Remembering Roger

Roger Bowen: smiles and cars

A short memorial will be held on Saturday 4th May at 5pm (17h) of the life of Roger Bowen. In the parish church of Varen, the proceedings will include a welcome and  benediction by the Curé and some of Roger's favourite music and readings as well as a reminiscence of his life here in France as well as life before France.
The service should last about 30 minutes and will be followed by drinks and nibbles at Michaela Best's house in St Vincent de Varen. 

A memorial for Roger Bowen

One of our best loved characters Roger Bowen died in January and as he wished to be buried in England most of his friends here were denied a chance to say farewell. His long time friend and colleague Michaela Best has undertaken to organise a short memorial service in the parish church in Varen.
To be held on Saturday 4th May at 5pm (17h) the proceedings will include a welcome and  benediction by the Curé and some of Roger's favourite music and readings as well as a reminiscence of his life here in France as well as life before France.
The service should last about 30 minutes and will be followed by drinks and nibbles at Michaela's house in St Vincent de Varen.
Michaela will prepare a booklet and asks anyone who would like to contribute a few words to email her at michaelabest@hotmail.com 

Karl Lagerfeld

The iconic fashion designer who reformed the house of Chanel died yesterday, Tuesday 19 February. The design function will be taken over by his close collaborator Virginie Viard, who has worked with Lagerfeld for 30 years. Viard is the head of the creative studios, making the designer's drawings into garments.

Karl Lagerfeld and Virginie Viard in October 2018. Photo Bertrand Guay, AFP

Lagerfeld started with Chanel in 1983 and his designs and personality lifted the faded fashion house back to its former glories.
He had said he wanted to leave his fortune to his beloved Burmese cat, Choupette. This is apparently not possible under French law as pets are treated as chattels and are part of the deceased's estate, inherited along with everything else as decreed by the "code Napoleon". But we imagine that a specific bequest could be made to a person or association charged with keeping the cat in luxury as long as it lived.

Sketch of Choupette by his owner

Did you know John Blackburn

Readers in the Caylus area who knew John will be sad to hear of his death. He was resident in Caylus for many years and died at home earlier this week. A service will be held in the church at Caylus, 14h followed at the crematorium Montauban at 17h on Monday February 4th.

Sad coincidence

A couple of weeks ago we helped some friends clear the house which their aged parents rented from a M Louis Blanc. From photos and items in the house it was clear that Louis Blanc was a well known rugby player for Montauban.(USM).
Coming from a family which was closely linked with USM, "Loulou" as he was known, captained the USM XV which won the French championship in 1967. Sadly the club announced today that their former hooker has died this weekend aged 85. A sad coincidence for us and our friends.

One of the best known (and loved) local personalities has died

Andre Laban at work

We are lucky enough to have met Andre Laban, who died this week aged 89, on a number of occasions and to possess one of his underwater paintings.
Andre, from Marseille, worked for many years with Jacques Cousteau who was world famous for his underwater films. He said he simply asked Cousteau for a job and was asked to prepare the cameras for the filming. Later he became part of the camera crew himself and eventually an accomplished photographer, painter and poet. In his retirement in St Antonin he collaborated with Tim Grosvenor in his gallery to present his photographs (his "One man chauve" was a witty collection of photographic puns on his own lack of hair), his paintings and his book and DVD "la Passion du Bleu".

Underwater painting by Andre Laban

We bought one of the beautiful blue paintings which always reminds us of those days of more than 10 years ago when Tim and other local artists tried to make St Antonin a centre for art, which Andre Laban supported wholeheartedly, and remained its most accomplished creator.
For an appreciation of his life and work, including live footage of him working, click to the Depeche du Midi page https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/occitanie/tarn-et-garonne/montauban/andre-laban-realisateur-peintre-ancien-bras-droit-du-commandant-cousteau-est-decede-saint-antonin-noble-val-1556158.html

Aznavour: a world star passes

At the Alhambra, Paris in 1960. Pic AFP

The headline news in all the media, including the BBC, has been the death of Charles Aznavour at the age of 94 years.
Born of Armenian refugee parents in Paris, Aznavour was scorned for years by the popular music critics. Despite having written many hit songs and accompanied Edith Piaf as her pianist, appeared in films and performed across the world, the critics considered him "second division". His stature, 5'2", his unhandsome appearance (Piaf advised him to have a nose job) and his unmusical voice - not to forget his "foreign" origin - were all held against him.
In 1960 a concert in Paris transformed his status as the critics realised what the public already thought: here was a consummate performer and writer of songs of the stature of Brassens and Trenet. From then on he became a darling of the media and a world star- though it is said that his most famous English language song "She" has no French version.
Aznavour never forgot his Armenian roots and later in life paid many visits there, writing a song in homage to those who died in the Armenian genocide which led his parents to flee. After the earthquake in 1988 he set up a foundation to aid the families of the 25000 victims and remained an ambassador for that country all his life.
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We owe this woman a lot

Genevieve Bonnefoi is not a name familiar to many of us, but her determination and foresight has left us with a marvel of art and culture that has enriched our area.
From Paris and already a respected writer and collector of modern art and 1960 holiday to Najac saw her come across an abandoned Cistercian abbey in the Seye valley - the Abbaye de Beaulieu.
She and her husband saw the possibility of restoring the building to create an arts centre. Having bought the ruins they spent several years on its restoration, then in 1970 held the first exhibition of modern art and despite the remote rural setting the splendour of the abbey and its site attracted many visitors. In 1972 Genevieve Bonnefoi set up the Cultural Association of the Abbaye de Beaulieu in order to spread the word beyond the Seye valley and agreed to donate it to the Centre des Monuments Nationaux, with a considerable part of her collection. But she remained the driving force behind its development.
Many readers will have visited the abbey over the years: the fantastic buildings; the frequent exhibitions of contemporary art, not always to everyone's taste, but always challenging; even the wonderful display of snowdrops around this time.
Just to walk in the peaceful surroundings of this ancient monastery is testament enough to this remarkable woman, whose work is carried on by the association today, but to leave a wonderful addition to our cultural heritage deserves a vote of thanks. She died aged 96 last week.

Death of a legend

Johnny Halliday, who has died age 74

People of our age are used to iconic figures from the past 50 years dying, but to the French people the death announced today of Johnny Hallyday is akin to the death of Elvis to us anglophones.
Johnny (as he was universally known) has been at the top of show business here since those early rock n' roll days, still touring, changing his appeal to match the times, but retaining the "greatest hits" in his act.
Like so many pop music acts from the sixties, Johnny was a wannabe Elvis, but had the talent to rise above the one hit wonders to become a fixed star in the French music scene. Though in recent years he lived in Los Angeles and was often criticised for tax exile status, his very public fight against cancer did not diminish the affection French people had for their very own king of rock.

Message from David Clench's family

David Clench
All those who would like to join us (David's family) at his house in Varen after his funeral on Wednesday 18th (1:30pm onwards) would be most welcome.  Any plate of food to contribute to the buffet would also be much appreciated.
We look forward to seeing you all.
Thanks,
The Clench Family

Remembering David

The funeral service for David Clench who passed away on Wednesday will be next Wednesday 18th October at 11.15am. The ceremony will take place in the crematorium at Montauban (near Pont de Chaumes). If you intend to go think of car sharing as parking can be limited near the crematorium.
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David Clench

Just a week ago we published a drawing David made for Taglines some years ago, with a note that he was ill in hospital with a persistent infection.
Now we are told the sad news that David has passed away, his family at his bedside.
At 94 years old David has had an amazing life and we will pass on details of the funeral service as soon as we have them.
RIP
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A great woman passes away

Simone Veil has died at the age of 89. One of post war Frances's greatest politicians, she was deported to Auschwitz and survived to become a minister under various presidents, passing into law many important women's issues, including the abortion laws.
A committed Europhile, Mme Veil became president of the European Parliament and led the rapprochement between France and Germany. A funeral service presided by Emmanuel Macron will be held on Wednesday at Les Invalides in Paris. There are many calls for Simone Veil to be buried in the Pantheon, where many French notables and heroes are buried.
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French star dies at 89

On a day when Anglophone readers are regretting the passing of the wonderful John Hurt, Francophones are mourning Emmanuelle Riva. Readers who saw the multi-award winning French film "Amour" will remember the tremendous and moving performance of Riva, and Jean-Louis Trintignon, in 2012. Nominated for best actress at the Oscars she celebrated her 86th birthday on the day of the ceremony. She also was awarded the 2013 Bafta for her role in Michael Haneke's film about a couple of retired musicians whose love is put under stress when the wife has a stroke.

She also starred in Alain Resnais' film "Hiroshima Mon Amour".

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John Taylor: RIP

This is a story we never thought to report: John Taylor, our good friend of many years has passed away after a short illness.

John loved his music

We met John when he and Sheila moved to Varen to be near to their daughter Juliet, Val's French teacher. After Juliet moved and her sister Francesca moved here to Belpech we continued to meet John and Sheila regularly, knowing that they loved their life here, adored their grandchildren and Cracker the dog. But John blossomed as a member of the Folk and Jazz group, progressing from a guitar beginner to an accomplished musician, especially in the traditional folk music of the UK - not that he neglected the more popular French songs to appeal to the increasingly international audience of Folk n' Jazz.
We became used to the newly pony-tailed cyclist whizzing by; hearing the tales of the TV studios he worked in; his increasingly devoted  care of Sheila; those garden parties or evenings in the barn at La Vigerie. Wherever John joined in he was welcome: the jazz band for the nights at Mas del Sol welcomed his contributions with open arms and we know they (as well as the patrons at the Domaine de Sautou) will mourn his passing.

First performance at Mas del Sol

All of those who knew John will share with Sheila, Juliet and Francesca and their children the pain of his passing, but remember the enjoyment of the times we spent in his company.
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Great French musician dies

In his chateau in Naves, near Castres south Tarn, renowned orchestral conductor Georges Pretre has died at the age of 92. Principal conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra for many years, Pretre has also led the prestigious Vienna Philharmonic in its famous New Year concert on two occasions.
His career also took him to New York, London, Paris and Toulouse amongst others.

Georges Pretre. Pic MaxPPP

Despite labelling himself as "Viennese" Pretre was not a waltz king, but championed many less known composers and during his long career built a huge collection of recorded work, a multi-disc box collection of which was featured by chance last week on France Musique.
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Palmyre Lacan (1927-2016)

We heard today the sad news that Palmyre passed away on Monday. She was a well-known character in Varen, and especially in St Vincent, whose church owes much of its present condition to Palmyre.
When we first knew her we lived in the Presbytery of that church and she was already into her seventies, but motivated to the restoration of the church and its wall paintings. Palmyre was present when the first hints of the paintings re-appeared in 2000 and spent the next 15 years of her life as president of the association for the restoration of the church (Sesavi).
Battling with planners and local authorities, exhorting heritage funds to support the scheme, roping in locals (Malc included as publicist and as assistant treasurer), Palmyre left no stone unturned. Today the paintings are restored and the building secure - the next stage is to redecorate and furnish the little church.
Palmyre had also battled against failing health over the last couple of years and finally succumbed in hospital in Albi.
Fittingly her funeral service will be at St Vincent on Friday 28th October at 16h30 (4.30pm)

First glimpses of wall paintings in 2000

The restored paintings

Marc Riboud, photographer, dies age 93

The exhibition "Visa pour l'image" of photo-journalism at Perpignan (closes Friday) includes a selection of the work of one of France's most celebrated photographers, Marc Riboud, who died yesterday. Perpignan has a retrospective of his meeting with Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1963. His wife was due to be at the exhibition today.

Cuba 1963: Marc Riboud

One of his most famous pictures is the "Girl with a flower", showing a peace protester confronting armed guards at the Pentagon.

Photo Marc Riboud 1967

Influential left politician dies

Michel Rocard: Photo  AFP

Michel Rocard was Prime Minister under Francois Mitterand from 1988-1991 and has died at the age of 85.
A reformer whose vision of the left was to move it away from allegiances with the Communist Party and other hard left groups to a new "second socialism". This often brought him into conflict with Mitterand, who appointed him nonetheless because he said he "had no choice, given his popularity in the country".
His brand of "New Labour" socialism had a particularly French stamp and influenced many of the moderate left reformers since, including Manuel Valls who worked in his office.
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Claude SJonghers

Malc writes: when I started playing petanque some dozen years ago at Verfeil along with some other Brit players, we were quickly taken under the wing of Claude and Christian, stalwarts of the Boule Verfeillaise. I became a member of the committee and eventually Claude's deputy secretary.
Claude was a Belgian by birth and his wife Christianne a Ch'ti and their welcoming warmth was a pleasure to all. Claude had been a "traveller in ladies' shoes" as he said and his work introduced him to this area where they lived for many years in Verfeil.
The boules club flourished under Claude's stewardship until dwindling membership and ill health forced it to be wound up. Claude has fought against cancer for the last few years and finally succumbed this week. We send our commiserations to Christianne and family - Verfeil has lost a valuable and popular member of its community.
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