Le Lavandou

Le Lavandou

A view within the commune

Coat of arms
Le Lavandou

Coordinates: 43°08′19″N 6°22′06″E / 43.1386°N 6.3683°E / 43.1386; 6.3683Coordinates: 43°08′19″N 6°22′06″E / 43.1386°N 6.3683°E / 43.1386; 6.3683
Country France
Region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department Var
Arrondissement Toulon
Canton Collobrières
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Gil Bernardi
Area1 29.65 km2 (11.45 sq mi)
Population (2006)2 2,867
 • Density 97/km2 (250/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 83070 / 83980
Elevation 0–485 m (0–1,591 ft)
(avg. 10 m or 33 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Le Lavandou (pronounced: [lə lavɑ̃du]; Occitan: Lo Lavandor) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It derives its name either from the flower lavender (lavanda in Provençal) that is prevalent in the area,[1] or more prosaically from the local form of the Occitan name for lavoir, lavandor (for lavador, a public place for washing clothes).

The (then) village is where the famous popular song A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square was written in the summer of 1939.[2] The words were by Eric Maschwitz and the music by Manning Sherwin, with its title ‘stolen’ from a story by Michael Arlen. The song had its first performance in a local bar, where the melody was played on piano by Manning Sherwin with the help of the resident saxophonist. Maschwitz sang the words while holding a glass of wine, but nobody seemed impressed.[3]

In the spring of 2002, an attempt was made to find the bar where this classic song was first performed with the view to having a blue plaque set up. With the help of the local tourist office, elderly residents were questioned, but it proved impossible to establish the venue.[2]

In September 2000, the mayor passed an unusual bylaw making it illegal to die in the town. The mayor described his own bylaw as "absurd ... to counter an absurd situation"; the "absurd situation" was that with the town's cemetery already full, a court in Nice had denied permission for a new cemetery because it would mar the beauty of the selected site.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lehman, Doris (1996). The Riviera: Off-season and On. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 121.
  2. 1 2 "Le chant du Rossignol – ou l’étonnante histoire d’une très célèbre chanson anglaise écrite en 1939 au Lavandou", Figure Libre, Reseau Lalan, Le Lavandou (No 14), Sep 2002
  3. ↑ Maschwitz, Eric (1957). No Chip on my Shoulder. London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd. pp. 208, p.124.
  4. ↑ Henley, Jon (2000-09-23). "Citizens live under law's dead hand". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-10-26.

External links

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