Lucien Legrand, aged seventy, has a clear and youthful voice, a sharp mind, and a slightly mocking tone. He has an excellent memory, particularly of his days as a grocer at 1 rue de la Banque in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. In the episode of “Mémoires du siècle” on France Culture, he recounts with numerous details and anecdotes his daily life in the family grocery store in the Paris between the two World Wars and the post-war period.
“The intimate life of people appeared to me behind this shop: what they ate and drank, how they heated and illuminated themselves,” says Lucien.
Behind the window of his Parisian shop, located between the Bourse and Opera districts, Lucien, the luxury grocer with a white apron, has witnessed and heard many things, “all of this against the backdrop of war, nationalism, patriotism, and racism.”
The episode “Mémoires du siècle – Lucien Legrand, épicier à Paris” originally aired on 08/12/1985 and was produced by Henri Raillard and directed by André Mathieu. It features Lucien Legrand (grocer in Paris, wine merchant) and contains archives from INA/Radio France. Web edition by Sylvain Alzial.
