WESTBURY & District French Twinning Association made a trip to Chateau Du Loir recently to meet their French counterparts.
Jean Dew, chairman of the Westbury & District French Twinning Association reports, “We were due to meet at 10.30am in the Warminster Road Car Park so that we would be ready to leave by 10.45am – such enthusiasm from all of you – as there were people gathering before the coach arrived. The coach was loaded and we were all sitting comfortably before the departure time and after a few notices and instructions we were on our way.
The journey to Portsmouth was good and we arrived with time to have some refreshments before boarding La Normandie for the trip to Ouistreham. Once boarded we found ourselves a lounge and settled down to enjoy the trip on a calm sea, arriving at the port on time. We disembarked fairly quickly and after only a short journey to Caen we were booking in to the hotel and in our rooms by 10.30pm for a good night’s sleep.
Friday morning, all bright eyed, we made our way to Le Mans for a lunch stop and visit to the town. Just a slight glitch – there was a circus on the coach parking area so we ended up being treated to a tour of the centre while Peter tried to find somewhere to drop us off before going to park. Unfortunately for those not able to walk far this was not possible so we had to make the best of it, and take the long walk in to the old city.
In the car park we had a surprise visit from Keith West, who, on his journey to Château for the weekend had spotted the coach and followed us in. At 1.45pm we were all back on board and moving on to Château du Loir arriving a few minutes early to the usual warm and enthusiastic welcome, and then it was to homes for a quick break and back to the Salles des Rocolettes for the official reception.
Meeting time on Saturday morning was 9.30 am for a visit to the Musée du Fresne near the small town of Azay le Rideau on the Loire. The museum was fascinating with a huge collection of all sorts: engines, bicycles, cars, lorries, a guillotine, childrens toys etc., a lot of them originating in the British Isles. The picnic lunch was provided half way through the visit, and we left by 4.00 pm in just enough time to return to homes and prepare for the Celebration Dinner.
The music was provided by an extremely talented young man playing his accordion with his own backing tracks. during and after the four course dinner. He must have hit the right note as the dance floor was busy all night.
All too soon Sunday had arrived and gone with a variety of visits made by different groups, and before we knew it we were gathering at the coach for the homeward journey on the Monday morning.
After a lunch and shopping stop at Alençon we arrived at Ouistreham on time and boarded a very busy boat. We managed to find seats in a lounge and enjoyed another calm crossing back to Portsmouth. This is where the fun started – not! Customs were making all coach passengers get off and file through a Disney-like queue to be identified with their passports. Imagine 5 – 6 coaches all with about 50 people on board and you can appreciate the time it took.
By the time we left the port it was gone 10.15 and Peter only just made it home to Westbury before his tachograph time ran out, and a replacement driver had to be called to drive the coach back to the depot.
The whole weekend seemed like a whirlwind, enjoyable throughout, leaving us with lots of very happy memories that have strengthened our friendship. We numbered 47 people in all – a record so far – most of you I have spoken to enjoyed it so here’s to 2016. We are already planning for their visit to us next year – our 15th Anniversary.”
