Salisbury Saintes Twinning Association
Salisbury Saintes Twinning Association
Saintes Salisbury Twinning
 

Mayoral visit to Saintes 2025

 

Mayor of Salisbury and our President and his Consort visit to
Saintes for the 2025 célébrations du 14 juillet
Councillor John Wells, the Mayor of Salisbury and President of the Salisbury Saintes
Twinning Association, with his Consort Jo Wells travelled to Saintes to take part in the annual
weekend de célébration du 14 juillet. They were accompanied by the chairman of the SSTA,
Mervyn Pannett and his wife Jocelyn. As ever, the Mairie had laid on a very full programme,
starting at lunchtime on Saturday, temperature in the mid 30s, with a degustation or tasting,
of oysters, shellfish and charcuterie washed down with Charentais wine.
That was followed be a very full evening. First, at 5 pm we attended a concert given by a
jazz singer, a young woman called Georgie Brown. She and her keyboard accompanist put
on a wonderful show with Georgie, who is bilingual, switching seamlessly between songs in
English and French. That was followed by dinner with a cabaret outdoors at Le Quai de
Jazz. At the meal we were able to get to know and chat to the Belgian twiners from Nivelles
and the German twiners from Xanten.
After a late night, we had an early start the next day, Sunday, to be at the Abbaye aux Dames
at 9 am for a conducted tour. The tour guide spoke French so great thanks must go to
Marie-Claude and Anne-Marie who provided a wonderful translation service to John and Jo.
After that the mayors and their twiners went to the Moroccan restaurant for lunch. Again, we
had a chance to chat with people from the other twinned towns and were entertained by a
belly dancer who performed during each of the three courses. Hardly had we finished our
lunch than we were boarding the Bernard Palissy III at 4 pm, the newest of the river cruise
boats, for a cruise down the river. This gave John and Jo the opportunity to meet Thomas
Görtz, the Mayor of Xanten and his wife, who had just arrived in Saintes. Last on the agenda
for the Sunday was a drinks party given by the Amitiés Saintes Salisbury at 6 pm to welcome
John and Jo. Unfortunately, the cruise was 2 hours, 40 minutes long so we didn’t arrive until
rather late. It was a lovely occasion and allowed Jocelyn and Mervyn to meet up with some
old friends.
Monday was the big day, 14 juillet, France’s premier national day. Thankfully the weather
was overcast with temperatures in the mid 20s so it was comfortable. We assembled outside
the Palais de Justice on the Cours National at 10 am as more and more mayors and
dignitaries from Saintes and its twinned towns assembled. Regrettably the parade was not
as large as in previous years. The airbase at Pons which used to provide the Guard of
Honour now sends personnel to the 14 juillet parade in Paris so Saintes was only able to
have a guard of 8 personnel. The drive past was led by a huge contingent of the local
Sapeur-Pompiers, although judging by the number and variety of fire appliances there must
have been contingents from the surrounding towns. After the parade we assembled at the
Mairie for the inevitable speeches and gift giving. That was followed by an informative wine
tasting at a local wine merchant. The last event of the weekend was a dinner at La Terrace,
a restaurant overlooking the river, opposite the Arc de Germanicus. This was a delicious
meal in a lovely setting with the various parties from the twinned towns getting to know each
other even better. Unfortunately, the traditional fireworks which bring the 14 juillet weekend
to a close were cancelled due to the risk of fire following so many weeks of drought.
It was a very full, exhausting but wonderful weekend and we all thank the citizens of Saintes
for their wonderful welcome and hospitality.

 

Mayor of Salisbury and our President and his Consort visit to Saintes for the 2025 célébrations du 14 juillet

 

Councillor John Wells, the Mayor of Salisbury and President of the Salisbury Saintes

Twinning Association, with his Consort Jo Wells travelled to Saintes to take part in the annual

weekend de célébration du 14 juillet. They were accompanied by the chairman of the SSTA,

Mervyn Pannett and his wife Jocelyn. As ever, the Mairie had laid on a very full programme,

starting at lunchtime on Saturday, temperature in the mid 30s, with a degustation or tasting,

of oysters, shellfish and charcuterie washed down with Charentais wine.

That was followed be a very full evening. First, at 5 pm we attended a concert given by a

jazz singer, a young woman called Georgie Brown. She and her keyboard accompanist put

on a wonderful show with Georgie, who is bilingual, switching seamlessly between songs in

English and French. That was followed by dinner with a cabaret outdoors at Le Quai de

Jazz. At the meal we were able to get to know and chat to the Belgian twiners from Nivelles

and the German twiners from Xanten.

After a late night, we had an early start the next day, Sunday, to be at the Abbaye aux Dames

at 9 am for a conducted tour. The tour guide spoke French so great thanks must go to

Marie-Claude and Anne-Marie who provided a wonderful translation service to John and Jo.

After that the mayors and their twiners went to the Moroccan restaurant for lunch. Again, we

had a chance to chat with people from the other twinned towns and were entertained by a

belly dancer who performed during each of the three courses. Hardly had we finished our

lunch than we were boarding the Bernard Palissy III at 4 pm, the newest of the river cruise

boats, for a cruise down the river. This gave John and Jo the opportunity to meet Thomas

Görtz, the Mayor of Xanten and his wife, who had just arrived in Saintes. Last on the agenda

for the Sunday was a drinks party given by the Amitiés Saintes Salisbury at 6 pm to welcome

John and Jo. Unfortunately, the cruise was 2 hours, 40 minutes long so we didn’t arrive until

rather late. It was a lovely occasion and allowed Jocelyn and Mervyn to meet up with some

old friends.

Monday was the big day, 14 juillet, France’s premier national day. Thankfully the weather

was overcast with temperatures in the mid 20s so it was comfortable. We assembled outside

the Palais de Justice on the Cours National at 10 am as more and more mayors and

dignitaries from Saintes and its twinned towns assembled. Regrettably the parade was not

as large as in previous years. The airbase at Pons which used to provide the Guard of

Honour now sends personnel to the 14 juillet parade in Paris so Saintes was only able to

have a guard of 8 personnel. The drive past was led by a huge contingent of the local

Sapeur-Pompiers, although judging by the number and variety of fire appliances there must

have been contingents from the surrounding towns. After the parade we assembled at the

Mairie for the inevitable speeches and gift giving. That was followed by an informative wine

tasting at a local wine merchant. The last event of the weekend was a dinner at La Terrace,

a restaurant overlooking the river, opposite the Arc de Germanicus. This was a delicious

meal in a lovely setting with the various parties from the twinned towns getting to know each

other even better. Unfortunately, the traditional fireworks which bring the 14 juillet weekend

to a close were cancelled due to the risk of fire following so many weeks of drought.

It was a very full, exhausting but wonderful weekend and we all thank the citizens of Saintes

for their wonderful welcome and hospitality.

 

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