'I visited underrated French city and discovered surprising link to my hometown'

When I headed to the beautiful region of Cognac, France, it was somewhere I hadn't really heard much about except for the drink (of which I wasn't a huge fan).

Despite it not being on my initial radar, I am a firm believer in exploring new places and cultures as they can capture your imagination in completely unexpected ways. Still, when I arrived in Cognac, what I unveiled was never something I could have anticipated.

When I first landed in France, I immediately had a full day of activities planned including a tour of the beautiful home of Baume de Bauteville balsamic vinegar, and a visit to the iconic Remy Martin Cognac house for a private tour complete with a guide to its history and, of course, Cognac tasting sessions. I wasn't a huge fan of the drink before, but I soon changed my tune. Of course I was posting all about my trip - and that's when a friend back home got in touch with an interesting revelation.

They informed me that Cognac was twinned with Perth, Scotland - which just so happens to be my hometown. It completely stole my imagination and got me researching. Immediately I had a lightbulb moment; Perth is also a distillery town, so of course I learned this after a day at a distillery! That was the first piece of the puzzle. So I looked into it all a little bit more.

Twin cities are a concept most of us will have heard of but probably have never thought about before. I will hold my hands up and say that the only time I had ever truly thought of them was when I saw the names on road signs when coming into towns and cities. That is about as far as my knowledge about them went, until now.

The concept of a Twin City was first coined after the end of WWII in a bid to promote both cultural and commercial ties to the two cities that were involved., whilst also promoting prosperity in a post-war landscape. However, the first 'official' twin cities agreement happened in 1931, when Toledo, Ohio twinned with Toledo, Spain.

I could not believe that I had absolutely no idea that Cognac and Perth were twinned before-hand, and it started to feel a little bit like fate that I was there. It really got me thinking about everything and wanting to know more.

What I started to notice was all of the little things that tied these places together. For start, Perth is on a river, as is Cognac. Food and drink are both massive tourism opportunities for both places and they are even similar sizes. The population of Perth is around 47,00 and Cognac's is 60,000 for the area! It all started to make sense. Even the humble beginnings of Remy Martin reminded me of home.

Wanting to learn more, I reached out to Graham Knight, who runs the 'Friends of Cognac' society in Perth. I wanted his unique insight into the partnership and what it meant for both communities.

He explained: "The twinning agreement between Perth and Cognac was signed in October 1991 and arose out of the common elements of whisky and cognac. At that time Perth was the headquarters of a number of whisky companies e.g. Bells, Dewars ,Peter Thomson and Cognac was home to Hennessy, Remy Martin, Martell, and Courvoisier et alia.

"An extract from the twinning agreement reads 'establishing a firm foundation for future understanding, respect and friendship between the people of Cognac and Perth for all time.' The most obvious similarity is geographical, both towns (Perth of course now being a city) lying on famous rivers and are important administrative centres. Tourism is also a common thread in each area."

"The core of our activity is a programme of group visits to Cognac, and from Cognac to Perthshire in which we are hosted in the homes of French friends for a week, and they in turn are hosted in our homes. These visits enable the sharing of our lives, towns, local areas, activities and cultures, not to mention our food and drink! Over the years strong friendships, often life-long, have been forged, and we’ve even improved our language skills."

What I began to realise was that actually, there were so many similarities between Perth and Cognac. I realised that these two places are so similar because of the kindness of people, the landscapes, the output of produce in the areas and the rich histories of the two places.

Once I knew that there were ties to Perth all around the French region, my trip felt extra magical. I started looking at everything differently and absorbing more of it - and there was plenty to enjoy.

I spent the morning with Frapin Cognac to tour their impressive distillery and Chateau. It's been in the family for hundreds of years and you can sense the pride in it all around you. They've really kept family at the heart of what they do and I adore that concept. I really could feel the warmth of the people and really felt like I was sat with a family having lunch, much like how many places feel like in Perth.

That afternoon, I went to the beautiful Cognac Jewellery School and created my own vine leaf earrings. The lovely Jessica guided me through my first taste of metal-work, and we started talking about how she had moved to Cognac from England right before the pandemic hit and fell in love with the region and its culture and beauty. I couldn't stop thinking about my hometown link; even the leaves reminded me of ones I'd find in Scotland.

I think that's what I've loved the most about all of this, is understanding the ties that bring these two very different places together. Ultimately, what it comes down to is a deep-rooted sense of pride in communities, which is something that I think is beautiful. I love that the two places can share this commonality with one another, showing that as humans, we really aren't all that different deep down.

Colin Powell once said "the ties that bind us are stronger than the stresses that separate us". I think the idea of twin cities can encapsulate that perfectly. We are so different, yet there are these commonalities that tie us together in ways we could not have imagined, no matter where you're from! When I was offered this trip I could never have anticipated learning more about my hometown in the process. Now, I also feel like there will always be a string tying me to Cognac.

• You can find out more on explore-cognac.com.