Tony in France 3

Before Tony could really get his mind into operation, Madam Rougierre started talking.  Fortunately for Tony she was speaking in impeccable English.  Had she been speaking in French then, normally, Tony would have struggled to cope... However, in his present condition, he was pretty sure that had she spoken French, he would not have been able to decipher a single word...

Madam Rougierre welcomed Tony to the town and went on to explain that as a representative of their twin town of Oberkochen he was a true friend of the town....

Tony, meanwhile, spent all his time looking around the room, trying to find out who Madam Rougierre was addressing... Only when he had made a complete tour with his eyes and had indeed discovered that, in fact, he was now the only person in the room, apart from Madam Rougierre herself, did he slowly come to the realisation that she must be talking to him....

He once more concentrated on madam's words and screwed up his eyes to help him hear.... Sadly for Tony, however, last night's Calvados was still making a significant impression on the inside of his head.

Eventually he managed to come to his senses enough to raise his hand in an attempt to stop Madam Rougierre and her address petered out as she began to realise something was not quite correct....

She had actually thought to herself that it was very bad of Oberkochen to send a delegate to the town without having been specifically invited...

The effort of raising his hand had actually caused a substantial amount of pain to resurrect itself deep in the recesses of Tony's head and he was now clutching his head trying to push all the loose pieces back inside....

Madam Rougierre, the Mayor, looked on in bemused silence.

After a few more moments and  a few more futile attempts by Tony to put the innards of his head back inside where they belonged.  He finally drew breath and started to explain his mission to the mayor.

He explained that he was from Bourton on Sea, the small port on the other side of the channel just east of Portsmouth.

He explained that he was not on an official visit but more a personal fact finding trip.

He explained that Bourton on Sea was seeking a town in France to twin with and that Dives sur mer had been suggested.

He skipped right over the fact he had been arrested for illegally landing fish and the resulting evening in the bar with the local gendarmes....  He skipped right over the fact his head was reeling so much from Calvados, he wasn't really sure what he was skipping over.

And eventually he stopped....  It wasn't so much that he had finished his explanation, more that he had lost track of it and needed the time to get his thoughts back into some semblance of order.

Madam Rougierre took the opportunity of him stopping to pick up her phone and issue some very brief instructions, which Tony decided were easier to ignore than try to fathom.

Madam Rougierre's office was a large office.  It had a big desk off to one side and a large conference table with about 8 chairs around it off to the other. The central space, directly in front of the door, led between these two areas to a very large and ornate fireplace, which, as it was mid summer had the grate laden with fresh flowers.  Madam Rougierre had been standing in front of her desk for the entire time this discourse had taken place and Tony, who had halted just inside the door, was still standing there, not quite sure what to do next....

Madam Rougierre pointed to the conference table and suggested they should sit.  Tony was very relieved, as now the effort of remaining upright was beginning to become a problem..

He took a chair.

Madam Rougierre took the chair at the head of the table.

She felt a little sorry for Tony now.  She had started to piece together the fragments and had come up with a not wholly inaccurate scenario.   She understood the problem of illegal landing of fish as this had been quite a problem recently with several trawler skippers being arrested..  She also knew the capacity of her gendarmes to consume the local spirit, Calvados and doubted that an English fisherman would be able to keep up with them.

The two remained silent for another minute or two, then the door opened and a man came in carrying a tray with glasses and a jug.... For a moment, Tony thought he was being expected to take more spirit but quickly realised, to his relief, that there was only water on the tray.

Madam Rougierre introduced Monsieur Pilau and for the first time, Tony realised he hadn't been introduced himself so he stood, proffered his hadn for a handshake and said Tony.. Tony the fish.  That seemed to be enough for the two French people. who shook hands with him vigorously.

After some informal discussion during which time Tony took the opportunity to pour himself a large glass of water and start to rehydrate himself, M. Pilau asked about the twinning of Bourton on Sea.

Once again, Tony explained that Bourton was in the process of finding a partner town to twin with...  He felt he made a rather better job of the explanation this time and had even used a few French words from time to time.

M. Pilau looked serious and after a moment spoke quietly to Madam Rougierre.

He eventually turned back to Tony and explained that the town had just made a twinning agreement with Oberkochen and that they would not be making any further initiatives in the near future.  He thanked Tony for their interest in the town and stood up...

Tony got the feeling the meeting had ended so stood as well.. They both shook his hand and he was escorted to the door where they again shook his hand before politely showing him out.   The door closed silently behind him...