“La Boulange” has become the bakehouse for the revitalization of a Cévennes village

L’épicerie participative est le cœur battant de l’association de Saint-Jean-de-Valériscle. MIDI LIBRE – CHARLES LEDUC

L’association a permis, depuis trois ans, l’installation de diverses activités professionnelles au cœur du village de Saint-Jean-de-Valériscle, dans le Gard.

"It is possible to arrive and, without being from here, to carry out projects for the village. Without funding, with collective energy!" This is the great adventure undertaken three years ago, which today is doing good in Saint-Jean-de-Valériscle, on the foothills of the Cévennes Gardoises.

Tired of Parisian life, Laurent Lhomme and his partner Céline Lemonnier arrived here in spring 2018. After running the tavern of a neighboring campsite for four months, both took up the challenge of taking the helm of the restaurant. municipal inn, closed for three years. To give a boost to their business and, also, create social ties, the couple had an idea: "create a small market". This then generated a first "emulation" and is today administratively managed by this commune of some 600 souls.

The will of a "team of madmen"

In the time of Covid and confinements, both kept in mind the idea of ​​opening a bakery. Until "an aperitif with a team of madmen", remembers Laurent Lhomme, smiling. There is Antoine Calcari, Éric Vignon, Joël Hladynink and others. The group then wants the birth of a participatory grocery store, with bread delivery. "There was nothing left in Saint-Jean-de-Valériscle. The bakery had closed three years earlier, explains Antoine Calcari. The association “La Boulange”, with the status of revitalizing the village, is created; the premises opens on December 6, 2020. The bread is provided by the baker Nicolas Beaufils, based in Les Mages and whose family ran the bakery when it was still open. Here, “we favor local producers”, but we also find some basic food products, such as pasta, rice, sauces, etc. "And candy and ice cream for the kids at school, as the old ones remembered!"

"The mayonnaise has set. She's even super hung!"

Members of “La Boulange” do not shy away from work. The grocery store has a wide opening time, six days a week, which “has helped to build people’s loyalty,” notes Laurent Lhomme. "The mayonnaise has set. She's even super accomplished!" The association actually managed to hire an employee, for a contract of 22 hours per week, last September…< /p>

A dilapidated apartment transformed into a seamstress's workshop

However, “La Boulange” didn’t stop there. "We were hot!", laughs Laurent Lhomme, who became assistant secretary of the association. An unoccupied and dilapidated apartment is made available to volunteers free of charge. They retype it and, for two and a half years now, there has been “L’Atelier”, where Delphine Michel, who previously had a stand in the markets, offers sewing, alterations, washing and ironing.

A large room for other professional activities

Then, a few months later, the association saw a large premises on the ground floor, located just opposite the grocery store, empty. She rents it "to put shops. And bring back life,” says Joël Hladynink. Three spaces are set up. The first becomes, in September 2022, “Life is beautiful”, the well-being institute of Daphné Sugier. The second is prepared to become a hairdressing salon; after the publication of a classified ad, Manon Gorilliot moved there last October and thus created her first business. "The positive energy brought me here", confides the 26-year-old hairdresser. For the third location, “La Boulange” is waiting for subsidies to create an opening opening onto the outside and accommodate a new professional activity…

The medieval festival will take place on August 17

“La Boulange” also organizes various activities throughout the year, including the medieval festival. This existed in the 90s, before falling into lethargy. "When we created the association, we wanted to relaunch it", explains Antoine Calcari. And the fourth edition, since its rebirth, will take place on August 17. On a single day after the 2023 opus which stretched over two days, without really bringing together the expected audience due to the heat and a date which clashed with others events organized in the surrounding area. "But the first two went well." This summer again, the festivities will revolve, in a decorated village, around a medieval encampment, on the church square, knight fights, exhibitors. And with the provision of costumes by Laurence Magnanelli, who officiates in particular during the Cévennes Week in Alès.

The artisans of this adventure have brought new life to their village heart. "There, we want to perpetuate what already exists. It’s a job!", says Laurent Lhomme. "But the results are positive." Éric Vignon, for his part, maintains the look of a satisfied Cévenol: "I didn't believe that we were would happen there…"

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