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A party of 36 from our twin town
of La Bouille arrived at 10am on the Saturday morning, having
crossed the channel overnight by ferry.
There are more photos on the
2011 Photos page.
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Family Time
Hosts from Whitchurch and Whitchurch Hill
entertained their guests for the day – punting in Oxford, cruise
by electric boat at Streatley, shopping in Reading, following
the ‘Inspector Barnaby’ trail in Dorchester, visiting the Beale
Bird Park and taking trips to surrounding towns such as Henley.
We were pleased to welcome new families to visit from France and
also new English families to host and we hope they will want to
join us on the return trip next year.
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Reception
At 6pm a reception was held at Goring Heath
Parish Hall for about 70 people, at which the two Presidents
exchanged good wishes, the guests were welcomed by Peter
Dragonetti, chairman of Goring Heath Parish Council, and Pearl
Slatter, newly re-elected District Councillor, praised the work
of the Association and proposed a toast to the Twinning. After
this a hot dinner was served, after the English fashion –
chicken curry, chilli con carne, chicken casserole, lasagne –
with various cold desserts and cheese to follow.
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Sunday excursion
This was by coach and car to Wiltshire,
stopping first at Avebury for a tour of the largest stone circle
in Europe. The bright and sunny weather held all day, and most
importantly for the picnic, taken at tables or among the stones.
After this we drove the short distance to Bowood House where
there are connections with the Entente Cordiale and also
Napoleon’s death mask and other memorabilia. The gardens, lake
and temple were much appreciated by the adults and it was hard
to drag the children away from the splendid play area with its
pirate ship and challenging climbing equipment. Our last stop
was Lacock, to see the National Trust village used for filming
and to savour an English tea and cake.
Monday morning saw a frenzied dash
for shopping – English tea, mints and cheese being favourites.
It was a pity that all the shops had sold out of Wills & Kate
mugs as they would have been snapped up – the wedding was a
great hit in France and there were many references to our ‘local
girl’ the Duchess of Cambridge!
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