Therese Camelin
22 September 1939 - 22 April 2011
Therese died last night - incredibly, that little dynamo is still.
Those that knew her will be shocked. I spoke with her on Monday. Her very husky voice was as ever. She was recovering from a virus but marshaled her thoughts as she dealt with the news I had rung to give her, at the request of Gilbert Toustou;
the untimely death of his son.
It was Gilbert who rang me tonight, uncertain that the news of Therese's death was true - I rang Sophie, her daughter, whose voice confirmed it before I had to ask.
Therese's heart gave out in the night.
Therese was my first french friend. She and Mimi were cleaning the yard at Mimi's house - since sold to Leo and Toby - and I was painting in what was then a ruin, the bones of the house in the Impasse du Dr Duffour. Therese and I would smile at each other and (emboldened by Mimi's embarrassment), she eventually called out to me to come for an apero.
Therese and I often chatted subsequently about how we recognised each other as friends. We had a great deal in common and enjoyed sharing our experiences.
One day we were driving to Paris and as we past a sign to St Maur I asked her to get a move on as that was the name of my school. She nearly crashed. There are two Convents of St Maurs; mine in Weybridge, Surrey and the other in Toulouse - where Therese was educated.
Therese kept her large and stylish house in Esperaza but spent more and more time in her Paris apartment after her daughter gave her grandchildren. She wanted to be near them. She adored them wholeheartedly. We all missed her and her crazy evenings, where apero was the rule followed by pizza from T Rex or someone of the party getting hungry enough to cook.
She befriended many of us Brits. Her family are an old and honoured one in these parts and her adoption of us eased our integration into this community.
She will be buried in Paris next to her much-missed husband.
3 comments:
The Doien of Esperaza, whenever we met up it was like no time had passed. She should have been Mayor. A great loss.
She was invited to be mayor but preferred to stay in Paris with petit Gregoire and Solange.Despite my very decent argument that she had to leave a heritage for the kids, she wasn't having it. Alas.
There have been some sweet comments on facebook, the most evocative from Jezza; she was the worst cook I ever had the pleasure to dine with.
Nice epitaph!!
Toby has written: 'Wrong Yellow, When I first met Therese she was cleaning the house with Mimi and had started to paint "my" bathroom in fluorescent herbal green, hurtful to teeth and eyes. I didn't comment but hoped she would not put it all over the house. "WRONG YELLOW" That's what Therese said with her Gauloise-voice when she passed our house on her way home. And saw the way I painted the windowsils streetside in an egg-yellow, which was indeed coming out strong. I wisely said nothing but loved her for her practical comment. Unbelievable that we won't see her again. We'll have that apero in her honour soon. toby"
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