a warm welcome at Gennes   just one of the many wonderful meals   a troglodyte dwelling   Global harmony in full swing at the concert hall at Les Ponts-de-Ce   both choirs before the concert at the church in Les Rosiers   presentation cakes at the last night party   a spontaneous burst of Voro Voro at the party   a sad farewell

Vive l'Entente Cordiale!

16th July 25 singers + 8 partners + Liz and her husband + 3 passenger supporters set off by coach from Melton to the Loire Valley. Another 14 singers and their partners had travelled independently in cars, caravans and campavans - with one singer and his wife even cycling all the way from Le Havre!

All were met on arrival of the coach by 50 members of Canta Koume and what was to be an overwhelmingly joyous reunion began. French hospitality is world reknowned and our wonderfully generous hosts could not have done more for us, we were wined and dined like royalty.

The planned itinery was action packed and delightful. A workshop followed by a singing walk on Friday. Sightseeing on Saturday and Sunday mornings - the area has so many beautiful features and activities to offer - markets in nearby towns, river boat trips, canooing, wine tasting at vineyards, troglodyte caves and dwellings and beautiful chateaux. We were spoilt for choice!

The two joint concerts were the main focus of the visit. The atmosphere was electric for the Saturday evening concert in a beautiful 17th century church in Les Rosiers. It was a privilege to sit and listen to Canta Koume's performance before singing ourselves. Both choirs received a wildly enthusiastic standing ovation from the packed audience before an encore of Rod Stewart's "Sailing" was sung together, both choirs having just learnt it from Gilles the day before. Magic was in the air, the acoustic was outstanding, and each choir's generosity towards each other inspired performances, that certainly in the history of Global Harmony, has not been experienced before. Sunday's concert, also extremely enjoyable and also of superb quality, was in a new and beautifully equipped concert hall in Les Ponts-de-Ce.

Each of the wonderully packed 3 days ended with a fabulous meal shared by well over 100 of us: Friday's at a water mill, Saturday's in the village hall at le Thoureil and Sunday's in the concert hall where we had sung. All meals were accompanied and followed by much carousing, singing and dancing.

All good things come to an end and the coach left on the morning of Monday 20th to much waving and shouts of "A la prochaine!" - "Till the next time!".
Should another full exchange prove to not be a possibilty, there have been strong friendships formed within the two choirs during these two reciprocal visits, which I'm sure will be reinforced in the future by indivudual visits both ways accross the channel.

Vive la Difference and Vive l'Entente Cordiale!

French Trip Reunion
On Thursday August 27th those who could gathered at the Samworth Centre for an evening of reminiscences and memories from the French trip.

Tony Maher had co-ordinated everyone's photos and we saw a wonderful show reel which brought it all back - the warmth, the hospitality, the fun, the laughter and the singing. There were also videos of the concerts - proving that we can all be on absolute top form even when on holiday!

It was a lovely evening and the refreshments included a large Entente Cordiale cake of our very own!

Thank you to all those who organised the evening.

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