As you can guess from my recent articles about Noirmoutier, Crestview’s French sister city, I’m wild about the place. It’s a magical, wonderful place, filled with warm, hospitable people. Friday night 46 of them (I think it’s 46) arrived at Northwest Florida Regional Airport.

I was so proud of the welcome our local hosts gave our guests. Their flight was almost two hours late, and after nearly 24 hours of travel, they were just bushed. As they staggered down the stairs and escalator, they were suddenly greeted by shouts and cheers and waving Tricolors (the French flag) from their Crestview friends (new and old). You could see their eyes light up, their smiles grew big, and for the 20-some kids in their group, looks of apprehension vanished and were replaced by massive grins.

Once they were all assembled at the base of the escalators, they surged through the barricade, and under the amused but watchful eye of a TSA officer, the group from the concourse side and the group from the waiting side merged into one. There were hugs, and cheek kisses and hand-shakes and smiles all around.

There were my dear friends Gérard and Marie-Thérèse, René and Madeleine, and sweet Dr. Marie-Thérèse Reed, the world’s most consummate hosts. When my friend David and I visited Noirmoutier this time last year, there was nothing they wouldn’t do to make our stay comfortable, happy and memorable.

There were many of the students I met at their school and at a community forum, including Momo, with his arm in a sling (what’s that all about?), and Bruno, whose brown eyes constantly twinkle and who’s always ready to smile. There was the headmaster, Monsieur Perrocheau, and Noirmoutier’s Mayor Noël Faucher and their wives. There was Ivan, one of the “BAFA boys” (official escorts) I had met last year.

And there were two new friends, Xavier and Christophe, who are staying with us. (Xavier is René and Madeleine’s son.)

Some misguided people around these parts sadly still dismiss the French, which is rather shameful when you consider that these lovely folks have been America’s stalwart friends since before our Revolutionary War. Like any friends of many years, there are bound to be occasional differences of opinion. No friends agree on everything, and friends always agree that sometimes they’ll disagree, but they also agree that differences are quickly buried in the past. Especially when the friendship is so much bigger than any silly minor differences of opinion, it is an excellent reason not to harbor lasting resentments and make insulting wisecracks. Friends don’t do that. And these lovely people from Noirmoutier are most definitely our friends.

I was proud of the welcome they received, both at the airport and about an hour and a half later, at Jack Foster Stadium, when Mayor David Cadle presented Mayor Faucher the key to the city, and the Big Red Machine struck up “La Marseillaise.” (And the boosters at the Nut Hut distributed our guests’ first taste of that fabulous southern treat, boiled peanuts, to assuage rumbling tummies, many of which missed dinner in the dash from the airport to the high school!)

I hope our guests have even half the fun I had in Noirmoutier last year. And I can’t wait to see them again on their own, magical turf!

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