VISIT TO FRANCE KEEPS UP L’ENTENTE CORDIALE

 

 

L’Entente Cordiale was flourishing in October 2005 when a party from Penicuik visited their twin town of L’Isle sur la Sorgue in France.

The twinning link between the two towns was established in 1978 and exchange visits have been taking place on a regular basis every since.

A party of 63 travelled to France accompanied by Glencorse Pipe Band, Bill Richardson’s ceilidh band and Annabel Oates and her ceilidh dancers.

On arrival in France they also met up with a party of 50 visitors from Anagni, L’Isle sur la Sorgue’s Italian twin town.

Accompanied by the pipers, band and dancers, the visitors marched through the town on Sunday, the day of one of the largest street markets in Europe, so they were guaranteed a huge audience. 

The march ended at the Parc Gautier, where the pipe band and ceildh dancers all gave performances, along with choirs from Anagni and L’Isle sur la Sorgue and the Fanfare, local marching band and the band of the Music School.  Afterwards there was a delicious lunch of Boeuf Bourguignon and other French specialities eaten at long trestle tables in the Provencal sunshine.

On the Monday, the party enjoyed a bus tour through the Luberon area with stops at picturesque villages including Gordes, where the ladies were thrilled to see Russell Crowe filming “A Good Year” with director Sir Ridley Scott.  Some of the party were lucky enough to speak to Russell and found him really charming.

In the evening the Italian and French choirs gave a wonderful concert in the L’Isle sur la Sorgue cathedral.

The Tuesday saw pipers and drummers from Glencorse Pipe Band visiting local schools to carry out workshops with the pupils and tell them about pipe band music. In the evening the Scottish and Italian groups attended a reception with the mayor at the Hotel de Ville.  This was followed by a conference on European citizenship.

On the Wednesday there were further music workshops with local school children as well as students at the Music School. Bernard Girardin, the president of L’Isle sur la Sorgue twinning association received honorary membership of Glencorse Pipe Band and was presented with an Edinburgh Crystal decanter and tie after the band performed in his home village of Saumane.  That evening the group entertained people in the neighbouring town of Chateau Reynard.

Thursday evening saw a grand ceilidh, attended by more than 350 people with entertainment provided by the pipe band, Bill Richardson and the dancers.  The French loved the music and needed little persuasion to join in the dancing being greatly helped by Annabel Oates skills as a caller.

Fortunately Friday was a free day, giving everyone time to recover with some taking the opportunity to visit Avignon.

On Saturday there was a visit to the village of Petit Palais, where the performers again provided entertainment for shoppers at the market selling local produce.  There was a farewell party in the evening before the Penicuik visitors returned home after a week so packed with activity that it felt like a month.  The week of twinning had been a unique event and all the hard work put into preparation both in France and Scotland guaranteed a successful outcome, which will long be remembered.