Happy New Year SHTA Friends,

In Honfleur, Normandy and France:

In Normandy hardy souls are invited to take the plunge on New Year’s Day. Around the region, locals brave the cold to take part in organised sea swims in Dieppe, Étretat, Fécamp, Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer and Deauville. This invigorating tradition welcomes bathers from all over Normandy who meet for the first sea swim of the year wearing either a basic swimsuit, wetsuit or silly costume. I read that it’s a ‘wholly refreshing experience’ and great fun too !’ – but with the average sea temperature being 7° Celsius at this time of year I am not convinced !

In Cabourg, the last sea swim of the year is celebrated on 31st December where the happy (allegedly) crew of swimmers wearing traditional Belle Époque swimsuits meet in front of the Grand Hôtel for an energising swim to music performed by a brass band ! Drinks and traditional Madeleine cakes are waiting for all participants after the swim.

A tradition in January throughout France is the Galette des Rois. This pastry celebration cake is a tradition that goes back around 300 years. There are regional variations of the cake and in some areas the recipe would include either shortcrust pastry or brioche. In Normandy and other parts of northern France, the traditional cake is generally made with flaky puff pastry filled with frangipane.

‘Galette des Rois’ translates as King’s Cake – it is associated with the Epiphany and eaten from the 6th January onwards.  After Christmas, New Year and the Twelfth Night the typical fare of oysters and foie gras is replaced with a sweet treat.

A Galette Des Rois is served warm, in the larger cakes there’s a paper crown, and a charm hidden inside the pastry. These charms are known as fèves and were originally broad beans. Over the centuries they’ve been replaced with a porcelain or plastic charm.

Many bakeries have their own range or theme for the charms and they’re considered collectors items by some people. In 2016 Normandy hosted the first three stages of the Tour de France and therefore the January 2016 charms were related to the Tour.

Who gets the piece of cake with the charm inside ? It’s the youngest member of the family that has the honour of deciding who gets which piece of cake. He or she hides under the table so there’s no chance of them spotting the charm when the cake is cut. It’s a random method as there’s a benefit to getting the cake with the charm inside. The recipients get to wear the paper crown and is named King or Queen for the day.

Galette Des Rois is usually served with champagne, sparkling wine or cider. Many associations and clubs also have an event to eat the cakes. They’re also popular at January events held in each village. The Mayor invites residents to an event to review the preceding year and look forward to the next. These events are very much a part of celebrating the New Year.

Many thanks to Vice-Chair, Mark Moorhouse, for the piece above.

What’s happening in the Sandwich Honfleur Twinning Association?

If you haven’t done so already, you can go to sandwichhonfleurtwinning.org.uk, ‘What’s On’ and ‘Recent Activities’ to see photos of what members were up to last month, as well as our banner in front of the Sandwich Town Christmas Tree in the Guildhall forecourt.

As you’ll see, our ‘Vin Chaud’ stall and Christmas Dinner & Party were occasions for much festive fun and hilarity. Many thanks again to volunteers and Committee members for their time and hard work.

However, with SHTA’s December events now consigned, along with all the other activities from the past year, to the metaphorical filing cabinet, we now face forwards to SHTA’s 2025 calendar:

To kick off, our first two film nights of the New Year will be on Wednesday 15th January when you’ll be able to see ‘La Famille Bélier’, and Wednesday 19th February when we’ll be showing ‘Un Singe en Hiver’. The latter was originally scheduled as the November film but has been swapped with ‘Indochine’. You’ll find all other dates and titles of SHTA film nights from March to June, on the middle Wednesday of each month, on our website and in your Member’s Card.

‘La Famille Bélier’ is a French-Belgian coming-of-age comedy-drama released in 2014 and directed by Éric Lartigau. In a family of four people, Paula, the elder child, is the only one who can hear and speak. When Paula gets a chance to join an élite choir, her parents disapprove of it. The film stars Karin Viard, François Damiens, Éric Elmosnino and Louane Emera.

The film received 6 nominations at the 40th César Awards, winning Most Promising Actress for Louane Emera. It won a Magritte Award in the category of Best Foreign Film, and rated 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.

If you’d like to reserve your place for our film in January please send me an email on stuartpjones100@yahoo.co.uk. Admission to film nights remains at £7.50 per head and priority will be given to members who book in advance. You can pay in advance online to SHTA, account number: 42027168; sort code: 30-90-09. Alternatively, you can pay by cash or card on the night at the cinema.

Despite the chilly days and dark nights we’re currently experiencing, the long and warm days of mid-Summer will soon be here. It’s always uplifting to look forward to future trips and we have the opportunity to do just that with our Group Visit to Honfleur betweenThursday 19th and Sunday 22nd June 2025.

In addition to visiting our beautiful twin town in, what we hope will be, glorious weather, we will also be treated to the 43rd edition of the ‘Fête de la Musique’ on Saturday 21st June when, as the local Tourist Office says, “Honfleur offers you a wonderful evening of music and concerts. From one year to the next, young and old alike will be able to enjoy open-air concerts by local groups and renowned artists: many stages are set up in the streets of the town”.

“This national event celebrates music in all its genres and styles such as jazz, rock, traditional French song, and rap during free concerts. Many artists and music groups will perform in concert in Honfleur for the occasion. The concerts of the Fête de la Musique 2025 in Honfleur will take place in the streets, bars and cultural venues in Honfleur”.

The cost for the visit, which will include travel by coach and Tunnel crossing, group visits and accommodation with hosts in Honfleur for three nights, will be just £140.00 per head. It’s not essential that you participated in the November/October visit to Sandwich for you to be involved next June. If you’d like to reserve your seat(s) on the coach for this trip, please get in touch; my contact details, along with all of the other Committee members, are at the end of this newsletter. If you have questions about the trip, please don’t hesitate to ask any of us.

Two of our members who may be otherwise engaged and unable to join us on the trip to Honfleur are Alison Farmer and Dicky Sharp. Some of you will be aware that they are currently in St Lucia having sailed from Spain on their own boat in a crew of just four! Their aim is to sail around the world and return after around 18 months, no doubt, with a hatful of great memories and adventures. We send them the love and very best wishes of everyone within SHTA and look forward to hearing about their further progress.

Finally, I’ll leave you with an appropriate poem for this time of year; not surprisingly, it’s called ‘Bonne Année’ and was written in 1931 by Tristan Derème:

Bonne année

Voici la nouvelle annéeS
ouriante, enrubannée,
Qui pour notre destinée,
Par le ciel nous est donnée :
C’est à minuit qu’elle est née.
Les ans naissent à minuit
L’un arrive, l’autre fuit.

Happy New Year

Which, for our destiny,
Heaven gives us:
At midnight it was born.
The years are born at midnight
One arrives, the other flees.

Nouvel an! Joie et bonheur!
Pourquoi ne suis-je sonneur
De cloches, carillonneur,
Pour mieux dire à tout le monde
À ceux qui voguent sur l’onde
Ou qui rient dans leurs maisons,
Tous les vœux que nous faisons
Pour eux, pour toute la Terre
Pour mes amis les enfants
Pour les chasseurs de panthères
Et les dompteurs d’éléphants.

New Year! Joy and happiness!
Why am I not the one who rings
The bells, the bell-ringer,
To better tell everyone,
To those who sail the waves
Or those who have fun in their homes,
All the wishes we make
For them, for the whole world
For my friends the children,
For the hunters of panthers
And the elephant tamers.

That’s it for now, folks; we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Empire Cinema on 15th January to start our 2025 events with a bang. May we wish you very best wishes for a healthy and happy New Year.

Stuart, Mark and the Committee.