relaunch ISSUE 7 - Autumn - Winter 2009

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Another year is almost over, with memories of some happy events that have brought members of St Bacchus together and it’s not over yet, as Barbara and I travel next weekend to Belgium for the Chapitre in Sint Niklaas. have continued to make international travels and the results were plain to see at the recent Magistral; proof that one of the joys of membership is making old and new friends from other Connétablies. Indeed, much of this Newsletter is devoted to all the happenings over that busy weekend in Reading and the commendable team spirit involved by Wessex and Downland members in making sure that everything went well. Our thanks go to all of those involved and to all of those who made the effort to come. Looking ahead to 2010, you will see early information for the French Chapitre National to be held in Beaujolais, an event which will prove to be as popular as ever, despite the fact that attending these is never going to be cheap - but you do get incredible value for money! On which note, it leads me nicely into announcing some of the details for the Weald version of our English Chapitre National, to be held in Eastbourne in October 2010. Largely due to a huge amount of legwork by , we’ve got a great venue sorted out and such a full evening arranged that it may well be ‘coffee at midnight’ to paraphrase Jenny Smith - all this, at an affordable cost, and a fun weekend too. So - remember October 2nd/3rd and do all come, with your friends as well!

18th Chapitre Magistral of Antwerpen-Metropolis 17th October 2009 Deurne Airport in Antwerp, reached by flying from London City Airport is only a 20 minute taxi ride from the centre of Antwerp and the Elzenveld Cultural Centre, the usual venue for the Commanderie’s Chapitre Magistral is a mere 8 minutes walk from the Grote Markt, the main City Square. The ceremony itself is held in the deconsecrated church, the audience in the Nave and the High Dignitaries in the Chancel. The audience have a wonderful view of magnificent paintings and wall hangings which surround the chancel and altar area. The Procession protocol in Belgium is somewhat different to ours in England most notably perhaps in that no ladies process unless they hold High Office (which no-one does in Belgium!). As this Commanderie is in the north of Belgium, the ceremony was held in both Flemish and French. A number of promotions and long service awards were made before the Ecuyers and Ecuyeres were inducted. The ceremony over, we made our way to the magnificent hall for aperitifs and the meal.

Our hosts had organised a table of three Belgian couples keen to practice their English with us. As is the normal practice abroad, the meal did not commence until 21.00 hours and our helpful ‘table mates’ were able to advise us on the menu which was written in Flemish! Some foods were relatively easy to translate but ‘witloof’ left us stumped. (It is actually endive in French and chicory in English!) A clear consommé Jack Muncer has also arranged a EASTBOURNE - on a good day! was followed by a fish course of lotte, both accompanied by a Sunday Lunch at a rather nice restaurant in Eastbourne (see below). The only hassle with the 2006 Saumur. The meat course left me smiling – an opportuplace is parking, so apart from being sure to come along, do nity to eat myself! The partridge in red wine was superb and arrive early enough to search for a place to park! As might be a 2000 St Emilion had been selected to partner this. A wonderful selection of desserts were placed in front of us including a expected, the speciality is fish - that’ll please a few! Just enough space left to wish everyone a Happy Christmas! chocolate tart and mandarin sorbet. The coffee arrived about midnight .... !

The

will be held at the Eastbourne Centre on with a full programme for Sunday October 3rd WEALD ‘CHRISTMAS’ LUNCH

on Sunday February 21st at the seafront Waterside Restaurant 11-12 Royal Parade, Eastbourne, BN22 7AR

ALL MEMBERS INVITED - children too Meet in the bar from mid-day

NAMES please to JACK MUNCER (who will give more details) by early February Tel: 01323 470 300

or

[email protected]

This was the fourth time that Phil and I have visited Antwerp, which is a very compact and interesting city for sightseeing. Being in the Flemish speaking part of Belgium, the majority of the citizens also speak French and English. There are good bus routes and trams; and being beside the river Schelde the area is very flat for walking. We took the opportunity on the Sunday morning to visit the Plantain-Moretus Museum, a sympathetically restored merchant’s house which tells the story of printing in Antwerp from the mid 15th century. Armed with English audio guides we spent a fascinating morning exploring the history and development of this famous family book publication business that survived for over 300 years. We completed our visit to Antwerp by eating in a Flemish restaurant; we did have to request the English menu, but at least could recognise chicory and chicken in Flemish! Jenny Smith

Grande Connétablie of France CHAPITRE NATIONAL 2010 The next Chapitre Nationale of France will be held in Spring (not, as usual, in autumn) on 24th - 25th April 2010 in Romanèche-Thorins (Beaujolais) in the ‘Hameau du Vin’. (see:http://www.hameauduvin.com) Winery Notes! The man they call the King of Beaujolais, George Duboeuf , started out as a physical education teacher and ended up as a wine producer selling about two out of every ten bottles of beaujolais produced. Just when one would have thought that there was nothing left for the man to prove, Duboeuf launched a vast tourist attraction - part theme park, part museum, part tasting room and part history lesson - called Le Hameau du Vin, located in Romanèche-Thorins, about 24 miles north of Lyon. A lot of people expected the venture to flop but, in its first year, the Hameau received 80,000 paying visitors. Since then, more than a million people have visited the park, which is surprisingly tasteful and informative; it all looks very smart too. As a guide confided, "Even the gravel between the barrels is raked every morning.”

A CURRY NIGHT IN CAVERSHAM On Sunday 25th October, following the Magistral the previous evening and after being very fortunate with the weather during the afternoon boat trip (followed by some much-needed downtime), later we gathered once again in the Crowne Plaza hotel foyer and walked over the bridge to Caversham towards the Eastern delights that awaited us there. The Spice Oven restaurant looks unassuming from the exterior but upon entering we were guided through a pleasantly decorated room and over another bridge - this time over a pond containing some enormous carp which were most definitely not on the menu! We were given a cluster of round tables in a raised private area that accommodated the 39 of us. After explaining to our French and Belgian guests what the strange things already on the table were (poppadoms and pickles) we ordered our beers, wines and soft drinks. No sooner than our drinks had arrived, plates of mixed starters appeared; then more plates of sizzling meat starters followed, accompanied with salads. As Phil Smith reports: “Most people found the new tastes interesting and for some it was not a first time experience. Pierre Waltener from Antwerp even calmly ate one of the green chilies that accompanied the salad, before admitting, whilst mopping his brow, that it was some 25 years ago when he last attempted the feat!

After grazing on these delicious plates (and another round of my rather poor translation attempts) the main courses were delivered in table-filling quantities. Various meat, Based on previous experiences, this is yet another event seafood and vegetable dishes meant that everybody found that should not be missed and early booking will be wise. something they enjoyed and some of us enjoyed it all! However, in the words of Michel Graviassy, “we will be Thinking that we couldn’t possibly eat any more, it was drinking other wines rather than Beaujolais Nouveau!!” surprising to see the unusual desserts sampled, found agreeable, and finished. Who would have thought that warm shredded carrot would be so popular! Our guests came away with a very good impression of a cuisine that has become such an integral part of British culture and Barbara and I recently spent a few hectic days in headed back for a restful night before Windsor, or a Istanbul, seeing as much of the place as possible. Idly homeward journey. looking through a guide book, I spotted a reference to Raj Visram the Church of St Bacchus and St Sergius, which we knew we had to visit on behalf of the Ordre - but only after an hour of walking and searching found that the place had been clearly visible from our hotel all the time! Begun in 527 by Emperor Justinian, a devotee of the saints, the church was an early experiment in Byzantine architecture, with a large central dome supported by an octagonal base. It became a mosque in the 16th century under Sultan Beyazit II, and then called Küçük Ayasofya Camii (Little Hagia Sophia), named for its resemblance to the much larger and better known Hagia Sophia built a few years later. Recently restored by the World Monuments Fund, originally the walls and vault would have been covered in golden mosaics and frescoes to the saints – now, of course, under Muslim belief, all obliterated. < me!

Malcolm Valentin

My thanks go to all those who came to support the Wessex and Downland Chapitre Magistral at Queen Anne’s School, Caversham. The event was a great success with 79 people at the Chapitre in the School Hall, including 34 from France and Belgium. They witnessed the promotion of Jenny Smith as Grand Sénéchale d’Angleterre in recognition for all her efforts since she joined the Order. John Rudolph commended Mary Kelly to be promoted Dame d’Atour after relinquishing the role of Grand Argentier, Caroline Gould thanked Doug Bishop for his contributions over many years as he was promoted Chevalier Hospitalier and I had the pleasure of similarly proposing Graham Shove for his sterling work in the preparations for each Wessex and Downland Chapitre. There then followed a number of meritorious distinctions for length of service. Jack Muncer was recognised as the longest serving member of the Connétablie (having joined in 1980), followed by John Rudolph and Caroline Gould. There were further awards for Caroline’s mother Phyllis, Malcolm and Barbara Valentin, Mary Kelly, Doug Bishop, David Evans and Angela Muncer. In addition, four new members were inducted; - Roy du Preez, James and Barbara Harding and Nicky Stephens, bringing Connétablie membership to over 50. Newly inducted members : Nicky Stephens, Barbara & James Harding, and Roy du Preez

On Sunday nearly 50 guests enjoyed a delightful cruise on the River Thames from Caversham to Henley and back. Caroline was able to bring her mother, Phyllis to enjoy the day out, although boarding the boat got the day off to an exciting start as there was no more than an inch more gangplank on either side than the width of her wheelchair! We were blessed with really good weather that enabled everyone to enjoy the magnificent views of the Thames Valley, with the autumn shades of colour of the leaves on the trees. After the boat turned round in Henley, the caterers came on board and served a delicious two course meal with a choice of three mains and two desserts complemented by the ‘Wineshare’ wine from the Cotes de Duras vineyard in which both Jenny’s father and John Rudolph invested. With the wine flowing and a 2½ hour journey back to Caversham, there was plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely ‘déjeuner abord’ as we passed through the pretty locks and hazarded our guesses at just how much each waterside property might cost to buy! After a siesta, those staying Sunday night were back down in the foyer of the hotel for the short walk across Caversham Bridge to The Spice Oven for the very ‘British’ experience of a ‘Curry Night’ on Sunday evening that Rajes, who carefully refined the menu, has described separately. On Monday, we enjoyed a truly memorable visit to Windsor Castle, as Caroline and Malcolm were able to use their connections with the Friends of St. George’s Chapel to secure us “special attention” during our visit to the Chapel as the high spot of our visit. Frances Brook, who had kindly agreed to guide our overseas friends, was permitted to deliver a hushed briefing at the back of the Chapel on arrival and we were escorted attentively throughout the visit by a number of stewards who complemented Frances’ extensive knowledge as a “Blue Badge guide”.

Later, the superb dinner, which included Bœuf en Croute cooked to perfection, was prepared by the same team that prepare the meals for the pupils each day. It was marvellous to see how our overseas guests, including the Première Dame de l’Ordre Ginette-Constance Graviassy, appreciated the New World wine that Echanson Rajes had selected. Grand Maître, Michel Graviassy has sent me an email just recently indicating that Paris-Isle A wonderful visit was complemented by a superb lunch at the de France Commanderie have since held a “Bar à Vins” evening nearby Castle Hotel where after allowing for the obligatory 30 where they tasted a range of wines from South America (perhaps minutes for everyone to say goodbye to each other, we had only inspired by their experiences in England!). a short walk to Windsor station for those travelling by train to return to France and Belgium. ® photo by Jim Kelly

Thank you again to all the Wessex members for their contributions to the organisation of the weekend and to the Connétablie members who supported the Chapitre and subsequent events during the weekend. PSBAN!

DIARY DATES

December 5th 2010 February 21st

Sint Niklaas Chapitre Magistral Weald Sunday lunch

April 24th-25th

French Chapitre National

October 2nd-3rd

English Chapitre National

Waterside Restaurant, Eastbourne Hameau du Vin - Beajolais

____You’ll need a magnifying glass for this one!___

Eastbourne, Sussex