Yvonne Paulet, a resident of the Amandiers district, has just celebrated her 100th birthday. “I was born on June 19, 1924 in Franche-Comté, she says. Immediately after my birth, my parents moved to Nogent-le-Perreux where I spent my childhood.” In 1943, Yvonne Paulet was recruited at the Comptoir National d’Escompte de Paris, one of the ancestor banks of BNP Paribas. But it was in 1940 that she met a soldier on rest in Nogent-le-Perreux who would become her husband after his release from Dachau. “He was a hairdresser in Nîmes, continues Yvonne Paulet. So, in 1949, I came to settle in this city. We lived on rue de Générac, then in 1969, we moved to this quiet and green area.” She returned to the Banque Populaire du Sud where she worked until her retirement in 1982.
Yvonne Paulet doesn’t look her age: “I live at home, I fend for myself, I cook my meals and do my cleaning.” Her neighbors, gathered around her, are her “amis”. It was actually one of her neighbors who organized this little birthday party. “I have always been very active, I have always taken care of others, perhaps that is what made me reach 100 years old without too many problems.” Indeed, she did a lot of volunteer work during her life: “In the 1960s, I created the IME (Medical-Educational Institute) la Cigale de Nîmes of which I was treasurer then president. I am also at the origin of the La Cigale school, I created a parents’ association and I was very involved in the association of deportees from Dachau at the time when it existed in Nîmes.” Sitting on the terrace, surrounded by her friends, Yvonne Paulet admits “happy”.
Midi Libre correspondent: 06 17 12 97 92
