“ll était optimiste – 'Tout le monde reconnâit aujourd'hui que'une nouvelle vie est possible, et même souhaitable, dans les villages' – et fataliste: 'Si les chose doivent se faire, elles se feront.’ (...) ‘Le XXIe siecle serait rural ou il serait desagreable.'“1
Quote of Charles Ceyrac, former major and founding father of the association of the most beautiful villages of France. The story starts in Collonges (la Rouge), long before Ceyrac became major (in 1965) and the ‘la Rouge’ was officially added (in 1968).
As far back as 1927 the association 'Les Amis de Collonges' (friends of Collonges) was founded. It organized a tombola in 1931 to redo the roof of the chapel. In 1933 it developed the first promotion poster together with the railways and in 1942 a ministerial decree classifying the entire village of Collonges to be included in the Inventory of Sites. This meant no new construction would be possible, but in exchange for subsidies, restorations were encouraged. The unsightly overhead electric wires were taken down, buried and their pylons disappeared in 1961.
Charles Ceyrac continued by limiting the circulation of cars in 1965 and changed the official name of the village to include the qualifier 'la Rouge' in 1968. In 1971 they asked for historic monument status to redo the roof of the halle and by 1973 driving and parking were further limited. In 1979 the former tramways station was acquired and transformed into a visitor center with public toilets. La Maison de la Sirène followed in 1978, restored it became the home of 'Les Amis de Collonges' in 1980. Also in 1980, the telephone wires were put underground.
In 1981 he met, then major of Paris, Jacques Chirac, who quipped that Collonges la Rouge was 'the most beautiful village of France'. On his way back to the station he chanced upon a ‘Readers Digest Selection’ with the title: 'Les 100 plus beaux villages de France', he bought it, read through on the train home, and asked his secretary to look for the names and addresses of all the 100 majors of these villages on arrival in the town hall.
He wrote a friendly letter inviting all of them to come to Collonges la Rouge to exchange experiences and ideas. 37 of them were able to come bringing the french language 'dans toutes ses tonalités'. On March 6, 1982 they met again, at Salers, to inaugurate their new association; 'Les plus beaux villages de France.' Initially the 100 villages from the original Readers digest selection were admitted, but soon others requested to join. Criteria were drawn-up and evolved overtime. Encompassing architectural quality, the scenery, quality of roads, having at least one classified building, later several inscribed on the inventory of historical monuments.
The voice said:
- Sir …
I stopped, and the voice said:
- Sir, you don't have a second to come next to me?
Worried, I asked:
- You need me?
- Yes …
Not very reassured, I approached. The shadow then said:
- Can you come next to me to listen to the noises and silences of Collonges?
I listened:
- Listen... the drops on the roof... a tractor... a mother calling her child...
And here I am, next to this stranger, listening to Collonges as I had never done before. I heard another 'Miladiou!' thundering, the seven o'clock church bell, then the Angelus, and silence. I was captivated, bewitched like in the fog. The man asked:
- Are you from the country, sir?
- I am the mayor.
-Excuse me…I'll tell you who I am. As long as you won’t tell it. I am the writer Maurice Clavel, academician.
He came twice a year, alone, incognito, to listen to the noises and silences of Collonges!
An little anecdote shared by Ceyrac on his first encounter with ‘l’immortel de L'Académie française’ Maurice Clavel.
Charles Ceyrac made sure to avoid turning the village into a museum, 'Nothing is sadder in his eyes than places where you can say nothing, touch nothing, where the only goal is preservation.' That was one of the reason to refuse a request to extend the protected area, as the Bâtiment de France came up with ever greater limitations. The department demanded all trees and shrubs to be given a number (all 5000 or so). 'It's all well and good to preserve the site, to renovate, but Collonges must also create if it does not want to become a museum. In 1996 he handed over the reigns of the association.
He continued to work for the larger rural interest, including the wine growers of Branceille and the Fédération Régionale Interprofessionnelle de la Noix du Périgord. In 1992 he had founded S.O.S Villages. Having noticed the limits of mixed farming, Ceyrac had launched into animal husbandry, which he knew well, at the start of his working life. The 1986 the law prohibiting the use of hormones for animals intended for human consumption became known as ‘la loi Ceyrac’. After it’s initiator.
The first national day of the village (Journée nationale du village), was held on 7 September 1997 under the 'haut patronage' of, by then president of France, Jacques Chirac. The idea stuck, and the COVID confinement saw people fleeing the city, and 2021 saw the publication of books like 'Le bonheur est dans le village, 30 solutions qui vennent de nos campagne'2 and 'Le réveil de la France oubliée, Et si notre avenir était dans les villages?'3
But criticism of the 'Disneyland du Quercy' surfaced as early as the 1990’s (journalist Gerard Bardy), and that stuck as well. In a 2023, an article in the local Le Montagne newspaper was titled; “En Corrèze, comment Collonges-la-Rouge se bat pour ne pas devenir le ‘Disneyland du Quercy’4 elaborates the ongoing struggle. The ‘Most beautiful village in France’ label attracts crowds that ‘flock to the jars of foie gras and bottles of walnut oil. The streets and terraces are crowded with people, we move slowly, trying to dodge shoulder blows. After a few minutes of walking, paradise turns into living hell.’”
That might be a slight exaggeration, but Collonges starts to resemble the tourism behemoths of Sarlat, Rocamadour and La Roque-Gageac. All suffering the consequences of excessive crowds during the summer or long weekends (and utter desolation in winter). ‘At Collonges-la-Rouge, on the contrary, the municipality is trying to restore the soul of the village. It hopes to limit the establishment of businesses and thus attract new residents all year round. Quite a challenge.’
Back to: La Vicomté de Turenne, Beautiful villages of the Corrèze (Collonges la Rouge)
“He was optimistic – ‘Everyone recognizes today that a new life is possible, and even desirable, in the villages’ – and fatalistic: 'If things have to be done, they will be done.’ (…) ‘The 21st century will be rural or it will be unpleasant.’”
Roubert P-Y., 1998. Charles Ceyrac, Le plus beau villageois de France. Écritures. ISBN 2-9510997-5-4
Hazard N., 2021. Le bonheur est dans le village, 30 solutions qui vennent de nos campagne. Flammarion. ISBN 978-2-0802-3403-2
Cortes A., 2021. Le réveil de la France oubliée, Et si notre avenir était dans les villages? Éditions du Rocher. ISBN 978-2-268-10509-3
En Corrèze, comment Collonges-la-Rouge se bat pour ne pas devenir le "Disneyland du Quercy" La montaigne, Tourisme. 08/06/2023 as accessed through: https://www.lamontagne.fr/collonges-la-rouge-19500/actualites/en-correze-comment-collonges-la-rouge-se-bat-pour-ne-pas-devenir-le-disneyland-du-quercy_14322024/