Wednesday 12 December 2012

Fete des Fleurs 2012

This year our representative at the Fete des Fleurs in Louveciennes was Elizabeth Lean. He is her account of the occasion:

If you want to dress up as a princess (stylishly), see the best fireworks in the world, and be treated like royalty, then the Fete de Fleurs is the place to go.

At the last minute, I was invited to represent Radlett at the twin town, just outside Paris. Someone had dropped out, and as I had just returned from America, I had illusions of becoming the “home-coming queen” in France, so I agreed. I soon got cold feet, especially as I wasn’t sure how my cool rating could take sitting on a flower float in front of French villagers.

We had a traumatic night before the journey as we thought our car MOT had run out. However, at 4 am, my father found the certificate and we set off for a round trip which would last 48 hours.

What a joy the experience turned out to be. We were welcomed by the wonderful Benoit and his family to Louveciennes, which is an idyllic village just outside Paris. We walked around the village and there was a celebrity wedding at the local church, followed by a ride on a float before the extraordinary fireworks. The fireworks were choreographed to music and were quite spectacular. In fact, the London Olympic opening ceremony fireworks are as close as I can get to the Louveciennes show.

The next day, I was taken to hair, makeup and costume to be dressed as a Druid princess, from Asterix, the iconic French cartoon. I sat on a float and was driven through the town, where I was asked for photographs, before being presented with a special gift and flowers by the town Mayor.

I had no idea that the event would be so much fun, so charming and enjoyable and I recommend any self-conscious teenager to take part as you will have a magnificent time. Great stuff!

Friday 28 October 2011

Fete des Fleurs 2011

Once again a young lady from Radlett was transformed into a Princess in France!  This year our representative at the annual Féte des Fleurs in Louvecinnes was Jessica Laxton. Her mother, Jane Poyser, who accompanied her provided this account of their visit:


My daughter Jessica her friend Anna and I had the privilege of being invited to the annual flower festival at Louveciennes. We drove down Saturday morning catching the 8. 20 train. With clear roads we drove down arriving 1. 30 at our host Benoit's house. After being greeted by the family we were treated to a whirlwind tour of Paris. Benoit in a previous life had been a
limousine driver for the rich and famous and knew Paris inside out. We visited the Eiffel Tower, Place de Concorde, Le Louvre and some very exclusive shopping areas which had 5 foot chocolate pencils and £65.00 boxer shorts!

That evening we joined the torch parade back at Louveciennes, in the pouring rain. This did not stop the local student band  playing enthusiastically but it did stop one of the tractors getting up the steep hill ! The rain stopped in time for one of the best firework displays I have ever seen in my life. Backdropped with beautiful trees and set to classical music, it was breath taking.

The next day there was a lunch which the whole village attended! We met many lovely people in Louveciennes all of whom knew of Radlett, many of whom had visited! All of them spoke beautiful English. Jess disappeared with Madame Rachel, the German princess and French queen to be transformed!

Anna and I took the chance to walk around the fun fair and the beautiful and historic village. At 2.30 the floats were loaded and started their journey around the town. The theme this year was impressionists and the floats were all decorated with thousands of dahlia heads. Jess was in the last float with the "Queen and German princess, looking gorgeous despite being covered in confetti and "sticky string". (a custom to shower the floats in stuff!) We were
entertained by bands and majorettes who amazingly kept going for the two and half hours! The evening finished with presentations by the Mayor and Jess received a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a silver bracelet. We were all overwhelmed by the amount of effort and time people had put into this amazing weekend, it really felt a huge privilege to be part of it.

Thursday 14 July 2011

Report of visit to Aldenham

Our friends in Lautertal have posted a report on their recent visit to Radlett on their website (all in German) with lots of pictures.

See http://www.bergstrasse.de/apeg-lautertal/ and select Aktuelles

Wednesday 29 June 2011

APEG Visit to Radlett & Aldenham


Last weekend we welcomed a group of visitors from APEG, the town twinning organisation in Lautertal to celebrate 30 years of twinning with the Parish of Aldenham. The twenty eight visitors, ranging in age from 12 to 80, from Lautertal in Hesse, Germany stayed with families in Radlett and took part in a busy programme of visits and events arranged by RAIFA.

These included a visit to the Radlett Art Society's annual exhibition at the Radlett Centre, and an official welcome from Aldenham Parish Council in the Council chamber. This was followed by a visit to Bhakdavidanta Manor in Letchmore Heath and Aldenham church. In the evening we held an English Folk Dance evening with a fish and chip supper in the Vision Hall in Watling Street, Radlett.

On the Sunday they visited the Olympic Park in Stratford and Camden Market and had a sight-seeing tour of London in between. The visit ended on Monday in St Albans where they visited the Abbey and Clock Tower as well as having some time for shopping.

The visitors arrived in the rain but left with temperatures of 30 degrees and sunshine. RAIFA Chairman Clive Glover said the whole visit had been very enjoyable for everyone involved and they were all looking forward to the next 30 years of exchanges between the two communities.

Some pictures of the visit are below:

Councillor Chris Wilkins receives a gift from Lautertal

Arrival in rainy Radlett!

Presentation to Joan Doughty for her years of work for RAIFA as secretary

Visitors and hosts at Bhakdavanta Manor

Viewing the Olympic Park, Stratford

A gift for Lautertal


Wednesday 25 May 2011

The Singing Circle in Dunaharaszti - an alternative view!

The youngest member of the Singing Circle group was 7 years old. He has also written an account of the trip, which we have kept exactly as he wrote it!

On Thursday, my Mum and some singing girls and I went to Luton Airport and then tooke a flight to bood pest. Booda pest is made of 3 towns witch is buda, obuda and pest. Wen we arrived we went on a coach. It was a very old coach it took 50 minits to get to our hotel. We then payed for our rooms. Me and my Mum got room 750. We then went back down the sters to get our key Wen we got our key we were told that you can not pass without telling how long you are gowing to be hir for and I said 4 days. The next day we took another coach to doonaresty and sang 7 songs and the children that can speeck a bit of English sang Sooper Trooper with us. It took abowt 1 hour and a half. Then we had 7 minits braik and then we went back on the coach and the coach took us to a restront for starter was salad and for the main cors it was smoakt pork. With bread and no disert and no helthy stuf. No one finish it becaus the plait was 2 cm long and 3 milymeeters long. Then we went to cary oaky but Mum said I cant go and then I got grumpy and angry and frustraited. Because I had never ever ever bin to cary oaky in my intyer life. When we got out side my Mum and me felt sick, we felt very sick indeed. When we got to our room, we went to the fridj under the telly my Mum fond some medisin for feeling sick but from 12 on wuds wen my mum drank some she felt much beter and then she finish the whole botl.


Then Mum went to sleep. The next day Mum woak me up, and told me to put on my singing circle teechirt on. We took the lift from flor 7 becaus if you have a number with 3 numbers in it for example 715 wood be the number that your door number is wat it really is. Then we went to flor six to have breckfast. I had toasted bread with strabery jam wich i spread on the bread and then I had graips and sosigis. Then we went to the bath’s. There was a swimming pool, a tiny cold ice bath , it was 16 degrees. Ther was a very hot bath, a steem room that was very stinky and you can see nothing, then we sor people get hanged under water. You can even get a masarj or a masarj in the water then we went to our hotel and went to sleep.


The next day we went to go on a bike tore but they ran out of childrens biks so we went to an italyan plays and eat pizza and then we went on a hop on hop off bus. We went over 19 bridjis and 18 streets, there were thirteen stops and there was a boat tore but we coodent go bicaus it took them 2 hours to make a pizza. For disert we had tirimisoo, with a minte life on it. And milyons of coacoa powder on it. Then my Mum took me to a market and boute me a seecret box. It is locked from the insid. You half to find a key and the lock but ther is another key and lock to find in the box.

Visit from Lautertal

We are making the final preparations for the visit of a party from Lautertal to commemorate the 30th anniversary of our twinning. This follows our visit to Germany last year.

The party will be in Radlett from 24 to 27 June and their programme will include a special visit to the Olympic Park in London as well as a number of events in and around Radlett and Aldenham.

The Singing Circle in Dunaharaszti

 Kate Honeywell, a member of Radlett's Singing Circle was one of the group who visited Dunaharaszti in Hungary last month and here she explains what happened.

On April 14th 2011, less than a year after Radlett hosted a school choir from Dunaharaszti, 15 women, three teenage girls and a seven year old boy queued excitedly at Luton Airport for the EasyJet flight to Budapest and our turn to be the guests. Armed with two specially learned Hungarian songs and a clear programme of our performances and leisure activities we were anticipating an excellent cultural experience. So it proved to be thanks to the liaison between our director Helen Lappert and Suzanna Connett, our Dunaharaszti contact, and the hard work of Sue Vale, our planner and coordinator, assisted by Singing Circle members with local knowledge and contacts.

After a warm welcome at Budapest airport from Marian, an English teacher, and Gabor, a music teacher, both of whom had come to us in 2010, we travelled by coach over the River Danube to our hotel. The Danube bisects the city into the hilly side (Buda) and the flat side (Pest) with several fine bridges joining the two. As the hotel was in Buda and our programme largely spent in Pest or beyond in Dunaharaszti we were to cross this beautiful, though not blue, river many more times over the four days, on cheap, clean efficient trams, on buses provided by our hosts or on foot.

Our first encounter with Hungarian food was an enormous shank each of smoked pork which none of us could finish, to the disappointment of our karaoke bar hosts. However, honour was later satisfied when we sang our Hungarian numbers with some of their regulars. Later still some of us discovered just how effective the herbal concoction in the intriguing little green phials in our hotel minibars was at counteracting the effects of rich food!

Friday began with an early warm-up and practice in our hotel, a scenic bus journey and then a full day in the pretty town of Dunaharaszti, where we were beautifully looked after by everyone we met starting with the staff and children at the primary school. On low tables in the classroom set aside for us were bottles of still and sparkling water and bowls of delicious little cheese snacks, like scones but much lighter. We were regularly offered these during the trip.

Although they were in their own clothes, aged 11 to 14, and clearly excited as they filed into the school hall where we were waiting on the stage, the children were a joy. Under the instruction of Suzanna, who teaches English at this ‘primary’ school, the children had worked hard to learn the lyrics to Abba’s Super Trouper and were keen to demonstrate their new-found skills. With Suzanna translating for Helen and the head teacher we had a delightful informal workshop with plenty of opportunities for the children to sing together with us. Other staff were either in the hall with cameras or creeping in at the back every few minutes. The event was neatly rounded off for us when we were walking to lunch and saw a picture of ourselves on a poster announcing our visit.

Lunch was a splendid leisurely buffet in a large, airy restaurant, courtesy of the mayor. To finish we were offered shots of a traditional take your-breath-away clear drink Palinka which some of us rather took to and named ‘firewater’. Afterwards we strolled through the town, ending up at their music school in the early evening ready to participate in a formal concert. The deputy mayor made a welcoming speech, we were treated to a variety of classical, jazz, pop, and traditional music by their orchestra and choir, a Hungarian folk group and several soloists and then we were on, singing with yet another group of youngsters. They did well with the music we had sent ahead and were kind about our rendition of the two Hungarian songs so we climbed back into our coach feeling good about our day in Dunaharaszti. Back in Buda the night was still young so some had supper at an attractive restaurant nearby whilst others sampled our hotel’s cuisine.

Our next engagement was not until Saturday evening so this was the day for experiencing the world famous Gellert thermal baths, starting with champagne in the dressing room, and then either swimming, wandering through the amazing Roman atria, steaming, chilling, being massaged by men or all of the above – in our case wearing bathrobes and swimsuits. In the afternoon we climbed the steep hill from the Gellert hotel to the Liberation Monument, the huge statue of a woman with upraised arms that looks out over the Danube from Buda. She holds a mighty palm leaf in an arch over her head and was erected by Russia to celebrate the replacement of the Nazi occupation by the Soviet one. She is awe-inspiring like so much that we saw in Budapest.

The architecture in the city was overwhelming particularly for those who had never visited an Eastern Bloc country and for the two of us old enough to remember the 1956 Hungarian uprising against the Soviets. The inevitable Tesco Express, Macdonalds and a Lidl made no impact against the majestic stonemasonry all around us, mostly old but a few equally impressive modern structures.

On Sunday we had the chance, on bicycles and buses, to make up for daydreaming away school sessions on the rise and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Dry textbooks came alive as we visited specially preserved sites like Heroes’ Square, the Terror Museum, the Liberation Monument, and learned the chequered history of a nation with a past of invading or being invaded, of great power or terrible repression, of glories and suffering, of Asian origins and waves of later European influences. Some of these events happened within living memory and there was a general feeling amongst us of longing to know more.

But before that fascinating last day we had our last engagement to fulfil. We had been invited to ‘sing for our supper’ in a wine cellar underneath a bar in Üröm, north of Budapest. Once more we hopped onto a coach and over the Danube into the countryside for an evening that turned out to be the most fun of our entire visit. The landlord and his team served us great bowls of steaming goulash and drinks, including a tray of firewater shots. Whilst we ate they entertained us, beginning with the landlord in fine voice doing Elvis. They were such good musicians and knew so many familiar songs, that Helen quickly revised our planned performance. We did give them the liveliest numbers from our repertoire but mostly we all made music together and had a party, a few following the landlord’s lead in lubricating our throats with firewater. A lovely surprise was Sarah who borrowed a guitar and sang some of her own compositions with her mother, Helen, and another of the teenagers, Yasmin, for one or two of them. Our hosts complimented them, and then praised Sam who is only 7 but joined in tunefully with everything, and then thanked us. We complimented and thanked them. It was a truly cultural exchange and a delightful finale to our singing programme.

                                           The Singing Circle in action!
                                           Suzanna and Helen after the concert!

See more photos on our Picasa Album

Local TV programmes, showed both the school singalong and the complete evening performance.
See them here:

http://kisdunatv.hu/?bepa=videok/2011/201116/HIREK&befn=2011_16_radlettihir.flv&beft=HÍREK

http://kisdunatv.hu/?bepa=videok/2011/201116/MAGAZIN&befn=2011_16_galaestradletti.flv&beft=MAGAZIN