This small seaside resort in north-west France has had its eyes turned toward America ever since John Kerry, who spent part of his childhood here, became a serious candidate for the US presidency.
The mayor's automobile has a Kerry bumper sticker, which is hardly surprising in view of the fact that the mayor, Brice Lalonde, is Kerry's cousin. Kerry and Lalonde, France's former environment minister are the sons of sisters from the wealthy American Forbes family.
A large property here called "Les Essarts" has belonged to the family since the beginning of the last century.
Kerry's mother was one of 11 siblings who spent much of her youth at this estate and Kerry, who was sent for a time to boarding school in Switzerland, often came to pass summer vacations in Saint-Briac, where Lalonde also came with his branch of the family.
Now it seems as if the entire Brittany town of 2,000 inhabitants is talking about the "American cousin" and what effect his possible election might have here.
At the Cafe de la Mairie, patrons joke about big black American government limousines getting stuck in the narrow streets of this former fishing village.
Actually, Kerry hasn't been back here for several years and there is nothing to indicate he plans to come any time soon.
Nevertheless, Claudine Chatrier, a customer at the cafe says, "if he is elected, it will already be for the better. He is a real democrat..."
Eric Leveque, head of the tourist office, says the phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from people wanting to rent rooms. "It's the Kerry effect, I'm sure," he said.
And of course, a stream of journalists has arrived in search of Kerry's roots. Lalonde, switching back and forth from French to English, tells reporters that the Forbes cousins, about 50 of them scattered around the world, keep in touch via a family newsletter.
Lalonde tells people not to get too excited that Kerry might come here. "There are plenty of cousins in countries other than France," he said.
Lalonde can still remember his, and Kerry's, grandmother riding around Saint-Briac on horseback with her daughters at her side. A Saint-Briac native, Marie-Therese Civetta, 79, recalls that "grandmother Forbes" used to feed all the cats in town.
Civetta and her friend Simone Lelualt, 77, have been much in demand by a crew from the ABC television network, which has been scouting for local colour.
They appear in a classic picture of the liberation of Saint-Briac on August 14, 1944, dancing around a US soldier who is hugging a young girl dressed in white.
No one knows what happened to the soldier in the confusion of war, nor to the young girl, who was probably a refugee from the fighting.
Comments
Comments are closed.