THE U3A French students who attended George Nadal’s Bastille Day lunch at Tillerman Restaurant on the 14th July were pleasantly surprised to learn that they had received honorary membership of the Confrerie Raisin d’Or de Sigoules.

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The badge of the Confrerie (Brotherhood) was distributed by Tillerman’s owner Peter Hodges who has been the Ambassador of the Confrerie to Australia since 2011.

A confrerie was originally a localised medieval order that was established to oversee and protect the population. They were banned by Robespierre during the Revolution and reinstated by Marechal Petain during World War Two.

The modern function of the confrerie is to promote regional produce through colourful parades and gatherings such as the one that occurred this week in Tea Gardens.

During the four course lunch the students sang the French songs which many had sung at school, but as usual, the rousing Marseillaise anthem was the great favourite. This year was special because the group had just received their honorary membership of the Confrerie and some will look forward to singing it again when they visit the village of Sigoules in the beautiful Aquitaine region of France.

By Lyn CHAIKIN