Rotary Clubs meet up in France

Rotarians, partners and friends from the Rotary Club of Ascot travelled to Le Mans recently to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their twinning with the Rotary Club of St. Nazaire. To join in the celebrations, members of RC Ascot partner club, Gulpen-Vaals in the Netherlands, and RC St. Nazaire’s partner club, RC Wũrzburg in Germany also attended; over 40 people in total.

The French club arranged a superb weekend programme which included visits to the famous 24 hour race circuit at Le Mans, where one of their members is Director of Racing. Consequently we were able to access the pits area, the control centre and the medical centre as the teams prepared and practiced for this years 24 hour race.

Saturday lunch was arranged in a restaurant in the town of Le Mans, where, somewhat to their surprise, the four Presidents were formally and with great ceremony inducted into the "Brotherhood of the Knights of the Sarthoise Rillettes". Lunch, of course, featured rillettes, which comprise a meat paste served on toasted French bread.

After lunch there was a visit to the race circuit to watch the teams preparing their cars for the Sunday practice day, and to tour behind the scenes in the operations centre.

On Sunday there was a choice between spending the morning watching the practice sessions at the circuit, or taking a guided tour of old Le Mans, before meeting for a splendid lunch hosted by the Director of Racing, Rtn. Jacques Olivier, in a room overlooking the circuit. After lunch, all the guests enjoyed a further two hours on a private balcony overlooking the circuit and pit area, whilst competitors practiced for the big race.

Afterwards, President Ian Valentine of the Rotary Club of Ascot said “The international events of the Rotary organisation are not only great fun for the participants, but also present opportunities to formulate multinational humanitarian projects supported by multiple clubs in several countries.”