Welcome to the families of Avrillé

The Fen Edge Twinning Association met their French guests at the Cottenham Village College on the evening of 2nd May – and after that the long weekend went with a swing. Over 60 people, adults and children, came by coach from the Maine-et-Loire town of Avrillé, all to be billeted with families in local Fen villages.

This year the French numbers were swelled by the addition of a choir, Chant Anjou, who were invited by Siobhan and Tim Lihoreau to sing alongside their own choir TyrannoChorus of Cottenham at the ‘soiree’ on the Saturday evening. The college auditorium was packed to hear the choirs perform, with a splendid finale of Amazing Grace from their combined voices, after which a buffet supper was ready to be enjoyed by all.

Some of the visitors took part in the Fun Run in Cottenham; there were visits to Cambridge museums, a 1km walk along the Car Dyke Roman Canal (with information provided about this archeological treasure in both English and French), a bilingual church service at St John’s Church Waterbeach, followed by a picnic in the village’s Tillage Hall.

John Loveluck, chair of FETA, congratulated everyone by email for making the visit a success. “There was tremendous good feeling as our friends boarded the coach this morning; everyone seemed to have had a great time discovering (if they did not know it already) that we eat well in England, that the weather is not so bad, and that some of us can sing exceptionally well.”

The Avrillais invitation for the FETA visit next year – twinners and choristers – is for the bank holiday weekend 22-25 May. Information on joining the association from Anna Vining (panda@vining.co.uk) or Julia Gwilt (juliagwilt@gmail.com)

 

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