Winter Remembrance, Meeting and Carnival
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Home
- Jeanne's Word
- Black and white finish of the exhibition Tuesday 14 April
- Winter memories
- Yepngo: an app for exits!
- Backup: We're here soon?
- Carnivals in Provence
- Meet Jean-Pierre Violino
- Lise Henriot
Jeanne's Word
February... Some flakes are flying... Here they are more and more numerous, more and more dense, and these verses of Victor Hugo come back in memory...
It was snowing. Winter was melting in avalanche.
After the white plain another white plain.
Soon, the sidewalks of the cities, the streets of the suburbs are white. No more is needed for news channels to panic:
- Be careful! traffic is severely slowed down on the peripherals...
– We ski in the streets of the capital! It's Moscow in Paris!
– Normandy is on alert...
– Mercury goes down in Occitanie!
Everywhere, you plague, you vituperate, you erupt with anger... We know it's no use and yet we're horning with rage!
- Then! You're on the way!
Only children rejoice and rush to create a snowman who soon exclaims:
– What a beautiful cold it is today! *
And there, in the mountains, we smile, we laugh, too:
- Ah! Here! These people from the city!
*Small loan to Hans Christian Andersen.
Jeanne Monin
Black and white finish of the exhibition Tuesday 14 April
Good things have an end! Closeexhibition The dog of Saint Roch around a glass.
Meeting Tuesday 14 April at 6 p.m.
The principle? We're dressed in black and white!
Where: Montpellier (address sent by e-mail return)
To participate: francois@abbe.photo
Winter memories
Snow at Christmas 1985. A Renault 5 goes up the snowy big street. Above, the Christmas garlands in the Grand Rue André Cabasse in Roquebrune-sur-Argens (Var). Foreground, Marianne. Photo André Abbe.
Giselle Penat-Lorde – faithfully present on Passadoc – Remembers, too:
Souvenirs of winter 1956 and abundant snow...
Frosts to the hands and feet, because I was going, amazed by this white coat, but not really equipped, to play in the garden to tinker with a snowman. Especially to check if our minions were well sheltered in their cages upholstered in outbuildings. They wouldn't get frostbite on the pads! Sterogyl bulbs, good old medicine to treat frostbite. With the good care of homemade ointments, which only my maternal grandfather had the secret.
My brother Guy was boxed in the technical high school in Lorgues, without water, without heating because all the water pipes had made him soulless. We had to get him out of those roads. « patina » to wish, which were not those of today. High-risk shipping. I don't know if my maternal grandfather, this silent hero of Verdun, who wasn't afraid of anything, on the pretext that he had seen more during the harsh winters of the East, on the fronts of the Great War, had not armed his van for this adventure, or if it was Gaston Gayol, who, also having to recover his son André at the same high school in Lorgues, had completed this journey of a few hours with a more reliable car than the grandfather's van, who had his old lady moods, already ...
Death of my paternal grandfather at home on March 17, 1956 – delayed burial due to snowfall and all the difficulties caused by the weather.
Yepngo, an app for exits
Yepngo is an application. The principle is simple: members propose exits. Volunteers register. Didier (the 4th person from the left in the picture) proposed the visit. One group visited the exhibition "The Dog of Saint Roch". The band was a mix of passionate people and curious people. Beautiful encounters! Thank you Didier and thank the visitors.
You too, visit the exhibition in Montpellier !
Backup: We're here soon.
We're raising the meter!
There were 100,000 archive photos to save. There are 72,000 left to save to make them known. After an artisanal start in 2015, we started industrial digitisation in 2018. The last photo delivery to scan dates from January 2026. We just got them back. So many places, traditions and anecdotes to revive. So "fun" when you go through such a "special" period...
Contact us to visit the Montpellier Photo Showroom with the exhibition "The Dog of Saint Roch".
Sort or digitize everything?
The question arises every day. André Abbe, author of the 100,000 photos, prefers to sort and digitize.
Sorting photos to scan offers several advantages:
– It's cheaper: every photo scanned by industrial For Ever asks for funds.
– It takes less time in appearance: every digitized photo needs to be documented. We add the precious metadata (date of development punched on the slide cache, handwritten legend, additional information, ...). This information on each of the photos is taken by hand on a computer, either directly by the author André or by a binome (in general it is François who takes photo after photo and dictates to Camille who seizes them in the software). It's tedious!
But sorting has serious disadvantages:
– The selection of photos may make some of them miss. Remember the Monica Lewinsky case. Bill Clinton had an assistant in his lap. When the case broke out, the archives made it possible to find pictures of Bill and Monica. In our case, Mrs Mundet's picture with her sheep is of little interest. Except that this photo of a woman in the 70s in Provence is simply unique. It was also chosen by the employees of the company BleuLemon to illustrate one of the company's four values, pride!
– Sorting photos is time-consuming. To sort 24×36 photos, it takes a magnifying glass. For slides, it's pretty easy. But for black and white negatives, it gets complicated because it's hard to recognize faces for example
– Time is much more than money. The author of the photos is getting older (André Abbe celebrates his 82th birthday in 2026). It is therefore essential to present the photographer with as many photos as possible so that he can document the photos essential for our heritage in particular.
A limit to mass scanning: personal photos.
There are personal photos in the collection of 100,000 photos by André Abbe. They must be "legated" to block public access (e.g. when we do keyword searches). It should be noted, however, that only the violation of human dignity is punishable by law. Beyond that, the Abbe Photo Association can publicize its archives that have a heritage interest.
In summary, Abbe Photo chose mass scanning. The goal remains: to complete the digitisation of the 100,000 photos by 2030. Come on, let's hang on, your support is still as essential!
PS: as always, writes without AI!
#photo #archive #sansIA
Carnivals in Provence!
Carnival... moments
party, joy... we dance in the streets, we sing, we transvestite, we applaud the almost end of winter, we sing
The approach to spring is delighted... We dress like crazy, like king, we make fun
Powerful. For a few hours, under the mask, slaves become
Masters!
And it's been a long time.
For a long time since the first fruits of this feast are found in ancient Rome. To
Venice, a document dating from 1094 mentions "carnival". If he does not
doubt that "carnival" is synonymous with joys
and masquerades, the origin of the word is more nuanced; linguists see it carn-aval
: Lift the meat and therefore eat before the deprivations of Lent.
With Carnival, the streets are only music, only laughs! We accept the
the arm of the one who is not known, the one who will not be seen again; we dance a
moment, we leave ourselves smiling, moments when everything is joyful. All or
almost because in the crowd, a Pierrot drowned under the confetti is that
tears... Baptist* Call Garance who moves away, without even a
Look...
To regain joy, just listen to Camille Saint-Saëns and her
Beautiful Carnival of animals !
*Children
paradise, beautiful movie by Prévert and Carné.
Jeanne Monin
Carnival : Origin
The starting point for traditions, often resulting from the transformation of previous rituals, is difficult to determine precisely. For example:
- In ancient Babylon (from the Second)e s. B.C.), which were feasts given in honor of the goddess Anaitis, with inversion of the roles between slaves and their masters.
- The Dyonisias in ancient Greece, who celebrated the god Dionysos (god of the vine, wine... and its excesses) with very lively processions, singers and dancers (but also theatre and oratory games).
- The Lupercales, feasts of purification of ancient Rome, celebrated from 13 to 15 February, in honor of Faunus, god of the forest and herds.
- The Saturnales, still in ancient Rome, week of very popular festivities in honor of the god Saturn during which social barriers disappeared; meals were organized, gifts were exchanged and houses decorated.
In its desire to impose itself as the only religion, the Church initially fought against these practices, which she considered idolaters. Then she gradually recovered them and integrated them into Christian practices and beliefs.
Thus, the traditions inherited from the Romans gave the Feast of the Fools, the child bishop and finally the Carnival. The Feast of the Fools, which is the election of a pacolette king, marks the reversal of roles and the overthrow of powers. This feast continues today in the Epiphany.
Around the year one thousand, a Christian temporality began to impose itself, strictly separating a fat period and lean days. The moment of the carnival therefore fluctuates, because it is aligned with the feast of Easter and Lent, fixed at forty days from the eighth century.
The moments of liberation from social or religious constraints were considered indispensable by the authorities, anxious to release a little ballast on certain occasions to avoid the risks of revolt. Thus, between the 11th and 13th centuries, a variety of carnival practices flourished in the countryside and cities during the winter.
Provençal Carnival
He is from Saint-Tropez, Sainte-Maxime, Cogolin. Here are the fifes and drums and Caramantran!
Who's Caramantran? He is the iconic character of the Provençal Carnival. The term Provençal is the contraction of Lent-Entrant and corresponds in Catholic tradition to the last day before Ash which begins the 40 days of meagreness.
It is also the name of the mannequin who, preceded by the procession of those who will be judges and lawyers in black robes and followed by a gesturing, gesturing crowd clothed in braids; It will be worn on a stretcher and walked through streets before being burned on the public square.
This scapegoat could also take the form of an old woman, the hot-old woman, in the region of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence; a cat in Gap; a witch in Orcières; the pailhassou in Nice.
But before the punishment, he will be entitled to a proper trial because he is accused of all the ills that may have occurred during the year in and around the commune (epidemics, freezing, drought, bad harvests, floods, too heavy taxes, etc.); he is held responsible for everything).
Le tribunal s’installe, le Président lit l’acte d’accusation, les habitants viennent témoigner contre lui, exprimer leurs doléances, les avocats de la défense prennent la parole : “Ce n’est pas la faute de Caramentran si…”. Mais il est forcément coupable et la sentence tombe. Il est condamné à être brûlé, parfois pendu puis brûlé.
The stake is accompanied by a ritual song.
Patricia M. Renoux.
À Menton
In 1895, hoteliers planned to revive the city in winter. The project was retained and by 1896 the show was on the street.
It is first a traditional entertainment: Moucouleti or Moccoletti, small candles that each holds in his hand ; A game is to blow the flame of the neighbor's candle by taking care to keep his own candle lit!
Many years later, a Mentonnais – still a hotelier – embellished its gardens with a profusion of flowers and citrus... And the idea goes down the street! Tree carts (orangers and lemon trees) are decorated and paraded in large arteries.
1929 : Menton est reconnue comme “premier producteur de citrons du continent”. Cinq ans plus tard naît Lemon Party. Today it is an event that attracts thousands of tourists, French and foreign, amazed at the originality and dimensions of the topics presented.
Marie-Odile Beraud
Rendez-vous avec...
Jean-Pierre VIOLINO
Bonjour Jean-Pierre… c’est un plaisir de vous recevoir ici ! On vous écoute à la radio*, vous signez des articles dans de nombreuses revues, votre nom figure sur les couvertures de maints ouvrages… mais on aimerait vous connaître plus encore ; aussi dites-nous : qui êtes-vous Jean-Pierre Violino ?
Je suis un enfant de ce pays provençal ! Je suis né à Saint-Raphaël et aujourd’hui, j’habite toujours dans cette ville où j’ai passé toute ma jeunesse !
Petit garçon, comment rêviez-vous votre avenir ? Aviateur, pompier, explorateur ?
Pas du tout ! Très jeune, j’ai eu la passion de l’Histoire et tout naturellement, c’est cette matière que j’ai voulu étudier. Présentant une thèse de 3e cycle en Histoire, soutenue à Nice Sophia Antipolis en 1986, je me suis spécialisé dans l’Histoire antique et médiévale, une source quasi inépuisable de bonheurs que je transmets à mes contemporains en écrivant énormément d’articles !
Je vous dirai aussi mon goût d’ailleurs, le goût des découvertes que je partage avec Géraldine, mon épouse née à Puget-sur-Argens ! Dernièrement, nous avons fait un magnifique voyage au Maroc, une terre riche d’Histoire.
Il y a peu, vous avez reçu une distinction remise par la présidente de l’association locale de Roquebrune Le Souvenir Français. Pouvez-vous nous en dire un peu plus ?
Ce fut pour moi un moment d’une intense émotion ; je ne m’attendais pas à recevoir ce certificat lors de l’Assemblée Générale, fin janvier.
Le but de l’association c’est « [qu’] Aucune tombe de « Mort pour la France » ne doit disparaître des cimetières communaux, aucun monument, aucune stèle combattante ne doit être à l’abandon ».
À Roquebrune, nous sommes quelques-uns, quelques-unes à participer à ce devoir de mémoire. Nous avons même monté une association pour la Protection du Patrimoine Funéraire, car la mairie désirait récupérer les concessions perpétuelles.
Un dernier mot avant de vous quitter : et Passadoc dans tout ça ?
C’est simple ! Si je vous dis que je connais bien André Abbe – Roquebrunois comme mon père et ma grand-mère (une Abbe aussi) – avec qui j’ai un lointain cousinage, vous aurez tout compris ! Passadoc, je le connais depuis que François l’a créé !
Merci Jean-Pierre pour ce très agréable moment d’échanges, et à très bientôt !
* Radio Mosaïque FM 89.5 Fréjus [mercredi à 18h après le journal et samedi à 11 h] – radio qui émet sur l’Est varois mais qu’on peut écouter sur l’internet.
Jeanne Monin
Lise Henriot
Merci Lise ! Le bonheur vous va si bien !
