France 2006

Day 1 - May 26/27th

Today involved a lot of travelling. We set off at midnight from the Village Hall in Corfe Mullen. We travelled along to Dover where we boarded the 06:23 (BST) train to Calais . We arrived in Calais at about 08.00 (GMT +2), where we continued on to a Service station to stop for a break, and stretch our legs. We popped in and had breakfast. When we arrived in Calais the weather was overcast, misty and wet. We thought perhaps the British weather had followed us over! We continued on down through France , and stopped at another Service station where we stopped for lunch. The sun was beginning to break through the cloud by this time, around 2pm, and the already excited yet tired band members, became even more excited in the anticipation of the arrival to our campsite. We then continued down through France for about another 2 hours, we eventually arrived at our destination at about 4pm. When we arrived, the weather was gorgeous.

Now it was time to begin setting up camp. We were greeted by the Harding's (Joyce and Dave) and shown where to set up camp. We have the use of 4 Gite’s, one for our very much appreciated coach driver Richard, one for the use of cooking and one for the use of the members and leaders. After finding out where everything was, we began on setting up the tents, which was to be more of a challenge than we had originally anticipated. Added to the difficulties we were going to encounter, we had the hot weather, which we certainly weren't used to. We set up the tent that was originally to be for the use of the senior team members, and then began on the other two, one for the younger boys and one for the girls. Whilst setting up the girls' tent, it came to our notice that it was in fact missing the doors! We continued to set up the boys' tent, to see what solution we could come up with. The doors weren't found, so the girls were given the boys tent, and the boys took use of the senior team member’s tent. Leaving us with the problem of the senior members having no accommodation. It was mentioned that a Bivouac (i.e., the canvas from the tent with no doors, draped over a tree), but this was soon dispelled by the senior team. In the end it was decided that the best place for them was an unused six berth caravan that was on site. This was quite a luxury to what the senior members were used to, electricity and all! We may not be able to revert back to tents for Kingsbridge! This was the end of an extremely long day, which even now, still seems like an entire weekend! The younger members had a hot drink, and went off to bed, whilst the older members gathered around the burner for a chat.

Day 2 - May 28th

We awoke at about 7.30am, 8am to the sound of the cockerel, and proceeded to the Kitchen area for our lovely cooked breakfast, which was going to be needed if we were to last the day out. After breakfast was finished we began to prepare our kit, wash down the van, and get ready for a busy day of playing. We left at about 11.40am, and arrived at the centre of Vivy to play with the local Vivy band. We listened to them play, and then proceeded to march, manoeuvre and play ourselves. After we had played we played a few tunes with the Vivy band, then fell out and loaded our things on the coach. Then we were headed for lunch with the band. We arrived and received a very warm welcome; we were introduced to their traditions and ways, and very well fed and watered. We socialised and got to know some of the members. Then it was back onto the coach to play with the Allonnes band.

We arrived on time and sat and listened to them play a few tunes. We then played a few of our own and, as before, played a few tunes with them. We then went downstairs, and changed our clothes as we were about to go for dinner. Again we were extremely well fed and watered, and got to know some of the band members quite well. The language barrier didn't prove to be much of a problem in the end, as we all seemed to understand each other quite well. After we had eaten another great meal, they played some music and a lot of us got up and danced. Despite the fact that this was an extremely tiring day, we all had an absolutely excellent time, and it was well worth the energy! We have also invited the bands and their families over to our campsite for a meal and drinks. That will be an approximate 140 people. Our aching muscles were soothed by the words 'lie in' and 'relaxing day to follow'.

Day 3 - May 29th

Today we were granted the luxury of a lie in, until about 11.00am. We then got up and we were greeted by yet another brilliant breakfast. After which, we relaxed. Some people were playing football, others were just sitting down. As that is all we did in the morning, I'll skip ahead to the afternoon, where we decided to go into Saumur, for some shopping, The band members were looking forward to some time to purchase gifts, the odd ice cream here and there. When we returned, it was decided that a game of rounders was in order. This was thoroughly enjoyed by all the members and leaders. The game was however interrupted by dinner, which consisted of hotdogs, baguettes, beans, and home made chips.  As this was a relaxing day, it meant we didn't do all that much, which is why this entry is so much shorter than the others. We hope to have more to report tomorrow!  

Day 4 – May 30th

This morning we had another bit of a lie in, as we didn’t get up until about 9/10am. We had our usual lovely cooked breakfast and got ready to go on another day out. After lunch, which consisted of some fresh baguettes and various fillings, we went to the hypermarket, which is 7 km squared! Most of the members were amazed by the size of this, and welcomed the opportunity to buy some more presents for families and friends. There was a huge range of things to buy, with several mini shops within the hypermarket. The members enjoyed browsing the range of goods, and mini shops, including a sweet shop which was very much liked by the members. After the visit to the hypermarket, we returned to camp to enjoy a swim in the pool that is on site. This proved enjoyable for all involved, leaders, members and senior members all joined in. Despite several attempts by the younger members to ‘dunk’ the older members, they still seemed to end up worse off! We then proceeded to get changed, had a tent inspection and relax. Shortly followed by a dinner which consisted of mince, potatoes, carrots and peas. This was yet another excellent dinner welcomed by all those who ate it. After this we relaxed a bit more, and began to think about the next day. Some were playing football, others were talking, and some were revising for their upcoming exams. The younger members marched off to bed, and the older members and leaders sat around the burner to chat about the week past so far.  

Day 5 – May 31st

Today we had another lie in, not on purpose however, but because some members of the senior team were supposed to be cooking breakfast, but had overslept. The reason for torturing the band members with our cooking was that the normal cooks were taking a trip to the hypermarket, to buy food for the barbeque that was to be prepared for our visitors tonight. Breakfast consisted of Sausages, beans, tomatoes, and eggy bread. This went down as a huge success, in the senior teams minds. When the usual cooks returned, they received some grumblings about the standard of the breakfast. This was promptly ignored by the senior team.

After breakfast it was time to practice our routine for the guests tonight. We played some of our usual tunes, and a couple that we didn’t usually play, but were very effective. However, our main aim was to improve on the manoeuvres, as it had been a while since our last arena event. This improvement including practicing old manoeuvres, changing them a little in places and adding a new manoeuvre (nicknamed ‘The Rozinator’, after the band member that came up with the idea). This involved several different manoeuvres combined. After that, we split down into our separate sections (bugle, bell lyre and drum) and practiced the various tunes, breaking for lunch in between. We then proceeded to continue finishing off the manoeuvres once this was completed. Now it was time to prepare for our guests. There was originally going to be 140 guests, however this had been bought down to 100 as some of the guests were unable to attend. This was still to be a large endeavour for us. As the younger members played football, some of the older members, senior team and leaders began to set up for tonight’s gathering. Tables and chairs were being scrounged from every place they could be found. We promptly ran out of the paper table cloth that’s used on the tables, as there was so many. All the chairs that leaders had bought with them were unfolded and set up, along with all the tables we could find. The food was being prepared in the kitchen along with all the drinks.

The guests began to arrive, with a lot of food, and a lot of wine. The band was sent up to the field to begin playing and showing off our new manoeuvres. This certainly went down well with the crowd, we were receiving chants such as ‘More!’. The band members were very proud with themselves, and they deserved to be. Whilst the band members were playing, the BBQ was started, and the food was being cooked. We had a total of four BBQ’s in the end, all in constant use. The food was defiantly a success, with a continuous stream of people queuing to get at it. We seemed to socialise very easily, one of their members had even bought along a French/English dictionary to give us both a hand. However, as before, the language barrier didn’t prove to be a problem at all. We played some games, including one to do with the history of a carriage that carries a king and queen and we were also introduced to some more of their traditions and rules. At about 10 we decided that a rendition of Swing March was in order. We prepared our instruments, the other bands prepared theirs, and then we played Saints, promptly followed by Swing March. In the end we were playing for about half an hour, playing various tunes, from both sides. These included tunes such as the Birdie Song. After playing the first verse, the other bands promptly picked up the dance moves and joined in. Several more tunes were played, which were picked up by some of our members (including one song that we have been unable to get out of heads all week). During this, Simon said thank you’s to both Vivy and Allonnes, and a great big thank you to Joyce and Dave, who had put up with us all this time! As we trotted off to put our instruments away, the bands treated us to a rendition of Old Langsyne. After, we finished our drinks, and the guests began to leave. As they departed, our members said their goodbyes, with the hope of seeing them again sometime. This ended a very hectic, but excellent day that was enjoyed by all. This was of course our last full day in France, as tomorrow we were to set off at 10am to head home, so we tried to squeeze in some preparation for this before the night ended.

Day 6 - June 1st

Today, we weren't granted the luxury of a lie in, as we had a lot of work to do, before we embarked on our long journey home. As we emerged from our various places of accomodation, we were issued jobs to do. We had to leave by 10am if we were to catch our 7pm train. We were taking down the tents, tiding the gite's and caravan and making sure that everything was packed and ready. Litter picks were being sorted, the younger members were saying good bye to the various animals. We took some photos before we left, and said our last goodbyes to the Hardings. We all loaded on to the coach and headed on our way. As we traveled back up France, a few videos were played to keep us all entertained along the journey. We only made one stop on the way back, as we had fallen behind a bit. We stopped for 45 minutes, to grab some lunch and head back on our way. We arrived at the tunnel on time and headed into the amenitites they had to offer there. As we enetered the building, our letter was called, so out we went again! We promptly loaded back onto the coach, and headed for our train.
When we arrived in Britian the weather was, well, British. It was cloudy, and wet. Although this didn't to put a downer on any of the members, it was nice to see some of our home again. Not that we weren't upset to be leaving France of course! We travelled accross England, making one stop for another bite to eat. We loaded back onto the coach, and an hour and a half later, we were home! After some unloading of the coach, and van. We were ready to head home to our beds. That marked the end of our trip, and what a great trip it had been. I'm sure all our band members would agree!