‘Les gens de T(ulle) disent que’on pleure en y arrivant, et qu’on pleure en la quittant. C’est vrai pour beaucoup de fonctionnaires. Ils sont nommés à T(ulle)…’ 1
‘Tulle is above all a city of civil servants’ observed Denis Tillinac in his book: Spleen en Corrèze2 (1979). And
‘...must have many resources to make itself loved by the civil servant - because the civil servant, fundamentally, necessarily, is a stateless person, member of the great International of the bureaucracy …’.
To understand, and appreciate, Tulle you have to accept it is a departmental capital that is essentially governed by ‘Paris’ and for-fills the responsibilities of the state.
It receives tasks, responsibilities and budgets that have to be implemented by qualified civil servants living in what they perceive as an exile. An exile in space and time, ‘... it deprives me of the rhythm of contemporary life’ wrote Denis.
“… Along its murky river… Tomorrow will be yesterday, and my exile will be like Paradise Lost.’ The ‘perfect place to dream of Paris, or America’, America where they ‘burn the past like they burn gasoline ... We burn nothing, we save, we let Time sort out the useful and the useless, the solid and the inconsistent, the permanent and the ephemeral, certainties and randomness …’
Walking around Tulle one can not but start wondering if there is, at all, a plan to this? (And the short answer is: ‘No’ ). Pierre-Yves Roubert, revealed himself to be a bit of a Tillinac fan in his book Le Quart Sud-Ouest3 set against the backdrop of the city hall of Brive. He set much of the sequel Le piano-bar de Tulle, in Tulle. ‘Tulle sera le Sarlat du vingt-et-unième siècle’ he jokes. From the Lemouzi hotel in the center of town he is wondering the same thing:
‘I opened the window wide and observed Tulle, its river, its stepped streets, its hills. Where did the charm that emanated from the whole thing come from? I did not see any coherence in this juxtaposition of heterogeneous buildings, on irregular grounds which did not form a site, to the point that one could wonder why a city had been established here’.4
The comparison between Tulle and Brive from the perspective of the musician, is revealing:
‘In Brive, the people practically did not exist. There were classes, environments, neighborhoods, but little mixing, little unity…
In Tulle, if only because of the narrowness of the territory, identification with the city operated naturally. It’s difficult to escape the shadows of the administrative tower and the departmental hotel. And it’s not easy to work anywhere other than in a public service…
These modest and limited possibilities shaped a population that was ultimately united, with immigrants mingling without too many problems with the natives. Differences in social level tended to disappear in the face of the absence of choice...’5
Denis was a localier, a regional press journalist who does not work at the headquarters of his newspaper but from a local agency, writing the ‘local pages’ for La Dépêche du Midi. The localier is locally known, ‘when they see us walking down the street with our camera, people say, ‘Hey, the journalist from La Gazette. There must be an accident somewhere”.
I read most of Tillinac’s books, reading Spleen en Corrèze made us curious about Tulle to the extend we disregarded the generally dismissive advice. And with several direct trains a day connecting Terrasson and Tulle… what stopped us?
‘... while attending the inauguration of the new gendarmerie. I met the usual bunch there: the prefect and the secretary general, the mayor of Tulle and two deputies, the prosecutor, the president of the Chamber de Commerce, the Commissioner of General Information… The same people, and a few others, meet in all the ceremonies, wines of honor, commemorations, inaugurations. The localiers are also there, by necessity with a notepad and a camera’.
Time to take our notepad and camera and explore Tulle. First impression did not disappoint, the train station (1) is located at half an hours walk from the ‘historic center’ and the mismatch of buildings is impressive. End 1900’s buildings line the street and recall the Belle Époque when the railroad arrived. The modern Médiathèque Intercommunale Eric Rohmer looks actually good, some 60s/70s concrete blocks a little less.
Tulle is constructed on the banks of the Corrèze river in a narrow valley. So space is limited and the shortest routes perpendicular the river are often stairways up the steep hillside. The highlight was a huge high-rise Cité administrative Jean Montalat (9) complete with podium and pedestrian bridges. A city within the city. It would not raise an eyebrow in any of the new towns on Hong Kong, but smack in the middle of Tulle…
Reaching the historic center we walked the heritage trail that starts at the Church of Saint Jean (2), towards a cluster of medieval buildings surrounding the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Tulle (4) with its cloister. The cloister museum had an interesting exhibition ‘Poincts en suspension’ by artist Annie Bascoul. The ‘poinct de Tulle’ (needle-point lace) is a combination of embroidery and its square ‘fishnet’ knotted mesh support. When the original hand knotted mesh is used it accentuates the embroidery on a slightly pecked background.
The exhibition was a culmination of different projects supported by the city of Tulle since 2013. Several artists have been invited through residencies to create unique works that will; ‘bear witness to generations to come of the fertile dialogue between historical know-how and contemporary creation’. It was done in collaboration with the Association Diffusion Renouveau Poinct Tulle a group of friendly ladies who run a small workshop just next door.
Worth a mention are the Hôtel Lauthonie (3) and the Maison Loyac. We explored the neighborhood a bit and were surprised to find an (abandoned) Belgium Consulate. Looking for information I came across a La Montagne article6 online explaining how a Mr. Vackier had ran a hardware-store in Tulle since 1906, occupies himself with Belgium refugees during the first world war and by 1931 received the title of vice-councilor by royal appointment. By 1940 he found his loyalties split between king Léopold III’s surrender to Nazi-Germany, and the Belgium government’s decision to go into exile.
Here the story gets an intriguing twist when the Belgium King decides that Tulle, initially part of non occupied (Vinchy) France, would be a good place to shelter his three children from the war. So princes (and future kings) Boudewijn and Albert arrive, together with their sister princess Charlotte, an aunt of the king finds refuge joining a religious order in nearby Aubazine. As a thanks for his good care of the children Mr. Vackier receives the title ‘consul de Belgique à titre personnel’ in 1946, with jurisdiction over the three departments of the Limousin. A title he holds-onto till his death in 1962.
‘Wearing a proud mustache, laden with distinctions and driving through the streets of Tulle with a big black car, a Chambord or a Versailles with plates from the diplomatic corps’.
The rest of the heritage trail passes the Church of Saint Pierre (5), the tour d’Alverge (6) and the municipal Theater (1899) (7) once know as the Théâtre des Sept Collines in reference to the geography of the town. Looking up the hillsides you are surrounded by government buildings, schools and services. A good selection of restaurants in town make it an interesting day out. We smiled leaving, maybe it was the nice weather, maybe we left in time...
‘The people of T(ulle) say that you cry when you get there, and you cry when you leave. This is true for a lot of public servants. They are appointed to T(ulle) ... ’
Tillinac D., 1979. Spleen en Corrèze. ISBN 2-7305-0031-6. Collection Les Localiers, Éditions des autres.
He describes the condition as: ‘Spleen: cet au-delà de la mélancolie qui fait pencher le pendule du côté de la réaction, au sens exact du terme: en réaction contre les tendences d’une époque. … Ni de renier (…) son fond d’anarchisme, son refus convulsif de la grégarité moderne’.
Which translates as: ‘Spleen: this beyond melancholy which tilts the pendulum towards reaction, in the exact sense of the term: in reaction against the trends of an era. … Nor to deny (…) its underlying anarchism, its convulsive refusal of modern gregariousness’.
Tillinac D., 1992. Le Retour de d’Artagnan. ISBN 2-7103-0523-2. Editions de La Table Ronde.
Roubert P-Y., 1997. Le Quart Sud-Ouest, Une année pleine dans un pays béni des dieux. ISBN: 2-9510997-0-3. Écritures.
‘J’avais ouvert en grand la fenêtre et j’observais Tulle, sa rivière, ses rues en escalier, ses collines. D’où venait le charme qui se dégageait de l’ensemble? Je ne voyais pas de cohérence dans cette juxtaposition de bâtis hétéroclites, sur des sols irréguliers quine formaient pas un site, à tel point qu’on pouvait se demander pourquoi une ville avait été ici implantée’.
Roubert P-Y., 1999. Le piano-bar de Tulle. ISBN: 2-9510997-8-9. Écritures.
‘À Brive, le peuple n’existait pour ainsi dire pas. Il y avait des classes, des milieux, des quartiers, mais peu de mélange, peu d’unité …
À Tulle, ne serait-ce qu’à cause de l’étroitesse du territoire, l’identification à la ville opérait naturellement. Difficile de s’affranchir des ombres de la tour administative et de l’Hôtel du département. Et pas facile de travailler ailleurs que dans un service public …
Ces possibilités modestes et limitées modelaient une population finalement solidaire, les immigrés se mêlant sans trop de problèmes aux autochtones. Les différences de niveau social avaient tendence à disparaître face à l’absence de choix …’
Roubert P-Y., 1999. Le piano-bar de Tulle. ISBN: 2-9510997-8-9. Écritures.
Albinet A., 2015. Comment le plus tulliste des Belges a ouvert un consulat dans sa ville d’adoption ? In: La Montagne, 29/07/2015.