By David Goudey
Published on
If the project is only “in its infancy”, Friends of Mantois GREM already have “a fairly precise idea”. HAS Mantes la Jolie (Yvelines), the association for the promotion and preservation of local memory unveiled the outlines of an ambitious plan, at the beginning of December 2022, on the occasion of the general assembly which legitimized Maryvonne Bieuville to her position as President at the end of her short interim.
Inspiration comes from Honfleur
The authorship of this “fabulous idea”says the new president, does not belong to the late Michael Sevindisappeared in October 2022, but to François Descamps, secretary for a few weeks of the circle of historical studies.
“This new line of thought” revolves around the creation of a “Garden of local personalities”on the example of that of Honfleur, in Calvados (read below).
“Lots of municipalities have succeeded in promoting their territory and attracting tourists thanks to personalities who have only been passing through. We are lucky to have celebrities who have really lived in Mantes »
The Personality Garden of Honfleur was inaugurated in 2004
Inaugurated in 2004, the Honfleur Personality Garden was laid out on a former estuary mudflat. The 10-hectare space offers “a walk to discover garden boats, in the center of which stand the busts of the actors of the historical and cultural heritage of Honfleur”, describes the Norman municipality on its website.
We find, among these “illustrious”, “the gifted children of the country, natives of [notre] small city, but also personalities who have lived or stayed there”. Painters (Eugène Boudin, Claude Monet, Johan Barthold Jongkind, Léon Leclerc, Alexandre Dubourg), musician (Erik Satie) and authors (Alphonse Allais, Charles Baudelaire, Lucie Delarue Mardrus, the Comtesse d’Aulnoy) have lived together for nearly twenty years with navigators (Binot Lepaulmier de Gonneville, Samuel de Champlain, Jean Doublet, Pierre Berthelot) and historical figures (Charles V, Colbert, Anne-Marie Louis d’Orléans).
The busts of two other personalities enriched this “Honfleur” Pantheon in 2010: the writer Françoise Sagan and the actor Michel Serrault.
A series of sculptures along the Seine
Les Amis du Mantois envisages this future “ Pantheon I was like a journey, a walk along the Seine. “The idea would be to install a series of sculptures ranging from the Quai de la Vaucouleurs to the rowing basinevery 200 m”, continues Maryvonne Bieuville.
“This route is very symbolic because it is also a link between the three emblematic districts of the town, Gassicourt, the city center and Val Fourré”, adds the president of the association.
Twenty illustrious figures
Les Amis du Mantois evokes, “with reservations”, the eventually sculpted reincarnation of around twenty “personalities representative of Mantes”. The association is careful, however, not to throw out too many names at this stage, even if certain illustrious “oils” are already appearing in people’s minds such as must-haves.
Maryvonne Bieuville quotes without restraint “ Henry IV (1553-1610), [sa maîtresse ] Gabrielle d’Estrees (1573-1599) and Mary of Brabant (1254-1322)”.
“We also thought of athletes, politicians and other historical figures,” continues the president. But the choices are not fixed. We want to be sure not to make regrettable impasses »
Who can claim this honor?
We might suggest adding the name of the doctor and economist François Quesnay (1694-1774), royal surgeon from 1723 and whose career began in Mantois.
On the sports side, Patrick Lefoulon (born in 1958), Olympic vice-champion in two-seater kayak at the 1984 Olympicsand cyclists Sandy Casar (born in 1979), 3 stage victories in the Tour de Franceand Francis Pelissier (1894-1959), three times champion of France on the road in particular, seem essential to us.
Charles Aznavour, ambassador of the town and of Val Fourré
We could also cite Charles Aznavour (1924-2018), which the City made its ambassador in 2006. The singer, residing in Montfort-l’Amaury (Yvelines), had forged close ties with the town. His son-in-law, producer Rachid Kallouche, is from Val Fourré.
Maryvonne Bieuville and her team are not up to the task anyway. “It’s a long-term project, which will take several years if it succeeds and will be done no matter what as it goes along. We are only beginning to contact local sculptors. We also think of turning to the Abel-Lauvray arts center. It’s a way of opening up to young people, it’s close to my heart. »
Need funds and support
Above all, everyone knows that this project is still far from materializing. Alone, the Friends of Mantois will not get very far. L’municipal support will be essential. Maryvonne Bieuville has also informed the mayor Raphaël Cognet of the ambition of the association by mail. The person concerned and his majority will have their say, there is no doubt.
“We will need funds for this sublime idea to be implemented. Without money, this project will remain in the boxes. But for the time being, the important thing for us is to tie up our file well »
Mayor Raphaël Cognet is already setting conditions
“It’s rather a good idea, observes the mayor Raphael Cognet. Now, we have to see the terms, agree on what we are saying and the choice of personalities. It also has to be qualitative. and that there is a reflection on the linking of the project with our tourist route. »
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Henri IV, Aznavour, Casar… Who can pretend to enter the “Garden of personalities” of Mantes-la-Jolie?
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