A literary walk
in Colette’s footsteps
A woman of letters and a free woman, Colette was fascinating because of her talent and personality. The town of Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, where she was born, dedicated her a museum and a “house-book”. A good way to discover or rediscover his work…
A hundred and fifty years ago Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was born – on January 28, 1873 – in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye. She lived there a happy and free childhood, with her brothers and sister, her cultured and non-conformist mother, Sido and her father, Captain Colette, whom she watched working, sitting at the foot of the large library. Ruined, the family had to leave home. The heartbreak was absolute for Colette who loved so much her native land, Puisaye, that it became a recurring theme in her work. The house where she spent her first 18 years of life is itself a full-fledged character! This is particularly the case in the Claudine series, the most successful edition of the early 20th century.
Her birthplace as an open book
In the heart of the small town of Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, the beautiful building, which has become the Maison des Illustres, offers a literary walk through the faithfully restored interior. The writer would not be disoriented. Neither would the visitors, who let themselves be carried away by the walk through the pages of her work unveiled by the guide. In the small garden in front of this «book house», a perfect place to flip through one of her works, a bust made by the artist Nacera Kainou allows a superposition of the image of this pioneer in the emancipation of the woman to her beloved home.
The story of her life at the museum
A few hundred metres away, the Colette Museum, housed in the town’s castle, allows to discover the life and work of the writer through a series of artistic installations, exhibitions and animations (original visits, readings, concerts, etc.). The temporary exhibition «Devenir Colette», which marks in 2023 the 150th anniversary of Colette’s birth, retraces the unexpected journey of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954) from her early years until her consecration at the Palais Royal in Paris and her national funeral as an apotheosis. It shows the life of the writer in a new light, relying on archival documents from private collections that have never been shown to the public (180 photographs, letters, portraits, objects, but also precious editions, dedications and manuscripts). The 150th anniversary of Colette’s birth is celebrated in France, but also abroad (Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, New York, Hong Kong, Beirut, etc.).
The writer’s soul radiates in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, where it is good to wander between its anchor points and artists’ collectives who have settled there.
Maison de Colette : 03 86 44 44 05 / 03 86 44 44 06. www.maisondecolette.fr
Musée Colette : 03 86 45 61 95. musee-colette.com
Colette, the woman of all first times!
Colette has distinguished herself in diverse fields such as music hall, theatre, cinema, journalism. She attained consecration through literature with works such as Claudine à l’école, Les Vrilles de la vigne, Le Blé en herbe, La Naissance du jour… Author of some sixty books, she is translated into all languages. A woman of all firsts —first woman president of Goncourt Academy, first woman decorated Grand officier de la Légion d’honneur, first woman to receive a national funeral — Colette remains unique and astonishingly modern. Sixty-nine years after her death in 1954, the books Sido and Les Vrilles de la vigne were included in the French baccalaureate program.