January 4, 1809 - 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille
Louis Braille (January 4, 1809 – January 6, 1852), who became blind at the age of three, was the inventor of braille, a world-wide system used by blind and visually impaired people for reading and writing. Braille is read by passing the fingers over characters made up of an arrangement of one to six embossed points. It has been adapted to almost every known language. An exhibition is organized to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth.

Exhibition: “Louis Braille, his life and work”
Through June 28, 2009 -The Museum of Louis Braille’s birthplace in Coupvray, Ile-de-France (42 km east of Paris).

This exhibition is part of a culture trail about Louis Braille. It is organized jointly by The Museum of Louis Braille’s birthplace in Coupvray, the National Institute for the Young Blind Museum and the Valentin Haüy Association Museum. The items are taken from the three organizations.

This thematic exhibition will enable you to touch historic objects and documents so as to get as close as possible to Louis Braille’s work. Where lies the genesis of braille? Why have other methods been rejected? What are the applications of braille in the realms of music, arithmetic and geography? The culture trail will teach visitors more about the man and the method he elaborated. www.avh.asso.fr (French & English language)

February 12, 1979 - 30th anniversary of the death of Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir (September 15, 1894–February 12, 1979), born in the Montmartre district of Paris, was a film director, actor and author. He was the second son of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. He was also the brother of Pierre Renoir, a noted stage and film actor; the uncle of Claude Renoir, a cinematographer. Some of his most famous films included The Grand Illusion, The Rules of the Game and The Marseillaise.

June, 1309 - 700th anniversary of the arrival of the popes in Avignon
In the history of the Roman Catholic Church, the Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1377 during which seven popes, all French, resided in Avignon. The Papal Palace in Avignon is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is one of the most-visited monuments in all of France.

For more information: www.palais-des-papes.com or www.ot-avignon.fr 

June 6, 1944 - 65th anniversary of D-Day
This summer will mark the 65th anniversary of the Normandy Landings, also known as D-Day. They were the first operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Neptune and Operation Overlord, during World War II. The operation was the largest single-day amphibious invasion of all time, with over 130,000 troops landing on June 6, 1944. 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel were involved. The landings took place along a stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.

The Normandie Mémoire association will host many events and activities surrounding this anniversary. For more information, visit: www.normandiememoire.com

For information on the region, visit: www.normandie-tourisme.fr

June 20, 1789 - 220th anniversary of the Tennis Court Oath, Versailles
The Tennis Court Oath was a pivotal event during the French Revolution. The Oath was a pledge signed by members of the First and Third Estates during a meeting in a handball court near the Palace of Versailles. This group began to call themselves the National Assembly, which became the name of the primary French legislative body. This anniversary is the perfect opportunity to discover or rediscover the Chateau and city of Versailles.

For more information:
www.chateauversailles.fr
www.versailles-tourisme.com
www.tourisme.yvelines.fr (French only)

June 29, 1609 – 400th anniversary of the birth of Pierre Paul Riquet
Pierre-Paul Riquet was born in Béziers (Languedoc-Roussillon) on June 29, 1609 and died on October 4, 1680. He was the engineer and canal-builder responsible for the construction of the Canal du Midi, the 240-mile-long artificial waterway that links the southern coast of France to the Bay of Biscay, one of the great engineering feats of the 17th century. The logistics were immense and complicated, so much so that other engineers including the ancient Romans had discussed the idea but not proceeded with it. Planning, financing, and construction of the Canal du Midi completely absorbed Riquet from 1665 forward. The canal was completed in 1681, one year after Riquet's death.

For more information on the Canal, commemorative events relating to Pierre-Paul Riquet and information on visiting the Canal, go to:
www.canal-du-midi.org
www.sunfrance.com 

July 10, 1509 – 500th anniversary of the birth of Jean Calvin
Jean Calvin, born July 10, 1509 in the town of Noyon (Picardie) died in Geneva May 27, 1564. He was one of the principal French Protestant theologians of the Reformation. He is, along with Martin Luther, one of the initiators of the protestant reform in opposition to certain beliefs and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church.
He developed a doctrine relatively different from Martin Luther, which he outlined in his Institution of the Christian Religion but it is primarily in its religious practice that Calvinism distinguishes itself from Lutheranism. Various events will take place throughout France in 2009 to commemorate this anniversary.

At the Jean Calvin Museum & the Chevalet Gallery:
The Readers of Calvin (April 25 to June 28 2009)
This exhibition will present to the public for the first time a rich ensemble of examples of printed works of Jean Calvin. The collection will include annotated manuscripts of readers taken over the course of the centuries, from the 16th to the 20th century including the famous example of The Institution of the Christian Religion annotated by Sully which was recently acquired by the French National Library. The intellectual and general cultural framework is that of a history of books seen from the point of view of their readers and their users, a history of reading and annotation.

The Protestants of Picardie (July 10 to October 31 2009)
The unveiling will take place on July 10, 2009 at 6:30pm on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Jean Calvin. The list of Picardie residents who contributed to the development of the Reformation before and after Calvin is quite long and includes: Lefèvre d’Etaples, Jacques Pavanes, Olivétan, François Vatable, Pierre de la Ramée and Laurent de Normandie. This totally new exhibition will be a gallery of portraits of these men, all natives of a previously larger Picardie. They form a testament to the methods used to live in this new way, which often pushed them outside of the French kingdom and to unknown territory.

For more information on the Jean Calvin Museum in Noyon (Picardie), visit: www.picardietourisme.com
Or write to: conserv.musee@noyon.fr
For more information on these exhibits, go to: www.ville-noyon.fr (French only)

Tours throughout France
The Calvin Quincentenary organization will offer Calvin-inspired tours including Paris and Strasbourg. For more information, please visit: calvin500.org 

1209 – 800th anniversary of The Albigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209–1229) was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the Cathar heresy in Languedoc. The Crusade resulted in not only a significant reduction in the number of practicing Cathars but also a realignment of Occitania, bringing it into the sphere of the French crown and diminishing the distinct regional culture and high level of Crown of Aragon influence.

For information on visiting sites linked to this historic period: www.payscathare.org
www.sunfrance.com