One of Bernard Pivot’s closest friends, Paul Geoffray, spoke about the intimate relationship that the two men shared since school. A childhood friendship, born in the village of Quincié-en-Beaujolais, and which lasted until the journalist’s last days.
In his house in Quincié-en-Beaujolais, Paul Geoffray keeps mountains of precious memories with his friend Bernard Pivot. The man was also one of the last people to speak to him before his death on May 6.
“There was the Dortmund – Paris-Saint-Germain match, (May 1, Editor’s note) I called him and he didn’t answer right away,” remembers Paul Geoffray at the microphone of BFM Lyon.
Ten minutes later, Bernard Pivot called his friend back and informed him of his admission to hospital that morning. “He told me, ‘if you knew how tired I am, so much so that I warn you, I can’t even continue talking, I’ll call you back’. And he never called me back,” confides he, moved.
It was at the age of five, when the war broke out, that Bernard Pivot took refuge in Quincié-en-Beaujolais with his mother. The meeting between the two friends takes place on the school benches, in the village. “He loved fishing, but he wasn’t very patient,” recalls Paul Geoffray.
He continues: “We rented a boat on the Saône and I can say that after half an hour, if we hadn’t caught enough (fish)… He still had his book, already, and while I continued to fish, he read,” confides the journalist’s relative.
“A friendship with a capital A”
Then comes the time to study. When Bernard Pivot goes to Paris, becomes a journalist and a public figure, the two friends remain inseparable. From fishing in Iceland or Canada to social parties in Monaco, Paul Geoffray is there for everyone.
“When he came to Quincié, no one could say that he was a star. He shook his hands, if he had to drink a little drink at the bistro, he went there. It was conviviality,” explains he.
In the framed photos, as in his memory, Paul Geoffray maintains the memory of this close relationship. “It was a friendship with a capital A, it cannot be described. There, he is playing a bad trick on me,” breathes Paul, full of emotion.
During the funeral this Tuesday, Paul Goeffray will not make a speech, but he will honor his memory in the heart of the village of their childhood. Several hundred people are expected on site, during a religious ceremony open to the public.
Academicians, elected officials and anonymous people will make the trip, in addition to former Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. The ceremony will not be projected on a big screen in front of the church, only the sound will be broadcast for those who cannot go inside the building.
Maéva Commecy with Alixan Lavorel
