After inviting our friends in Chinon last year to visit us in June this year, there was an ominous silence for some weeks. I did not then know that the cost of travel was proving prohibitive. To hire a coach would have cost them €8500. Shared among fewer than 20 people, that option was too expensive.
A minibus and cars were an alternative but, because of Brexit, they could not hire a minibus to bring to and drive in this Country. Leaving the vehicles at a ferry port and crossing the Channel as foot passengers was an alternative. I made enquiries to find out the cost of coach travel to collect them from and return them to Newhaven or Portsmouth. I offered to arrange collection from Plymouth free of charge as another alternative.
The Town of Chinon came to the rescue. It owns a minibus (paid for by advertising on it) and agreed that it could be used for transport to and from Tiverton.
At last, we were able to make arrangements for the visit. There were times when I wondered whether it would actually happen!
They arrived in Plymouth on Thursday June 6th – a day which will always be remembered and which, this year, was the 80th anniversary of D-Day. 18 guests (Marie Claire having had to stay at home because her husband was very unwell) had left Chinon very early that morning and, after a brief drop-off at Cullompton, they arrived in Tiverton just after 10.00pm.
A deliberately late start the following morning saw some 43 guests, hosts and members board a coach which transported them to the Swan’s Nest Pub at Exminster where everyone enjoyed an excellent meal of fish, chips and mushy peas. We then travelled to Powderham Castle for a guided tour. We were divided into two groups and were entertained and informed by guides Felicity and Andy with stories about ghosts, secret doors and a fertility lamp. The evening was spent “chez” hosts.
Saturday morning was spent wandering around Tiverton counting charity and closed shops and hairdressers. We were welcomed at the Town Hall by the Mayor and Mayoress and enjoyed an excellent buffet meal prepared by Wally, Ann and Karen. A well-deserved presentation was made to Jean Pierre by the Mayor to acknowledge his many years of involvement in and organisation of this and past visits. He was made an “Honorary Citizen” of Tiverton.
The afternoon was also spent in the company of hosts as they prepared for the evening’s entertainment. Almost 50 people arrived at the Cruwys Morchard Village Hall at about 6.30pm for a meal of curry washed down with beer, lager and cider. For those less keen on spicy food, there was sweet and sour chicken and pork black bean, all expertly cooked by the Ceylon Curry House. The entertainment was a Ceilidh with music by the Lucy Lastic Band accompanied by a variety of antics (some very amusing) as “dancers” attempted to follow the instructions of the Caller with varying degrees of success.
The Sunday was a “free” day and guests spent the day with their hosts exploring various attractions in the area or just relaxing in the pleasant weather. That evening, the Farewell Dinner took place at the Tiverton Golf Club where the French and their hosts tucked in to a meal of roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding with the usual trimmings. There was some amusement when the “mayonnaise” on the table was found to be horseradish sauce only after applied lavishly to the prawn cocktail. Everyone struggled to describe to the French an Eton Mess.
Departure was timed for 8.00am the following morning. Knowing how long it takes to say “Goodbye”, everyone was told to be there for 7.30am. Half an hour was scarcely sufficient.
Our guests returned to France via the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry. Even so, they did not arrive in Chinon until the early hours of the following morning. John