It was such an honour and a privilege to host Pierre Hurmic ( @pierrehurmic ) the Mayor of Bordeaux and the City of Bordeaux @villedebordeaux delegation to our recent AGM. He kindly answered our questions and talked about the main climate challenges that he believes our two cities are facing. A very interesting and emotional meeting to remind people that the long relationship between our cities is more alive than ever.
Late in the evening of 13th July, five members of l’Association Bordeaux- Bristol arrived at Bristol Airport and were met by Mike and Teresa of the Bristol Bordeaux Partnership, who took them to their hotel/lodgings in Clifton/Horfield. In the group were Michel and Huguette Bordeau, Valérie Bonnet, Maggy Leglise and Nathalie Pasquier.
The following morning – ‘le quatorze juillet’ and a beautiful day – Vivien, Rob and Teresa took them to Clevedon, where, for ‘morning coffee’ at No. 5, The Beach, Nathalie was delighted to be served tea in a teapot with a tea cosy – knitted by the granny of one of the waitresses!
A visit to the historic and beautiful Victorian pier was appreciated by all and was followed by lunch at the Glass Box restaurant.
In the evening, some met with David Vowles, longstanding member of the original Bristol Bordeaux Association, and friend of many, at Teresa and David’s (not forgetting Monty) in Sea Mills.
On Friday morning all five Bordelais, now joined by Joël Goumy and his wife Marlène and accompanied by Thomas and Vivien, met up with Rob Collin, a Blue Badge Guide for the South West, who conducts walks which focus on the history of slavery in Bristol. He took the group on a short walk in the centre which was packed with information: indeed he proved to be both extremely knowledgeable and totally passionate about the need to accurately convey to visitors the facts about the slave trade in Bristol, particularly of course in relation to the part played by Edward Colston.
Rob was very impressed by Huguette’s knowledge of some aspects of Bristol history and he was very touched when Huguette presented him with a copy of her book about John and Sebastian Cabot.
He was also impressed by the keen interest shown by the group in the rather difficult subject matter. I think he would have happily extended the tour well into the afternoon but lunch had been booked at the Watershed and the group had to leave their guide on College Green.
To mark the 75th Anniversary of both the Bristol-Bordeaux and the Bristol-Hannover twinnings, members of BBP and ABB, together with a strong representative from the Bristol Hannover twinning, gathered on College Green, to await the arrival of the Lord Mayor of Bristol. Tea and cake were served in the City Hall and speeches given by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Paula O’Rourke, the Lord Lieutenant of Bristol, Peaches Golding and Dr Ann Kennard, chair of the Bristol Hannover Council. There was also a video recorded message from the Mayor of Hannover who was unable to attend in person as he had contracted Covid. The speeches were followed by an uplifting performance from RISE, the youth dance group.
A special cake had been made for the occasion…
On Friday evening, still not exhausted by the day’s activities, some of the Bordelais group managed to meet up with old friends from previous visits.
On Saturday the Bordelais were free to visit the Harbour Festival at their leisure and in the evening the group, now joined by Cathy Barquero and her daughter Ethel, her sister and a friend from Bordeaux, met for a very pleasant farewell meal at The Lion in Cliftonwood.
Some of the group flew back to Bordeaux on Sunday and others managed to fit in a few more visits to old friends before flying home on Monday.
Produced by the Bristol Bordeaux Partnership in collaboration with Lighting up Learning and Bristol City Council, funded by Quartet and designed by Jack Anderson, this interactive tool will help learners and schools alike spread the word about Bristol’s oldest twinning relationship.
Comprised of a suite of fun and entertaining activities which also link to things you could do in school, it is the perfect tool for discovering the South West Capital of France.
Feel free to download it from our website with this link.
Ms Ann Kennard, Chair of the Bristol/Hannover Council.
Mr Colin Fletcher, Chief Executive Officer, PROPS.
– all our attendees in person and on Zoom.
Board Members Elections
– Mr Thomas Sanchis, as the new Chairman.
– Ms Vivien Brown, as Vice-Chair.
– Mr Mark Packham, as Treasurer.
– Mr Mark Atherton, as Secretary.
– Ms Teresa Goodall, as Membership Secretary.
A MASSIVE MERCI to the former Chairman, Mike Healey for his amazing work over the last (tough) couple of years. We wish him all the best for his travel.
Many events are coming for our 75th Birthday celebration…
The Annual General Meeting of the Bristol Bordeaux Partnership will be held via a virtual Zoom video conference on Tuesday 23rd February between 18.00 & 19.00. All current and prospective individual, family or business members are invited to attend.
The meeting will include a short talk by our guest speaker Dr Jenny Gaschke: Curator of European Art pre-1900 at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery.Dr Gaschke specialises in British and European Landscape art and has been working with Sandra Buratti Hasan (Musée des Beaux-Arts Bordeaux de Bordeaux) and Guillaume Faroult (Louvre) on the exhibition ‘Absolutely Bizarre! Les drôles d’histoires de l’école de Bristol’ since 2016.
This major exhibition of over 60 works by the Bristol School of Artists will open in Bordeaux in June 2021.
Bristol Bordeaux Partnership: https://www.bristolbordeaux.org/
has teamed up with Bristol based Zanshin Films: https://zanshinfilms.co.uk/ to
develop a personalised video library of Bordeaux experiences for inclusion on
the Bristol Bordeaux Partnership website and social media channels.
We would love to hear from anyone interested in
participating. We will be asking for participants to video themselves and to
send in their content digitally for editing by Zanshin Films.
We would like to have some short 5 – 10 minutes of copy
for the following questions:
Who are you and what do you do now?
When did you go to Bordeaux & Why?
What was the best/ most memorable moment of your trip/stay?
How are you still in touch with the Bordeaux or Aquitaine region and the people that you met?
What is your message today for anyone wanting to get to know Bordeaux for work or fun?
If you are interested in participating please contact: mike.healey@bristolbordeaux.com or leave a message on the Bristol Bordeaux Partnership website, Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin channels.
Alternatively please contact Zanshin Films:
https://zanshinfilms.co.uk/ via the website.