A number of Canterbury Rotarians and their partners enjoyed a weekend in France recently when they met up with our European Rotary partners (Pentangular), hosted by the Rotary Club of St Quentin.
The Canterbury group met up with members and their partners from the Rotary Clubs of St Quentin (France), Leuven (Belgium), Lüdenscheid (Germany) and Leiden (The Netherlands) to enjoy each others’ company, catch up with activities and discuss our Joint Pentangular Projects. Its always a nice chance to catch up with friends.
The visitors were welcomed on the Friday evening by the President of St Quentin, Jean-Luc Leclerq, before they settled in at their hotels or at the home of Rotarian hosts. On Saturday morning the group set off to Reims by bus for a day of “discovery” of the Champagne area. In Reims they visited the art nouveau/art deco “Villa Demoiselle” that belongs to Champagne producers Mr & Mrs Vranken. They then went to the nearby cellar of Pommery, the largest Champagne property.
After a tasty lunch together the visitors were treated to a guided tour of Reims Cathedral – with its lovely stained-glass windows – before returning to St Quentin. Saturday evening was spent at a Gala Dinner with song, dance and speeches; the evening’s theme was “Les Années folles, 1920-1929”.
On Sunday the visitors had a choice of activities, including a walk in the park and a visit to an art exhibition. Later that morning there was a presentation about the latest Joint Pentangular Project (JPP4) and Club Presidents had a meeting. Finally, everyone had the chance to enjoy lunch together before setting off back home.
Speaking about the weekend, Sue Thompson, wife of one of our Past Presidents Stephen Thompson, said: “We enjoyed a wonderful Gala Dinner at the old Banque de France; I loved seeing the Villa Demoiselle – the Art Nouveau property which belongs to Pommery – and of course the newest stained-glass windows in Reims Cathedral were among my favourites”.
Picture: A composite of some pictures taken over the weekend (L-R): Villa Demoiselle, a huge mole – aka taupe – in the garden; pictures of stained-glass windows in Reims Cathedral. Picture credit: Sue Thompson/Rotary Club of Canterbury.
