We are very fortunate to have two bars in Salignac. The first is Cafe´de la Place, a family run business, from early days in the 50’s, when the current owner Cecile’s grandmother ran it, to her own son having taken up the reins in the last few years. They work nonstop but are taking a short break soon to recharge their batteries before the summer season starts. I have known them now for 25 years and am always treated well as a valued customer. There have been lots of changes over the years but they are known for their excellent cuisine. Handmade pizzas, burgers and salads full of local produce; it is a delight to eat there on the Terrace overlooking the Square and watch the world go by.

Spring is approaching and the tables will be set out to welcome their clientele. I go there now, to read the daily journal, in French of course, and catch up on the village gossip, with a glass of rose´or two. I tend to listen in to conversations and observe people. Their mannerisms and ways of speaking are fascinating to me. I was watching someone recently, who was just the epitome of Jacques Tati and his famous caricature Monsieur Hulot. With a very strong accent, even though he is from here, he was one of our local council workers until last year but he still comes up to the bar to have a few beers at the end of the day and talk to the owners. Wildly gesticulating in true Tati style. He was telling them about some work being done on the roads but he was so funny without realising it. Even reading his paper, he was talking to himself and mumbling in very accented French. Wonderful. They also talk in “patois ” here, which is completely unfathomable. A blend of Occitan and the local dialect. I think.

The other bar is Cafe´des Voyageurs, which is also the local Tabac, PMU for horse racing and the Lotto.  A very different atmosphere and people who go there. I do go sometimes and meet friends there for a drink  but it is more a man’s domain I think and plus I don’t do the Lotto, PMU or smoke !  This cafe has had a huge renovation, bringing it up to a more modern style. Even with a mural on the wall, painted by another ex-council worker. I got chatting to him recently, as I was surprised to see him painting a wall. “This is really my profession, as an artist”, he told me. It got me thinking , we really don’t know who people are really and just seeing them in one capacity doesn’t rule out what else they can do ?

The daughter of Jacques Tati, and herself an accomplished editor, producer and film maker.

She grew up, on the set of her famous father’s films, featuring in one of his first, Jour De Fetes. Seemingly happy and a natural with the camera focused on her, she developed an eye herself later on, with her own films.

She was firstly an assistant editor on Tati’s “Playtime ” then working subsequently on” Trafic” and ” Parade”, all wonderful to watch now. I have been looking at them with fond nostalgia. They don’t seem to date. France as it was in the early 40’s, his vision and humour are instantly recognizable today.

Sophie would go on to work with other leading French directors and would direct her own production in1977. Named” Degustation Maison”, it was filmed in Saint Sevre sur Indres, the very place her father had shot Jour De Fete, 30 years before.

She would continue later on with her own documentary called “Tati, in the footsteps of Monsieur Hulot” and would even produce an edited version in colour of Jour De Fete Her first feature film came out in 1998 called “Le Comptoir ” a humorous eye on village life in a French Cafe. Funny ?

She died in 2001 , but a lovely tribute stays of her in the film ” L’Illusioniste” based on an original scenario by Jacques Tati. A charming story of an aging music hall artist, who decides to go to Scotland, to try his luck, and going to a pub in Edinburgh, he meets Alice, a young girl that will completely change his life. It is dedicated to his real daughter, ie Sophie, by her loving father.

I wanted to continue my tribute to Barry and his photographs he took in the late 80’s in Glasgow. I taught Contemporary dance classes, and I used various places to do them but one was very particular to me. In an old church hall, in the West End, my students and I would brave the cold to take class. This was in Cottier’s Church, now a very fashionable arts centre and pub/restaurant. There was a fireplace way back then, that I would light to keep us warm, as it was quite a large space. It is now the Cafe/ Bar. I rehearsed my students for an up-and-coming performance there. Great memories. Barry came to photograph us a few times and this photo is from then. By my side was Donald Macinnes , who went on to be a very well-known hairdresser to the rich and famous in London. And Celeste Singleton, who later married and lived abroad.

I taught dance classes here in France, many years later, often in cold conditions but never like it was in Scotland.

The Gallery continues this month. Coming Home. Legacy of Barry Charlton Paton.

March 2025. Fifi’s stories from rural France.