Vire exchange weekend

As a club we always look forward to our exchange visits with Vire Rotary club, situated in Normandy. With 32 members it is a similar size to ours and very lively.

We have been twinned since 1978 and visit each other biennially

Our guests arrived tired on Friday morning after an overnight ferry to Portsmouth. After breakfast and a rest we went to Abbotsbury. We had an excellent lunch at the Ilchester Arms and then to tour around the village in beautiful sunshine showing it at its best and even up to St Catherine's Chapel. We separated into smaller groups for dinner at members homes in the evening.

A highlight was a visit to the Lesley Waters Cookery School for a cooking demonstration followed by lunch on Saturday. Some of us later walked round the Nothe gardens to show off Weymouth in the sun. The evening was a fun Casino at our regular meeting venue the Aqua Hotel on Portland. Organised by members it was Rachel, one of our members, was a clear winner and won the prize, as she had highest winnings after placing 11000 on one number on Roulette and winning!

Julia organised a brunch on Sunday with a large English breakfast. A treasure hunt was organised in Weymouth town centre in the afternoon where even the local members found many interesting facts and sights around Weymouth that they had never seen before.

After a farewell tea at the President's house they departed for the ferry.

It will be us to visit Normandy next year. We have many close friends in Vire that we have known for many years and it is wonderful to have such a close relationship with a French club.