He was President of the Council, deputy, senator, ten times minister… And mayor of Port-Lesney. Edgar Faure had settled in this small town in the Jura, in a house bought five years ago. Its current owner opens the doors to us.
The Festival of Lights 2022 in Lyon
Do you have to be passionate about politics to live here, in the former home of Edgar Faure? Arriving in Port-Lesney five years ago, in the Jura, the new owner of the premises, Guy Mercier, changed little or nothing in this winegrower’s house. And especially not the red armchairs, where the shadow of those who occupied them still hovers: “Many characters from the Fifth Republic, authors, artists, sat there”he slips mischievously.
In the cellar, Guy Mercier shows some surprising objects. Here, a pipe box; there, a telephone. “If he could restore his memory, I think there would be some interesting conversations!”
Some will say that Guy Mercier, by a funny mimicry, looks a bit like Edgar. Square glasses, round pipe; the former great figure of French politics still has his portrait, framed on a wall.
Edgar Faure, it was ten ministerial portfolios: Education, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, and so many others. Under de Gaulle, and under Pompidou. He was also President of the National Assembly, equal to the most powerful; like here, alongside Eisenhower.
In Port-Lesney, on the banks of the Loue, he was mayor for almost thirty years. This is where the statesman came to recharge his batteries, far from the gold of the Republic.
The former vice-president of the regional council Jean Rosselot knew him well: he worked for many years near him, as a parliamentary assistant. Then young university, he had to write the speeches, the reports of the chief. The bubbling Edgar Faure slept little, it’s not a legend: “I came at night, I left at night, first! Secondly, I came in stress, and I left in stress”he laughs today.
It’s not me who changes, it’s the wind that turns
On the roof of the house, one looks in vain for the weather vane which for some characterized Edgar Faure. “It’s not me who changeshe said, it’s the wind that turns”. A verve, a sense of words, enriched with this diction so characteristic. To a question from Jacques Chancel, who asked him to designate the three best speakers in France, Edgar Faure replied: “I’m looking for the other two!”
Mitterand had his house in Latche, in the Landes; de Gaulle, La Boisserie. What would have been said of Port-Lesney if Edgar Faure had been elected President of the Republic? This is perhaps the only post that has escaped him.
With Guy Mercier, owner of Edgar Faure’s former home; Jean Rosselot, former parliamentary assistant to Edgar Faure. Report by Emmanuel Rivallain, Denis Colle and Sophie Rethore.
