From our special correspondent in Cajarc,
The rain falls on the pretty cobbled streets of Cajarc, this Tuesday. The sky is gray and the wind is blowing. If it is not common here in August, it does not mean that the small tourist village of Lot will stop living. Despite the bad weather, hikers and cyclists continue to strut around the city on the way to Compostel. And in an alley above the Place du Forail, Jacques Borzo – dark blue shirt and straw hat screwed on his head – introduces around twenty tourists to the facade of a historic residence.
Former mayor of the city from 2008 to 2020, the retiree is now a local guide: “I am not a historian, but I love this city which adopted me thirty-two years ago. Every Tuesday, he explores the heritage of his commune with visitors for a day, or perhaps a lifetime. Who knows. “We have an interesting medieval centre, even if there are some restoration errors. But when I walk these people, they are happy and surprised by saying “we did not think that Cajarc contained so much architectural wealth”, he says after his visit.
At the end of the afternoon, the sun returned to the village, enough to find a little optimism. “I enjoy boasting about everything we have been able to put in place in the town”, he celebrates while ordering a Perrier slice on the terrace of the brasserie “Le Président”. A name that is not chosen at random. But we will come back to it.
Coluche, Grandpa Mougeot and Monsieur Moulino
Because beyond the charm of the village whose history has been preserved, “one of the only ones to have kept its medieval structure intact”, underlines the former mayor, Cajarc owes its fame above all not to one, but to three famous people. . For the general public, it is surely Coluche who will be the most significant. with his cult sketch of Schmilblic, in 1975, featuring “Cajarc in the Aveyron”. He imitates several characters as folkloric as they are stereotyped. Among them, Mr. Moulino, a fishing tackle merchant in Cajarc and Papy Mougeot, an old retiree living in the same village. Others play passing visitors, already showing the importance of tourism in the town.
A little of fact checking is however essential here for Benjamin, adviser for the Tourist Office of Grand Figeac: “in his sketch, he says “Cajarc in Aveyron”. But he was wrong. He surely did not know that Cajarc was in the Lot, because Aveyron is on the other side of the bridge. “What does it matter, since Coluche has left his mark in the village. A restaurant called “Monsieur Moulino” has set up on the Place du Forail, the press office bears the name of “Schmilblic”, as does the boat taking tourists on the Lot. In addition to his sketch, the comedian was also attached to this village. “His wife had a house not far away, in Sainte-Croix. So he came back often, five to six times a year, ”recalls the former mayor.
“The memory of Pompidou is still very vivid here”
But it is not the only one to have magnified the city. Another famous woman was even born there, Françoise Sagan. In her ivy-clad house on the “tour de ville” – old, well-preserved medieval moats – the author grew up there and emancipated herself by writing her famous book. Hello Sadness, only 18 years old. “It’s a two-storey bourgeois house, with a black slate roof, with a small garden. As far as I remember, its thick walls protected it from the heat while making it pleasant in the summer, ”she will describe in the published work. by Christian Vallee The country where I was born. From now on, the house is kept within the family. His son and his niece stay in Cajarc from time to time. On his native village, Sagan will finally write these words: “There is the nonchalance, the tolerance of its inhabitants. »
Could this be what also attracted the Pompidou couple who already occupying a second home in Cantal will decide to settle in Lot? Maybe. But one thing is certain, then Prime Minister, Georges Pompidou will not fail to invest in the life of the town. Free of charge, he will even become a municipal councilor, before having to leave the post five years later to devote himself to the presidential election. “If I had started my political career earlier, I could have been President,” sneers Jacques Borzo. Continuing to sip his Perrier, the former mayor remarks: “The memory of Pompidou is still very much alive here”… the name of the establishment perfectly testifies to this.
A few streets away, the former home of the presidential couple is now a center for contemporary art. “In general, the cultural offer is important for the size of our municipality”, adds Jacques Borzo, citing for example the Center for artistic education – which he created – or the Africajarc festival dedicated to African cultures.
Maintain its authenticity
But if over time, Cajarc has surfed on their notoriety, not everything is due to them. “In the time of our three characters, some visitors have seen that the village was still very nice between this cliff cirque and the banks adjoining the Lot. And they said to themselves that it made them want to stay. Because for Jacques Borzo, the geographical location also counts, beyond the charm. “It’s less beautiful than Saint-Cirq-Lapopie [un village à quelques kilomètres considéré comme un des plus beaux de France], but here it lives”. For the former mayor, Cajarc thus stands out from other neighboring municipalities. “Less than 25 kilometers away, there is no town. So we created our own economy”. Winter and summer, there are restaurants, butchers, clothing stores, a pharmacy. “And even an Ehpad and all the necessary medical staff”, underlines Jacques Borzo.
For the former mayor, authenticity also counts enormously: “during my mandate, many asked me to bring in more businesses, and even an industrial zone. “But already belonging to the community of communes of Grand Figeac, the city councilor sees no interest in it. “Let’s keep our main asset, tourism, famous people and the landscape made of cliffs”, he insists before adding: “Now we have to preserve this image. »
Protect heritage
Here, Jacques Borzo is mainly referring to the future 19-hectare photovoltaic power plant project in the heart of the Causses du Quercy Regional Natural Park. “They will massacre the territory. I am for renewable energy, but you need measured projects. We cannot do anything with these landscapes which make us live thanks to tourism”, castigates the former elected official. Sunday August 13, the opponents met once again to protest against this project which would risk jeopardizing the natural park that Françoise Sagan described as follows: “These Causses, it is the fantastic, reassuring impression that France is empty. It is the extraordinary peace of mind, the extraordinary and frequent gaiety of these perpetual solitudes. »
Still on the terrace of the “President”, Jacques Borzo finishes swallowing up his Perrier. The history buff could still talk about his village for hours. Cajarc’s resistance to the capture of the English during the reign of Eleanor of Aquitaine. The twenty-four Neolithic dolmens. The lion of Cajarc found in the phosphate deposits. But it’s time to leave. The former mayor has just met his morning visitors. “Oh you changed your outfit! Are you still okay with the house?, he asks the couple. “I carry them. This morning, they seemed so interested in the village that I had promised them a 30% discount on the houses. »