As part of the celebration of the Exeter/Rennes Twinning Association's 50th Anniversary, nine members of the Exeter Flotilla were invited to join in, following an invitation from "ACORAM" which is the French equivalent of the Royal Naval Reserve. The Rennes Chapter of ACORAM is led by Commander Christian Lebreton French Naval Reserve, who, with the help of some of his colleagues, arranged a separate programme for the Flotilla members.

Their visit started on Wednesday 20 September with a drive from Brest Airport to the French Naval Air Base at Lann Bihoué, just outside Lorient where the group stayed overnight. The following morning they were taken to visit the French Marine Commando Training Centre in Lorient where they enjoyed a full day's programme. Included in the programme was a briefing on the activities of the Commandos and the French Marine Special Forces, followed by a tour of the establishment and demonstrations of the equipment used by the force. This was followed by a splendid lunch hosted by the Commandant and a visit to the Marine Commando museum which celebrates the activities of the Corps from its inception to the present day. On completion of the visit their hosts drove the group to Rennes.

The following morning the members joined with the rest of the twinning group for a memorial service in the Rennes eastern cemetery, which accommodates a French military section and a British and Commonwealth War Grave where over 300 British and Commonwealth servicemen are buried. The ceremony was led by Commander Christian Lebreton FN together with the Flotilla Chairman, Commander Chris Cole RN, both of whom made short speeches and laid wreaths. The Deputy Mayors of Rennes and Exeter also made speeches and laid wreaths. In addition, the RNR representative from Paris laid a wreath. Commander Cole then laid wreaths on the graves of Chief Officer Dorothy MacKenzie WRNS and Lieutenant John Carus RNVR, who were killed in a plane crash near Rennes in October 1945.

Following the ceremony, the Flotilla members were invited to join the twinners at a reception hosted by the Mayor of Rennes, M. Edmund Herve. This was followed by a walking guided tour of the old part of the city of Renne. The members were lucky enough to have the services of M. Jacques Gury, a former President de Société Archéologique et Historique d'Ille-et-Villaine, as a guide. His knowledge of the history of Rennes and Brittany was formidable and resulted in an excellent tour of the city. Following the tour, the group rejoined the main party at a further champagne reception at the Champ Libres, the brand-new Rennes Cultural Centre, and then went on to a restaurant for dinner and an evening of singing sea shanties, which were enjoyed by all concerned.

On the Saturday, members of the Flotilla were looked after by their individual hosts and were treated to a day out taking in the sights, sounds and taste of Brittany, ranging from trips to St Malo and le Mont St Michel for some to a visit to the Napoleonic Canals for others. All had a splendid day out.

On the Sunday, it was time for the Flotilla members to get together with the ACORAM members for a wonderful day at the CENTAURE Advanced Driving School, which is run by former French naval helicopter pilot, Richard Cauque. Having put Flotilla members through their paces on the skid pans in the morning, the ACORAM members and their families prepared a splendid "hog roast" lunch with home-made desserts and plenty of whisky and wine. After a few further sea shanties, the group was invited to find out the dangers of drinking and driving by going back onto the skid pans for the rest of the afternoon. The results were something to behold! That evening, the chairmen of both organisations (ACORAM and the Exeter Flotilla) attended the formal mayoral dinner.

On Monday morning, we said our sad farewells and joined the Twinning Association on their bus back to Brest. It was a very memorable visit, made possible by the sheer magnitude of the effort, hospitality and generosity of our hosts to ensure that we had a good time, for which we were all extremely grateful.

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