Neon lights instead of stained glass windows and a false ceiling as arches. And in the middle of the workshop a bishop. Welcome to the Sièges Bastiat company, based in Hagetmau. Undoubtedly more accustomed to reliquaries and religious statues than to drills and machine tools, Monsignor Nicolas Souchu, Bishop of Aire and Dax, officiated this Monday on the occasion of a blessing that was atypical to say the least.
If we know that we can sometimes bless schoolbags or pets, this time it was a question of blessing chairs and a set of furniture – benches, prayer tables and kneelers – intended for the cathedral. Notre-Dame-de-Paris which, after five years of work, will rise from its ashes on December 8. 100% Landes manufacturing with the exception of the wood – the oak comes from Sologne – and a design that we owe to Ionna Vautrin, a Breton designer.
A precious convoy
“It all started in February 2023. When Ionna called us to talk about this project, I first sat down and looked at my wife. A great load had just fallen on our shoulders. With the entire team, we embarked on a major objective: to make a copy as clean as possible,” says Alain Bastiat, the manager, in a speech full of emotion where he notably paid tribute to his father, Jojo, present last night, who founded the company sixty years ago.
“We had to live up to what Notre-Dame represents”
“The day our product was chosen by the Archbishop of Paris, in June 2023, the responsibility was even greater,” declares Sylvain Bastiat, commercial director. We had to live up to what Notre-Dame represents. It was an exceptional adventure that we experienced. »
Sylvain Bastiat, Ionna Vautrin and Alain Bastiat (at the microphone) wanted to thank the company's employees for their involvement, as well as all the Landes suppliers.
Matthieu Sartre / SO
Since then, 1,500 chairs have left the Hagetmautian factory. A first batch is ready to be delivered. “A truck will leave this Tuesday morning with half the production. The other part will leave Hagetmau on December 2, just before the inauguration,” says the designer. On Wednesday, she will be with Alain Bastiat on the square in front of Notre-Dame-de-Paris to receive the precious convoy. A cargo carefully packaged in boxes and on pallets.
“A knot in my stomach”
At the time of the blessing – between an “Our Father”, a few signs of the cross and liturgical chants – Monsignor Souchu spoke. “To bless means to say good things. And I want to say it first to those who designed and manufactured this furniture,” began the clergyman. Accompanied by the entrepreneur's grandson, Alexis, aged 10, who held the bucket, the bishop sprinkled the chairs with holy water using the bottle brush. “Think that these chairs, which will remain for decades and decades at Notre-Dame, will see people passing through, pilgrims, a crowd of anonymous people, and also people who have very important responsibilities in very many country. »
Matthieu Sartre / SO
The chairs, here next to a prie-dieu, are ready to leave for Paris.
A first step which calls for others. First the convoy, then the installation. “I’m impatient and a little stressed,” confesses Ionna Vautrin. Until everything is installed, I will have a knot in my stomach. » “It’s an outcome,” smiles Alain Bastiat. The worst is over, all that will remain is to deliver a few benches or prayer tables next February or March. And perhaps we will receive the thanks or at least the assent of the archbishop. » He will undoubtedly have the opportunity on December 8. He is in fact one of the few to have received the precious pass to attend the inauguration.
“Pride and great hopes”: the chair capital comes back to life
This Monday evening, nothing was forgotten when it came to speech time. Neither the joy of coming together for this happy event, nor the dark days which may have once darkened the sky of Hagetmau, capital of the chair. Sylvain Bastiat, the group's commercial director, spoke in his speech of “the ups and downs” which affected companies in the sector at a time when globalization was causing local factories to close. “This shows that the industrial history of Hagetmau is not over,” reacted the mayor, Pascale Requenna. Seeing these chairs leave is an immense source of pride. This will considerably mark the history of the city because it is a piece of Hagetmau which leaves for Paris. We are proud and, at the same time, this gives us great hopes, like a form of renewal. »
