How did it all begin...

Our house's name is... Maison ['meisn]? That's the first thought that comes across the mind of an Englishman who reads our floral sign for the first time. However we prefer to stick to our French origins having a soft spot for the nasal sounds marked in transcription with a help of tilde - [mɛzɔ̃]. You'd be amused to know that this site was created on the platform of the same name – “Tilda". What a fabulous pun, don't you think? The French and the English have more in common that it may seem at the first glance...

Now when we're on the same wavelength, it's high time to come ashore and discover the land of the francophonie– i.e. the world that speaks French in the very heart of the Golden ring capital – in Yaroslavl - the city of bears and churches with guilded onion domes.

Is it a roar of a bear or a chime of a bell that jams the ear of the non-speaking French guest and sprinkles some English artistocratisme over the place that everyone wants to call ['meisn]? Whatever it is, such a funny phonetic innaccuracy is not really a mistake. After all, this misprounonced name reveals an important fact of the Friendship House's biography: it turns out that it is really the son of May because a preliminary agreement on the creation of the Friendship House as a symbol of cultural cooperation between twin cities – Yaroslavl and Poitiers – was concluded in spring - on May the 4th, 1997.

However a chance to show up in front of the citizens and friends from France in all its glory the House got only 4 years later: it'd taken that long to renovate an abandoned mansion in the city centre – in Bogoyavlenskaya Square 8 where the French spirit had finally found its shelter. Its francophone soul was now safe and sound - under the eye of the beautiful “bride of Yaroslavl". This peculiar nickname was given to the Epiphany church for the marvel of the local architecture – the omnipresent ornament on its walls - a glazed tile some people call “Dutch". Its copper green colour makes us think of mysterious folk tales adapted by the Russian writer Pavel Bazhov that opened to the world the Malachite Box and other treasures of the Urals where wormed its way to the sun the famous Flower of Stone - the masterpiece of a Russian chiseller.

But in our story the key role is reserved to another as much enigmatic trade of the past – mason. On the one hand, because the very word “maison" , with “i" in the middle, owes its roots to the brick layers of the old French times. On the other hand, by mere coincidence or rather providence this skillful ancestor seemed to have dictated a point in the agreement that shaped our vocation – to become a mediator – a platform for exchange between France and Russia in the field of construction and advanced technologies.

And the fact that the French architects and designers had been working hand in hand with their Russian colleagues to solemnly open the restored Friendship House "Yaroslavl-Poitiers" to public on July the 14th, 2001 confirms that this cooperation had proved to be successful.

The day the French prefer to simply call by date, formally known around the world as the Bastille day symbolized the union of the French nation breaking free from the fallen fortress . In its turn the reconstruction of the Friendship House at the Bogoyavlenskaya Square 8 expressed the wish of the Francophone world to form a close-knit community in Yaroslavl. Thus it became a pillar that was to hold the whole rempart of the French culture, protect its language against the ousting by the European neighbours off the linguistic field and defend its right to conquer the hearts of Yarolaviens .

To carry this point and get ahead the Friendship House "Yaroslavl-Poitiers" built the workforce of fellow-thinkers – a unanimous team led by the line manager- Birukova Elena, content developer – Lebedeva Olga, two receptionists – Galina and Margarita and the group of highly qualified teachers led by Christine Kosogorova - the French language department chairman of the K.D.Oushinsky State Pedagogical University.

Everything was ready to meet the first students and they didn't keep us waiting too long: adults and children literally formed a queue in front of our doors. Among zealous followers there were not only pupils of the advanced French learning school or students of the foreign languages faculty of the State Pedagogical University, but also medical academy profs, L.V. Sobinov musical school graduates, professional artists, theatre actors, sportsmen and businessmen… In short, here they came - people from all walks of life united by one common cause – passion for the French language.

For now the Friendship House "Yaroslavl-Poitiers" can boast of the long list of its graduates and foreign guests: we've taught, welcomed and hosted about 5000 people and organized about 1000 competitions and events. This statistics can be considered as insignificant, but behind these figures there is a tale of outstanding achievements of people who found their path in life thanks to the French language.

That's how we've found new friends. And we are proud to mention and thank Alexander Doschatov - the director of the historical reconstruction club “Couture de Paris" of Yaroslavl specializing in reconstruction of Paris of the XVth century and the director of the hotel-restaurant “Ibis" – Elena Pustovaya.

The generations of line managers, content developers and teachers succeded one another, but there was one thing that remained constant – attention and care given to the House by its "guardians" – Jacques Santrot – the mayor of the French town –Poitiers and Victor Volonchunas – the mayor of Yaroslavl.

But here our story reaches its turning point: a fulfilling life of a man who had put his heart and soul in the Friendship House "Yaroslavl-Poitiers" ended abruptly. That man was Alain Cournoueil - the president of the regional association "Droujba". And it seemed that together with this life was cut short a thread that had been connecting our towns throughout all these years. And our abandonned Maison had been labelled as the Ice Palace as if someone had put a sign from Allain Milne's tale:"Tresspassers will …". And it had taken years to get rid of it: "Who's living here? What kind of evil fairy had locked everything down?" - asked perplexed passers-by, casting glances at the blue flower on the dim glass sign and the freshly painted gate almost invisible in the middle of the snow white fence.

But the real daredevils and our team-mates were not caught in the trap of the metallic cage. Such triviality as a fence couldn't stop all those people from breaking in, without breaking any law of course. Neither our friends, who stormed the fortress like that of Bastille striving to liberate and breathe life in the house they so deeply loved, nor can we see any barrier that prevents us from continuing our mission of spreading the French language and culture among our friends, students, guests of the city and passers-by who are not indifferent to everything that is connected to France.

The only thing that matters now is what really surrounds us: love and support of our graduates from the State Pedagogical University! Side by side they are working hard: Elena Yazeva - a charming French language teacher and Titova Anastasia - a radiant guideline developer and this site creator!

That means that our House is still alive! But it would have been impossible without support of the deputy mayor of Yaroslavl for Public relations, international liasons and maintenance of the city administration capacities - Gavrilov Vyacheslav, chief of the international liasons department – Khryaschova Natalia, deputy head teacher of N.P. Goussev school # 42 , an advanced French learning school - Stoujina Elena, the team of the foreign laguage faculty and its dean – Averina Maria and our direct supervisor – Maksimenko Irina and our colleagues of the touristic sphere!

And if someone has doubts about our wish for prosperity, then go and listen how our neighbour - the Epiphany Church stands up for us every hour chiming another ear-worm crawling into the head of an inhesitant passer-by:
"Don't you see the sun is shining!
The time has melted all the ice!
Open the gate, come in, learn French!
That's why my song's so nice! "