A twinning between two French departments: this is a visibly new idea. David Lappartient underlines this: he looked for such a match, without success. On July 11, 2021, the president of the Morbihan Departmental Council met his counterpart from Haute-Savoie. In addition to their personal commonalities (passion for cycling among others), they discovered that the territories they presided over were close in many areas. In 2023, they therefore finalized a twinning. After the visit of the Morbihan delegation to Haute-Savoie last March, this week it was the turn of the Savoyards to discover the specificities of Morbihan.
“The two most beautiful departments in France”
On Thursday, June 27, Martial Saddier, the President of Haute-Savoie, gave an assessment of this short stay: “we have the same respect for the environment, with the concern for economic growth” referring in particular to the Yves Rocher company. Common points? Martial Saddier found them everywhere: these are two territories that live off tourism, these two departments have hosted the Olympic flame, religion is still strong there, they are lands of champions (mountain skiing, sailing here) and the family industry is strong. Following his visit to Hoëdic, he saw “the same state of mind as the mountain dwellers… At 1,000 meters above sea level”.
Irrigate this twinning in all areas
David Lappartient is also counting on associations and structures (town halls, Morbihan firefighters, chambers of trade, agriculture, youth protection, etc.) to bring this twinning to life. For example, seasonal workers could work in the mountains in winter and in the Morbihan region in summer, while schools would create exchanges between them. In the meantime, a meeting of the tourism development agency is already planned to imagine future actions.
