For his first novel, radio journalist Philippe Collin hit hard and right by recounting the incredible life of Franck Meier, bartender at the Ritz during the occupation. A work skillfully mixing fiction and history. He was at the Cercil on November 5 in Orléans.
By Sophie Deschamps.
The meeting with Philippe Collin, an eminent journalist from France Inter, was sold out for a long time. It must be said that the audience, very feminine this Tuesday, November 5, 2024 in the cozy room of the Cercil did not want to miss the arrival of this storyteller who has no equal when it comes to telling stories.
That of the bartender at the Ritz (already 165,000 copies sold) took three years of his life. It began on June 13, 1940, the day before German troops entered Paris. Franck Meier, 55, the famous bartender at the Ritz since 1921, hiding behind his counter, preparing to receive high-ranking Nazi dignitaries. Unlike others, the palace is not requisitioned and remains open. During the four long years of the occupation, Franck Meier was at the forefront of History. Because as Philippe Collin recalled, “ all our families are linked to this war. It is our heritage with stories that have accompanied us since childhood. With questions: how would we have reacted? What would we have done or not done? In a word, it concerns us all and it unites us all ». Then he specifies: “ My book is not dependent ».
“He’s a class defector, like me.”
But it is indeed a novel. Indeed, to reveal the intimate thoughts of Franck Meier, the writer imagined his personal diary, of which we find extracts throughout the pages. Philippe Collin then confides that this Jewish Austrian of modest origins, born in 1884 in Tyrol and who learned the tricks of his profession as a bartender in the USA at the beginning of the 20th century, is like him a class defector.
But he also invites us to discover a whole gallery of characters painted with talent. Because from the start of the Occupation, Nazi leaders (Göring, Goebbels, etc.) and Wehrmacht officers rubbed shoulders at the Ritz with the Parisian political elite, but also the cultural elite like Sacha Guitry, Coco Chanel and Arletty. “ It is a summary of occupied France which is found in the intimacy of the bar: collaborators, war profiteers, spies but also resistance fighters ». Without forgetting Blanche Auzello, the wife of the director of the Ritz. A strong and fragile woman who hides a dark secret. Because in this work the persecution of the Jews in France is far from being avoided.
The Royal Highball, Philippe Collin’s favorite cocktail
But an hour and a half meeting was not enough to exhaust the secrets of the Ritz bar and its visitors. And that's good since nothing can match reading this excellent novel. However, one last question was necessary, that of Philippe Collin’s favorite cocktail: “ It's the Royal Highball. un cocktail that Franck Meier invented in 1921. It is based on champagne, cognac, strawberry liqueur and chopped Plougastel strawberries. However, at that time champagne was sacred, we did not mix it. He's the first to dare to do it, with this idea: France is many things and in this glass, I'm going to put the country that welcomed me ». Then he adds with a mischievous air “ It's funny because I told it once on television and since then they have been bombarded at the Ritz with requests for Royal Highball while this cocktail had somewhat fallen into disuse ».
The Ritz bartender by Philippe Collin (Albin Michel)
To go further on Magcentre : The Tribe or the French years of Hannah Arendt at the Cercil.
