Argentan
Sint-Niklaas
Schongau
Lucca
Colmar
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Tree PlantingWednesday 18 December 2013 - Abbey Meadow
Christmas LunchSunday 15 December 2013 - The Cosener's House
Approximately fifty members and guests enjoyed the annual Christmas lunch on Sunday 15th December. The lunch took place, as it has for the past few years, at The Cosenor's House. The food and service were up to their usual high standard and there was a good choice of starters, mains and desserts. The company and atmosphere were also very good and the buzz of conversation only abated a little when the food for each course was served. The event was organised and hosted by Mars Street, who even arranged a free glass of wine with the meal and to whom we offer our thanks. John Prior Evening Meeting - Wine TastingWednesday 20 November 2013 - 7.30 for 8pm at Preston Road Community Centre
November’s Wednesday meeting was an appropriately seasonal wine-tasting evening, with wines chosen and presented by Waitrose. There were six wines, all but one from France, Germany or Italy, where our wine-drinking twin towns are located - except for Sint-Niklaas, where they mostly drink beer anyway. (The odd one out was a Pinot Noir from Romania. As our host explained, red wines from Germany are rarely exported to this country.) The key points about tasting were explained to us: the importance of the right temperature, how to judge scent or 'nose', and colour. Be sure to measure this last quality against a white background - a tip often forgotten until someone reminds you. Three whites and three Reds. First up was a Pinot Gris from Alsace, followed by a German Riesling and an Italian Verdicchio. Then a Saumur from the Loire, a Nebbiolo from Piedmont, and the Pinot Noir mentioned above. Although the least expensive of the wines we tasted, this last example was liked by many and rated by Waitrose as the best value. Our own rankings on a scale of one to five, in case anyone would like to compare notes, were (in the order presented above): 3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 1. So, there you go; de gustibus non est disputandum, as they used to say when we and all our twin towns were part of the Roman Empire. Roger and Helen Bush Remembrance SundaySunday 10 November 2013 - 11am at The Square
We invited Claudine Koebel, who was accompanied by her husband Francis, as representative from Colmar, one of our twin towns, to join ADTTS in laying wreaths at the War Memorial at Abingdon's annual ceremony of remembrance. Visit to Lucca18 - 21 October 2013 Another group of 12 people flew out to Lucca on the 18th October and followed a very similar programme to the September group. Our flight to Pisa was delayed because of an Italian airport strike but Maria was patiently waiting for us and we were soon whisked away to the Domus Romana. Seven of the group were staying with families in Lucca and five in the La Luna hotel. The families were new to hosting so this was a wonderful opportunity to make some real contacts with residents of Lucca. On the Saturday we enjoyed the visit to the Villa Puccini, lake and San Francesco Church. On the Sunday morning most people went to the Cathedral and then for an interesting walk around Lucca guided by Maria, followed by lunch and a free afternoon and then the evening with host families. There was a severe thunderstorm with heavy rain on the Sunday night / Monday morning so a wet and bedraggled group of twinners turned up at the Town Hall on Monday morning where the deputy Mayor greeted us and presented Michael Matthews with a scroll to thank him for his many years of association with Lucca. We then went to see an exhibition of the work of an Argentinian artist and after warm farewells to Maria and our hosts we all went our separate ways. A very enjoyable visit and we hope our new friends will visit Abingdon soon. Peter Dodd Here is a local report of the presentation to Michael Matthews:
Translation: Monday 21.10.13 Asessore Lemucchi welcomed a delegation which came from Abingdon, the English town that is twinned with Lucca. Amongst them was Michael W. Matthews who in 1972 was the mayor who signed the Twinning Agreement with Lucca. Assessore Lemucchi gave Mr Matthews a scroll thanking him for the friendship and affection he has demonstrated in all the years to the people of Lucca. Evening Meeting - Famous BelgiansWednesday 16 October 2013 - Preston Road Community Centre
He had researched the subject of Famous Belgians well and used a slideshow with plenty of pictures of the famous Belgians concerned. He spoke about several members of Belgian royalty/nobility and politicians, including King Leopold who was the uncle of Queen Victoria. Even I had heard of Charlemagne, who ruled much of Europe and lived 742-814. Then there was John of Gaunt (Ghent!) 1340-1399 who effectively ruled England for a while, and many more including the names Gevaert (Agfa) and Janssen (Pharmaceuticals). Then there were people from Science and Medicine, including Mercator 1512-1594, that famous map maker, commemorated by an excellent museum in Sint-Niklaas. There were composers and musicians including Cesar Franck, a 19th century composer, but the list also included Johnny Halliday, Toots Thielemans, Django Reinhardt and Jacques Brel, whose music is perhaps better known today. It turned out there were lots of famous artists including van Eyck, Breughel, Rubens and van Dyck, and Tony was able to show us images of one or two of each of their paintings. I confess that I hadn't thought of any of them as Belgian and will look at their pictures with more interest and knowledge in future! The list of categories went on through actors, writers (including Georges Simenon who wrote Inspector Maigret), cartoonists, architects and sportsmen including Kim Clysters (tennis) and Eddy Merckx (cyclist). Belgium is only 1.5 times the size of Wales, so I was surprised to find the famous people coming so thick and fast. There must have been well over fifty people, most of whom I had heard of. And Tony's delivery was excellent. I expect everyone could hear and I doubt if anyone dozed off! The evening was appropriately rounded off with the Belgian specialities of chips with mayonnaise, beers and chocolates. Thank you to the committee for organising such an interesting speaker. Susan Read Opera Visit - WNO ToscaTuesday 15 October 2013 - New Theatre, Oxford Love, drama , torture, execution and suicide and, of course, Puccini’s wonderful music are the ingredients of this opera which we saw performed by the Welsh National Opera at the New Theatre in Oxford. A group of twelve of us from ADTTS started the evening with an appropriately Italian style meal at ASK. The performances were first class, and the opera, set in the time of the Napoleonic wars in Italy, proceeds with pace from one incident to another. It doesn’t have the great set piece arias of La Bohème or Madam Butterfly but more that makes up for this in dramatic content. We all had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. It was particularly interesting for some of us coming only a few days after exploring, on a twinning visit, Puccini’s house near Lucca where he was born. The opera certainly seemed to reflect some of the character of Puccini that we learnt about in his house – his love of the dramatic, of beautiful women, of action and even of guns! Ian Jardine Visit to Lucca27 - 30 September 2013
Maria Curto was our principle contact and guide during our stay in Lucca, our largest twin town which was founded in 180 BC, having passed through three civilisations, Roman, Medieval and Renaissance. There were twelve of us visiting Lucca – six with host families, one couple staying in a hostel and the other four staying at La Luna Hotel, where we met each morning.
In this unique setting we were able to witness the development of construction techniques as it evolved over two thousand years in Lucca. This was followed by a dinner in the museum among the Roman remains (table standing on glass with the remains below!) with goblets of wine and a special mint tasting water. We then finished the evening in the wonderful Piazza Amphitheatre with our night caps taking in the Friday night atmosphere!
Maria then pulled the stops out by taking us to a splendid restaurant where we were able to pass a very enjoyable evening in the company of our fellow colleagues and host. Excellent cuisine, wine and hospitality were experienced by all – and the sun shone all day!! Sunday 29 September was a special time for Lucca, because a World Event was taking place there! The official ceremony of the opening of the World Cycling Championship was taking place that very morning in Piazza Napoleone and we were there in person! Despite the fact that the rain was falling in stair rods, we assembled waving and shouting at each other, ducking umbrellas of all colours and sizes as well as the big screen televising the event! Bradley Wiggins - we were here for you! After a coffee stop we reconvened and visited an exhibition of decorative art between the world wars entitled The Strength of the Modernity (Arts in Italy between 1920-1950) located in the "Complesso Monumentale" of the parish church of St Micheletto, housing some very exquisite art pieces for all to enjoy and marvel at. After lunch Maria took us to one of Lucca’s villas where we were able to gain a real insight into the history of the building
In the evening those of us staying in hotels/hostel met up for a meal whilst those staying with host families could spend some time with their hosts. On Monday morning a group of us were able to accompany Maria on a walk on the Walls of Lucca and the history lesson of the previous day really helped us to appreciate fully the purpose and significance of the way they had been built and the changes made to them over the ages. Following a fond farewell from Maria, Alfonso and the hoteliers we sped off in the direction of Pisa airport, managing to squeeze in a flying visit to the Leaning Tower and the Cathedral before embarking on our journey homewards.
Finally on behalf of those travelling to Lucca with the Jardines, may I take this opportunity to thank them for all their concerted effort in planning the travelling part of our trip. Their attention to detail, organisation and time management of the trip ensured that all parties arrived safely and happily without any mishaps and for a change I hadn’t had to organise any of it! Thank you so much Ian and Rosemary. Gloria Tolputt AGM & Evening Meeting - French SongsWednesday 18 September 2013 - Preston Road Community Centre This year’s annual meeting followed custom: Officers and committee were re-elected. The secretary reported on another busy year, highlighting the successful English language course hosted in July, the large group visit to Argentan last October and the recent return visit for the heritage weekend, plus the enjoyable regular events such as the joint film show and the garden party, not to mention welcoming several school groups from Sint-Niklaas, Colmar and Argentan. The treasurer in presenting the accounts noted the impact of the loss of the Vale twinning support fee. Despite this, the Chairman described the generous welcome she and the Vale chairman received from Colmar on being invited to the celebrations at their twinning anniversary weekend last December. Informal socialising followed the AGM, with refreshments including Camembert and Pommeau, which had been brought over from Normandy by our recent visitors. John Prior writes: We then moved to what was billed as French Music presented by Christine Ewing. Having eaten and drunk my fill, I expected to settle down to relax and listen to the dulcet tones of Debussy, Fauré et al, but no, Christine awoke me from my slumbers with a multilingual sing along. Amongst many others we had Frank Sinatra’s My Way, which became Comme d’habitude in French and Petula Clark’s Sailor in German, which translated unsurprisingly as Seemann. Not only that but the more agile were having fun, dancing around and having a party. Meanwhile Brian Read was doing a splendid job playing the keyboard of his laptop to put the words up on the screen. This was mass karaoke. We finished off with the Lambeth Walk which defied translation. We had a very mixed evening of formality followed by letting our hair down but, overall, we had a party. Visitors from Argentan12 - 16 September 2013 Une délégation du Cercle jumelage d’Argentan revient d’Abingdon où un arbre de l’amitié franco-anglaise va bientôt être planté.
«Nous avons été royalement reçus», rapporte Pierre Sillière, vice-président du Cercle. Les Journées européennes du patrimoine en Angleterre ont été l’occasion de dévoiler une plaque qui sera bientôt apposée au pied du pommier qu’Argentan a offert à Abingdon à l’occasion du jubilé de la reine Élizabeth. Les visites culturelles (Dorchester, Oxford et Abingdon) se sont succédé pendant trois jours, «la maire d’Abingdon, Mme Bowring, a également passé la dernière journée avec nous, dans une ambiance aussi décontractée qu’amicale». Reproduced from the regional newspaper 'Ouest-France'. We were a group of 15 people from Argentan to be hosted by our friends in Abingdon, from the 12th to the 16th September. We took the ferry at Caen-Ouistreham with our cars at 8.30, arrived at Portsmouth and visited Winchester on our way before meeting our hosts in Abingdon. Some of us already knew our host families, for the others it was a discovery. The evening and the 3 days we spent there were very busy but really delightful. On the Friday morning, we all met with the deputy-mayor at Abbey Meadows to unveil the plaque where the apple tree given by Argentan will be planted when the weather permits it. Maybe one day the people of Abingdon will be pleased to drink the cider or the Calvados produced by this tree! A guided walk of the site of old Abingdon Abbey in two groups followed. Thanks to the Heritage Open Days, we were allowed to visit places that are rarely open. After a friendly lunch with some of our hosts, we went in two groups to Dorchester on Thames and Wittenham Clumps. The day was not finished as we were welcomed in the lovely garden of John and Ann Prior, before having a delicious aperitif party at Michael Matthew's house and finally dinner (delicious too!) in our host families (and some French people say it's impossible to put on weight in the UK because of the food!). Enjoying again the Heritage Open Days, we visited Abingdon in three groups on the Saturday before going to Oxford and discovering for some of us the marvellous Colleges; a match of Real Tennis, the ancestor of today’s tennis (for the players it's THE real tennis, for us it was like our French 'Jeu de Paume'; did you know that the name 'tennis' comes from the French word 'tenir' which means hold the racket?); the exit from their degree ceremony of students from all over the world, surrounded by their parents; the Ashmolean Museum; punting on the Thames; bell-ringing at Magdalen...... The dinner at the Spread Eagle was again very friendly and convivial. The Sunday was free but very busy for a lot of us, between the services in the churches, shopping for some, the friendly reception in the town hall by the mayor (very impressive, this young mother of 4 children working and welcoming us with her baby, difficult to imagine in France!), visiting again Oxford with our host families, and for a little group, learning to ring hand bells (a discovery! didn't know it was possible to play very beautiful music with bells!). Lunch was again in the host families, and the delicious buffet organised for the dinner at St Ethelwolds by the members of the ADTTS, gave us a lovely evening (and some kilos more for some of us!). We took our ferry back on Monday, very early, (without any storm, as the forecast had said!) and came back to Argentan full of wonderful memories and hoping to receive our friends of Abingdon and come back as soon as possible! Eliane Lavandon with thanks to Angela Waterhouse
THANKS A TRILLION FOR THE LOVELY WEEKEND WE SPENT WITH YOU ALL. For sure, you went through a lot to make this weekend so memorable. For those of us who were there for the first time, I am sure it made a great impact on them and they are looking forward to coming back to Abingdon and to see you all. We even organised a very calm crossing back home despite the ENGLISH weather forecast and a possible storm! Pierre Silliere Annual Garden PartySunday 21 July 2013 - Willows, Faringdon Road, Shippon
The sun shone for the annual ADTTS garden party which this year was hosted again by John and Ann Prior in their wonderful garden. The garden looked perfect but not quite as green as last summer. Guests were greeted with a glass of Pimms before their gourmet three course lunch. The food really was amazing and the chefs who prepared this feast should be congratulated - and also Delia! We had really interesting starters then whole salmons (plural) as well as chicken and quiches and savoury cheesecakes. The desserts included pavlovas, which are my favourite. There was a raffle which was a great success and then everyone rallied round with the dismantling of gazebos and of course the washing up. John and Anne have said that they would like to host the event again next year and perhaps we will try to arrange some live music, which would go so well in their garden. Thanks again to John & Ann, the catering team and all the others who helped to make this such a pleasant afternoon. Peter Dodd Abingdon English Language Course7 - 14 July 2013  ADTTS organised an English Language Course, in conjunction with Abingdon & Witney College, this summer from Sunday 7th to Sunday 14th July. We invited eighteen people from our twin towns of Colmar, Lucca, Schongau and Sint-Niklaas to come to Abingdon to learn English and to experience the delights of Abingdon and the surrounding area. English classes were in the morning at Abingdon College and the afternoons were devoted to social outings. The week ended with a delightful party for all visitors and hosts in the sunny garden of St Ethelwold's House.
A student's view: On Sunday, our first day we all met for tea – 18 people of different countries – France – Belgium – Italy – Germany – and many of England – everyone knew only the ones of the home country and maybe some of the English people. The first evening we went in the pub for socialising and played „Aunt Sally“, for the most of us it was a little bit astonishing and new - but we had much fun and after that we knew many of the people. Every morning at 9.00 am we met at the Abingdon and Witney College. We were in two different groups, and learned for three hours to speak and understand better English and we heard many things about that we are going to do in the afternoon – at school we had a break every day and there were some nice „brownies“ who prepared coffee, tea and cakes for us – very friendly and tasty. During the week we saw many different parts of the area around Abingdon. It was a good mix of culture and nature and gardens, for instance Oxford, Abingdon, Henley and the region of White Horse Hill and Wittenham clumps. We made funny things as playing Pooh Sticks. We heard a brilliant choir with young boys of Sint-Niklaas. We had picnics at lovely places, and tasted very different kind of meals, such as Indian, local Lunch in a Pub, or meals with our host families. And we saw how our hosts live and spend their days. Nearly no time to squander money, good for the purse. We had many good conversations and learned much about the others, the people of the other countries, as well the people of the home town. After the week we knew each other better, spoke and understood better English and had much fun. I hope everyone enjoyed the week, as I did. Thank you very much for the great week. Gabi Kelz
Visit by Sint-Niklaas Choir6 - 10 July 2013
European School Anniversary FairSaturday 18 May 2013 - European School, Thame Lane, Culham
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Colmar Artists
We were treated to an entertaining and informative presentation by Angela & Ian Waterhouse on the life, work and times of Jean–Jacques Waltz also known as Hansi and Tomi Ungerer and their impact and contribution to the Alsace region.
Angela told us that Hansi, (1873 – 1951), a French artist and writer of Alsatian origin. He held staunch pro-French views and produced many satirical drawings while Alsace was under German control. This led to his arrest and imprisonment. Hansi eventually escaped and joined the French army as a translator when WWI broke out. He continued to be a thorn in the side of the authorities.
Ian then covered the life and work of Tomi Ungerer (1931 – present). Tomi moved to Alsace at a young age after the death of his father before the commencement of WWII. He was affected by the conflict and German occupation but later was inspired by illustrations in the New Yorker magazine. He then moved to the U.S. but continued to take a keen interest in Alsace. He has written over 100 books ranging from his much loved children’s books to adult material. These are published in stages in three different languages. Tomi is also a prolific illustrator including French-German reconciliation in Alsace, his home.
Hamish Ewing
Saturday 13 April 2013 - Market Place
A French market visited Abingdon and ADTTS was present on the Saturday morning with an information stall to promote twinning and this generated useful interest in the Society.
10 - 14 April 2013
This
year it was our turn to visit our tennis friends in Argentan.
Four of us set off by bike at 8.00 am and twelve players and one spectator set off in three cars in the afternoon of Wednesday 10th April.
The motorists had no problem getting to Portsmouth for the 10.45 night ferry but we cyclists were beset by awful weather
that forced one of us to continue the journey in France by train from Caen to Argentan.
We met up at 18.00 on Thursday at Argentan town hall and our hosts took us to the tennis club for showers, aperitifs and dinner before a session of ten-pin bowling and then bed.
On Friday we went to Chambois and Montormel (photo) to learn about the Battle of Normandy and then went to the village of Camembert, home of the big cheese. One of the tennis players knows a farmer who makes Camembert cheese in the traditional non-pasteurised way so we went for a guided tour of his farm with copious free samples. We then returned to the club for a tournament of mainly English players because most of the French had to work that day. Chris Gray, a famous player from Wantage, was due to play me when he deliberately sprained his ankle and then carried on playing to make sure his ankle was well and truly crocked for the rest of the tour. We then had the obligatory aperitifs followed by a bring-and-share dinner.
On Saturday morning we went into the hills of 'la Suisse Normande' and did some walking, which was a bit tricky for some of us. After a picnic at la Roche d`Oetre we went to the farm of another tennis player. Here we had a guided tour of the farm and sampled and bought large amounts of cider, pommeau and calvados. Chris stayed at home in bed and worked on the days ‘handicap’ tournament, quite ironic really. He got his own back on me by giving me such a large handicap that I came bottom! Early in the evening we played boules in the new covered boulodrome and the French showed us how it should be played. We then had aperitifs and pizzas before singing 'ce n`est qu`un au revoir' (auld lang syne) saying our goodbyes and retiring to bed.
On Sunday morning the cyclists, now down to two, set off at 7.00 and the rest set off at various times for the 2.15 ferry.
It was a great few days, as always the French set the hospitality bar very high and we hope to emulate their generosity when they come to us next year.
Richard Smart
Tuesday 26 March 2013
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A party of 32 pupils aged 14-15 and 5 teachers from a school in Sint-Niklaas who were staying in London for three nights, visited Abingdon on 26 March. After a reception with the Mayor, members of ADTTS took them in three groups on a tour of our town, followed by lunch with them in a pizza restaurant.
Wednesday 20 March 2013 - Preston Road Community Centre
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Notwithstanding recent British successes, cycling has long been a great passion in many of our twin town countries with many famous “tours” and hundreds of smaller regional races. To learn more we invited a speaker from Abingdon Freewheeling. The Freewheelers have previously organised cycle rides to Argentan (e.g. see May 2012) and have hosted cyclists from Argentan. This year they are planning a cycle ride to Sint-Niklaas. |
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At the March meeting we enjoyed a very interesting presentation from Pete Burgess about cycling and the twin towns.
Cycling is very popular in France, Italy and Belgium and Pete started by telling us about some of the most important races in France. In the early days it was not unusual for a cyclist to have to repair his own bike and we saw a famous picture of one cyclist calling in at the local blacksmiths to mend his forks. France also has a "Housewife’s favourite" each year with the current one being Tommy Voekler.
The Tour de France follows a different route each year – it passed through Argentan in 1991 and this year will start in Corsica.
Mont Ventoux seems to be one of the most strenuous climb in France and this is where the British cyclist Tommy Simpson collapsed and died during the 1967 Tour.
The most important race in Italy – the Giro d’Italia - is about as gruelling as the Tour de France and has produced a number of famous cyclists. Fausta Coppi was so good that they had to double the value of the second prize to encourage other riders to enter a race which he was sure to win. However he soon fell from grace when a scandal involving him and the wife of a well known person was revealed – however scandals like this did not seem to bother Super Mario from Lucca who was pictured smoking while cycling and it was not unknown for him to "dally" in the bushes for a short time during a race.
Some of the best bikes in the world are still made in Italy and Pete brought his pale blue Bianchi with him – although the sight of the saddle was enough to terrify me.
Belgians are obsessed with cycling and there are a number of cycling events held there every year. Eddy Merckx is one of the best cyclists ever and must be up there in the list of "Famous Belgians". They seem to cycle round cities in the dark – something called a Criterium and we wonder if perhaps we should introduce this to Abingdon.
There are regular cycling exchanges between Abingdon and our twin towns and we now understand the attraction a lot more.
Peter Dodd
Wednesday 20 March 2013
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A party of 45 students aged 14-15 and 4 teachers from College Pfeffel in Colmar visited England from 17 to 22 March. They came to Abingdon for ADTTS to take them on a tour of the town in the morning and to visit the Vale of White Horse in the afternoon.
16 - 23 March 2013
Twenty-seven pupils and three teachers from Argentan made a return exchange visit to Abingdon.
The
French students and their teachers stayed with their UK partners from 16th - 23rd March.
As well as following the students in some of their lessons, they visited Abingdon and met the Mayor.
They also went on a tour of Oxford led by the Abingdon Twinning Society and, with their partners, went on trips to London and Bath.
On Friday evening, a farewell party was organized at school and the students had a lot of fun.
I would like to thank all the students and their parents who made the French Exchange 2013 a memorable experience.
I hope they keep in touch with their partners and that other students around the school took the opportunity to talk with the French students.
The French exchange will happen again next year and we hope you can join us!
Richard Smart
Wednesday 20 February 2013 - Preston Road Community Centre
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We are all familiar with Valentine's Day. But what do we know about the man himself? Not at lot it seems, as John Smith entertained us with an illustrated talk on the history of Saint Valentine, his tenuous connection with lovers and customs round the world. We then celebrated with Prosecco and themed refreshments.
19 - 25 January 2013
Twenty-seven pupils from Abingdon Schools (Fitzharries, John Mason and Larkmead) visited Argentan. Here is their account of the trip.
French exchange 2013
Samedi, by Beth Harris 10MR
Saturday
was a very long and tiring day, but it was very exciting.
We left the school on the coach and waved goodbye to our families.
Everyone was very excited and happy.
We arrived at the port in Portsmouth to wait for the ferry.
After a long wait because we had left earlier in case it snowed, the ferry arrived and we dragged our luggage on board.
The ship was very large, with an arcade, restaurant, cinema and lots to do, though seasickness got the better of some of us!
Finally after our long journey was over, we arrived in France at Ouistreham in Normandy.
On the coach ride to Argentan, the town that is twinned with Abingdon, everyone was now extremely nervous.
We waited in the school car park where one by one, we left to meet our correspondents, which was scary.
Luckily, everyone was very welcoming, and we were greeted with kisses on the cheeks, which was strange.
Despite this, it was a very exciting day!
Dimanche, by Ciara Milliken-Tull, 10
Sunday was a free day with our host families. This means that they took us out to do various things. This way, we had time to get to know our French families. A lot of families took their correspondent bowling, whereas I went ice-skating. It was a great opportunity to know our correspondents’ friends as well before school the next day and to converse in the French language, as well as recuperate after our long journey.
Lundi, by Luke Jones, 10DO
During our second day in France, the English group travelled to Chambois to see the sites of the battle of Normandy (WW2). Here we learnt about one of the turning points in the liberation of France and Europe by the allies after D-Day (when allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy). We met Gerard, who was fifteen years old at the time of the battle and whose house had been completely destroyed by bombardments. He came close to death four times. His wife Paulette invited us all in their home for hot chocolate and biscuits.
After a lunch at the school canteen or at home for those of us whose correspondents went home at lunch, we went to the town of Falaise with our French correspondents and learnt about the birth of William the Conqueror and the invasion of England. After this, we moved on to a shopping centre as all the shops in the streets were closed on Monday. We split up to do our first bit of browsing and buying French food.
Mardi, by Richard Smith, 9CE
On Tuesday morning we went to Argentan town and market. We all met up at school and made our way over to Argentan town centre by foot. After arriving, we had some free time to go off in groups and look around Argentan. While a lot of us went and bought sweets in local shops, others went to cafés and ordered hot chocolate or coffee in French. When the church opened, we all entered to see what was inside, including a plaque from our local church, Our Lady’s St Edmund, and pictures of the Church during WW2.
We went back to school or home for lunch and the second part of the day was spent in school with our ‘corres’ in their lessons and following that, with our host families at home.
Mercredi, by Ruth Ball, 9HR
In the morning we went to the French school, Collège Jean Rostand. We either took part in the lessons or found something else to do. On a Wednesday, the French school finishes at 12 so some of us decided to go to McDonalds and then swimming with our correspondents as a group. Others went out somewhere with other French students. After we had finished our afternoon activities we all went home to our French families and spent the evening with them.
Jeudi, by Luke Jones, 10DO
Thursday was our fifth day in France, and most of us were by now well settled in with our host families. That morning we travelled to Caen castle and learnt about its history and making. We saw the tomb of William the Conqueror in a church that had also been used during WW2 as a refuge for people who had lost their homes. We were also able to have free time in the town centre. Following a short coach journey from the castle, we arrived at a big shopping centre called Mondeville. Here we spent the majority of the afternoon, also spending the majority of our money! After this, we went back to school and played ‘baby foot’, cards and more, as the French students were still in lessons until 5pm.
Vendredi, by Maia Busby-Dawson, 10 BT
We started the day by bowling with our friends and French correspondents. The person with the highest score was awarded a Twix and bounty and the person with the lowest score, just a bounty. Following this, we had lunch then made our way to the American Cemetery, which overlooks Omaha beach, where many American soldiers lost their lives during D-Day on 6 June, 1944. We were shown short films praising and acknowledging the allied soldiers who lost their lives, especially in Normandy. Along with this, we visited Omaha beach, where parts of the D-Day landings took place. Friday being the last full day in France, we had the evening to spend with our host families. This included different things for different families. Some of us went bowling (again!) while others, such as myself, went out for dinner.
Samedi, by Miss Lamarre.
On Saturday, we left from the Collège Jean Rostand at 6.30am, slightly delayed by a heavy snowfall overnight! After some emotional goodbyes and thanks to the families from Mr Rouquier, who leads the French exchange in Argentan, we left for Ouistreham to take the ferry back to Portsmouth and travel back to Larkmead. When we arrived at Larkmead, we couldn’t believe how well the trip went despite the weather conditions. We had a fantastic time in snowy Normandy, which looked completely different to the four students who went on the exchange last year in April. Everything went smoothly and I was the only one who sustained a minor snowball injury during the ‘Miss vs. boys’ snowball fight (receiving no solidarity from the girls), so an excellent trip overall with an exceptionally nice group of students, who received only praise from the French teachers and families. I was especially proud of them for being so enthusiastic to try the food, order things for themselves in town, making huge efforts to speak French and take part in everything that was offered to them, so I thank them for this and I hope that many from Larkmead come back again next year or try out the exchange for the first time. It really is a special trip.
Wednesday 16 January 2013 - Preston Road Community Centre
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Always great fun, the annual quiz devised and hosted by Peter Dodd with a twin towns theme was an enjoyable evening testing our twinning knowledge. We were challenged with anagrams, foreign language crosswords and skill with Plasticine, while the refreshments asked us to identify the origin of cheeses, bread, biscuits and wine. |
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