31e Comédie du Livre Montpellier

This posting may be out of chronological order, but what happened recently seems so much more vital and, well, fresh than what happened last week!

This weekend is the 31^st annual Montpellier Book Fair, celebrating authors from this region of France. A long line of tents were set up in the city park, and authors were available to sell and sign books, and talk to fans; ah, readers. We wandered among the enthusiastic crowd. First thing we noted was that there were few of the twenty-something students we see everywhere in the city, but more “gray-hairs,” like us. Families. Lots of kids, visiting the many children’s authors.

We watched as the author of a series of travel books, illustrated with watercolors, decorated the flyleaf of a book bought by a fan. A few deft strokes of her brush revealed the image of a dancing lady in a flowing fuchsia dress. Impressive! Next to her was a man who illustrated his travel journals to places like Morocco and Iran with ink sketches which he filled in with pale, subtle color.

Illustrating the flyleaf of one of his travel journals

A simple but elegant drawing; I wanted to buy one, too!

This, though, was about the only part we understood. The sad thing was, being in this enormous and exciting book exhibition was like visiting a huge art gallery where all the paintings were turned to the wall, or covered with thin vails. I, with my command of French, wandered through looking at titles I struggled to understand by authors I’d never heard of on subjects I did not comprehend.

But something that was clear to us was that this huge turnout for this three-day event with people attending the on-going lectures and discussions (this year's theme was Italian Literature) showed a fine, and intense, interest in art and culture. It was impressive!

Tables stacked with books; aisles stacked with people!

Still, we felt like outsiders, and it was with a hint of disappointment we wandered along and came to another small tent, this one featuring B.D., Bande Dessinée, known in our day as comic books but today referred to as graphic novels (incredibly popular in France). And there, front and center, was a classic copy of Mr. Natural, by R.Crumb. I reverently picked it up. Yes, in French, published in Paris in 1977.

The chess games go on, even during the book festival

Mr. Natural? R.Crumb? If these names are not familiar, then clearly you did not survive the ‘60s!

(As a refresh, or an introduction, check this animated version of Mr. Natural: )

              


            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccRUryUyfrU

Crumb had tremendous success (at least among the counter culture) with his Zap Comix in the ‘60s and early ‘70s, and brought about a whole new genre of “alternative comix.” But I heard that Robert Crumb got disgusted with life in the United States (or perhaps just life), and moved to France. And I hadn't thought of him in decades.

But the operator of this particular tent, who owns a B.D. store a few blocks away, told us that M. Crumb now lives in Sauve, where he spends his days at the bar.

What!? Sauve? We were just there! And that's Mr. Crumb's home? My mind was blown.

Sauve is an hour’s drive north of here. We stumbled upon the town while driving back from our trip to the Gypsy Festival in the Camargue. It's incredibly intriguing; a medieval city tucked away on a winding mountain road, very quiet; we were about the only ones in the streets. Yet judging from the posters on the closed shop windows there were no end of artistic and musical events.

                                      Why we liked Suave

 

Crossing the bridge into town (Sauve)

It is a small, medieval town along a river, a place that seems lost in time, where nothing much could ever happen.

Peering into a private garden

But it was endlessly charming.

And we slowly became aware that there must be a lot going on here; every shop door (closed when we were there) had a poster about artistic events: music festivals, concerts, art displays, yoga and energetic healing workshops. Returning to further explore this town is high on our list (and I'll probably stop by the bar, just in case Monsieur Crumb shows up).

Yes, the streets are narrow

(And, there is a music recording studio in this building!)

So yes, we are learning about the area, and finding surprises in, well, surprising places.