Dear friends of Eurojumelages,

The first-ever international choir singing event was organised between 8th and 14th September 2024 within the beautiful ambience of Engers Castle in Neuwied-Engers,

It was the intention of the two organisers, Rita Caumettes and Michaela Alber, to experience the language of music together, with choristers from several European countries who also enjoy singing together, during the international singing week.

Within the context of the choir project, the participants also rehearsed and sang the Eurojumelages anthem (which is based on the melody of Beethoven's 9th Symphony) in high musical quality with the aim of producing a music video which will be available on the Eurojumelages website.

At the choir's final performance, together with numerous other guests from the Koblenz and Bonn sections I was able to witness how successful the one-week Eurojumelages choir project was.

I was so impressed by the concert that I am happy to include the international choral singing event as a permanent fixture in the Eurojumelages' list of activities. In consonance with the dictum that ‘Music connects people across all borders’, international choral singing should certainly be an avenue to enrich the Eurojumelages programme in the future.

International choir singing in Neuwied-Engers

from 8th to 14th September 2024

“We came as individual voices and left as a choir!”

In the State Music Academy of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the picturesque Engers Castle, located directly on the Rhine, 19 jumeleurs from 4 countries (Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland) met with a choirmaster to sing together for a week and experience the Rhineland culture.

It was a premiere within Eurojumelages, a meeting just for singing. Everyone was willing to take part in the experiment: The jumeleurs with their different voices and the choirmaster who was to mould them into a melodious choir. The historic castle with its rehearsal rooms, guest rooms and Rhine terrace was the ideal location for this ambitious project.

Read more ...

Bienvenue a Narbonne! !

This year's French language course took place in Narbonne, a charming town in the south of France.

This was not only an opportunity to learn the nuances of the language, but also to get to know the rich history, culture and regional cuisine.

The interesting social programme offered plenty of opportunities to put the new vocabulary into practice.

The following report is also intended as a suggestion for participation in the French language course in Lille in 2025.

French language course Narbonne

from 01 - 06 September 2024

Sunday
Although it was raining, we visited the beautiful city of Narbonne. We took the opportunity to stroll through the market halls, which are the ideal place to indulge in the flavours of the many different quality products offered by butchers, fishmongers and cheesemakers.
We then visited the Cathedral of Saint-Just-et-Saint-Pasteur de Narbonne, the city's most prestigious building. Its particularity is that it is unfinished (only the choir exists) and that its vault height makes it the fourth highest in France (41 metres high, after Beauvais with a height of 48 metres and Amiens and Metz at 42 metres).

It is impossible to leave Narbonne without seeing the only surviving Roman monument ‘L'Horreum’ in the centre of the city. Its underground passages, which date back to the 1st century BC, were intended to form the foundations of a building, probably a market or warehouse.

A small group completed the visit with the famous NARBO VIA museum, which houses the particularly rich archaeological collections of the Roman period in Narbonne.

Monday

We started our French course. We got to know the participants through an exercise called “a ball of wool” and then learnt some expressions from the French language.

In the afternoon, we travelled to the Canal du Midi and learnt how a lock is operated. Along the canal, the hundred-year-old plane trees that shaded the canal unfortunately had to be felled due to disease and were replaced by young, hairy oaks that adapt perfectly to the changing climate. We made a stopover at a wine cellar ‘Château de Ventenac’ for a tour that ended with a tasting that was appreciated by all! Back at the embarkation point in the village of Le Somail, we admired the stone bridge over the canal and the old bookshop, which houses over 50,000 books!

Corinna Bertram/Jacques Reynier

Tuesday

This day started with a beautiful sunrise.

After breakfast, lessons and lunch, we were picked up by the coach and taken to Gruissan, a small medieval village with around 5000 inhabitants. It was built in a spiral shape in a circle and is dominated by the Barbarossa Tower.
We climbed up through small, narrow alleyways to the castle, which in its day served as a defence fortress. Narbonne could be warned of attackers from here. Today, only half of one of the three towers still stands. The castle was demolished and the stones used to build the village.

On the way down from the castle, we visited the ‘Église Notre Dame de l'assomption’, which probably also served as a defence post at the time.

We then went on to visit the salt works on the island of Saint-Martin. Around 400 hectares of salt are extracted here, including the famous fleur de sel. Oysters are also cultivated on the site.

After the tour and an opportunity to shop in the speciality shop, we returned to our accommodation.

We drove through an area of houses on stilts on the beach in Gruissan and arrived back in time for dinner.

Wednesday

After breakfast, lessons and lunch, the afternoon was free.
Some of us went on an excursion to ‘Les cabanes de fleury’, others went to the beach or spent time at the pool.

The highlight of the day was dinner: seafood as a starter and loup de mer as a main course. Grandiose!

The day ended with a musical evening. Bertrand sang live to background music, others danced to his performances. Some actually dared to perform a little karaoke too.

A lovely evening among friends!

Gabriele Becker/Gabriele Schmidtberger

Thursday

During our stay in Narbonne, a total of 7 people took the beginners' French course. Most of us were beginners without any basic knowledge. Anne, our teacher, put a lot of effort and dedication into teaching us the beautiful French language. Our first lesson began musically with the well-known chanson: ‘Oh Champs Elysées’.
The focus of the lesson was not on learning grammar, but on the linguistic level. We practised pronunciation and lots and lots of vocabulary in a very short space of time. On the last day, we mastered very short French dialogues and also understood a short story that we read together. Here too, Anne supported our understanding of the language with visualisations and other aids.
I can say with conviction that as a group of ‘Débutants’ we had a lot of fun, learnt a lot and were very grateful for Anne's patience. We certainly hope that she enjoyed teaching us as much as we enjoyed being taught by her.

On Thursday afternoon, we travelled by bus to visit Fontfroide Abbey.

Fontfroide was built during the 12th and 13th centuries.
We admired the cloister with a fountain in the centre, the refectory of the lay brothers (those who work) and the church.
We then strolled through the garden. There were lots of rose bushes, lavender, sage, amaranth and other plants.
We walked back to the bus, after visiting the shop, where we strolled around.
It was a lovely trip!

 
Anna Nebel-Klüh/Elke Leitsch

Friday

After the lessons, all participants ate lunch together. All language course participants received a information and a recommendation to participate in the 2025 language course which will be held in Lille.

Last but not least: In addition to the language course, we also must mention the good food, the excursions and the good company with students from France, Spain, England and Germany. Altogether a fantastic week.

Thank you dear Marie-Helene and your team, you were an excellent organizer and entertainer and made all our wishes come true.

Dear friends of Eurojumelages Spain, especially our friends in the Valencia region,

It is with great dismay that I learnt of the devastating floods in the Valencia region. These images bring back memories of the great floods of 2021 in my region in Germany, where almost 150 people lost their lives. In these difficult times, I and the entire Board of Directors of Eurojumelages would like to express our deepest solidarity with the affected citizens, the rescue workers and all those who are endeavouring to restore normality.

The images of destruction and suffering are shocking and leave no one untouched. It is heartbreaking to see how many people have lost their homes, possessions and in some cases even loved ones. This natural disaster shows once again how vulnerable we all are and how important it is to stand together in such difficult times.

We would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the tireless efforts of the rescue workers, volunteers and organizations who are doing their best to help people in this crisis situation. Their commitment and dedication is admirable and deserves the highest recognition.

In view of the challenges facing the Valencia region, we would also like to offer our support. Be it through donations, volunteering or sharing information that could help those affected. Every contribution, no matter how small, can make a difference.

Let's work together to support the affected communities and help them get back on their feet. Solidarity and co-operation are of the utmost importance in these difficult times.

We send our best wishes and thoughts to all those affected by this tragedy. May you find the strength to overcome this difficult period.

For the Board of Directors of Eurojumelages

Peter Backes

Dear friends of Eurojumelages,

It is my pleasure to present to you the report on the petanque tournament in Mulhouse prepared by Britt Haller and Rolf Wojewodka.
At the 14th international petanque tournament, enthusiasts from Switzerland, Italy, France and Germany proved their skills and competed in fair and exciting competitions.

Mulhouse, a city in Alsace in France, was chosen to be the host section for this tournament. The city delighted the participants with its charming atmosphere and warm hospitality. The tournament not only offered the opportunity to demonstrate petanque skills, but also to make new friends and socialise with people who share a common interest.

The report provides a comprehensive insight into the highlights of the tournament, the exciting competitions, the emotional presentation ceremony and the cheerful atmosphere that accompanied this event. It shows the enthusiasm and passion of the players for this traditional game and the joy they felt.

I invite you to immerse yourself in the world of the petanque tournament in Mulhouse and let yourself be carried away by the enthusiasm and team spirit of the participants. I sincerely hope that this report gives you an insight into this enjoyable sport and possibly also inspire you to take part in a petanque tournament yourself next year at our anniversary tournament at Lake Constance.

Thank you for your interest and enjoy reading the report.

14th International Boule Tournament

Paul Pantzer Memorial Tournament 

24th August 2024 in Mulhouse, France

The 14th International Boule Tournament was organized for Eurojumelages by the French association of Haut-Rhin, in Mulhouse, France.
 Britt, Irmi and I (Rolf), from the Darmstadt association, arrived there the day in order to have the possibility to get to know Mulhouse a little better.

Due to traffic jams on the motorway, we could not visit the interesting museums - unfortunately, it was already too late for museums such as the Fabric Printing Museum (Musée de l´impression sur étoffes), the vintage car exhibition, the “Cité du Train” with the first steam locomotives or the Museum of the History of Electricity and Electrical Appliances.

 We were compensated by a very interesting tour around the Place de la Réunion in the car-free historic old town with the colorful house facades and the visit to the Gothic-style Église Saint-Etienne, St. Stephen's Church, with the beautiful church windows from the 12th century.

Afterwards we spent the night in the suburb of Morschwiller

The tournament commenced on Saturday, and was held in sports facility in the Rue de Machine in Mulhouse. The facility was kindly made available by the Union Bouliste Mulhousienne Boules Lyonnaises.

At 9:00 am, we were warmly welcomed by the organizer Sylvie Suhard and her team, who wished everyone a good throwing hand.

The number of participants totalled 49 and they came from: Germany the associations of Darmstadt, Friedrichshafen, Konstanz, Ulm, Bonn, Marburg and Stuttgart, from France the associations of Dijon and Haut-Rhin, and from Italian-speaking Switzerland the association of Ticino.

Peter Backes, President of Eurojumelages, underlined the international character of the boules tournaments in his welcome speech.
A special tribute was paid to Paul Pantzer, a Jumeleur from the “first hour”, who unfortunately passed away earlier in the year, during a jumelages meeting.

Peter's welcome speech:

Dear friends of Eurojumelages, 
I welcome you to the 14th International Boules Tournament of Eurojumelages which will take place here in Mulhouse.

As you know, this year has seen the passing of our dear friend, Paul Pantzer, who was also the person who gave rise to the international Boules tournaments. I appreciated Paul’s efforts to promote Boules within Eurojumelage and was also fortunate like many of you, to have had him as a friend. I also have fond memories of our last meeting in May on Fehmarn, where Paul spent his last week in the company of fellow jumeleurs. In remembrance of Paul, I propose that today's tournament will be commemorated as the ‘Paul Pantzer Memorial Tournament’, to honour a good friend and a great jumeleur.

I wish you a pleasant and interesting tournament day  and declare open the Boules tournament of Eurojumelages.And now let the silver balls roll!

The courts of the sports centre at the Union Bouliste Mulhousienne boules park, 29 rue de Machines, Mulhouse, had been carefully prepared for us by the members of the club.

This was followed by the draw for the line-up. 

Due to the number of participants, the composition resulted in teams of two and three, so that we played against each other in doublette or triplette formations.

It became clear that playing boule is also a tactical team sport. Together, we thought about how the next ball could be placed as close as possible to the target ball, the so-called piglet, or how we could “shoot” the opponent’s ball as far away from the piglet as possible.

And it got exciting!

The tape measure was often used, so tight results were very much in evidence.

The lunch break was held after two rounds of play.

Under shady park trees, which could hardly alleviate the intense heat, the ‘cooks’ of the guest club first handed out mineral water to cool off. Then they surprised us with grilled specialties, well-tempered wine and/or cold beer and of course French dessert. Cheese, coffee and cake were also included.

There were then three more rounds of sweaty competition before the results were tabulated and the winners determined.

After a short pause, Sylvie was able to announce the final classification and also the prize-giving ceremony:

1st place: Maggy Schwand from Bonn
2nd place: Hubert Braun from Friedrichshafen
3rd place: Thomas Rosowski from Darmstadt

As a souvenir the winners received a goody bag filled with delicacies from the region.

With warm words of remembrance for our jumeleur Paul Pantzer at the end of the tournament and thanks for the hospitality of the Union Bouliste Mulhousienne, Sylvie bid farewell to all the participants, wishing them well and a safe return home.

Peter Backes also took the opportunity to speak once again:

Dear friends of Eurojumelages,
At the end of this year's boules tournament, I would like to take a brief look at the history of the Eurojumelages' boules activities.

The first beginnings of the boules activities of the then European Jumelages PTT e.V. date back to 1989 in Wuppertal/Germany.
In 2010, boules was then elevated to the status of international Eurojumelages events and the first international tournament took place in Constance. The boules tournaments were subsequently held annually, with the exception of 2020, when the tournament - like many other events - could not take place due to the coronavirus pandemic. 
In short, next year we will be celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Eurojumelages international boules tournament. And I can already reveal that our anniversary tournament will once again take place at Lake Constance.

But now back to this year's tournament:
Dear Sylvie, dear Laurent, 
On behalf of Eurojumelages, I would like to thank you very much for the excellent organisation of the tournament. We will all remember this tournament fondly as the ‘Paul Pantzer Memorial Tournament’.

As I discovered during my research, this is the third boules tournament that you both organized, and I would like to express my appreciation and also that of all participants for your hard work and dedication.

The aim of Eurojumelages, European international understanding, can only be achieved through committed people - like you - who organize events with great enthusiasm and personal commitment.

Many thanks!

Also a big thank you to all participants!

I hope to see you all again at the anniversary tournament at the latest. 
And remember, the prize at the tournament is not the ultimate objective:  “even if you don't reach your destination, the way there is always worthwhile”.

Vive l´Eurojumelages!

The French Boule hosts had prepared an evening barbecue for participants who had not yet started heading home; we didn't say goodbye until it was already dark.

Un grand merci! 

Rolf Wojewodka
association of Darmstadt
Germany