New ’twinners’ Judith and Tarquin Wiggins have written the following article about the anniversary weekend of the Ross-Condé Town Twinning Association.

This year, as every second year, we caught a night ferry to Le Havre. After a good night’s sleep, we stopped in Lisieux to enjoy lunch and see the beautiful, modern Basilica dedicated to St Thérèse. We also visited a special museum near Falaise, the Mémorial Montormel where the last battle of Normandy was fought and the Germans were defeated by Allied Troops. A very poignant visit.

Almost exactly a year after our French "twins" arrived in Ross to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the relationship between Condé and Ross, the Ross contingent set off on the 40th reciprocal visit to Condé-sur-Noireau. For many twinners this was a familiar and well-travelled route to visit friends they have come to know well over a number of years. At least one family have been twinning for 38 years and have seen the children of their hosts grow up and attended their weddings - the bonds have become very close. For others of us this was our very first trip and there was some trepidation about staying with relative strangers, communicating in a language we haven’t really used since school days. We needn’t have worried, the French welcomed us with open arms, literally and figuratively. On arrival in Condé, there was a reception at the Hotel de Ville with a welcome from the Mayor, Madame Valérie Desquesne. Whilst we helped ourselves to wine and local cider, we were given gifts including T-shirts commemorating the visit and, as a treat, there was an excellent rendition of French hunting songs played on old French hunting horns by three Frenchmen, all named "Jean" and magnificently dressed in traditional hunting attire. To mark the 40th anniversary, Alison Field our chair, on behalf of Ross-on-Wye, received a special gift of an antique spinning wheel which represents Conde’s historical commercial roots. Our gift to Condé was a tree to mark the 40th anniversary. The following day, the tree was planted in the garden of the Condé Mediathèque (library and art gallery). For long-time twinners it was touching to see the new tree planted alongside the one given by Ross to Condé to mark the 20th twinning anniversary. That small oak is now 20 feet tall!

Also at the Mediathèque, the Condé artists and artisans’ collective had worked hard to set up an exhibition of pictures by the Ross artists based in our Market House. The artwork was beautifully presented in a vaulted hall and a reception was held after the tree planting so that everyone could enjoy this special event with the usual glass of wine or local cider.

The Condé Twinning Association made sure that the whole weekend was full of interest and activities but also allowing plenty of time to spend with old and new French friends. On the Friday night, everyone went home with their French hosts to be wined and dined in style. It is remarkable how quickly and firmly friendships develop considering they are almost all conducted in a mixture of broken English and bad French and also how easily they are re-established every year. All helped by wine and Google Translate of course.

Saturday was a day to be spent ’en famille’. Our French family took us to Caen to admire the castle built by William the Conqueror and to eat our fill of crepes. On the way home we were taken high into the beautiful countryside to look down onto the river. The aspect reminded me of the stretch of the Wye between Kerne Bridge and Walford and I could see exactly why the originator of the twinning with Ross had been so strongly reminded of his home town when he was in Condé and why he had come up with the idea of building closer links between the two towns. As we drove back home, we even went through a kayaking centre on the river that resembled Symonds Yat!

On the Saturday evening of a twinning weekend there is always a dinner dance. During this celebration we were all clearly getting on as the noise in the hall was phenomenal. After a lovely meal, entertainment was provided by an English musician who has lived in France for many years and nearly everyone ended up dancing. The atmosphere was tremendous!

On Sunday, there was an organised visit to a chateau. The ancient building was a little draughty, but nothing compared to the glacial conditions that had prevailed when we took the French to the delightful Croome Court and RAF Defford the previous year. The chateau tour was followed by a visit to the seaside where we warmed up in the sun and watched the fun activities enjoyed by local youngsters and/or ate lunch. Early evening there was a 40th anniversary concert given by a local choir with a carefully chosen mixture of songs in French and English.

Our family had decided to take us instead to Mont St Michel - the awe-inspiring abbey built high on a rock in the middle of a tidal bay which was entirely cut off from the mainland twice a day before the causeway was constructed. We could only imagine the superhuman effort it had taken to transport and painstakingly carve each stone to create such beauty.  It was particularly kind of our family to take us on such a trip, as Martine and her two daughters would really have preferred to be shopping! More food on arrival at home: delicious Camembert melted in a wood fire and a lovely chicken dish made from a cockerel who had been running around the farmyard only a day or so before. He’d had a happy life but had become too naughty, pecking the other chickens (Editor’s note: We have vegetarian members and can cater for any dietary requirements).

Monday lunchtime saw us taking a sad farewell of our respective hosts and the usual tears from Sylviane Paris, our lovely French chair. She has been twinning since she was a child and gets very emotional when we all have to say goodbye for another year.  On the way home on the coach driven by our friendly driver Paul, we were all quite tired after a wonderful weekend but very keen to tell each other about the hospitality of the French and the treats we had enjoyed. It is a testament to the success of the trip that we were all talking about what we can do to make the next visit of the French to Ross just as enjoyable. We are now committed "twinners" and look forward to a long and happy relationship with our new family in Condé. For more information please contact Alison Field on 07800 799528 or visit the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/rossonwyecondesurnoireau