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The pink bag

Post 1

You can call me TC

2legs story about the demonstration in Cambridge reminded me of this amusing anecdote.

Our town is twinned with a town in Burgundy (also with one in Hungary, but none in the UK - any offers?)

Whilst we have been loosely attached to the twinning association, we have never been active, except for a little involvement through the school (hubby was a French teacher, after all) way back in the late 70s/early 80s.

The Twinning celebrated its 55th anniversary this year and we took in a visitor, for the first time! The Town Council, after the previous Mayor had been forced to resign due to corruption, was only recently replaced with a completely new set of young people with very little political background. Our guest was a social worker in her 40s with a 13-year-old daughter.

The weekend that they stayed was full of events, the weather was lovely, and it was a great success, finishing with a celebratory ecumenical church service on the Sunday morning. I was in the choir singing at church, so I would have gone to that anyway.

Also taking place on the Sunday was a demonstration of a right wing group. Our Mayor had allowed this demonstration, but, wisely, as it turned out, had disallowed all counter-demonstrations. Long story short, about 120 demonstrators mooched around the hot, deserted streets of the town, supervised by 140 police, and absolutely no one else was there (except maybe a journalist or two, who probably wished they'd gone swimming like the rest of the population). Lead balloon!

So - all the French "dignitaries" set out from their various houses with their hosts to go to church on the Sunday morning. The Mayor of the French town still had some presents (confectionery) to distribute, which were in a pretty pink carrier bag. He had these in his hand, but his wife reprimanded him "You can't go to church with that!". As his host, our local Mayor, had already locked the house, he left the bag in the shade at the side of the house to collect later.

When they returned, after church, the house had been cordonned off, and was guarded by armed police! Someone had seen the bag and suspected a bomb! At the Mayor's abode! Of course, they sorted it out and the French Mayor (also a youngish man in his 40s - very attractive, charismatic and with a great sense of humour) told this story later to everyone's amusement. He's probably still dining out on it now!

Come to think of it, the policemen involved probably are, too - it would have been the brightest part of their boring Sunday, when they had been no doubt wishing they could have gone to the beach, like the rest of the population.


The pink bag

Post 2

2legs - Hey, babe, take a walk on the wild side...

smiley - laugh Maybe you could be twinned with Cambridge? smiley - evilgrinsmiley - alesmiley - biggrin


The pink bag

Post 3

paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant

A mayor thrown out because of corruption? Surely that's a first! smiley - winkeye


The pink bag

Post 4

You can call me TC

Cambridge is already twinned with Heidelberg.

However, the UK is generally difficult to activate in the twinning stakes.

Although....

When we were expecting our guests, I thought to myself that the twinning of Newmarket with Maisons-Laffitte, which gave us several years of excursions to France and adventures with our French penpals when I was at school, must go back further than 55 years. I was right - I looked about on the internet and found that it was first dreamed up the month of my birth - November 1954 - and was finalised in the early 60s - so the 60th anniversary had already been and gone.

However, just after the war, it was probably easier for French and English towns to match up than it was for French and German ones. So, not bad going really.


The pink bag

Post 5

paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant

Boston has eight official sister cities: Melbourne; Kyoto; Barcelona; Taipei; Hangzhou, China; Padua, Italy; Sekindi-Takoradi, Ghana; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and Praia, Cape Verde


The pink bag

Post 6

Recumbentman

A lot of Irish towns are twinned with French or German towns... give one a call.


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