AVF Gala

Our regional AVF group celebrated the end of yet another very successful year last month.  And, we had very good reasons to celebrate: our friend Monique Marcel has agreed to serve another year as President, and AVF continues to do a great job of welcoming new folks to the Lyon region.

Imposing exterior of the Préfecture

What better way to celebrate than a “Gala” at the beautiful Rhône-Alpes Préfecture?  The Préfecture is a short walk from our apartment so we ambled over at the appropriate time.  The building itself is amazing!  It was built between 1883 and 1890 and cost 4,500,000 francs at the time. 

Because it is a préfecture, the security was a little tighter than usual at similar events.  We needed to sign up in advance and show up with the invitation, our AVF membership card, and ID.  It was well worth the minor inconvenience!

We checked in and walked up the stairs to a reception hall. 

Checking in and entering the building.

Anna getting ready to climb the
 stairs to the reception hall.

There we greeted Monique in a receiving line and then enjoyed libations and hors-d’œuvres while we chatted with friends and listened to a small combo playing Gershwin among other things.   The reception hall is really stunning and made the whole experience exceptional.

Table with various drinks and hors-d’œuvres

A view of the reception hall.

After Monique greeted us all and introduced and thanked her team, we were lead into an adjacent hall where there was a table covered with a large variety of “finger food.”  The drinks were in a small attached hallway along with more food. 

It was truly a lovely way to celebrate the end of one very successful year and the beginning of another.