On 14 September last, in the lobby at Ciarus, cameramen, journalists and representatives of UEPAL (which stands for Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace and Lorraine) were there to promote the "favourites game".

   From now on, the bar at Ciarus offers:

- As of 7.45 am, a coffee + croissant deal: €2.50

When it comes to receptions, our chef has revisited the menu. Local flavours and great classics are on the cards this autumn: game, mushrooms and desserts with seasonal fruits will delight your guests.

It's official! The third edition of the festival, "Heaven's Door: Faith, Mutual Assistance & Rock'n'Roll", will be held on 29 and 30 October 2011 in Strasbourg. You can already find out about the festival, the artists taking part in the 2011 edition (video clips, musical teasers) and the Mutual Assistance and Faith events proposed by our various partners, on the festival's facebook page.

In terms of logistics, bookings are open at Ciarus. You can call us on 03.88.15.27.90 and tell us that you'd like to book accommodation for the festival: we'll make sure you get a rock’n'roll price!

So, see you soon

During the fair trade fortnight, from 8 to 23 May 2010, CIARUS is getting involved alongside a partner of long standing: the association, Voix Libres . Aware of the latter's work with children employed in the mines of Bolivia, CIARUS has invited the association to publicise its work on a number of occasions.

At 7 p.m. on 12 and 18 May, we will be setting the table all over again for two Stammtisch evenings at Le Plateau!

Music lovers or curious amateurs, take advantage of our exceptional offerfor the night of 12 June:

all beds are at € 19.50 including breakfast at CIARUS

with an open air concert to boot!

In Strasbourg, from 13 to 16 May 2010, the Euroceltes Festival offers the opportunity to bring together artists and musicians who share a passion for Celtic music.

Since it was first held in 2006, CIARUS has provided accommodation for the participating artists and musicians.

A great atmosphere is guaranteed!

The Strasbourg-based photographer, Anne Milloux, will soon be hanging her “animal portraits” on the walls of the Salle des Colonnes at Ciarus.

If the photographer captures nature through her lens, the Plateau (the restaurant at Ciarus) captures it in its recipes: organic vegetables, fair trade quinoa, free-range chicken, products from regional cottage industries.

For the European Day of Languages, schools throughout Europe (fifty countries took part) sent themselves postcards on 26 September last. And so it was that Anna Luisa sent a reply to Brigitte.

Both language teachers, one at the Instituto Comprensido B. Lorenzi de Fumane, near Verona, and the other at the St Gabriel/St Michel school in St Laurent sur Sèvre in the Vendée.

     From 27 November 2009 to 6 January 2010: the coffee break will be putting on its winter coat and your meetings will get a little foretaste of the coming celebrations.

    Delight your colleagues with fair trade coffee and tea, organic apple juice and Lisbeth water, männele or "home-made" gingerbread and seasonal clementines!

     The Comenius projects are European programmes, the aim of which is to develop the skills of the pupils who take part in them and to promote exchanges and cooperation between classes.

     Halil and his classmates in the sixth form at the Social Sciences grammar school in Istanbul experienced a 10-day exchange with their counterparts from the Jean Geiler grammar school in Strasbourg.

     They tell us about it:

     On 30 January, Ciarus is hosting a day of meetings and discussions on the theme:

“Religious culture in young people or how young people construct their religious culture”

    and, above all, good health!

    In other words: I hope that your year and your health will be excellent. But I don't have a hold over one (what is “good” for you?) or the other (your health)!

     Mission accomplished for everyone involved in the large gathering that was "Protestants en Fête 2009". The organisers drew a positive conclusion at the end of the weekend.

There were several highlights:

- Special events in the city (lectures, events for youngsters, the solidarity village).

- The festive evening: close to 9000 spectators were able to attend a major performance mixing classical choral works and gospel, theatre and rock.

- The religious service: brought together around 12000 Protestants of all persuasions at the Zénith and the Music and Conference Centre rented at the last minute to cope with the record attendance. The ceremony was marked by the sermons of preachers promoting the commitment to take action as a Christian, the fight against inequality and respect for the environment.

     The "Franco-German Forum" has been held each year since 1999.

    A place for both information and recruitment for young French and German graduates, this event enables them to get the details they need on the bi- and tri-national courses of study offered by European higher education establishments and to meet the companies who want to recruit the young people graduating from these courses.

Ciarus is only 10 minutes' walk from the station!

    Practical when you arrive in Strasbourg for the first time.

As the time to go back to school approaches, we are making special preparations to accommodate the latest vintage of students looking for somewhere to live. While you look for somewhere permanent to live, a great many of you spend a few days at Ciarus each year.

One night in a shared room (8, 6, 4 or 3 beds) costs only € 19!

At the Plateau, besides a self-service restaurant, there are several combination options for meals served at your table.

Discover our menus which are available based on 10 persons per reservation:

Express Menu at 15.00€ 2 courses - First course plus main course or main course plus dessert – a 50 cl bottle of water and coffee

Chef’s Menu at 20.00 € 3 courses - First course plus main course plus dessert – a 50 cl bottle of water and coffee

See the menu

The first national gathering for French Protestants “Protestants en fête”, Protestant Festival 2009, is three days of exchanges, discoveries and celebrations.

This event is organized by the Protestant Federation of France [Fédération Protestante de France]. For three days, Strasbourg will welcome nearly 10,000 participants coming from throughout all of France for festivities open to everyone and for all ages ... This is why the programs and activities are free of charge.

« There are no strangers on this earth » This is the commitment of La Cimade, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.

Since 1939, La Cimade has pursued the same mission: acting among the exiled and the displaced, and helping the victims of every form of oppression. For one year, La Cimade is inviting the public, through programs and activities, cultural presentations and meetings, to discover the great issues and actions that have marked its history in the context of its struggles today in defence of the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

Each year, we welcome a number of disabled people, in groups, alone or with their family. A trailblazer in Alsace in being granted the tourism for the disabled label, Ciarus can but rejoice at the news:

On 13 July last, the Théodore Monod Centre opened its doors in Erckarstwiller, in the heart of the Northern Vosges Nature Reserve.

    Gathering from all over France, it was at Ciarus that the team from the FFSA (French Federation of Adapted Sport) met up before leaving all together for the Global Games in Liberek in the Czech Republic.

Do you dream of  holidays ?

So why don't you come to Strasbourg?

The summer here is welcoming, offering festivals, strolls, gastronomic discoveries, enjoying a swim and cultural tours.

This is just what you need: time to rest, explore, share your pleasures with others: time for yourself, your family, your friends…

At Ciarus, we have thought of everyone with special prices for the month of August:

From 7 to 17 August, there are going to be things happening in the streets of Strasbourg with some amusing encounters in prospect!

The Street Arts Festival as we'll see it this summer is the fruit of 15 years of development. When it first started, parades were held every weekend from July to August in the pedestrianised streets of Strasbourg.

In response to their success, the idea occurred to organise shows that went on all week: the first “festival” was born.

In Strasbourg, they're celebrating Europe: at Ciarus too!

"What would be the best way to pass on your concerns about globalisation to politicians in Europe?" or "What does globalisation mean to you?"

are some of the questions answered by Gaëlle, Inga, Maren, Marcin, Katharina and a few others. In all, 20 European youngsters questioned by GLEN (Global Education Network of Young Europeans) for the “Voices of Europeans” exhibition that Ciarus is hosting until 4 June.

Ciarus has caught the bug... It seems that young people (and not so young people...) from all over the world are getting involved in this activity with pleasure and talent.

What are we talking about? SingStar!

It gives Ciarus great pleasure to announce the arrival of its new "baby": it weighs 1.5 tonnes and will be taking its first steps in the coming days.

Although it's on the roof of the Ciarus building, it wasn't a stork that put it there.

After the renovations in the self-service restaurant and the bar, another major project reaches completion with the return of the warm days of summer.

    On Friday 5 June, 16 pupils from the Lycée Marie Curie in Strasbourg visited us with their German teacher to experience what it would be like to eat a meal if they were blind.

The theme of blindness has been sparking the interest of the pupils throughout the year: meetings, visits, etc.

Memorable dates:

Wednesday 18 March: the "Ciarus In’Cup", a tournament to inaugurate the new Ciarus bar gave the groups staying with us the chance to enjoy a lively evening!

Renting a room at Ciarus offers a number of advantages for anyone wishing to organise symposia, seminars, conferences and other meetings.

Those who took part in events in 2008 regularly tell us about their experience:

Wednesday 10 December:

the kitchen team gives me ten kilos of bredele to hand out: what a job!

In the bar today, we are swapping homemade bredele for "good works"...

I jot down the haul for 2008 in my notebook.

A symbol of what?

    Of our consumer society? Here, we have other ideas. In this Advent period, we want to believe in a world that's united.

    On 1 December, Ciarus is to welcome a group of travellers who are a little special:

It's an atmosphere worth discovering...

    The European Union, once a reconciliation project, but today?

    This is the question that IFOR (International Fellowship of Reconciliation and Church of Peace) asked itself when it met at Ciarus for its European Meetings on 3, 4 and 5 October.

Faith, mutual aid and rock 'n' roll

Bookings for the Heaven's Door Festival are open!

What's that, you say?

An event which will take place in Strasbourg on 1 and 2 November 2008.

21 September was declared the International Day of Peace by the UN General Assembly in 2001.

It is hoped that this date will be considered as a day of ceasefire and non-violence around the world.

In order to celebrate this day (as the French coordination for the Decade - www.decennie.org - requires of us) Ciarus, in partnership with the groupe Alsace des UCJG, proposes a lively afternoon on Sunday, 21 September.

"How can religions live and work together in Alsace?"

This is the theme discussed on Sunday, 18 May at Ciarus in the context of the Alsace inter-religion day.

Fair trade, rational, ethical, organic, regional...

All this in a magic formula for which our chef, Christophe Weicheldinger, has the secret...

Not as secret as all that, because we're offering you a new formula:

March is the "Month of the Other". I, me, other, Other, the other, the Completely Other?
If you're lost, it's not a play on words, this is what it's all about!
Targeted at secondary school pupils and apprentices in Alsace, created as part of an initiative by the Region, in close partnership with Strasbourg local education authority, "The Month of the Other" aims to develop projects in secondary schools and apprentice training centres (CFAs), with the help of associations.

Training in small groups, plenary meetings, staff seminars, meetings with your members: whatever your project, our "study days" can be tailored to suit your needs:

Welcoming foreigners? Which foreigners are we talking about here? Illegal workers, asylum seekers, illegal immigrants…? We have to recognise that our views are influenced by bills introduced by the French government, which, when conveyed to us by the French media become real burning social issues.

Here is the Joujouthèque team’s account of their visit to Ciarus from 26 to 29 December 2007: “Just see how a trip to the pretty city of Strasbourg at Christmas time can become an unforgettable memory for a group of children and the staff from the Joujouthèque leisure centre in Aix-Noulette, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.

On 1 December, World AIDS Day, the City of Strasbourg organized a series of events to mark the renewed commitment on the part of everyone in the fight against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

The hosts at Ciarus played their part by creating a collective work of dense chalk on canvas.

6 high school students and three members of staff from the Ministry of Culture of the Principality of Andorra have been training at Ciarus as part of a cultural project. The EPIM (International Monument Photographic Experience) is organized every year by the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. The young people from the “land of the Pyrenees” produce a series of photographs and are judged on the results. The fruits of their labours are then rewarded by an official prize giving event at the Council of Europe and a stay in Strasbourg.

The Strasbourg Zénith will be opening at the beginning of 2008. With 10,000 places and the highest of high-tech, this is an establishment of the “new generation”, which promises to welcome great artists and major international events alike.

To coincide with the start of the Christmas markets, Ciarus puts on its magical ambience and illuminates thousands of lights. The immense Advent crown which hangs in the hall invites all those who pass through to enter into this state of magical expectation…
In our Advent calendar, we have:

An aroma of haggis, dancing the “skip change of step” resounding to the rhythm of the bagpipes, dancing the reels, men wearing kilts… ahah, the Scots have come back to Ciarus!

Sonnenhof Symposium:

The Sonnenhof Foundation, rich with 130 years of concrete experience in Alsace, aims to accommodate and accompany the disabled person for as long as this person or his family expresses such a wish.

When Erich and Petra Mertens book a room at Ciarus, the entire team looks forward to hearing Erich's wit and wisdom, encountering Petra's wonderful smile and sharing anecdotes about the people they meet in Strasbourg with these slightly unusual guests.

This summer three young French students stopped over at the Ciarus. The aim of their holiday was to make a trip to the East to discover the culture of that part of Europe. And, naturally, Strasbourg was on their itinerary.

The Ciarus is the venue chosen by the theology faculties of Heidelberg, Montpellier, and Strasbourg to launch their new research project. Rites, ethics, memory, community, and a host of other subjects to be investigated by way of "The religious expectations of our contemporaries".

Ciarus is one of the 40 international accommodation centres which have joined a network under the banner of "ethic étapes".