January 2, 1974.
Mr Signoret's home is for ever in a dead-end road (
"Flooded road").
This road was driving to
Bauduen, Fontaine L'Evêque,
and Sainte-Croix through Garuby's bridge.
January 2, 1974.
A bulldozer's victim:
Henri Constant's car (a Peugeot "203") will never reach the new village.
«
What's more painful than the transformation
of a green and cheerful landscape
into a real desert. » (François Simian).
The same place,
January 2, 1974...
...hereunder
few months before.
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January 2, 1974.
Sad general view of what was remaining from the village.
Here nearly the same place, the old village during "good old days".
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January 2, 1974.
From Riou's road, what was remaining from the village
("Le Riou" was the name of the very small creek flowing along the village).
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The same place during "good old days".
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January 2, 1974.
From Riou's bridge, what's remaining from the village.
The same place during "good old days".
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January 3, 1974.
Bauduen's road, formerly lined with giant chestnut trees...
...The same place during "good old days".
January 3, 1974.
The tiny square in the lower part of the village.
"ASSASSINS PILLARDS" ("Criminals, looters") on the wall.
January 2, 1974.
This was main street ("Grand-Rue").
The destroyed house was containing
splendid stones framing the door and the windows.
The next door is showing "EDF VOLEURS" ("EDF thieves").
January 3, 1974.
In front of the bakery, this was "Antonin's street".
« Few steps away from the Verdon River, it was a beautiful village
with its clocktower covered with tiles, which overwhelmed,
by a clock's height, elms and nettle trees »
(Jean Giono).
The same place during "good old days".
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January, 1974, here is what's remaining from the center of the village.
January 2, 1974.
When the sun was falling down,
the streets of the village were turning into horror movie sceneries.
February 9, 1974.
Huge white letters on the wall:
"EDF MURDERERS"
February 9, 1974.
There is almost nothing left from the lower part of the village.
February 9, 1974.
These big stones were part of the chilhood's home
of the author of this page.
😥
The same stones, blocking the main street:
February 9, 1974.
February 9, 1974.
February 23, 1974.
On the left, it was "Calade's street" ("la Calade").
On the right, it was "main street" ("la Grand-rue").
February 23, 1974.
« What's more demanding than seeing
the place where you were born,
where you learned to read at school,
where you always lived...
...vanishing. »
« ...What's more upsetting than looking at houses falling
one after the other
under bulldozers' impacts... »
(François Simian)
In front of the old Post Office, this was "main street" ("Grand-Rue").
This is how were destroyed most of inhabitants' homes.
In the background, Mr Signoret's home seems to challenge
the rising water of the lake. Just for a short time...
February 23, 1974.
The waters slowly preparing for the assault of Mr Signoret's home...
...Mr Signoret still refusing to leave his home.
At that moment, Mr Signoret still ignores
that he will spend only six nights
in his home.
At 8 o'clock March 1, 1974,
the authorities ("Gendarmerie")
removed the last inhabitants from the village.
(Details)
March 4, 1974.
The last inhabitants have been "moved" three days ago.
In the uninhabited village, the multihundred-years-old church
is still standing, almost alone in the middle of a field of ruins.
The church has only few hours left.
March 5, 1974, 16:45 :
the church of the old village disappears for ever
in an enormous explosion.
(Details)
The engineers dedicated to this task were afraid
their dynamite not to succeed destroying the church,
the thick walls of which have been challenging the centuries:
they were right.
The explosion destroyed the clocktower,
but let the walls of the apses still standing.
March 5, 1974.
This is what's remaining from the apses of the church.
During the following days, the bulldozers will erase
what's remaining from the church.
March 9, 1974.
A bulldozer still striving on the stones of the church.
March 9, 1974.
What's remaining from the village's main square?
Written on the wall:
"For gazoline, please ask the grocery"...
March 9, 1974.
The bulldozers have almost achieved their masterpiece.
March 28, 1974. Route d'Aiguines.
In the distance, a last bulldozer attempting to flatten the stones.
April 15, 1974.
The wall along Moustiers' road.
May, 1974 :
nature has being taken advantage of the situation.
From the village, only souvenirs remain...
...and a plain amount of stones.
This was 1974, more than 50 years ago...
This page was trying to show the atmosphere of the village,
and the trauma lived by the inhabitants.
A testimony from then? If you can read french,
try
"the day when my home disappeared".
If you wish to know more,
do not hesitate to consult the
"
Frequently Asked Questions".
To know how we reach this point,
read the
sad story of the dam.
If you are interested in the old village Les Salles-sur-Verdon,
if you have any documents or questions
concerning the old village Les Salles-sur-Verdon,
.
Thanks!
