Épernay street names (4): Léon Bourgeois, Épernay (51), Marne (51)

Léon Bourgeois, sénateur of Marne, was a radical and a sculptor who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1920. Rodin dedicated a sculpture to him.

Épernay street names (3): Marcel Paul, Épernay (51), Marne (51)

Marcel Paul was one of the five communist members of the post-war government, and as Ministre de la production industrielle is most noted for nationalising power industries, creating EDF (Électricité de France) and GDF (Gaz de France). The street named after him was originally called 'Rue de l'électricité'.

Épernay street names (2): Vincent Ballu, Épernay (51), Marne (51)

'RUE

Vincent BALLU

(2.8.1920-9.7.1980)

Fondateur de la Maison

TECNOMA'

Yes, Vincent Ballu established the agricultural machines business Tecnoma. He is also the inventor of the 'tracteur enjambeur' for vineyards, which was used in post-war France.

Épernay street names (1): La Saule Verdelette, Épernay (51), Marne (51)

On an 1831 map of Épernay there appears a small area to the south of a loop in the River Marne, named 'Le Saule Verdelette', which obviously refers to this area being named after the native willow trees. But I'm at a loss as to how this area could have slightly changed its name, making the street below it 'La Saule Verdelette'. Why the change of gender? Even the McDo restaurant, when Googled, comes up as 'McDonald's La Saule Verdelette'. Have I missed something?

Champagne in Mardeuil, Marne (51), Épernay (51)

At a roundabout at the entrance to Mardeuil, one of a number of Champagne-producing villages near Épernay, this attractive representation of a Champagne cork and cage.

Le Ballon captif, Épernay, Marne (41)

'Le Ballon captif', Épernay, Marne. For a tourist attraction, and an advert for the Champagne produced here, I suppose it's not too bad: they could have thought up much worse things! The AC stands for Avenue de Champagne, where the much photographed Moët & Chandon building is, incidentally diagonally opposite L'hôtel de ville, in the park of which is a very fruitful boîte à lire.

Dom Pérignon in Épernay, Marne (51)

Odd that I've been to Épernay a number of times, but somehow not noticed the statue of Dom Pérignon outside the Moët et Chandon building, although I've been to Hautillers and seen his tomb in the abbey, but anyway here it is. Interesting too are the corkscrew-shaped plants strewn around outside:

Boîte à lire in Épernay, Marne (51)

We stumbled across this boîte à lire in the grounds of the park in the Hôtel de Ville in Épernay, and as we always carry a few read French books around with us we exchanged them for a few on offer here, including Henri Vincenot's La Billebaude, which I was planning to read anyway.

Boîtes à lire:
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Boîte à Lire, Dicy, Nièvre
Boîte à lire, Maisons-Laffitte, Yvelines
Boîte à lire, Sorigny, Indre-et-Loire
Boîte à Lire, Jonzac, Charente-Maritime
Boîte à lire, La Roque-d'Anthéron, Bouches-du-Rhône
Boîte à Lire, Épineuil-le-Fleuriel, Cher
Boîte à lire, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône
Boîte à lire, East Markham, UK
Boîte à lire, La Folie Couvrechef, Caen, Calvados
Boîte à lire, Bergues, Nord
Boîte à lire, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime
Boîte à lire, Villerville, Calvados
Boîte à lire, Saint-Servan, Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine
Boîte à lire in Caen, Calvados
Boîte à Lire, Noyant d'Allier, Allier
Boîte à lire, Dampierre-en-Burly, Loiret
Boîte à lire, Illiers-Combray, Eure-et-Loir
Boîte à lire, Chartres, Eure-et-Loir
Boîte à lire, Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d'Or, Rhône

Record heat wave (canicule), Épernay, Marne (51)

Surely this has to break so many records? 69 degrees centigrade in Épernay today, and that's in the shade, as there was no sun! I took this shot at around 17:45 French time today, and there's no photoshopping been done: this is what the Pharmacie du pressoir, 24 place Auban Moët, Épernay, registered. I looked up this unbelievable temperature, and a casual glance online only made mention of a record temperature in Iran, plus a reference in Australia to the lawn tennis temperature, and in true Australian masculinist fashion referred to a mere 42 degrees as 'testicle stewing'. Of course, boring reality set in, and we realised that the figure must refer to degrees Fahrenheit, but hasn't been changed!

Flodoard de Reims, Épernay, Marne (51)

It's always interesting to come back to Épernay – and this is our third visit so far this year – because it's one of those towns that seem inexhaustible in terms of cultural information. Flodoard, 'Historien 864–966'? According to Wikipédia, Flodoard de Reims was born in Épernay, educated in Reims (where he died), and was a historian, chronicler and poet (all in Latin). One of his noted works is a long poem on Jesus Christ and the saints.

Champagne mural, Épernay, Marne (51)

Épernay, of course, is in the heart of Champagne country, as shown in the example of this mural near the centre of the town. It is actually an advertisement for Monsard-Baillet Champagne, and was designed in 1994.

Maurice Renard in Épernay, Marne (51)

 

OK, I sort of cheated here in including the tomb of the Renard family in Épernay, specifically that of Édouard Philippe Renard, who was once mayor of Épernay. But I must say that my interest in Édouard is purely because he happens to be the grandfather of Maurice Renard (1875–1939), born in Chalons-sur-Champagne (then called Chalons-sur-Marne), which is very close to Épernay. Maurice Renard is best known as a writer of science fiction and detective novels, notably for Docteur Lerne (1908) and Les Mains d'Orlac (1920), both of which were filmed. He died in Rochefort-sur-Mer and was buried in the cemetery of Dolus-d'Oléron on l'île d'Oléron: if I'd known of this a few months ago when I spent two weeks in Charente-Maritime I'd have sought out the grave, but this will have to do for now.

Vintage Citroën celebration, Épernay, Marne (51)

I won't even pretend to know anything about the history of cars, but the Citroën Dyane, created in 1967 and produced until 1983, is this year enjoying its fiftieth anniversary. The Dyane is based on the 2 CV (for 'deux chevaux' and familiarly known as the Deuche), which began life in 1948 and ended it in 1990. I particularly enjoyed the 'Barjos de la Deuche' ('Deuche nutters') club notices on some of the cars.

I once tried driving a Deuche when my former friend Daniel Daffos (from Labruguière, Tarn (81)), studying in Albi (also in the Tarn) when I was an assistant d'anglais at Lycée Rascol, came up to Leicester to visit us. I failed to get used to the very different gear lever, though. Still, it was an experience for us to have Daniel drive us back from the Midlands to the south-west of France in the trusty Deuche.

It was with some surprise, then, that we discovered a celebration of the Dyane's fiftieth birthday on the outskirts of Épernay: not just Dyanes but Deuches and other old Citroën models, their owners proudly displaying them in a field where they'd pitched tents and were enjoying the produce of the temporary stalls. If anyone happens to own one of these cars and objects, for whatever reason, to their registration number being displayed, then I will willingly blank it out. A selection of the cars on show: