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Fifteen members of the Cowes-Deauville Twinning Association were recently invited for a four day exchange visit to Deauville.

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All did not start well as we were delayed for more than three hours at the Folkestone Channel Tunnel station.

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This was due to poor crowd control at the Calais end when an illegal immigrant had to be flushed out of the tunnel trying to walk to England.
Our French hosts had to wait patiently until we arrived at 8.30pm. This meant that we were still eating our supper at 11pm, their time!

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However, Saturday was a fine day for us to explore the ancient town of Bayeux (we were beaten there by Princess Diane and Prince Charles in 1987).
We were impressed by the Gothic Cathedral, Notre-Dame de Bayeux, consecrated in 1077.
This was reputed to have been the original home of the famed Bayeux Tapestry where we spent a couple of hours after a welcome lunch.
The tapestry, dating from about 1070, is 70 metres long and depicts scenes of William the Conquerer’s crossing to England and the subsequent defeat of Harold, king of England. This was a very interesting and well laid out exhibition.

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That evening, after being greeted by the Deauville Vice-Mayor, Madam Isabelle Santos Patry and, after the exchange of gifts, we all enjoyed a bit of a party and an informal buffet.

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Sunday morning was free with our hosts after which we had a guided tour of the Tuilerie de Bavent (a tile factory).
Here we were shown the traditional methods used to make their classic finials that are seen on the top of many Normandy roofs.

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Our final evening was celebrated with a formal dinner at the ‘Clos de St. Gatien’ restaurant.

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Monday morning, after a swift goodbye to our hosts, we departed for an uneventful return to the Island.

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Photos courtesy of Barry Bates.

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