Châlus is revealed in the form of an alphabet book in a work that covers all eras and different aspects of the city. Liliane Fauriac tells Châlus from A to Z, with well-known stories and some surprising ones.
If someone says Châlus to you, you no doubt have in mind images of castles, a Route Richard Cœur de Lion sign, the Place de la Fontaine and this gigantic cast iron chestnut bug which reminds us that here we are at chestnut country. But Châlus is also Pierre Desproges, Lawrence of Arabia, Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, Émile Demangeon, Jacques Garabeuf, Saint Waast, the greenway, gastronomy and the Beaulieu barn.
Châlus, Liliane Fauriac put it into an alphabet book. An alphabet book full of well-known and surprising stories, prefaced by Sylvestre Clancier, son of the writer Georges-Emmanuel Clancier and the psychoanalyst Anne Clancier.
A like Eleanor
The A, like Eleanor of Aquitaine, tells the story of this erudite and attractive woman who became queen of France by marrying Louis VII, then queen of England by marrying Henri Plantagenêt. The mother of Richard the Lionheart, who died in his arms on April 6, 1199 in Châlus, had seven other children.
D like Desproges and Demangeon
A few letters (and a few pages) away, we meet two characters in D, Pierre Desproges and Émile Demangeon.
Pierre Desproges, who spent two years of his schooling and a good part of his summer vacation in Châlus where his grandmother ran a haberdashery, is known for having laughed and making people laugh at everything, even the illness that caused him took away. “After leaving Châlus, I became more morose, in any case less exhibitionist in my way of laughing,” said the comedian, after whom the Châlus college was named.
Émile Demangeon remained in the memory of Châlusiens, but for dramatic reasons. This former mayor was gruesomely murdered in January 1912 along with his servant. A double crime which will lead investigators to Spain, Portugal and England and the criminals to Guyana, as told in the novel Little apple (Mon Limousin editions), by Rudi Molleman.
The Châlus-Chabrol castle is visible from afar. We see it here from the greenway. Photo Nathalie Goursaud
G like Garabeuf
Another era, another mayor, another letter, the G and Jacques Garabeuf, local figure of the Revolution, who was notably the author of the list of grievances. He died on October 17, 1821 in his house on rue Salardine and a square today bears his name.
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L for Lawrence of Arabia
On the wall of the Saxo, formerly the Hôtel du Midi, a plaque evokes the passage here of another famous character, the future Lawrence of Arabia, who came to Châlus to immerse himself in the places where Richard the Lionheart died to nourish his thesis on medieval military architecture. After this L comes the M with Maulmont and War Memorial in front of which stands a sad statue.
Many other letters await you, many other characters and stories, which form a Châlus that we want to discover more closely.
The book. Châlus, by Liliane Fauriac, Mon Limousin editions, 135 pages, 21 euros.
Liliane Fauriac. A former teacher and involved in local associations, she now runs writing workshops. She is notably the author of Anna’s hands And The Curse of Courbefyboth published by Éditions Mon Limousin.
ABCs. Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, Corrèze, Ségur-le-Château, Royères were also the subject of an alphabet book published by Mon Limousin.
Nathalie Goursaud
