On September 16^th, eleven members of the Falmouth Twinning Association, including two Falmouth ex-mayors, travelled to Saint Nazaire in Loire-Atlantique, to spend a week getting to know and experiencing the town and its people.

The invitation to visit followed the attendance of a group from Saint Nazaire at the 80^th annual Operation Chariot commemoration ceremony in March. This gallant raid has inextricably linked our two towns since the war and, in recent years, a desire for closer links and cooperation has developed and the two towns are now exploring the possibility of a permanent twinning arrangement.

The delegation was treated to seven days of exciting visits, wonderful food and great entertainment. The focus was on Operation Chariot. We had a guided tour of the dock and submarine pens, that were the main objectives during the raid. We also visited a museum, housed in a former German command post in Batz-sur-Mer, dedicated to the German occupation and fortification of Saint Nazaire. The museum housed an impressive bulkhead door from HMS Campbeltown that was recovered from the seabed many years after the raid.

On the Thursday of the visit, the party was entertained royally in the Town Hall and welcomed by the Deputy Mayor of Saint Nazaire, Céline Girard-Raffin. The chair of Falmouth Twinning, Peter Downie, presented a commemorative plate to the Saint Nazaire Jumelage (twinning) and Councillor Steve Eva presented the Deputy Mayor with two informative books on Falmouth.

During the week the party visited several very beautiful villages and ports and was treated to superb lunches each day. One of the highlights was a river trip on the river Brivet, a tributary of the Loire, teaming with wildlife. The evenings were spent getting together socially with other families and on the final night they held a “BYO” buffet in our honour. During the evening, we were wonderfully entertained by a local sea shanty group “Vent Arrière.”  They even included a very moving rendition of “Cornwall my Home” in their repertoire. They learnt the song especially for our visit.