René Lalique in Aÿ, Marne (51)

Outside the mairie in the small town of Aÿ, near Épernay, Marne (51).

The son of Auguste Jules Lalique and Olympe Berthellemy, René Lalique (1860–1945) is a famous glass artist/designer and designer of jewels. He was born of Aÿ on 68 rue Jules Blondeau, now a street named after him. He died in Paris and is buried in the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise.

A sort of family tree, in which René Lalique is called an 'eclectic visionary', which is in the square Olympe Berthellemy, named after Lalique's mother.

This bench informs us that every first of May René Lalique gave his employees a bunch of lilies of the valley and a box of Boissier chocolate: it adds that he liked to remember walking on lilies of the valley in the undergrowth above Aÿ where 'there were so many [...] flowering that you could have imagined yourself walking on pearls'. His symbol the libellule, or dragonfly, is represented here, along with a femme ailée (winged woman) of his originally in bronze.

Large street signs in Aÿ display information about Lalique. This one is about Lalique and women. Women were a great source of inspiration, from Olympe his mother (a muse) to his grand-daughter Nicole Marich-Haviland (who said he spoke of women as things to be treasured), his wife Alice Ledru (another muse), and his daughter Suzanne Lalique-Haliland, etc.

René Lalique and Alice.

Just follow the trail.