Wrea Green Twinning Group
Saint Bris-le-Vineux is a small village of just over 1100 inhabitants situated in the Burgundy region of France, close to the town of Auxerre, about 175 km south-east of Paris. The history of Saint Bris dates back to Medieval era and the village shows much of this character.
The village is situated in a beautiful area of rolling hills with mature cherry orchards and vineyards which produce a fine variety of Burgundy wines. Many vineyards grow the Sauvignon grapes to make white wine under the Saint Bris label.
The Twinning Charter between our two villages was signed in 2005 and since then we have enjoyed many visits, and formed many new friendships which have grown stronger over the years. Click here for our constitution: Constitution Issue 2
Since 2005, joint activities during the biennial visits have included:
Visits to Wrea Green:
Fish & Chip suppers,
- English breakfasts,
- Safari suppers, BBQ
- Open gardens with afternoon tea
Visits to Saint Bris:
- Wine tasting
- Treasure Hunt
- Visits to Auxerre, local historic sites
- Exploring the wine caves
- Long French lunches!
There is no age limit for getting involved with Twinning – you will always be made welcome
whatever your contribution may be – from baking a cake on Field day to hosting some of
our French guests! whether you are single, a couple or have a young family, we are always
looking to grow our Group. It’s a great way to learn about French culture and even improve
your language skills, and you don’t have to be a fluent speaker.
If you would like more information, or would like to get involved in any aspect of Twinning, we would love to hear from you.
Contacts
Mike Parker : [email protected]
Mike Cockrill : [email protected]
News:
WREA GREEN VISITS BURGUNDY
The following article was written by Annie & Pete Wells on return from their first visit to France with the Wrea Green Twinning Group.
As newcomers to the twinning group we didn’t really know what to expect, despite the best efforts of other members in describing their previous visits. One thing we were expecting was plenty of food and wine, although perhaps not quite as much as we consumed over the few days we were there! Still, we weren’t complaining. All of it was excellent and much appreciated by everybody.
On arrival in Paris we were met at the airport by Jean-Yves and Jean-Pierre who fought their way through heavy traffic to get us to St.Bris. Probably took an hour or so longer than it should but that gave us more time to get to know the others in our mini bus and have a bit of banter.
On arrival at the town hall we met our French soon-to-be friends, Henri and Marie-Francoise. A lovely couple who it turned out had their own wine cellar and a draught beer pump! Once settled into our weekend home it was off to the Bersan vineyard down the road for what we thought was a welcome aperitif and snacks. It turned out to be a full blown buffet and the wine was flowing freely.
The next morning was an early start and after coffee and croissants with our hosts we met up with the rest of the group for a coach trip to the historic city of Dijon and a visit to the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy. An imposing building which houses the city’s town hall and the musee des Beaux-Arts, one of the oldest museums in France. After a tour of the museum, food and wine beckoned and we were all off to a local restaurant for lunch. The courses kept coming and the wine seemed to be in bottomless carafes! After an excellent leisurely meal it was back to Dijon for a stroll around the historic city. Well worth a visit. Then it was back to St Bris for a quiet night in and dinner with our hosts. Not that we needed much food after the lunch we’d had.
We did think that our lack of French might be an obstacle but that wasn’t the case. Our hosts were more than happy to practice their English and with our tiny knowledge of French we had some really amusing chats at the dinner table.
Sunday morning was a coach trip to Geudelon Castle, a project to build a medieval castle using only the techniques and materials used in the middle ages. It started in 1997 and is expected to be completed during the 2020s. After the now familiar large lunch and wine we went on a guided tour of the site. A unique experience for us all. On returning to St.Bris we spent the evening enjoying a safari supper with Mike and Dee and three of the French families wandering from house to house for different courses. Cheese and wine at each of course.
The following day after a leisurely morning with our hosts we enjoyed lunch with all our group and hosts. A lovely meal and guess what, there was wine too. Then it was back to Charles de Gaulle airport for the flight home.
This was our first experience with the twinners. We hadn’t even met all of our group before setting off for the airport but soon got to know everybody and found them to be a helpful, friendly bunch of people who, like us, enjoyed the company of others, welcomed new experiences, and liked a laugh. Our French friends are just the same and made us very welcome. If anyone out there is interested in becoming involved with the group we would recommend it to anyone.
The Twinning Group’s next big event will be running the Tea Tent for Field Day on 1st July. We’ll be asking our friends to contribute cakes to sell to help us to raise the funds we need to welcome our French friends to Wrea Green in Spring of 2018.
Make sure you visit us in the Tea Tent on Saturday 1st July.
If you’d like to join us in future events, contact Mike Parker on 01772 683700 or Mike Cockrill on 01772 672799.
Mike Parker