30th Anniversary Visit to Chennevieres

25 members of the Twinning Association travelled to Chennevieres-sur-Marne for the 30th anniversary celebrations of our Twinning Partnership. After a comfortable 12hour journey, stopping of at Arras for lunch, experiencing a Police Patrol and enduring the Paris Rush hour we were greeted at the ancient Fort of Chennevieres by our hosts - greeted with the same enthusiasm whether for those members from 30 years ago or for the 2 new members, for the first time. The friendship and hospitality had not changed. After a small reception and the giving out of programmes for the weekend, we spent the first evening in the homes of our hosts, catching up on our families’ news, whether in French or English or a bit of both.

Friday morning was another very early start, travelling into Paris and then boarding one of the Caneauxrama boats for a full days trip on the River Seine and the canals of Paris. Fortified with coffee and croissants we embarked on a 40 mile exploration of Paris by boat from the Bastille, along the Seine with all its sights, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, its commerce and industry and back through the canals of Paris. We passed through 17 locks in all, descending 30 metres and rising 30 metres, through 3 swing bridges, the backstreets of north eastern Paris, student quarters, and artists painting canal scenes. After descending the the last of the locks we entered an eerie 2km tunnel perforated by light holes which leads under the mysterious vault of the Bastille. We emerged to find that we have travelled right under the Place de Las Bastille and  returned to our starting point. The 8 hours of chatting with our friends in a mixture of French and English, learning more about Paris and a little eating and drinking had soon passed. We then travelled back through the Paris rush hour to spend another very enjoyable evening with our hosts.

Saturday was a quieter day - A traditional French start with a walk to the boulangerie. And then a visit to a local donkey sanctuary and a tasting of donkey’s milk, and a relaxing afternoon.

In the evening we had the official 30th anniversary reception. The Mayor of Chennevieres, M Bernard Heammerle, made a short speech and then Councillor Malcolm Belchamber, who was the Mayor at the time of the signing of the original Charter in 1982, spoke a few words on behalf of Littlehampton Mayor, Councillor Alan Gammon. The former Mayor of Durmersheim Herr Jurgens Schumacher also said a few words. Tony Squires and David Dyball (two former Mayors of Littlehampton) Littlehampton presented a park bench to Chennevieres on behalf of Littlehampton and Littlehampton Twinning Association and other 30th Anniversary gifts were exchanged. There followed music from the local Conservatoire and a video of 30 years of twinning.  This was followed by a traditional French meal and we were entertained with English songs by members of the Edwin James Choir and then dancing into the night.

We enjoyed a quiet Sunday morning with our families until we met up at the Chennevieres fort for an early buffet lunch, the traditional singing of Auld Lang Syne and then our departure. We arrived home in Littlehampton at 9.00pm after a very good journey, tired but all agreeing what a very successful and enjoyable weekend it had been, and looking forward to seeing our French friends in Littlehampton in September.

 

 

 

     

 

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