“In search
of lost time” is the title of seven volumes and several thousand pages written
by Marcel Proust (1871-1922), by many considered to be among the greatest works of fictions ever written. The opinions may of course differ, but I’m rather proud
to say that I have managed to read a large part of them – in French! Last weekend I met a number of Proust fans and
I have now promised to re-read Proust, maybe with “new eyes”.
Well, I didn’t
lose my time last weekend. I went with some musician friends to meet other friends
who have a country house close to a little village originally called Illiers. Marcel Proust spent some summer holidays here during his young years and the village appears in
his writing as the fictional village Combray. The village was actually, thanks
to Marcel Proust, in 1971, officially renamed Illiers-Combray.
After two
days of preparations and final rehearsals – and a lot of nice time, good
eating and drinking - a garden party (with a lot of Proust discussions) took
place followed by a concert by a trio of friends performing Smetana, Chostakovitch and
Schubert.
Here are
some pictures from the village…
… and the park,
named “Pré Catelan”, but which in Proust’s writings corresponds to Swann’s
park and which originally was designed by Marcel’s uncle – who actually appears
on a photo I found on the net.
The church
of the village is quite remarkable. Built during the 15th and 16th
centuries, its architecture is quite different. I was especially impressed by
the simple wooden church vault, painted around 1685 – see top picture.
… and I
could not resist against taking some flower pictures.
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