéal pour rencontrer d’autres passionnés de la langue anglais. Le groupe ne parle qu’anglais pendant une heure.

Facilitators

The group will be led by several native English speakers of varying interests and backgrounds.

Course Description

French 4 is designed for upper-intermediate learners who want to move toward advanced proficiency. The course strengthens fluency, accuracy, and confidence while expanding students' ability to express complex ideas with nuance both in formal and informal settings.

Real-Life Situations Practiced:

• Participating in professional or academic meetings
• Presenting and justifying a project or idea
• Managing misunderstandings and clarifying meaning
• Writing formal emails or structured texts
• Debating cultural or social issues with well-supported arguments.

This course will not meet 6 March, the second week of vacances scolaires, 

Contact Languages@wice-paris.org with any questions. 

About the Instructor

Audrey Charmont has a Masters in Marketing and Communications as well as a DAEFLE (French as a Foreign Language). She has many years of teaching experience in France and abroad.

Course Description

French 5 is an advanced conversation-focused class created for learners who already communicate fluently and aim to reach near-native mastery. The emphasis is on rhetorical finesse, persuasive speaking, and highly nuanced comprehension.

Focus of the Conversation Training:

• Persuading, negotiating, and convincing with credible arguments
• Defending a viewpoint under pressure
• Handling complex, fast-paced discussions
• Subtly adjusting tone, register, and rhetorical strategy depending on audience

This course will be held in French once a week on Zoom for 90 minutes. It does not meet on 6 March, the second week of French school vacation. Please contact Languages@wice-paris.org with any questions. 

About the Instructor

Audrey Charmont has a Masters in Marketing and Communications as well as a DAEFLE (French as a Foreign Language). She has many years of teaching experience in France and abroad.

Friday In-Person French - English Conversation Group

Looking for a relaxed and welcoming place to practice and improve your French or English? WICE conversation groups allow you to practice your language skills in an easy, convivial atmosphere with native speakers.

The Friday group meets upstairs at the Le Nelsons, near Les Halles, from 15:00 - 16:30. Participants are divided into small groups of 5 - 6 people, and the conversations are 45 minutes in French and 45 minutes in English. The subjects are of  the group’s choosing. Though an intermediate level of English and French is expected, there is a wide range of abilities.

There is no need to register, just show up and look for the WICE tables upstairs.

Le Nelsons, 16 Rue Coquillière, 75001. Metro lines 1/4/7/11/14, RER A, B, D, and buses 74, 85

Participation is free with WICE membership.

Friday Online French - English Conversation Group

There is no better way to practice your foreign language than by conversing with native speakers, and WICE can help you do just that.

We meet online (Zoom) every Friday evening (Paris time). Participants are divided into small groups of 5-6 members. We converse 45 minutes in French and 45 minutes in English. Conversations are free-form and address topics of interest to the individual group members.

The group is open to WICE members at all language levels. However, to get the most out of the conversations, an intermediate level in both languages is helpful. 

Participation is free for WICE members.

To participate, contact Mike Franks at: mike.franks@wice-paris.org

Tuesday In-Person French - English Conversation Group

Looking for a relaxed and welcoming place to practice and improve your French or English? WICE conversation groups allow you to practice your language skills in an easy, convivial atmosphere with native speakers.

The Tuesday group meets at the Maison Communale, 69 rue Violet , 75015 Paris from 15:00 - 16:30. Participants are divided into small groups of 5 - 6 people, and the conversations are 45 minutes in French and 45 minutes in English. The subjects are of  the group’s choosing. Though an intermediate level of English and French is expected, there is a wide range of abilities.

There is no need to register, but if it is your first time to participate in person in Tuesday's group, please contact Christian Paolasso at c.paolas@laposte.net (primary), or Ellen Bryson at ellen.bryson@wice-paris.org  (secondary) and let one of them know you are planning to come.

Maison Communale, 69 rue Violet , 75015 Paris. Metro line 8 stop Commerce, and buses #42, #70, #88.

Participation is free with WICE membership.

Course Description

Discover and discuss masterpieces of American cinema in this class for intermediate and advanced English speakers. You’ll watch a film at home on streaming, or borrow the DVD from your local library, before a lively and engaging discussion in class. You’ll be assigned one scene to watch at least three times! Every month you’ll view a film from an influential director so you’ll come to know the stylistic hallmarks of favorite genres and filmmakers.

If you love the movies, this course is an enjoyable way to increase vocabulary, get comfortable with idiomatic expressions, improve your conversational skills, and deepen your understanding of American culture and cinema.

Films for the Winter 2026 trimester:

Stand by Me (1986) directed by Rob Reiner, with Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, and Corey Feldman. Based on a Stephen King novella, the film is set in the fictional town of Castle Rock in 1959 where four boys set out on a journey to find the dead body of a missing boy. Critic Carrie Rickey (Philadelphia Inquirer) described the film as “a small, quiet film that walks tall and resonates long after.”  

Annie Hall (1977), an iconic New York film directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay written by Allen and Marshall Brickman and starring Diane Keaton and Allen. Alvy Singer, played by Allen, tries to figure out the reasons for the failure of his relationship with the eponymous female lead, played by Keaton in a role written specifically for her.

Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), directed by Susan Seidelman, with Rosanna Arquette, Aiden Quinn, and Madonna. Set in New York City, the plot involves the interaction between two women – a bored housewife and a bohemian drifter – linked by various messages in the personals section of a newspaper. In her review for The New Yorker, critic Pauline Kael referred to Madonna as "an indolent, trampy goddess.”

About the instructor:

Ellen Feldman grew up in Philadelphia and currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She holds a Ph.D. in cinema studies from New York University and has taught film studies at the State University of New York, Geneseo campus, and Brooklyn College.

Advanced Intensive Fiction Workshop

Description

This fiction workshop (meeting weekly via Zoom) is designed to help you make significant progress on a project you’re already working on and raise your craft to the next level. Whether you’re exploring short-story writing or knee-deep in a novel manuscript, you’ll have ample opportunity to workshop your writing and troubleshoot obstacles. We will supplement participants’ own works-in-progress with published pieces of fiction carefully selected based on the specific genres and craft issues participants are grappling with, analyzing the ways other authors have tackled those challenges themselves.

In a supportive, generous, intellectually curious, and motivating atmosphere, we’ll dive into stories aiming to understand how they work, what they’re trying to achieve, and how to more fully realize their vision.

The extended 12-week format will allow for greater investment in each other’s writing, more occasions for each writer to receive peer and instructor feedback, and a stronger sense of community and mutual support among participants. 

Instructor

Noah Weisz has an M.F.A. in Fiction from the University of Texas at Austin and over a decade of experience teaching creative writing. A past winner of the F(r)iction Short Story Contest, the Katherine Paterson Prize, and the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award, his short stories for children, teens, and adults have been widely published in literary magazines. Based in Paris, he regularly teaches creative writing to undergraduates at Sciences Po as well as to American study-abroad students through CEA CAPA.

WICE member Valerie Helmbreck-Mascitti (knitting on the left) opens her lovely apartment in the 1st arrondissement every Thursday afternoon to WICE members for an afternoon of needlework: knitting, crocheting, creweling, embroidery, etc..

Any and all WICE needle workers are welcome to attend. Bring your project, and if you're so inclined, something to nosh on (by no means necessary).

Valerie's apartment is conveniently located near the Louvre. Upon registration, Valerie's address and phone number will be shared with you to coordinate your visit to her.  

This is a two-session class. The first session will be in-person, the second session will be on Zoom. 

• The price for both sessions is included in the initial fee, and you will automatically be registered for the second session when you register for the first one.

Session I (Monday, 09 March):

The iPhone has become an amazing everyday camera—always with you. Even folks with larger cameras have moved toward using their iPhones for day-to-day wanderings.

This workshop will review the key features of the iPhone and how best to use them—from shooting to editing in camera. We will review basic photography elements like composition, focusing, and lighting. We will also experiment with several of the camera’s modes and settings, as well as apps that can be added to the iPhone tool box.

Weather permitting, we will have some hands-on practice as we wander the beautiful Ile St-Louis. Those who wish to stay after class for an “island café” lunch are welcome. The class work (and “homework” images) will be reviewed in the second session.

(Please note: Lunch cost at the café is not covered in the registration fee.)

Session II (Monday, 23 March):

In the second session, which will be done on Zoom, we will discuss the photos you completed during the first class and your follow on homework assignments, and we’ll learn, as always, from the varying reactions and insights of the class members. 

The Zoom link will be sent in the 7-day and 1-day reminder emails.

Requirements:

• For photography and art lovers of all levels.
• iPhones only.

Students can expect to:

• Become familiar with their iPhone settings.
• Learn about creative guidelines and technical controls
• Review the camera’s potential as an artistic tool
• Participate in a friendly critique session of their work.
  

About the Instructor

Meredith Mullins is a popular photo instructor and fine-art photography mentor, an internationally exhibited photographer, and a winner of international photography competitions, including the Grand Concours Photo sur Paris, PX3 Competition, Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Photographer’s Forum, and Worldwide Gala Photo Awards. She is the author of the award-winning book In a Paris Moment, a leader of photo adventure tours, and the Co-Founder and Director of the International Fine Art Photography Competition.

www.meredithmullins.artspan.com 

Photo Credits: Meredith Mullins

Note: The registration limit for this event has been reached. Please put your name on the waitlist and you will be notified is a seat opens up.

Judy is a picture-perfect ‘50s housewife. She spends her days making the perfect devilled eggs, mixing the perfect Screwdrivers and being the perfect homemaker to her husband Johnny. They’re totally happy with their pastel-hued life. The only problem is, it’s not the 1950s, it is now, and Judy and Johnny’s dream world is starting to come apart at the perfectly sewn seams. This is a brilliant comedy about gender, nostalgia and modernity.

Home, I'm Darling won the 2019 Olivier Award for Best Comedy.

The general concept of The Living Room Players is that people receive the script by email about a week before the reading, and then roles are assigned at the meeting. Attendees sit around a living room and simply read their parts with as much theatrical flourish as they care to give (but there are no expectations of real acting).

The readings generally take place at a member's apartment in the Marais. The address, door code, and phone number will be sent in the two reminder emails.

Registration for the February reading opens on Friday, 20 February.

Each month, we come together to celebrate the friendships and community that make WICE special. Join us for an evening of lively discussions with fellow members, where you can share ideas, reflections, and experiences. Our Board of Directors is eager to hear your insights and visions for the future of WICE. Enjoy a nice selection of beverages and snacks, perfect for sparking conversation and connection. And don’t miss the chance to win our special door prize!

Come and celebrate our community – we look forward to seeing you there! 

Note: Registration required. Registration opens on Friday, 20 February.

The fees are as follows:

• 10€ for regular members
• €5 for new 1-year members attending their first apéro
• €5 for WICE volunteers

If you are having trouble registering, please contact wice@wice-paris.org.

Join professional fine art photographer Juan Manuel Abellán for an immersive black-and-white street photography workshop in the heart of Paris. Explore one of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods as you learn how to observe light, shadow, and human presence with a refined monochrome approach. From fleeting gestures and graphic compositions to layered urban scenes, Paris becomes an open-air studio. This carefully selected route offers endless visual inspiration—lively streets, timeless architecture, and authentic moments—while you develop your eye and confidence in capturing the city’s soul through black and white.

We will meet at 1 Place Colette, 75001, in front of the Comédie Française and close by the press kiosk.

What to Expect:

• Theoretical framework: Begin with an introduction to black-and-white street photography, covering composition, contrast, light and shadow, and how to anticipate candid moments in the urban environment.
• On-the-ground shooting experience: Explore the streets of Paris alongside Juan, learning how to observe, approach, and photograph everyday life with a monochrome mindset, using the city’s architecture, rhythms, and human presence as key visual elements.
• Personalized feedback: Receive individual guidance and practical tips as you shoot, helping you refine your visual language and strengthen your confidence in capturing authentic street
  scenes.
• Group discussion and reflection: End the day with a review of your photos, sharing insights with fellow participants over a cup of coffee.

The class begins with a brief photography lesson at a cozy café*, followed by a guided exploration of the area with photography assignments. The tutor will be available to answer all your questions throughout the session.

At the end we will have a friendly feedback session, where we will review and analyze your images, providing suggestions for improvement. Please note: Personal costs at the café are not covered.

Refunds for cancellations are available until Sunday, 15 March.

Requirements:

• Suitable for photography and art lovers of all levels.
• Suitable for all kinds of digital cameras and smart phones.

About the Instructor

Juan Manuel Abellán is a professional fine art photographer and photography tutor based in Paris since 2007. He graduated in Advertising and Visual Arts and holds a Master in Art, Philosophy and Aesthetics, specializing in Photography and Contemporary Art. He has worked with the agency Magnum Photo and exhibited his work in several exhibitions, including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Festival Circulation(s) and Made Anywhere (Fondation Fiminco). Passionate about photography, Juan Manuel works as a freelance photographer specializing in portrait, reportage and fine art photography. He also leads photography adventure tours around the world.

www.juanmanuelabellan.com 

https://www.instagram.com/juanmanuelabellan/

Photo Credits

Juan Manuel Abellán

The Negotiator: The Masterclass at Saint-Germain, by Francis Walder, is a richly detailed historical novel that transforms diplomacy into high-stakes drama. Set in 1570, as France is riven by brutal wars of religion, the story follows Henri de Malassise, a seasoned royal negotiator summoned by Catherine de Médicis to broker a fragile peace between Catholics and Huguenots. The talks at Saint-Germain—real negotiations with real historical consequences—unfold as a tense battle of wills, strategy, and psychological insight rather than swords or armies.

Malassise must read motives as carefully as words, weighing apparent divisions among the Huguenots and questioning whether they signal weakness or cunning design. Personal complications intrude as well, including the arrival of his enigmatic Huguenot cousin, whose presence blurs the line between private loyalty and public duty. Drawing on his own experience in military and diplomatic service, Walder gives the negotiations a striking authenticity, capturing the exhaustion, moral compromise, and subtle maneuvering that shape political outcomes.

Elegant and intelligent, The Negotiator is part historical novel, part study in power and persuasion. A strong discussion angle is how Walder reveals negotiation itself as a form of conflict—one in which language, patience, and judgment determine the fate of nations.

"The Negotiator" won the Prix Goncourt in 1958. 

Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered before 15 March, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

The book group meets at the organizer's apartment. The directions, door code, telephone number, etc., are sent in the 7-day and 1-day reminder emails, following registration.

Registration for the March meeting opens on Saturday, 21 February.

Join fellow WICE members for morning coffee at Le Sarah Bernhardt, hosted by WICE member Caroline Harvey.

Open to all WICE members, but registration is required. This is a public restaurant, and anyone can go, but WICE reserves 10 seats together, and if you don't register you may not be able to sit with us.

Registration for this event opens on Sunday, 08 March.

Also, it is expected that all attendees will purchase at least one beverage or other item appropriate for sitting around a café.

Le Sarah Bernhardt is located at 2 Place du Châtelet. It can be reached by metro lines 1, 4, 7, 11, and 14 (Châtelet, Secteur Seine, Sortie 17),  and buses 38, 67, 69, and 72.

Ladies of WICE . . . by popular demand, join us for a pay-for-your-own women's lunch!

This is a great opportunity for WICE women to meet each other and to hang out for a few hours to discover common interests and such over good food and beverages.

We meet upstairs at Le Nelson, a charming and warm Parisian restaurant located in Châtelet that has a very good relationship with WICE. 

Registration opens on Sunday, 22 February.

Note: The registration limit for this event has been reached. Please put your name on the waitlist and you will be notified is a seat opens up.

Gothic architecture was born just outside of Paris in the 12th century and sparked a rapid and widespread revolution in art and architecture across France and Europe. Through structural innovations and masterful artistry in stone, glass, and paint, this new style made tangible a mystical philosophy of divine light as a bridge between heaven and the earthly realm. Paris, with its rich layers of history, contains traces of each phase of the Gothic style as it evolved from its Romanesque roots through to the Renaissance. Over the course of four sessions, these walks aim to reveal those layers by visiting eight churches in roughly chronological order, each church offering a window into the ways in which Gothic architects, artisans, and patrons experimented with light, structure, and technique to create a reflection of heaven in their medieval world.

Beginning at the architectural treasure box which is Saint-Etienne-du-Mont behind the Pantheon, we’ll use this tour to study late Gothic creations and the ways in which Renaissance ideas from Italy start to make their way into ecclesiastical French architecture. Heading downhill from there and across the river, we’ll enter the elegant late Gothic church of Saint Gervais and study its influence on later Classical church architecture.

Registration opens on Sunday, 22 February.

Matt Potts is a licensed architect in the US, where he practiced for 10 years after studying architecture in New York and Rome. He has lived in France since 2022 where he founded his own interior architecture firm. Matt is passionate about France’s rich built heritage - whether renovating a 16th-century manor house in the Burgundian countryside for his family, designing thoughtful renovations for his clients’ historic properties across France, or studying great works of Gothic architecture. He splits his time between Paris and Burgundy, enjoying the best of city and country life in France with his wife and their two sons (one human, one canine).

Join fellow WICE members for coffee on Tuesday mornings. And, if the weather permits, perhaps a walk through the Luxembourg Gardens afterwards.

Members meet at Brasserie le Bullier, named after the famous ball located opposite the "Port Royal" station, to which the whole of Paris once flocked.

Offering a beautiful interior and exterior space, where everyone's privacy is preserved, Le Bullier gives each guest the feeling of the warmth of a Parisian salon and the decor of the Brasseries of yesteryear.

WICE member Brise Rickey, who has lived in the neighborhood for several years, hosts the Tuesday morning coffees twice a month. It's a great opportunity to hang out with fellow WICE members, make new friends, and enjoy those special experiences unique to Paris.

It is expected that everyone will order a beverage or food item appropriate for sitting around a café in the morning (and pay for it on the way out).

Open to all WICE members, but registration is required. This is a public restaurant, and anyone can go, but WICE reserves 12 seats together, and if you don't register you may not be able to sit with us.

Registration opens on Wednesday, 11 March.

Brasserie le Bullier is located at 22 Av. de l'Observatoire, 75014. It can be reached by RER B (Port Royal), metro lines 4 and 6 (Raspail), and busses 38, 82, 91.

How much do you know about all that wonderful cheese you've been devouring?

WICE is once again offering a perennially favorite program that's sure to arouse your taste buds and show you how to select cheese at any affineur.

Emily Monaco, our longtime cheese instructor, will discuss:

And of course, where there’s cheese education there’s also cheese tasting!

Price: €35, which includes the cheeses. Refunds for cancellations are available until Thursday, 19 March. 

The tasting will be inside Marché Saint Quentin, in the food court. 

About the Instructor:

Born and raised in New York City, Emily Monaco has been living in France since 2007. An Academy of Cheese Associate, international cheese judge, and die-hard cheese lover, she works as a journalist covering cheese (and other tasty specialties) for publications including Atlas Obscura and the BBC. 

Website: Discover Paris with That Cheese Girl

Can you imagine a life where your mind is a source of peace and strength, where calmness flows through you like a gentle river even amidst daily challenges? What if you had the power to observe your thoughts without judgement, steady your emotions, and tap into a deeper well of wisdom within yourself? What if you could have moments of freedom between the triggering events of your life and your responses to them, moments of choice?

The pressure of daily life can leave us feeling overwhelmed and trapped, with no space for movement or reflection. Meditation offers us a more spacious life, an opportunity to descend to a more profound and rich experience of our lives and our relationships with ourselves, others and the world we inhabit.  In terms of daily life and routine activities, regular practice can help the body regulate itself more effectively. It can help with getting a more relaxed and sound sleep or decreasing the severity and/or frequency of migraine headaches. It’s a pathtoward mental clarity, emotional resilience, and enriched creativity.

WICE members can join us for a biweekly hour of meditation practices. One variety is Vipassana,  a mindfulness practice focusing on direct nonjudgmental observation of body and mind in order to cultivate greater awareness and ease. Others include heart practices such as generation of lovingkindness, compassion and equanimity. These  practices are available as non-sectarian techniques, open to anyone seeking to understand their mind and body. 

We’ll meet for about an hour on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month.  We’ll start with a few minutes of self-introduction, then some guided meditation, followed by a period of silence, then finishing with some final minutes of conversational reflection. Whatever level you are, beginner to advanced, you are welcome! Hosted by Lori Zeller and Cheryl Purvis, who have been meditating on and off for a total of over 70 years between the two of us, all the while taking classes, joining groups and going to retreats.

Welcome to WICE! Are you new to Paris, or just living your meilleure vie associative? WICE President Pamela Combastet would love to welcome you to the WICE family. Join her for a casual lunch and a free-flowing discussion regarding your ideas and aspirations for WICE, as well as getting to know our association a little bit better.

Please note: this lunch is organized by WICE, but you are responsible for paying for your own order. Space is limited to 30 new members.

Registration opens on Friday, 27 February.

The Land in Winter is a quietly powerful novel set during the brutal winter of 1962–63, one of the coldest on record in England. In a snowbound village in the West Country, two married couples—each carrying private disappointments, desires, and unspoken tensions—find their lives increasingly entangled as the weather isolates them from the outside world. Against this frozen landscape, small decisions and chance encounters begin to reverberate in unexpected ways.

As the cold deepens, the novel becomes an intimate study of marriage, longing, and moral uncertainty, exploring how people endure emotional isolation as much as physical hardship. Andrew Miller’s prose is restrained and atmospheric, using the extreme conditions of the winter to strip his characters down to their essential vulnerabilities. Subtle, humane, and quietly devastating, the novel examines how moments of crisis can expose both the fragility of relationships and the possibility—however tentative—of change.

The Land in Winter won the 2025 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, and was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize.

Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered by five days prior to the meeting, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

Registration for the March meeting opens on Saturday, 28 February.

Join fellow WICE members for morning coffee at Le Sarah Bernhardt, hosted by WICE member Georgia Gruen and Kim Hodges.

Open to all WICE members, but registration is required. This is a public restaurant, and anyone can go, but WICE reserves 14 seats together, and if you don't register you may not be able to sit with us.

Registration opens on Sunday, 15 March.

Also, it is expected that all attendees will purchase at least one beverage or other item appropriate for sitting around a café.

Le Sarah Bernhardt is located at 2 Place du Châtelet. It can be reached by metro lines 1, 4, 7, 11, and 14 (Châtelet, Secteur Seine, Sortie 17),  and buses 38, 67, 69, and 72.