Gyles Brandreth and Jacques Eldin
Our Day in Fontainebleau
The plane landed at Charles De Gaulle airport, which was shrouded in fog on October 11th 2008, we, that is myself, my sister and my niece made our way to Fontainebleau by train. By the time we checked into Hotel Le Richelieu around 12.15, the fog had lifted and the temperature was 22c and very sunny. We, of course, were dressed for an autumn day in Stoke, so after a quick change of clothes I contacted Tim to get the programme for the day. Tim Brearley, as some of you will know, is in the process of producing a documentary on AB’s time spent at Les Villa Nefliers in Avon, Fontainebleau where he wrote “The Old Wives’ Tale” in 1908. Tim showed us part one of the documentary at the June conference this year. It was during the filming and consequently meeting the owner of the house Danielle Reyssiot, that he came up with the idea of putting a plaque on the outside of the building to commemorate this event. Danielle was very pleased with the idea and Burgess, Dorling and Leigh of Burslem produced a plaque. Over the next few months the house was to change ownership, but Tim was fortunate that the new owners, Maryline and Yann-Erick Claessens also agreed to the idea. So the wheels were set in motion and Burgess, Dorling and Leigh produced the plaque and Tim had it cemented into place in August. The Claessens sent out invitations, which included the local Anglo Society, also a representative from the local Mayor’s office attended. By 2.15 pm people were starting to arrive at the Villa. Tim had already collected our main speaker, Mr Gyles Brandreth and his wife Michelle, from the railway station. It was early in the summer when reading an article in The Sunday Express Magazine, Night and Day, on what books to read about a country, prior to visiting it, that I discovered Gyles was an Arnold Bennett fan. In the article he said, “If you enjoy historical fiction and love France like I do, and you haven’t yet read The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett, you are in for one of the great reading experiences of a lifetime. It’s an unputdownable story and I’d say the best novel written by an Englishman in the 20th century”. We exchanged emails and I was able to tell him all about the society. Tim contacted Gyles and discovered that, coincidentally, he was to be in Paris with his wife the same weekend we had arranged to unveil the plaque, and they would be pleased to join us. Only two guests were now missing, Denis and Jacques.
A text around 4.30 from Denis advised they were on their way and would be with us shortly. With everyone assembled by 5 pm and the champagne chilled, Tim introduced Gyles who presented his speech in French. One of the first things he said was, “Arnold Bennett couldn’t have written his masterpiece anywhere but France – and he couldn’t have written it without the inspiration of French writers”. He pointed out that Bennett “ moved to London, but his true aim was Paris – even though he suffered that typical English disease: an inability to speak French!” He continued, “Bennett loved France. But, in all France, c’etait Fontainebleau that he loved the most. In another essay, he remembered being driven at night, in an early motorcar through the darkness of the forest. Suddenly they came on a magical town, “with an enchanted castle. The fascination of the town did not cease to draw me, until years later, I yielded and went definitely to live in it”. Gyles, then went on to say “Part of Bennett’s inspiration for the book was “Une Vie” par Guy de Maupassant. Bennett went one better – and made it the story of TWO ordinary women, sisters from Les Cinques Villes. Like Bennett, one of the sisters, Sophia, escapes to France. But Sophia remains a girl from the English provinces”.
“The Old Wives’ Tale was recognised as a masterpiece – and Bennett became the best known English write in the world – even more famous than his great friend H G Wells. But other writers were envious of his wealth – and he was attacked by T S Eliot and Virginia Woolf”.
Gyles and his speech were well received by all who attended and he concluded by saying “It is a great pleasure to be here at Les Nefliers, to mark the anniversary of a great English novel, inspired by France.”
It was a pleasant surprise then when Gyles introduced Jacque who delivered his speech in English, quoting from AB’s journals. He said afterwards, how much he and Denis and enjoyed the afternoon and that he was sure “AB was having fun in heaven”, watching the events unfold.
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Gyles Brandreth and Jacques Eldin |
With the help of the children and the mayoral representative, Denis then unveiled the plaque on the front wall of the house.
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Les Nefliers Fontainebleau |
This was then followed by champagne and cake in the garden.
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Champagne and Cake in the Garden |
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Tim and his camera man Nick, were not the only ones filming the event, but our own Ray Johnson (one of our Vice Presidents) was also on hand with his film equipment, this work will be shown free of charge at the Film Theatre, Stoke on Trent on 10th December.
I would like to thank Jacques Eldin and Denis Eldin (our new President) for making the journey down from Paris for the occasion. Special thanks to Gyles Brandreth and his lovely wife Michele for making the day go so well. But, my over all thanks must go to Tim Brearley, who had the inspiration some two years ago for this plaque, and who has worked so very hard to make it happen. Thank you Tim on behalf of the Society for all your time and hard work.
Carol Gorton - Secretary - Arnold Bennett Society
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The Back of the house |
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The children Flying the Flag |
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A DVD copy of the unveiling from
Ray Johnson £5 including postage |