Visit to Villebon sur Yvette, 25th to 30th May 2001

We arrived in the sunshine at the Jacques Brel Cultural Centre in Villebon at 3 o clock, an hour earlier than expected due to our flight being on time and not much traffic on the roads. Refreshments were served to us and then we had a look at the exhibition in the Centre about the future. Lionel Bocquet, President of twinning with Whitnash, looked after us until everyone's host arrived.

Richard was asked to attend the joint committee meeting by Lionel the next morning. He went as an observer. Chris and I went to the local supermarket and we were given a bag of free samples and coupons, as it would be Mother's Day on Sunday. We met up with the other hosts and guests at Les Casseaux School. Monsieur Sauverton welcomed us and we were shown around the school. One of the classes sang 2 English songs to us. The group of children that came to Whitnash last June met us and served drinks. Poetry books were exchanged between Les Casseaux School and the 3 Whitnash Schools.

Saturday afternoon we were taken by coach to Chamarande Castle and gardens. The French Guide was translated by Anne Jones. The hallway was impressive with walls of stucco painted marble.

Sunday morning we attended the service at St Come and St Damien Church. Steve Bate gave an excellent reading with French translation afterwards. The rest of the day was free to spend with our hosts. In the afternoon we went to Chateau Matris, twenty minutes by car from Villebon. We walked around the gardens, where there were some enormous carp in a pond, adjacent to the Chateau.

Monday s visit to Chantilly Castle, the leading Equestrian Centre in France was very interesting and enjoyable. First, we watched demonstrations of ponies and horses training techniques. Next, we saw life-size models of different types of horses and then on to the stables to see the real ones! We had a very nice meal with roast duck at the restaurant, whilst watching a young lady practising tricks with her mount in the show ground. After lunch we were given a guided tour in English around the Chateau.

Everyone met at Pères Lazaristes Park that evening for the official twinning dinner. Duck again! We heard speeches from Paul Yarwood, standing in for the Chairman, Tony Heath, our new Mayor and Patrick Batoufflet, in charge of Culture, Public Holiday functions and Twinning standing in for Gérard Nevers, Mayor of Villebon. Tony presented Villebon with a crystal rose bowl engraved with a bear and ragged staff from Whitnash Town Council.

Tuesday we visited Sacre Coeur and Place de Tatre in Paris. It was a very hot day so we stopped for liquid refreshment here, before walking to "Hippopotamus" restaurant for our lunch. After lunch the coach took us to the Eiffel Tower. We split up into about three groups. Our group went to the Troccadore and looked at the view of the fountains and gardens in front of the Eiffel Tower. We took a walk through the park by the Tower to the Wall of Peace that was covered in graffiti messages. Before returning to the coach we stopped to buy drinks or ice creams. When we got back to the coach, the inevitable happened; one of our group went missing. We were only delayed by twenty minutes while a few people went to the end of the road to look for him. Cavin spotted him across the road and ran up to him. The coach driver was able to get us back to Villebon in good time. We spent a pleasant last evening with our hosts.

Time to return home. Everyone had enjoyed their visit and the good weather.

Brenda and Richard Sparkes