30 years of Twinning, visit to Longpré
in 2010
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This year saw a change in the normal cycle of exchange visits. In 2010 we celebrated 30 years of the foundation of the Twinning Association between Longpré and Eastry which began in 1980 when a delegation visited Longpré for the inaugural ceremony. To commemorate that event Eastry twinners were invited back to Longpré this year.
Our largest group for a while made the journey
on Friday 21st May, 26 members departed Eastry by coach and a further 5 who
were making their own way arrived in Longpré at the town hall to be greeted by
our hosts and their families.
The traditional welcome ceremony was conducted by Jean-Marc Vermoeren the
Longpré jumelage President who welcomed us all and a reciprocal speech by
Terry James the chairman of the Eastry association with a slight change to the
norm as Terry made use of our newly appointed 'official translator' Marion
Boyce. This new development was explained in the speech when it was revealed
that the previous year, long time 'twinner' and former Longpré jumelage
president Alain Defebvin had quipped that Terry spoke French "like a Spanish
cow", which raised a laugh when read out in both English and French! The
official speeches were followed by an exchange of gifts, Eastry receiving a
painting of 'la maison du marais'
a house
bequeathed to the community which has been made into a visitor centre for the
étang or lakes that partially surround the village. Also, to mark the
special occasion, Terry was presented with a watch from the people of Longpré.
Eastry's gift was 3 copies of a printed album with a selection of
photographs recording the 30 years since the formation of the association.
After the formal proceedings ended, everyone mingled and were given glasses of
cider and slices of a regional cake similar to brioche before being
transported to their accommodation for a well earned sleep.
On Saturday, events got underway in the late
morning when we were taken to the visitor centre at the nearby lakes (thereby
explaining the significance of the gift we'd received) where a marquee and
tables were laid out for what turned out to be a rather grand buffet. It was
good to see that many other Longiprats had turned out for the occasion, not
just those directly connected with the jumelage. The Longpré mayor,
René
Cailleux, welcomed us all to the event and then surprised everyone especially
Bill Clague by announcing that their organisation had selected Bill to be
granted the very privileged 'citoyen
d'honneur' which Bill accepted with great pride.
Following the buffet, various traditional
regional games of Picardie were available, these
included a large version of skittles using a solid wooden ball the size of a
medicine ball, a sort of 'shove ha'penny' game using wooden discs on a long
table, and another requiring that coins were thrown at a board with various
targets which if hit allowed the coin to drop through to boxes with scores
depending on the difficulty (in my case, each target proved difficult!), and
for those wanting to walk off their lunch, a guided tour around the lakes was
organised.
Sunday was another beautiful day, clear blue
skies and possibly the hottest day of the year so far. The long standing
petanque match was organised for the two teams, others not involved spent the
morning with their hosts visiting various sites or enjoying the sun. The
patanque venue was a change from the usual, taking advantage of a lovely spot
at the camp-site on the top of the hill overlooking Longpré. The result of the
game was unfortunately not a change from the normal, although Eastry put up a
brave fight, the Longpré team triumphed to retain the 'cendres' (this was the
20th anniversary of the first victory against Longpré by Eastry, the wooden
jack used in that game was burnt and the ashes sealed in an urn). Eastry
presented the winning team with an unusual trophy, it was 'Pete Anker' a teddy
bear sporting an Eastry shirt and carrying a metal boule, we received
runners up medals and a large (conventional) trophy to add to our collection
at our HQ in the 5 Bells.
The return to the UK had been organised for a little later this year which gave people more time for their lunches and further visits but all too soon we were having to say farewell and board the coach for home. The goodbyes always take a while but this year there seemed to be lots more people to catch up with before finally leaving. The coach journey home was passed with the exchange of tales of lavish dinners and vintage wines, boat trips on the lake and fascinating visits to local sites. It was clear that everyone had been thoroughly impressed by the welcome we'd received and a promise to ourselves that we would try our best to reciprocate next year.
Nick (more photos to follow shortly)