Vive La France!

The Largs Town Twinning Association recently welcomed visitors from their French twin town with a host of activities and events to celebrate Ayrshire culture.

As well as a visit to the award winning West Kilbride Craft Town, the residents from Andernos Les Bains, near Bordeaux, journeyed to Burns Cottage in Alloway to learn more about the famous words and verse of Robert Burns.

A total of 19 French visitors took part in the the biennial exchange between 22-26 August to stay with Largs families.

Richard Wilkinson, who is chair of the Town Twinning Association, said: "Our visitors stay with Largs families, and it was great opening up Ayrshire to them, taking them to Alloway and Burns Cottage, and on Wednesday, we had a trip to Arran Distillery, and on Thursday, they spent the day in West Kilbride's Craft Town and Barony Centre. On Wednesday evening, the French hosted a dinner for us at Largs Sailing Club.

"Their stay drew to a close with a farewell dinner at Clark Memorial Church Hall on Thursday.

"For the first time this year, we had a French family coming over with children, and it would be good to have some local families on board for our visit to Andernos-Les-Bains next year."

Annie Forner, President of the Town Twinning in Andernos, said: "It was a very happy time in Largs, and we had good weather which is not what we expected!

"I think the town twinning is important for people of different cultures to get to know each other, and we hope that it can expand to include different groups and societies from both towns to come together. We enjoyed our visit to Largs very much."

Richard added: "We are keen to get Largs and Andernos groups together - there are many common themes between the two towns including sailing. Bringing together groups such as Largs Operatic Society with their counterparts in Andernos, and holding sporting events such as football competitions, are all possible options we could look at in future."

Since setting up ten years ago, the Town Twinning Association has built up and encouraged cultural links between Largs and Andernos Les Bains, which is also a coastal town, including a biennial sporting games involving other twin towns in Spain, Germany and Hungary.

The important aspect of the town twinning is the good camaraderie and meeting new people from different cultures, and there have been great friendships built up over the years.

For more details about the group, go to www.largstowntwinning.com/ or contact Richard Wilkinson on 01294 822755.