de Gaulle in Cuisery
Rain, rain, go away……..
It’s hardly stopped raining this week. We envy friends and family in the UK who are basking in the sunshine. We too are turning brown, but with rust. Let’s hope the rest of the summer makes up for the miserable weather we have been having for most of May and June.
We were at Cluny market as usual this Saturday morning and we ducked into an exhibition to get out of the rain. There was a display of photographs of the time when President de Gaulle visited Cuisery in 1947. He drove through Cormatin on the way but didn’t stop!
I wasn’t too bothered about reading about the political situation and his reason for visiting Cuisery. But what fascinated me was the photos of his family. His four brothers in their uniforms (they all survived the war). His three children and the tragedy of his younger daughter who had Down’s syndrome and died aged 20. Also the pictures of farming in the 1940s before mechanisation arrived.
This area has many connections to another president, Francois Mitterrand. The Roche de Solutré became very popular since he used to climb it every Pentecost Monday until he died. This pilgrimage became a ritual and all his close friends and family, ministers and courtiers, had to be seen following him up the hill. Of course he was Maire of Chateau-Chinon in Nièvre for 22 years but our part of southern Burgundy was his favourite place.
