Fen Edge Twinning Association welcome French visitors

The French are coming to Fen Edge in the first weekend in May, and lots of activities are planned, as Anna Vining explains.

The Fen Edge Twinning Association is about 16 years old and membership is open to everyone living in Cottenham, Rampton, Willingham, Waterbeach and Landbeach. The villages are twinned with Avrillé, a small town near the city of Angers on the river Loire, just south of Le Mans (famous for the 24-hour car race).

The association arranges and takes part in annual visits – we go to Avrillé one year and they come to us the next, usually one of the May bank holiday weekends, travelling by coach (or own car) on the Friday and returning on the Monday. Generally about 50 people from each twinning group are involved, the host group’s members offering accommodation and hospitality during the visit which this year will be here on 3rd and 4th May.

Various events are in the process of being organised and final details were not available at the time of going to press. But one of the highlights will be choral music – a local choir in Avrillé will be hosted by members of the bigMouth Choir in Cottenham, the adult ‘third’ of the TyrannoChorus which is directed by Siobhan Lihoreau. You can find TyrannoChorus at facebook.com/bigmouthsinging.

Don’t worry if you are not a fluent French speaker. Half the fun of the twinning experience is trying to find the right words in the other language, and making mistakes is all part of it. And nobody minds. This year there will be much to talk about: the revelations about François Hollande for one, and the Tour de France for another.

The association is always happy to welcome new members, so if you would like to take part in or know more about the coming visit contact Anna Vining at: panda@vining.co.uk.