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Visit to Villeneuve-lès-Béziers 25th-28th April 2014 Report by John Adams
FRIDAY
Nine of us eventually set out for Villeneuve, from some 20 who had originally expressed an interest in the twinning visit,
and following two last minute withdrawals unfortunately due to illness. The main aim of the visit was to meet with the
new village administration, following the French elections at the end of March, with representatives of local associations
and interest groups and, of course, to take the chance to soak up the heady atmosphere of the Languedoc in the
Spring.
Rising early, our party met at Bristol Airport to catch the Ryanair flight direct to Béziers, departing at 06:50 hrs … On
arrival, we received a warm welcome from Mme Emmanuelle Nardini, one of the French councillors responsible for
twinning, and Tim Wheeldon (English by birth but Villeneuvian by adoption). The drive from the airport to the village
takes little more than 15 minutes and we were given a short time to drop off our bags and freshen up at out various
B&Bs (this time Les Anges Gardiens, La Maison du Canal and Las Cigalas).
Le Grand Café
Over coffee at Le Grand Café in the delightful main square of Villeneuve we met up with other members of
the twinning committee, including the Deputy Council Administrator M. Yves Blérard-Léglise - a good
friend of many members of the association. Then Tim, Emmanuelle and M. Jean Bource accompanied us
to the local junior school, dedicated to the singer Georges Brassens. The headmaster, M Laurent Fafeur,
gave us a tour of the school, where we were invited to visit classrooms during lessons, and take a tour of
other facilities, including the school garden and the impressive spaces for school meals!
Ecole Georges Brassens
The École George Brassens has established a relationship with Wrington school through Mrs Annabel Scott, and it is
hoped that this will develop further through internet exchanges and possibly shared projects.
click to enlarge
The visit was followed by an excellent lunch back at Le Grand Café – and, as usual, there were sufficient French /
English speakers to negotiate language barriers. With fatigue beginning to set in we returned to our respective lodgings
for a short siesta…. Later in the afternoon we met for a tour of the village, led by M.Jean Bource, who also organises
the eleven youth football teams fielded by Villeneuve.
Village tour
For more images of Villeneuve, see: … and see the Villeneuve website for further factual information:
Poetry reading
The tour led seamlessly into the evening programme, which started with the opening of a
children’s poetry exhibition at the library, where children from the Georges Brassens School
read their own poems and presented poetry posters. Annabel, together with the Maire, was
asked to respond to this excellent project with a short talk giving their impressions of the
work.
This was followed by a wine reception and the chance to meet with teachers and parents.
Dinner was at the restaurant Au Soleau in the newer commercial part of Villeneuve. We were joined by Mme Éléna
Cros, the councillor responsible for communication and tourism, Mme.Annie Gourraud, who is a teacher with fluent
English, and M. Marc Cianni, who played the part of the Mayor of Villeneuve in the twinning tableau of the 2012
Wrington pageant. And so, eventually, to bed after an interesting and convivial day…
SATURDAY
Following our respective breakfasts, which ranged from croissants and café-au-lait to a majestic spread of local
produce, we were taken to the winery of the local co-operative in the nearby village of Cers where, as it is out of
season, the winery was opened especially for our visit
The Co-operative Winery
We were accompanied by Cllrs Elisabeth
Manetas, Norbert Manetas, Tim Wheeldon
and other members of the Villeneuve
twinning group, and the tour was
conducted by a local wine producer, M.
Phillipe Navarro. The wines, of excellent quality, are produced by the recently formed co-operative of 3 neighbouring
villages (Cers, Portiragnes and Villeneuve), which has just announced that it will operate under the name of ‘Alma
Cersius: vignerons entre terres et ciel’. They produce an impressive 9m bottles of good quality wine each year, most of
which are sold by February.
For further details see <www.almacersius.com>
Wine tasting
The visit was followed by a tasting of the Alma Cersius wines – rouge, rosé and blanc - back
in Villeneuve at La Grappe Dorée, the newly-opened retail outlet in the former winery
building. Everybody agreed that these were excellent…
La Crémade
Lunch was at La Crémade, a delightful pizzeria and restaurant that borders the Canal du Midi by the
picturesque lock in the centre of the old village. Here we were joined by Cllr Lucyle Morgan, who has a
particular interest in education and youth matters, for further discussion of possible plans and projects.
Again, following a short siesta, we were joined by other members of the Villeneuve twinning group taken on a tour to the
9 stepped locks on the Canal du Midi, and then on to the imposing cathedral at Béziers, with its magnificent views out
over the plains of the Hérault countryside.
Béziers and surrounding area
For more pictures of Beziers see:
That evening we were taken down to the port and seaside resort of Valras-Plage where we dined at the seafood
restaurant La Madrague with several members of the twinning committee, including Norbert, Lucyle, Elizabeth, Louis
and Odette. Another lively and enjoyable evening…
For pictures of Valras-Plage see:
[For rugby enthusiasts, it should be mentioned here that the Villeneuve team, under Norbert Manetas’s management,
had reached the final of the Languedoc regional championship – a great achievement.
For the record, Villeneuve were leading at half-time 11-4 with the wind behind them. In the second half, against the
wind, they were able to hang on to a lead of 14-11 until 80 + 3 minutes.
However, in 80 + 4 (the final minute of extra time) their opponents, Alaric, managed to score a try with conversion and
ran out 18-14 winners. No wonder the main square was so quiet that evening.]
Sunday
