Africa-Press – Seychelles. After their appointment, the new Seychelles ambassadors to France began their stay in France, responding to an invitation from Normandy.
Part of the car trip concerns the A13 motorway leading His Excellency from Paris to Evreux. In reality it is an area where cars drive at high speed without being able to admire the few inhabited areas.
As soon as you enter the Eure department, the atmosphere is totally different. This department, one of the five entities that brings together Normandy, is populated by approximately 623,000 inhabitants. The five Normandy departments have a total of 4,340,000 inhabitants.
By going with his wife to the town of Fidelaire which has around a thousand inhabitants Georges Tirant was able to discover a very agricultural region in which a quarter of the towns and villages are run by a mayor whose activity is in the different sectors of the agriculture and agro-food.
70% of the Normandy territory, or a little more than two million hectares of agricultural area, make up this territory.
Normandy agriculture represents 2.5% of the added value area in France, making this province sixth out of 13 regions in France.Agriculture is a real strength for Normandy, which has more than 40,000 farmers running their farms. On most farms, wives work with their husbands.
Internationally renowned food products
Normandy is a producer in many sectors such as cow’s milk. It’s the farmer’s wife who takes care of milking the cows. The young Seychellois who participated in the world children’s festival in Normandy as well as the residents of La Digue who traveled to Petit Caux also learned to milk cows.
The making of cheeses such as Camemberts, Livarot, Pont l’Evêque, Beurre or Neufchâtel are truly specialties of this region. Normandy also has apples, pies, cider and calvados which place this region as one of the first in terms of gastronomy.
More than 600 km of coastline with the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean
Due to its location, Normandy has an area six hundred kilometers long allowing renowned industrial fishing. The fish and shellfish industry generates a turnover of nearly ten billion euros per year. Many port towns organize herring and scallop festivals every year. Port cities make it possible to import raw materials such as chocolate, cocoa, tea and coffee, transform the product and… re-export part of it!
The major Norman agri-food brands on an international level are Ferrero (chocolate), Isigny Sainte Mère (dairy products) and Socopa (meat).
Perfumes and soaps are made in Normandy
Chemistry and research are very developed in Normandy. Maintenance products, basic chemicals, phytopharmaceutical products, paints, varnishes, inks and putty are manufactured in Normandy. Electrical and electronic products are developing more and more in this region.Aeronautical and naval construction as well as the automobile industry are also a source of Norman pride. Whether in the air, in the water or on the road, Norman industry provides a living for a large part of the population. The construction of cars like at Renault which has two factories in Normandy and Alpine in Dieppe which obtains very good results in Formula 1 car races are a source of pride for highly qualified technicians.
At Fidelaire for Liberation Day
Georges Tirant and his wife were invited by the town hall of Fidelaire to celebrate the end of the last world war. The guests of honor were received by Jean Claude Duffossey, Mayor of the Municipality, and by Marcel Couturier, Municipal Councilor and “Seychelles” referent for the municipality, which must be a “first” for the country but especially for the inhabitants. While waiting for the Seychelles school to quickly set up a twinning committee with this city of just over a thousand inhabitants, the excitement is felt.This Liberation Festival was organized so that everyone can realize that there is nothing more dreadful than war. In the towns and villages of France there is a monument in honor of those who fought against an enemy who caused great damage with thousands of deaths, soldiers or civilians as well as public buildings brutally destroyed . Thus, for nearly eighty years, those who have fought with great bravery have certainly deserved this solemn tribute.
HE Georges Tirant and Jean Claude Duffossey each delivered a moving speech.
After the presentation of the flag bearers, the guests had the joy of discovering a flight of carrier pigeons.
Two thousand visitors were able to discover objects, books and engravings from the time of the last World War from 1939 to 1945.
The presentation of vintage cars dating from 1930 to 1960 was very successful and attended by an audience who sometimes traveled from very far away. Many appreciated that HE Georges Tirant went to their small town to honor their ancestors who died for France.Proof of the importance of this trip from Georges Tirant to Fidelaire
At nine o’clock in the morning, a journalist from Paris Normandie, the largest newspaper in the region, was waiting on the steps of the town hall for the arrival of the ambassador.
“Everyone is talking about it, so I decided to write an article. For this small village of Fidelaire, it’s a big event and it needs to be known! »
It is true that the first contacts date from 2017. At that time, optimism reigned. The teachers had organized lessons on the Seychelles. The studious students knew a lot about the archipelago.
The first letter exchanges went well and…then nothing!The children of Fidelaire waited with real impatience. Was it the Covid-19 effect? No one has been able to obtain any information on this subject. The visit of Georges Tirant and the presence of Ralph Agrippine in Seychelles, the minister advisor who was present in 2017 at Fidelaire, will change things. Optimism is the rule. The children, the teachers, the municipality will do their best. The twinning must live!
Ralph Agrippine, returning home, made a proposal for cooperation with a school in Glacis to the north of Mahé, the main island. The Fidelaire students would like to obtain a letter of intent so that everything is in order.
As the Seychelles embassy is located at 51, Avenue Mozart in Paris, you just have to ask this great composer to get everyone to agree and move to the same score. Mozart did not play the pipe… the smiles will therefore return to light up happy faces.
Twinnings are becoming more and more numerous across the worldThe first twinnings date from the 1960s. Nobody wanted to relive painful periods like the world wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. Germany and France, the two main protagonists, have decided to meet so that these armed conflicts do not happen again.
Today, almost half of the towns and villages in France have become twinned. During the Easter, May 1st or Pentecost celebrations, a trip is organized to the host city and accommodation is with locals. Besides Germany, many European countries have twinned with other Eastern European countries or African, Asian and American nations.
As for Oceania, the distance is a bit long but Australia, New Zealand and Fiji have established relationships with French cities but it is mainly the athletes who are at the initiative of these twinnings. In Normandy forty towns were twinned with their counterparts in Burkina Faso unfortunately civil wars and coups d’état reduced to nothing the efforts of those who were making great efforts to help the inhabitants on a humanitarian level through the sending of medicines , hospital equipment or school and sports supplies.
Pinterville (800 inhabitants) in the department of Eure receives pilgrims from Mauritius every year to celebrate Blessed Father Jacques Désiré Laval who left a great memory on the island where he went to care for “bodies and souls” . Father Laval was a doctor. This ceremony attracts more Mauritians from many European countries than inhabitants in this village.
The best example of twinning for the Seychelles is that of La Digue with Petit Caux. Never have we experienced so much joy when the two delegations met. As we are certain, the twinning will strengthen over time in order to make the inhabitants happy, it is an example that must be chosen so that towns and schools in Seychelles and Normandy which want to unite to… eternity.
Source: NATION
For More News And Analysis About Seychelles Follow Africa-Press
