The project of the Path of the Wise was born during a session of the Council of Elders, made up of 9 women and 9 men aged 60 and over, chosen for their wise experience by the Municipal Councillors. On that day, the subject of reflection was the question of how to bring our republican motto “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” to life?
The birth of the Path of the Sages
The idea germinated that sprinkle the city with sentences emanating from famous women and men, globally recognized for their wisdom and their humanism, could challenge the awareness of passers-by Borméens as tourists. In order to justify this bold and innovative project in the eyes of the Mayor and his Municipal Council, the decision is taken to combine this route with historical plaques which were to be installed on the city's emblematic monuments. The members of the Council of Elders then determined the route of this path within the medieval village and worked on the support, texts, images and symbols of these plates.
Le butterfly symbol is chosen because it represents joy, beauty, grace and lightness of being. It refers to the power of personal transformation by its strong power of rebirth. Indeed, before being a butterfly, this insect is first an egg, then it becomes a caterpillar before being a chrysalis and finally a butterfly. Each new step symbolizes a change in life, the let go on what you were to appreciate what you have become. As a symbol of wisdom, This animal is a source of inspiration in life. Under his fragile appearances,
The butterfly has a great strength. Indeed, his life is fleeting (life span of a few days to a few weeks) and yet, it spreads joy and good humor by the grace and beauty of its flight, enjoying every moment that nature offers it. So why not do like the butterfly, to approach with confidence everything that life offers us, good or bad experience, because after all it only lasts a moment. These These experiences are not the past the better preparation for the future allowing us to move forward more serenely on the paths of life?
Condorcet's biography
Philosopher of the Enlightenment, mathematician, economist, editor of the "Encyclopédie", French politician, pioneer of the admission of women to the right of citizenship.
Nicolas de Condorcet, French mathematician, philosopher, politician and publisher, representative of Lights, was born on September 17, 1743 in Ribemont (Aisne) and died on March 29, 1794 in Bourg-la-Reine. His insatiable curiosity leads him to take an interest in the philosophy and politics. Il collaborates with the Encyclopedia, defends the human and women's rights et opposes slavery. In 1777 he was appointed Secretary of the Academy of Sciences, and in 1782, Secretary of the French Academy.
Important player in the French Revolution, he hopes it will lead to the rationalist reconstruction of the company. Elected to the Paris City Council, representative of Paris in the Legislative Assembly in 1791, he sat with the GirondinsOn April 20 and 21, 1792, Condorcet presented to the Assembly a report and a draft decree on the general organization of public education. But this presentation, taking place on the very day of the declaration of war by France on the “King of Bohemia and Hungary”, is not followed by effect. The very innovative ideas of free, compulsory, secular and universal education that he defends will not be implemented only a century later.
Condorcet actively defends the women's cause and in particular the right to vote. His freedom of thought earned him strong enmities. When the Girondins lost control of the Assembly, he criticizes the proposal for a new Constitution. Convicted of treason, he is hiding at Mrs. Vernet's in Paris. This five-month respite allows Condorcet to write “Outline of a historical picture of the progress of the human mind”, work which prefigures the theses ofAuguste Comte on the positivism. No longer feeling safe in Paris, he tries to flee, but he is March 27 in Clamart. He allegedly committed suicide two days later in his cell to escape the guillotine.
For the historian Jules Michelet (1798-1874), Condorcet is the “last of the philosophers” from the 18th century. Authentic spirit of the “Lights", Condorcet displays a confident rationalism in the capacities of man to progress and believes that progress cannot be implemented without priority being given to general education, hence his thoughts, well ahead of his time, on the creation of a public, secular and free school.
The clock tower
La “Clock Tower” located in the village rampart was built in 1789 in the form of a square tower to house a clock. The tower was to be high enough so that the sound of the bell indicating the hours and half hours can be heard from a distance, especially by the workers working in the cultivated plots of land on the plain below the village. served as an alert to the population in case of danger, like a fire in the hills.
At that time, the village ramparts were already in bad condition, some sections had been destroyed, including near the Saint-Trophyme church recently built in 1783. It is likely that the stones of the ruined ramparts were reused for the construction of new buildings, maybe even for the Clock Tower. The clock was made by Pierre Jobert from Méoune, and its cost was 900 francs. At the time, it was the only chiming clock of the village.
La joystick of the Clock Tower bears the date of 1553 and motto in latin resulting in “Great Wisdom and Judgment of God, Have mercy on us.” It also includes half-reliefs representing the Virgin and Child, a crucifix and Saint Michael. Its dimensions are 0,61 m in diameter, 0,64 m in height and it weighs 148 kg. It emits the sound D. The exterior stairs of the tower were designed in spiral with unjointed stones and a fan shape. The door leading onto Rue Carnot opens onto a room that was long used as a fish shop. The interior of the tower is almost empty, with the exception of one narrow staircase en
spiral staircase leading to a platform. The upper room benefits from the light from a window facing north. A official allows access to the top of the tower to carry out maintenance work if necessary. The tower was painted by Maurice Utrillo in 1937. The serpentine stones from the Mole quarry surround the door of rue Carnot, indicating the wealth or high social position of the occupants of the house. This place has long been used as a Rest house by the Carthusians of La Verne when they were passing through the village, because of its proximity to places of worship.
Also find the Path of the Sages on Baludik!
To discover the fun and geolocated route, scan this QR code. Games and surprises await you with the Baludik application.