Another
gorgeous day – off to Milly-la-Fôret, nearby. A mix I did not expect though!
But Cocteau spent his last 15 years or so in that commune! At the request of
the locals, he decorated the little chapel of Saint-Blaise des Simples, which
we went visiting and in which he ended up being buried, along with his
long-time companion, in 1995, Edouard Dermit (Doudou)!
After a
copious lunch at an Italian resto - Nonna Lina, where we enjoyed a sturdy and
good Sicilian red wine- Passimiento, we went visiting Cocteau’s house, on
display, which had been preserved the way it was while Cocteau was alive – thanks
to Dermit and later on to Pierre Bergé (the same that was YSL’s companion),
president of Maison Jean Cocteau Association! A great place Cocteau bought,
along with Jean Marais, in 1947 – to be away from busy Paris! Very intimate
rooms, full of objets d’art! Great
garden –barely kept and lots of green – we walked it, in that splendid day and
sun! Cocteau, born with some family money, spent his life as an intellectual –
author (les Enfants Terribles - 1929), painter, designer, and cineaste (la
Belle et la Bête – 1945, with Jean Marais). Also painted by contemporary
artists (Picasso, Modigliani, Andy Warhol, etc.) with whom he was a friend –such
an iconoclast artist!
Sunday
afternoon , June 21, 2014.
