Washington, DC is a truly international city that offers a variety of international cultures not nearly anywhere in USA present, especially when it comes to French scene.

Whether the reason behind it the fact that one of the main city architects was French – Pierre Charles L’Enfant, a French-born architect, engineer, and city planner who first arrived in the colonies as a military engineer with Major General Lafayette during the American Revolutionary War and who was commissioned In 1791 by President Washington to plan the layout of the new capital city, or was it the fact that one of the largest French embassies located in DC – either way, the “French” presence in the city allows to experience some of French culture without leaving USA.

At L’Enfant’s request, Thomas Jefferson provided plans of cities such as Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe and Milan, which he had brought back from Europe in 1788. The plan for Washington was modeled in the Baroque style and incorporated avenues radiating out from rectangles, providing room for open space and landscaping. L'Enfant's design also envisioned a garden-lined "grand avenue" approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) in length and 400 feet (120 m) wide in the area that is now the National Mall. That’s why it makes a complete sense that the near by located The Smithsonian together with the The Smithsonian Associates and the Francophonie Committee of Washington will run Le Festival de la Francophonie 2011, starting in February through April 15th. (And yes, you can thank L'Enfant for all the circles in the city - Logan, Dupont, etc. - and next time you're waiting for a light to change on one of the circles, instead of feeling annoyed, think of France...)

The festival celebrates the French-speaking world with a month-long series of award-winning international films, musicians, performers, and writers who come from around the globe for this special occasion. The festival is open to the public and it offers the following activities:

Dechainees
Tues., March 8, 2011 at 7 p.m.
In this Swiss film, Lucy is an intern at a Swiss TV network when she discovers a look alike in archival footage about the local Geneva women's lib movement. Her family's resistance to the matter convinces Lucy to find the woman.

Balafon - Discovery Theater program for children
Wed., March 9, 2011 at 10:15 a.m. & 11:30 a.m.
Balafon West African Dance Ensemble brings to the stage an explosion of classical West African song, music, and dance.

Changes
Wed., March 9, 2011 at 8 p.m.
In this film screening at the Avalon, follow several couples whose approach to parenthood could not be more different (in Czech with English subtitles).

Hubert Haddad
Fri., March 11, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
In the tradition of the great 15th-century French literary salons, join Sarah Pickup-Diligenti, educational director of the Alliance Francaise de Washington, D.C., as she hosts and interviews Francophonie author Hubert Haddad.

Moolaade (Protection)
View the screening of this Burkina Faso film at the Avalon Theatre (in Bambara and French with English subtitles).

Les Nubians
Thurs., March 17, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Grammy-nominated international recording artists, Les Nubians, have intrigued audiences with their inventive and glamorous Afropean style.

La Nuit du Conte
Wed., March 23, 2011 at 10 a.m. & 11:30 a.m.
Storytellers Mimi Barthelemy, Barry Jean Ancelet, Myriame El Yamani, and Bienvenu Bonkian take turns blending stories of today and yesteryear from the Greater Antilles, Louisiana, Acadia, Quebec, Morocco, and West Africa.

Le jour ou Nina Simone a cesse de chanter
(The Day Nina Simone Stopped Singing)
Fri., March 25, 2011 at 7 p.m.
The Lebanese-born actress, memoirist, and filmmaker Darina al-Joundi, who now resides in Paris, performs this stage adaptation of her semi-autobiographical play, The Day Nina Simone Stopped Singing.

Yanick Lahens
Tues., March 29, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
In the tradition of the great 15th-century French literary salons, join Sarah Pickup-Diligenti, educational director of the Alliance Francaise de Washington, D.C., as she hosts and interviews Francophonie author Yanick Lahens.

Where are you going, Moshe?
Wed., March 30, 2011 at 7 p.m.
In a screening at the French Embassy, this film introduces us to the regulars in the town of Bejjad's only bar (in Arabic and French with English subtitles).

Rhymes 'n' Rhythms
Thurs., March 31, 2011 at 7 p.m.
Young Swiss jazz trombonist Samuel Blaser and pianist Bobby Avey spontaneously weave through the stories of award-winning poet Emily Belli as she reads her own works and those of famed Swiss poets.

1981
Tues., April 5, 2011 at 7 p.m.
In this cheeky, coming-of-age comedy, showing at the Avalon, discover the story of 11-year-old Ricardo (in French with English subtitles).

Acoustic Africa
In Collaboration with George Washington University
Thurs., April 7, 2011 at 8 p.m.
This concert features Habib Koité (Mali), Oliver Mtukudzi (Zimbabwe), and Afel Bocoum (Mali) in a musical journey focusing on the richness of the African guitar tradition. In collaboration with Lisner Auditorium.

The Shared Table: Exploring Egypt's Multicultural Cuisine
Wed., April 13, 2011 at 7 p.m.
This program features Amy Riolo, an internationally recognized culinary expert specializing in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean culture and cuisine.

Discotheque
Fri., April 15, 2011 at 9 p.m.
Some of world’s best DJs transform the Smithsonian’s Postal Museum into an international nightclub.

Visit www.FrancophonieDC.org for updates and more information.

Let's just say you just a plenty of "France" at the palms of your hands, so you can pospone your trip to France at least until May. It'd definitely satisfy my craving for France...