Qui, on April 8, 2021, when the state of health emergency had been extended, called the Thouars (Deux-Sèvres) police station, to denounce a flagrant breach of the covid rules? The question has long tormented Jean-Yves Lavois. From cross-checks to deductions, the president of the Cercle de l’Union, a male society created in 1839, better known locally as the “Pied-de-Biche”, came to the conviction that the crow was none other than a local bar owner.
The police raid had been unceremoniously carried out that morning. “It’s just if they didn’t have the machine guns”, remembers Jean-Yves Lavois. It was 11:40 a.m., a bottle of white wine had just been uncorked in the association’s premises, located near the old stables of the castle: the five guests at the table each had to pay a fine of 135 euros. “It’s expensive the glass of wine”, easily agrees a present.
If it did not fail to contribute to the rebellious reputation of the place, the episode did not really help to stem the inexorable decline of which it is a victim. Le Pied-de-biche, which owes its name to a knocker on the exterior door made from the hoof of a young deer, is an anachronistic association, the vestige of a bygone era, as detailed in its rules. Its members, chosen by cooptation, must not only be “perfect honest men” (article 6), but women are prohibited there, at the very least “tolerated” in condition “whether they are accompanied by their spouse or friend, himself a member” (article 5) – a wife was also one of the five offenders unmasked a year ago. No way for them to join.
A left circle
That’s a shame. The opening of the congregation to the female sex would perhaps make it possible to expand its ranks. The Circle of Union counted up to 130 members, at the time of its splendor. There were still 73 of them in 2013. The numbers today do not exceed 30 individuals. The Covid and the distancing measures have thinned the benches of this group composed mainly of former craftsmen (plumbers, electricians, gardeners, etc.) – average age 65. “Those who die are not replaceddeplores Jean-Yves Lavois, 73, himself a former baker and pastry chef. Since young people are not interested in joining us, we are heading towards a pure and simple extinction of our assembly. »
It must be said that apart from having an aperitif there at lunchtime and in the evening, seven days a week, the Pied-de-Biche’s “entertainment” program is quite limited. Belote and boule de fort (local petanque played in slippers on a curved track) no longer have enough fans to be played regularly. Finances aren’t the best, either. The gas meter had to be turned off, the subscription to The New Republic deleted. The annual subscription remains at the unbeatable rate of 10 euros: “We are and we will remain until the end a circle of the left”, affirms its president, to whom one must above all not speak of the other male society of the city, the Renaissance, “more select” and healthier with its hundred licensees.
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