Marcel Yerly in Clairvaux-les-lacs, Jura (39)

Between 1945 and 1995 Marcel Yerly (1915-2000) made by hand about one hundred models in wood, between fifty and three metres in height or length. In 2006 a rather clumsily-titled Musée des machines à nourrir et courir le monde was dedicated to his work, containing his models, as well (later) as models by others: here (I think) I restrict myself only to works made by Yerly, who was also a painter. Director Claude Miller has explained that Yerly used acacia and boxwood for their durability, walnut, beech and elm for their colour. The museum, held in a large warehouse on the outskirts of the town, is a great tribute to obsession, meticulous attention to detail, and love of (mainly local) history.

Marcel Yerly's workbench.

The Pacific P231 locomotive (1912) made in Le Creusot and Oullins. It had a maximum speed of 90 km per hour and the model train took Yerly 300 hours to make.

A Harley-Davidson (1990).

Crampton 210 (1848). Thomas Crampton's patents had been refused in England, so he went to France and his engines functioned from 1848 to 1914. The record speed was from Melun to Villaroche: 140 km/h. It took Yerly 340 hours to make.

A tool for making Morbier cheese.

A Comté cheese making factory.

A self portrait of Yerly dated 1990, when he was 75.

François-Félix Chevalier in Poligny (39), Jura (39)

François-Félix Chevalier (1705-1801) is a highly noted historian from Poligny, where as this plaque says he lived in this house in the town for ninety-five years.

Ferdinand Fillod in Saint-Amour (39), Jura (39)

Ferdinand Fillod (1891-1956) was an archiect and designer born in Saint-Amour, where he returned after the war to continue his business as a boiler maker. By the end of 1928, though, he had make a request for a patent on prefabricated steel houses. This is not the place to talk about all his successes, but they are numerous.

 

One tribute to Fillod is the local lycée, with its surrounding fence of metal. Here, the initials FF of course stand for Ferdinand Fillod.

The Maison Fillod on 23 Rue d'Allonal was the foreman's four-roomed house, although for a monument historique it seems in a rather poor state.

The Fresque des visitandines shows, among other things, actor Firmin Gémier (1869-1933) who had a holiday home here, the local world-renowned flutist Marcel Moyse (1889-1984), the weekly market, the open air swimming pool, and the annual film festival.

Also shown is Fillod's factory.

Mural of Writers, Saint-Amour (39), Jura (39)

This fresco in the centre of Saint-Amour celebrates notable writers associated with the town. At the top is Guillaume de Saint-Amour (1202-72), who was a theologian who was born and who died in the town. More prominently placed on the bottom left is Lucien Febvre (1878-19), a historian and literary critic who founded L'École des Annales with Marc Bloch: he is buried in the local cemetery. Léon Werth is well-known for fleeing Paris in the June 1940 exodus, which he wrote about in 33 Jours (1992), although he's more famous for the staunchly anti-military novel Clavel Soldat (1919), which is represented in the mural. The significance of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Le Petit Prince is that Saint-Exup was Werth's friend, and he dedicated the book to him.

Pierre Gascar, Baume-les-Messieurs, Jura (39)

The writer Pierre Gascar (1916–97) is also buried in Baume-les-Messieurs. He won the Prix Goncourt in 1953 for Les Bêtes, which I commented on below.

Baume-les-Messieurs, Jura (39)

Baume-les-Messieurs is a cul-de-sac village in the Jura département, noted mainly for its caves, its abbey and its waterfall. When we went there were many visitors in the village hamlets themselves but although we spent about an hour in the church graveyard and the church at the entrance to the village, not a single person entered. And yet there are some very interesting things to see there: does no one know about Les Trois Cloches these days? Jean Villard (aka Gilles) wrote the song 'Les Trois Cloches' in 1939, and it was made famous after the war by Édith Piaf. Gilles was a Swiss poet, chansonnier, actor, writer and composer born in Montreux in 1895 and who died Saint-Saphorin in 1982. Er, the 'village au fond de la vallée' mentioned in the song is Baume-les-Messieurs and was inspired by Gilles when he stayed there one day. The Jean-François Nicot named in the song is borrowed from François Nicot (1858–1929), whose grave Gilles noted in the churchyard.

Or not. It appears that this is a modern legend created by journalist Jean Barthelet in 1970, who later confessed that he had made the story up, and to verify this Jean Villard himself said that he had no knowledge of Baume, that he made the song up on the banks of Lac Léman.

All the same, here is the tomb of François Nicot:

And a photo of a gîte called, you'd never guess:

La Maison de la vache qui rit, Lons-le-Saunier, Jura (39)

Yes, I know: pure capitalism, so what's it doing here? Why am I in effect advertising a (mainly processed) cheese, particularly since I'm a long-term vegetarian with strong vegan sympathies? A sense of the ridiculous is my only plea: a museum devoted to Laughing Cow cheese? Difficult to ignore visiting, although I certainly don't eat it. Historically, too, this museum is very interesting, showing how the logo developed many mutations. I almost hate to say it, but although we thought we were in for a very kitschy time we really enjoyed this place.

Benjamin Rabier (1864–1939) was an illustrator and author born in La Roche-sur-Yon and who died in Faverolles. His design of La Vache qui rit brought him fame. In his memoirs, Rabier says that he spent sleepless nights trying to make a cow laugh, and even hired a cow and calf from his milkman to greatly aid his task. He illustrated La Fontaine's Fables and Le Roman de Renart. From 1915 he successfully drew advertising material for many different companies. But in the end it was his duck Gédéon, enjoyed by many children, which brought him the most success.

We visited La Vache qui rit on the first day of its re-opening, which was 2 June 2018. At the moment at least, towards the end of the visit there is an extensive display of African art products, using recycled metal objects. Yes, at the top of this exhibit is a circular disc representing a laughing cow!

Jean-Joseph Perraud, Lons-le-Saunier, Jura (39)

Jean-Joseph Perraud was a sculptor born in Monay (Jura) and died in Paris in 1876. Wikipédia describes his style as neo-Classical with hints of Romanticism. He left his studio collection and his personal art collection to the town of Lons-le-Saunier. One side of the column above gives a few of his works, of which Le Drame lyrique is on the facade of of Palais Garnier in Paris. Among his other works are Berlin (Gare Paris-Nord), a bust of the chansonnier Béranger (Musée Carnavalet), Le Désespoir (Musée d'Orsay), and L'Enfance de Bacchus (Palais Galliera). The bronze bas-relief above is of Perraud's Télémaque apportant à Phalante l'urne renfermant les cendres d'Hippias.

Fifty years after 1968, the spirit lives on in rue de l'aubépin, Lons-le-Saunier, Jura (39)

Rue de l'aubépin, Lons-le-Saunier, where the spirit of Mai 1968 lives on. I adore places like this.

Walter Bassan, a former member of the French Resistance against Hitler's murderous mob, died in the night between 4 and 5 September 2017.

His words say that there is but one race, the human race, which deserves respect and should be defended. Throughout history people have fought for a better world, such as the slaves in ancient times or the revolutionaries of 1789, the World War II Resistance members – and the oppressed have always won. He says that consumer society tends to isolate, to shut people into a cold, mechanical, impersonal, dehumanised world with short-term interests. But we should be thinking more of sharing, of brotherhood and the freedom to create for the future.

Resistance is choosing to live, preserving life, with no possiblity of going back. By resisting, we create a better society.

Government by the CAC 40. In English, that would read government by the Footsie index, and all over the world it's pretty much the same message that the clowns in government want to broadcast: shares win, sharers lose. Oh, how wrong they are.

La lutte continue, et les opprimés vaincront.

Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, Lons-le-Saunier, Jura (39)

Rue du commerce, Lons-le-Saunier, Jura (39).

'DANS

CETTE MAISON EST NÉ

ROUGET DE LISLE

LE 10 MAI 1760'

Rouget de Lisle is big in Lons-le-Saunier: he is, after all, the officer, poet and playwright who created the French national anthem, a song of freedom for those oppressed by tyranny.

Rouget de Lisle's house is recognised as one of the 'Maisons des Illustres', although the dates this tiny museum are open are unfortunately very few.

Rouget de Lisle's statue holds pride of place in Lons-le-Saunier, and inevitably includes an example of La Marseillaise.

'ROUGET DE LISLE

NÉ À LONS-LE-SAUNIER LE 10 MAI 1760

MORT À CHOISY-LE-ROY LE 27 JUIN 1836

AUTEUR DE LA MARSEILLAISE

CE CHANT DE LA PATRIE

LUI FUT INSPIRÉ ET FUT CRÉE PAR LUI

À STRASBOURG

1792'

'LA MARSEILLAISE EST LIÉE À LA RÉVOLUTION

ET FAIT PARTIE DE NOTRE DÉLIVRANCE'

VICTOR HUGO

'LA MARSEILLAISE EST UN CHANT DE FRATERNITÉ'

MICHELET