Billinghay and District Twinning Association enjoyed another successful trip to their twin in France, Ballon sur Sarthe. After setting out on the Saturday, the coach party enjoyed a less stressful journey than in the past as they stayed overnight in Portsmouth before catching the ferry to France on the Sunday. They arrived in good spirits to join those who had taken their cars to Ballon at an official reception in the Salle des Fetes. After an appetising buffet, the families departed to spend the evening with their French hosts. It was around this time that the weather took a turn for the worse with constant rain setting in.
Monday was a day spent with families with everyone following their own itinerary. A large group of “twinners” attended a barbecue consuming large quantities of food and drink, a theme that was consistent throughout the visit. Generally speaking, this was a rest day in preparation of the main event.
Tuesday, two coachloads headed for Versailles to view the Palace and Gardens. The two and a half hour’s trip was well worthwhile. Despite appalling weather conditions, the tour of the Palace with all its opulence was enjoyed by everyone. The tour of the gardens was less enjoyable as due to torrential rain, most of the visitors felt that they had become part of the water features. Even so the magnificent gardens, fountains and landscaping made the damp feeling bearable. The picture of one of the fountains illustrates how magnificent the gardens are.
So bad had the weather become that the journey back to Ballon had to be diverted due to flooding on the Motorway. Our intrepid English coach driver negotiated a diversion very successfully and we arrived back at Ballon 45 minutes in front of the French coach. Apparently the French driver knew of a short cut that was better than the SATNAV diversion. What a pity that road was flooded as well!!
After the busy day before, the morning of Wednesday was spent with the host families but, after lunch, a visit had been arranged to the lace making museum and factory in Alencon. Lace is still made by hand there and, after a talk on the history of lacemaking in Alencon, there was a demonstration of the art. The intricate and time-consuming work needed to produce just a small piece of hand-made lace is truly amazing. Examples of small pieces of such work can command an extraordinary price due to the hours spent in making. After the visit it was a rush back to our host’s houses to don our Red, White & Blue costumes for the evening festivities. Some people had gone to extreme lengths and our Chairman’s socks were a prime example of this.
The first task in the evening was the unveiling of knitted national flags on the Rue de Billinghay in Ballon.
This was followed by an evening of dining, dancing and musical entertainment despite an intrusion by two “Middle Eastern Gentlemen” carrying cans of Gazole (Diesel). It turned out to be Calvados which was added to the sorbet and was very tasty indeed. Special mention must be made of the intrepid group of performers from Billinghay who performed a rather risky number already seen in our village courtesy of BADASS. As usual Haydn Clark and Megan provided superb music and singing with the dance floor crowded for most of the evening. The event finished in the early hours and it was as well that the coach did not leave until late morning the next day.
It should not be mentioned that one gentleman (with a personalised number plate but who will remain nameless) in our Group emerged from the Ladies toilets at one stage in the proceedings. We all agreed that Calvados could have that effect.