Book: History and stories of Saint-Léger-aux-Bois

In this era of the "global village," where our horizons have ceased to expand and recede while simultaneously drawing closer thanks to modern transportation and new technologies, it may seem paradoxical, anachronistic, and even outdated to delve into our roots. Yet, before being citizens of the world, we are first and foremost children of our own homeland. Village, town, city, metropolis... we are all bound to a territory by the gentle thread of our childhood and adolescent memories.

A wonderful, invisible Ariadne's thread, sometimes unconscious but very much alive. This cocoon of the heart, the chrysalis of man, is where we wore out our first soles, where the school benches welcomed us, where a large part of our personality was shaped... Where some traces of our DNA are found. Our source, our genesis.

From the priory dating back to the early Capetian period to the basketball court where so many Saint-Giotains have played and thrilled since the post-war era, Marc-Antoine takes us on a stroll along the streets, from the imposing Chalet Gabriel to the Place du Quennezil, where birds chirp. He guides us through the majestic Laigue forest, where hunting takes place and where the Nazi occupiers established a large ammunition depot, employing, among others, prisoners of war from North Africa, starting in late 1942.

During this colorful stroll, as the story unfolds and numerous testimonies are shared, we inevitably encounter Saint-Léger, a Merovingian martyr, Philippe d'Orléans, the brother of Louis XIV, Maurice Lancel, the sacrificed resistance fighter, the village soldiers who fell on the field of honor, not forgetting a few spirited and victorious green squirrels...

And we close this book with only one desire: to go for a visit to Saint-Léger-aux-Bois, this ephemeral revolutionary hemp farm where "the guys are all well built"!