Dear friends of Eurojumelages,

With over 250 million native Portuguese speakers worldwide, the Portuguese language is becoming increasingly popular - also within Eurojumelages.
A Portuguese language course took place in Coimbra,between 5th and 12th October 2024. Coimbra is a beautiful city steeped in history and known above all as the home of Portugal's oldest university.
Marilia and her team from the Coimbra section of the CDCR dos CTT organised this language course perfectly. Not only that, there was also a very interesting cultural programme: we explored the city of Coimbra, tasted local specialities, went on excursions in the surrounding area ... I highly recommend reading the following travel report!
We were able to get to know the Portuguese language and culture together in a wonderful way.

‘ Muito obrigado, querida Marília e toda a sua equipa’

Portuguese language course in Coimbra

from 05 to 12 October 2024

Saturday

The arrival of the Portuguese course participants was scheduled for 5 October, with some delays caused by the weather in Porto.

Read more ...

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