Syston Twinning
Over the Bank holiday weekend, 22nd to 25th May, 15 members of the Syston Twinning visited our twinned town Deville les Rouen in Normandy, France.
Oh what a fabulous weekend we had, after a slight delay at the Le Shuttle due to the check in failing we arrived about hour later than planned, arriving at 7pm French time. We were given a reception in the Marie (Town Hall), with the Mayor of Deville Les Rouen, Mirella Deloignon, welcoming us all and wishing us a good weekend.
After light refreshments we went off with our host families for an evening of good food, wine and friendship, new and existing, chatting until late, as we had to be up and on a coach at 6.30am (French time) to visit the magnificent Palace of Versailles.
It was a hot day reaching 33o C, and little shade outdoors, we walked around the state rooms in the Palace including the hall of mirrors which is where the treaty of Versailles was signed in June 1919 at the end of WW1. It is beautiful, we also visited the Queens chambers and Kings Chamber, shown below, the whole room is covered in tapestry, the walls, drapes, bed etc. it is situated just off the hall of mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed at the end of WW1.
After lunch at a restaurant nearby, some visited the gardens of Versailles, which are vast others chose to find a shaded bar and enjoyed some drinks to keep hydrated.
We left at approximately, 5.45pm arriving back in Deville les Rouen around 7pm, after which we all went back with our host families for an evening of rest, a meal and great conversation reviewing the day.
Sunday we went to Fecamp a beautiful small port, famous for herring and Benedictine. We had a walk around the town up to a beautiful church which was so large it could be a cathedral.
After, another fabulous meal with refreshments we hoped to visit the museum of the Benedictine distillery, but unfortunately they couldn’t accommodate us, so we visited the shop and the bar were some members enjoyed a taster of the four varieties produced in the distillery, these were, Benedictine D.O.M., the B&B (benedictine & brandy), Single Cask and 1888 made with cognac and benedictine. A great day out with cooler temperatures being near the coast, but beautiful.
A full programme which was both amazing and tiring in equal measures.
We returned to Deville les Rouen for our last evening with our hosts and then all too soon came Monday morning and we had to return to Syston leaving around 9am(french time).
We arrived back in Syston around 8pm (British Time) after a slight detour via the A1 as the N25 was closed at South Mimms because of the serious accident.
I think we all slept extremely well that night and now look forward to seeing our families in November here in Syston for the Remembrance Sunday and in May 2027 when we will host our friends again.
If you would like to know about Syston Twinning, please contact us either via our facebook page or via Fiona on 0116 269 3221.
