Category: France

Actu.fr presents an interview titled: ” L’ancien haut fonctionnaire a vécu une année en ermite dans les bois.” English translation follows: “The former senior official spent a year as a hermit in the woods.” Byline: “In 2014, Christian Ferault, then aged 70 and living in Lignières-Orgères, lived 366 days alone in a forest. Ten years later, he recounts this unique experience.”

The beginning of the article: “He was cut off from the world for a year. In 2014, Christian Ferault , then aged 70, lived 366 dys a a hermit in the woods . A unique project, imagined in a quest for “freedom” and “solitude”, to “better discover the nature” that he loves so much.
The former senior civil servant, now a resident and municipal councillor of Ligniers-Orgeres (Mayenne), between Pré-en-Pail and Carrouges, recounts this extraordinary experience: preparation, how the days went, doubts… He also wrote a book, Ermite en forêt mayennaise , to share this unique ordeal.”

URL: https://actu.fr/pays-de-la-loire/lignieres-orgeres_53133/lancien-haut-fonctionnaire-a-vecu-une-annee-en-ermite-dans-les-bois_61208104.html

An unusual article from the website Classical Music, presented by the BBC Music magazine, titled “Charles-Valentin Alkan: the hermit who composed devilishly difficult piano works.” Here the term hermit refers to the contrast between Alkan’s considerable number of compositions, positively noted by Liszt, Chopin, George Sand,and Alexandre Dumas, and his apparently skilled performances to his behavior. He acquainted the label of hermit and recluse due to his regular refusal to bask in the success of his work, to shun public performances and appearances, and to his sensitivities and reactions to events arpund him.

Notes the article: “Alkan’s need for stay-at-home solitude may have related to some kind of depressive, obsessive-compulsive disorder, but the evidence we have is unclear. In company, his manner seems to have been generally straightforward and likeable: there was a warm friendship with Chopin, who shared something of Alkan’s resistance to public appearances, himself preferring to play in semi-private salons.”

Includes links to YouTube of Alkan’s music performed.

URL: https://www.classical-music.com/features/composers/charles-valentin-alkan

La Vioix du Nord offers a n article about a hermit titled “Ma rencontre avec Ludwig, qui a choisi une vie d’ermite.” The article profiles German-born sculptor Ludwig, who is 80 years old, and has lived in rural Flanders for a decade. Ludwig is a hermit. The jornalist who discovered Ludwig reflects on the simplicity and possessions of the hermit. He reflects, too, on Ludqig’s life in the cold and rainy days in Flanders after departing from the hermit’s home. Article in French.

URL: https://www.lavoixdunord.fr/1414422/article/2024-01-01/mon-reportage-marquant-de-2023-ma-rencontre-avec-ludwig-qui-choisi-une-vie-d

The French-language online news site Corse Matin offers the article “Du Sartenais au Valinco, sur les traces mystérieuses de l’ermite frère Robert,” which translates as ” From Sartenais to Valinco, in the mysterious footsteps of the hermit Brother Robert.”

Brother Robert (1898-1943) was born in Belgium and lived in the French canton of Sartenais-Valinco . He became a surveyor but soon visited the local bishop requesting to become a monk. The bishop sent him to Corsica where at first Robert lived in a cabin, but soon moved into a cave. He corresponded with the bishop, trying to convince him to accept the monk as a religious hermit. The bishop obtained the pope’s permission and assigned Robert to a parish chapel. Robert complied but took up dwelling in another cave, walking the two hours daily to the church.

In 1941, Corsica was occupied by the Italian army and Robert went to live in the hermitage of San Michele di l’Ortolu. It was his last known dwelling-place. Brother Robert disappeared in 1943. Only recently have informal groups with historical interests retraced the hermit’s life, the caves, the documents associated with the church, and the grounds and paths he hiked. But the story of Frere Robert’s last days remains a mystery.

URL: https://www.corsematin.com/articles/du-sartenais-au-valinco-sur-les-traces-mysterieuses-de-lermite-frere-robert-142679

The French Cistercian (Trappist) monk Jean-François Holthof (b. 1948) moved into his Ardèche hermitage in 1994, dubbed the Saint-Eugène de Chassagnes hermitage, on the edge of the Païolive forest. As a hermit he became a strong defender of the forest, eventually becoming secretary general of the Associaiton paiolive, which champions preservation of the nearly sixteen square kilometers of biologically diverse woodland. In 2010, Holthof contributed to a collection of essays titled Ce que nous dit nature (“What does nature tell us,”) , accompanying a Buddhist, a NativeAmerican, and a secular writer on the convergence of religious and sectarian thought in the defense of nature.

URL: https://www.ledauphine.com/environnement/2023/04/19/ardeche-l-ermite-jean-francois-holthof-nous-raconte-son-bois-de-paiolive (includes 2-minute video).