This is probably one of the smallest Boîtes à lire I've seen, but then Lacroste only has a population of over 700. All the same, there was no room for any more books here, and I relieved it of Jean Giono's Les Récits de la demi-brigade. We just love Lacroste.
The Jeanton tomb in Lacroste is a family one and I could see no mention of Gabriel Jeanton on it. However, a plaque at the side of it reveals a number of things about Lacroste's most famous son. He was born in Lacroste and lived in the family house, now 5 Rue Gabriel Jeanton. He left for Paris, where he obtained a doctorate in Law in 1906. He directed the Tribune Civil in Mâcon for eighteen years, and was curator of the Musée Greuze in Tournus. He wrote a large number of works on the area around Mâcon and Tournus.
La Fontaine à Chagrin on the road between Lacroste (usually pronounced without the 'ste') and Préty is a legend concerning a vouivre (a wivern, or winged dragon) which used to drink at the fountain. It had a diamond on its forehead which it used to take off while drinking. But a man from Lacroste, called Chagrin, had a large container covered in very sharp nails and hid in it while waiting for the creature to go to the fountain. When the creature was drinking Chagrin crept to the diamond and covered it, along with himself, in the container. Having drunk, the wyvern sought the diamond and killed itself on the nails while trying to retrieve it. The fountain is said to cure eye diseases, although the water itself is said to be detrimental to the health of people. (This account is the one given by local historian Gabriel Jeanton (1881-1943) in L’ancienne paroisse de Préty en Mâconnaisin, although there are other stories which slightly differ.)
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