Frome visits Chateau-Gontier
A group from Frome Twinning Association visited our French twin town, Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne, over the weekend of June 28th – July 1st. We were accompanied by Philip and Karin Campagna representing Frome Town Council. This was the occasion of the annual meeting of the four twin towns at which Murrhardt and Rabka-Zdrój were also represented. Also present was a small delegation from the Italian town, Pieve di Soligo, which sits in the Veneto area north of Venice. Murrhardt and Château-Gontier have been discussing a twinning arrangement with Pieve.
During the visit members were hosted by French families giving us a chance to practise our French. We learnt about developments in our twin towns over the last 12 months and in other discussions agreed to compile information about sports clubs in our towns to see if we can add further exchanges.
Visits and walking tours to various places in Château-Gontier were arranged and all were able to attend the annual street festival (La Chalibaude). The weekend concluded with a joint ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Château-Gontier lies about 100 miles south of the landing beaches and was liberated by the Americans in August 1944.
Members returned on the Monday with happy memories of their stay and of making new friends and meeting again old friends.