Cravant: an aural history

I've been introduced to a fascinating book about the customs and memories of Cravant: Cravant Coutumes et Dires. It was collated by Paulette Doireau and published in 1990. From what I can find out about the author she was, perhaps still is, a member of the 'Friends of Old Chinon' - Les Amis du vieux Chinon. We've been to a couple of their meetings over the years, but were missing too often to be able to join.  Maybe now we'll have more time.

A friend from one of our Anglo/French groups, Yolande, had been reading Cravant Coutumes et Dires and thought I might like to read it. When she took it back to the library she asked that it be reserved for me, which they did, and then phoned me to say I could collect it. As it turned out, my library ticket had expired so I was able to renew it. But also over the last eighteen months, the library service here has been developed. We still have a library in the centre of Chinon. There is also another library across the river in La Rivière, a district we know from regular visits to wine producers and a particular restaurant over there which is very good. However there is now a new library on the upper edge of Chinon. The route to this branch is the same we used to take to Leclerc before it moved to its current position, so we know it well. There are also loads of communities on the upper side of town who can now be more easily tapped into. I was collecting my library book from this branch so had a good look around. Lovely building and very good stock. The point is that we have started to use the library regularly. 

Rural Cravant, as Paulette Doireau explains in the introduction to Cravant Coutumes et Dires, was a place where any event no matter how ordinary, was used an excuse to have a get together between neighbours and where horses still worked the fields. There were many local traditions and customs applied to daily life as well as a variety of spoken expressions. In less than half a century many of these and much of the way of life had been replaced by television and the tractor. So the book was written as a collective memory of times gone by, using the intricate and time consuming process of interviewing older members of the community to recount their experiences.

There are three parts to it. Part One is about food, local recipes, general life, local entertainments, clothing, nicknames, individual stories, weather. Part Two: rivers, streams, trees, the Hunt and co-operatives. Part Three: Places within the commune. There's loads of interesting things to discover. The library has given me a September return date. It was meant to be the end of July, before the library shut for the August holidays. But there's quite a bit to get through, loads of particular terms and references that I need to try and pin down. So they very kindly extended the date to the 4 September. 

What is interesting after reading just the first six pages, is how much of the imagery conveyed in the book is still found in the daily life of Cravant. There is admittedily just one, but nevertheless a vigneron who ploughs with a horse as well as with a tractor. Neighbours still get together for a drink, a picnic or a dinner, which everyone contributes to with a plate of something. At the very beginning, when we were literally helping each other to put up garden fences, a glass of two was always shared when the job was done. The essence of community spirit, although it has changed, still exists in a very practical form as we have discovered to our delight ever since we've been here.