Day 6: Cognac

Well it's about time that I got around to telling you about Cognac, yes? Our final day was to be spent in town, beginning with a tour at 10 a.m. That meant a slower start to the day. By the time we got into the house for breakfast, Alexandre had gone to school, Francoise had gone to work, Dominique was up to drive us into Cognac, and Laurent was having a lie-in.

The Town of Cognac

A fortified town since the Middle Ages, Cognac became a prosperous centre for trading in salt and wine in the 17th century. It didn't become known for Cognac until the 18th century. Today, the town has a population of around 20,000. The city center, situated on the left bank of the Charente River, has been restored and improved. Each year at the end of July, Cognac hosts an international jazz festival.

Those of our group interested in a guided walking tour of Cognac met at the Tourist Office at 10. Our first stop was Place Francois 1er and the statue of Cognac's famous son, Francois I, known locally as Francois Premier (hence the "er" following the I). Besides a most imposting statue, this Place (or plaza) is dominated by a carousel, trendy shops and sidewalk cafes.

Francois, born in 1494, was son of Charles, Count of Angouleme and Louise of Savoy. Crowned king of France in 1515, Francois was a patron of the arts and literature who also brought about certain administrative reforms in France. He never forgot his native town, however, and returned to it as often as possible.

Our next stop was the lovely public gardens in which the city hall, Hotel de Ville (which is not a hotel; the name means a collection of city chambers), is located. Pathways take you through acres of green space with abundant flowers, fountains, lakes, exotic towers, sculptures, and rolling swards of grass. Across from the gardens is the enclosed public market, open daily. Inside are booths for fresh meats, cheeses, seafood, and all sorts of produce as well as flowers and plants.

From the market we walked to the ancient church of St. Legere, built in the 12th century. Beautiful inside and out, the church has ornate carvings, an exquisite wood and marble pulpit, several simply elegant chapels, one of the loveliest Pietas in Carrera marble from 1622, and a painting of the Assumption of the Virgin by Jacques Blanchard, a student of Titian, dating from the early 17th century. Don said this is one of the most moving churches he's ever been in.

Back outside, we walked through the re-cobbled streets of the old town past a handful of half-timbered Medieval houses and down to the castle where Louis 1er was born. The castle is now the visitor centre for Cognac Hennessy. (Other famous Cognac houses in Cognac are Otard, Martell, and Remy-Martin. We ran out of time and so will have to visit one of these the next time we do an exchange, perhaps in 2008 or perhaps when we come to the jazz festival. Well, why not?)

Duck! Here Comes Another One!

At 12:15 we were to meet the others for our last pre-arranged group lunch. We had been asked weeks before the trip to select items from menus at each venue, and so had selected duck for this luncheon, the only one of the 4 menus that had duck on offer. Who'd have thought we'd have had duck twice in the previous 3 days? Our reaction wasn't quite, "Ohhhh no, duck again?" but it was close. (You can get too much of a very rich good thing, at least temporarily.)

Cruising on the Charente

At 2:15 those who wished met down at the public pier for a 2-hour cruise on the Charente on a flat-bottomed river barge, "La Dame Jeanne." Among other things, the cruise took us past the Hennessy Family Castle, a fabulous and very large grey stone affair with turrets and an ancient church on lushly tree-covered riverfront property.

It was a very sunny and warm day. Many of us availed ourselves of the umbrellas on board to shade ourselves from the sun. Fortunately, there was always a cooling breeze. It's a good thing we had this almost 2-hour break from walking around because we would be on our feet for the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening.

An Unveiling, a Tree-Planting, a Civic Reception, and Sore Feet

At 4:15 we began to gather outside the covered market for the first of 3 ceremonial events of the afternoon: the unveiling of the new street sign, Rue de Perth (replacing Rue de Marche or Market Street). In the presence of our delegation, the twinning committee, various hosts (including Dominique), and a few politicos, the mayor made a speech proclaiming the change to mark the 15th anniversary of the twinning of Cognac with Perth. Our "leader," Ian Cowing, gave a speech in return, and then we sang "Highland Cathedral" to much applause. Reporters were there with their cameras and notepads (no film crews, however, as this was apparently not a slow news day). The French musical contribution was the playing of the Marcellaise on a keyboard followed by the European Community anthem, Beethoven's Ode to Joy theme. We embarrassed the French, who stood in respectful silence during the playing of these two anthems, by either humming or singing them both, a fact remarked upon by the mayor. Then Ian Cowing pulled the cord to draw back the wee curtain covering the new street sign to reveal the new name amid much applause and photo-snapping.

Next we all walked across to the pubic gardens where we presented and planted a small cherry tree as our official recognition of the 15th anniversary. (This also helped to make up for some of the trees lost during the fierce windstorm that swept across France in 1999 and took out about 50% of the park's trees.) Again we had speeches from the mayor and Ian, followed by the two of them throwing in the first shovelfuls of earth. Next came the former mayor, who had signed the original twinning proclamation 17 years ago. Then our two kilted "braw lads" came up and did their bit, followed by various people from the remaining assembled crowd.

Finally, we all walked up the curving drive to the Hotel de Ville which sat at the top of the hill with French flags flying, to a reception. But first, a few words from the mayor and then Ian. Bear in mind that each man spoke in his native language which then had to be translated to half of the crowd. This made for a long time to be standing on hard surfaces. Next a local chorus sang a beautiful rendition of the "Skye Boat Song" in English followed by "Dona Nobis Pacem." After a couple more speeches (briefer ones this time), we were offered canapes and drinks.

Our Final Meal with the Family

Fortunately, Dominique didn't have to work that night. When we got back to Chez Guillen, Alexandre greeted us in English and offered us an aperitif and nibbles. We had our last Cognac and Schweppes cocktails. As we sipped and nibbled, we talked with Alexandre about his football game as we petted the family dog, Crockett ("as in Davy Crockett," Francoise told us the first night). Crockett is 15 years old and doesn't move around a lot, but she has a wonderful smile and is an inveterate tableside-beggar. With a smile like that, she is a very successful beggar too.

Laurent had prepared Coq au Vin and popped it into the oven when we arrived. Francoise got home shortly thereafter, but Jerome and Alexandra were out. The meal was delicious and we managed to stretch it out for quite a while over numerous glasses of Pineau.

As we were finishing up, Jerome and Alexandra came back. After 4 kisses all around, Alexandra told a very animated story in French, with much gesturing from her and much eye-rolling from Jerome. Francoise translated that they had gone to Cognac for dinner at a very nice restaurant (which, they said, was a great disappointment—bad food, outrageously expensive, and small portions too!). Alexandra's story, however, was that because this outing seemed so special, she expected Jerome to propose to her, but he didn't. It was refreshing that she could tell such a tale and laugh at herself in the process. Before they went back to the Maison, they told us good-bye and there were more kisses.

It was a lovely evening. Over Cognacs or Williams Pear Liqueur, Dominique, Francoise, Don, and I talked about when we might come back to Cognac and when they might come to visit us. We talked about how Don and I would learn more French and Dominique would learn some English. We promised to stay in touch and to send photos (which we have both done). It had been a fabulous experience to be in the home of such ordinary yet special people.