Monique Peyrat with an open book

It was March 8, International Women’s Day, that the three daughters of NP chose to meet the First Lady of Nice, Monique PEYRAT. The meeting was official, however, we had not informed her that we were three. She could have refused but it never even occurred to her!!!
It was after inviting us into her office that, with a big smile, she pointed out such a show of force, seeming to find it amusing. It wasn’t a trap, just the fact that none of us wanted to miss this moment, especially after reading her latest collection “Emoi and you”.
This Nice-born woman with a piquant personality who doesn’t mince her words in her writings, also did not shy away from difficult questions, almost regretting that we weren’t more “mean”. Mrs. Monique PEYRAT, a woman in whose company we spent an excellent time.

Audrey: In your life, you hold different roles including that of writer, what was the turning point?

MP: I’ve always written. As a child, I got good grades in composition. But one day, seeing all the negative things being said around my husband, particularly in 1995, when he wanted to run without party backing, I decided to create Jacques Peyrat’s journal, which may seem pompous but was intended to restore an image of him as just an ordinary man. The anecdote is that one day I ran into a Nice woman in old Nice who said to me after reading this journal: “Listen, Mrs. Peyrat, your husband is like mine, always getting into lots of trouble, but I’ll vote for him.” So, ultimately, she understood that he wasn’t as pretentious as people wanted to say.

Audrey: In your latest collection, you open up to your readers by sharing privileged moments from your life, what prompted you to tell us about them?

MP: I love people, I love them to tell me things and I like to open up too.
I think that to be loved, people need to know who they’re dealing with.
And I really want to be loved, so I show that I have feelings for others.

Audrey: Are you considering writing a new book?

MP: I constantly write short texts, particularly in Nice Magazine, and once I’ve gathered them, I’ll make my next book out of them, which I don’t have a title for yet.

Audrey: Why the title “Emoi… and you”?

MP: Because it’s you, the husband, the Nice native, the other subject; and “emoi” because I only feel emotion, but also for the wordplay.

Audrey: Reading the epilogue of “Emoi… and you”, we learn that you are also a painter and that your canvases are relegated to the basement! Why?

MP: Regarding the painting story, it was a still life I had done in a “Madame Côte d’Azur” club and everyone thought it was very beautiful, I had it framed and put in our country house. When I showed it to my husband, I told him it was a gift for him, that I had thought of him when making it. He said word for word: “What the hell is this…” I never told him I had painted it, I put it in the basement and I never painted again. That’s it! Painting is difficult, but I got a lot of pleasure from it, though.

Audrey: If we offered you a column in our newspaper, would you accept the challenge?

MP: Yes, I’d be quite keen to do an opinion piece, actually, I recently did one in the mayor’s friends’ newspaper titled “tagada tagada, here come the Daltons” to represent the four people identified so far who were running against my husband. We’d need to agree first on what you expect.

Audrey: In each Star Academy season, a candidate belongs to our city. Candidates, moreover, who make it to the finals or semi-finals: Jennifer, Lucie, Georges-Alain, Pascal, Romain. I thought I noticed your interest in this show. Why such enthusiasm?

M.P.: I love anything to do with music, show business. In my dream, instead of selling airline tickets my whole life, I would have liked to be a stage director. I love putting on shows! Besides, in my book, I wrote a song for my husband that I had the elected officials sing, it was very funny. I love it, I sit in front of the television. I watched all the Star Academies and of course I voted when there was someone from Nice, it’s a weakness of mine.

Audrey: What is your bedside book?

M.P.: I don’t read much because I don’t have time. I go to bed at midnight and I collapse. On the other hand, I love magazines, I keep up to date. Since my husband doesn’t know anything about them, I’m obliged to inform him. I do have a passion for a book that followed me throughout my youth, “Gone with the Wind”. I love all the Brontë sisters. And just now, I read a book by Eluard titled “The Fauves”: purely political. Everyone gets beaten up and it pleased me greatly.

Audrey: What album are you listening to at the moment?

MP: It’s my great crush: Claude Nougaro. I play him on loop. I also have a passion for all the B’s: Bécaud, Brassens, Brel, Barbara…
The song I hold dear is our song together with Jacques Peyrat, it’s “The Black Eagle”, it makes me think of him. It’s magnificent!

Audrey: The last film you went to see?

MP: The March of the Penguins, it’s an extraordinary film!

Audrey: Which Nice artist has touched you recently?

MP: Armand, because he’s dead.
You know, he gave me the Woman of the Year trophy, it was a great moment for me. Let me tell you… I’ve known Armand for a very, very long time. In fact, I witnessed his beginnings when he was sawing violins, pianos… One day, I called him while he was in the United States, saying: “I’m going to organize a women’s gala and I’d like to give a trophy”. He wasn’t very keen and replied “yeah, whatever”, when I added: “You know we’re going to call it: The Armand of the woman” which was an allusion to “the lover of the woman”, he said “Ah, that I like”. It was magnificent, he did extraordinary things. Armand is something truly wonderful.

Audrey: What art is essential to your life?

MP: The piano, because it allows me to release all my emotions, all my moods, I sit down alone and express myself that way. Music overall gives me great pleasure. I should mention that my mother was a piano teacher and my uncle was a lyric singer at La Scala in Milan.

Barbara: Today is dedicated to women. Could you tell us your greatest wish as a woman?

MP: I’m from the generation that fought for women to be recognized, because back then, I was one of the rare women working in a male environment and I assure you it wasn’t easy…

It was with joy that I continued the fight, for my part, in company committees, to have the same salary and the same position as men. It’s a long process, but little by little, we’re getting there. My wish is that we increasingly recognize women’s qualities on par with men without lowering them to parity because, if I were a politician, I absolutely wouldn’t want to be imposed but to be chosen.
And besides, it forces us to come down to the level of men.

Barbara: What are your daily pleasures?

MP: When my grandsons, who are quite grown now, call me, I have a passion for them. Recently, it was my birthday, and since I don’t celebrate it anymore, I said I just wanted love as a gift. So they send me drawings, little things, it’s very sweet. And my daughter who calls me every day, that’s very important. I’m not into texting at all, I need to hear voices because the sound of their voices lets me know how they’re doing.

Barbara: Do you use current terms that teenagers use nowadays in the projects?

MP: Oh yeah, if only for my age which I always give in slang. (laughter)
No, I won’t tell you “my age”.
Look, the other day, someone came out with an expression I liked and taught to my grandsons: “Stop squatting my brain” instead of saying “you’re getting on my nerves, or you’re a pain” I thought that was funny. I cite many in my book, it’s become such common language: it makes my husband angry who tells me I should watch my semantics but it’s amusing.

Barbara: How do you define people from Nice?

MP: People from Nice… We don’t know the qualities of Nice natives who are often of Italian origin anyway.
A Nice native is someone who is particularly theatrical. Everything about him is theater. But at the same time, he has a lot of feelings. People say Nice natives are loud mouths, I had a grandfather who complained a lot. In truth, it was out of love. For me, they are people who have immense hearts… immense.

Barbara: Recently, the courts ruled on the Humbert case, what are your feelings about the reaction of the mother and the doctor?

MP: I completely agree with the mother and have from the start and bravo to the doctor who had the courage to do that. I’m in favor of euthanasia, mind you, controlled, of course.

There have already been abuses and others would take advantage, but for someone who can’t go on, we must let them choose to die with dignity. Besides, I made a will that I sent to my daughter. She called me in tears, complaining that I should stop and not do such things.
“I want to leave peacefully. I want to be missed, I don’t want to relieve them when I go, I want them to cry for me when I leave, honestly!!! it’s true I want to be missed” (laughter)

Barbara: In your collection, you talk about the tram construction work, about citizens’ reactions. Today, what is your position?

MP: I’m delighted that Jacques had the courage to undertake this work.
He could easily have said: “I’ll wait a bit before starting the project”.
Because after all, what do people from Nice want?
They want us to put a bench here, remove the mess there.
Instead, he’s only taken initiatives for which he gets beaten. Little by little, it’s calming down a bit. I don’t know if you’ve seen the tram models, the city is going to be completely rejuvenated and beautified. People from Nice will realize it, perhaps, in a few years, when Jacques is no longer here. But at least he will have been a builder mayor.

Barbara: Nice will soon have its big stadium. What name would you like it to have?

MP: There was someone who had suggested “The Eagles Stadium”, but maybe we’ll name it after a sports figure like we named the “Charles Hermann Stadium”, it’s more my brother’s domain, who is the assistant for sports.
It’s our stadium! We need to make it our own, I quite like “The Eagles Stadium”.

Barbara: On April 22, Nice plays Nancy at the Stade de France. Will you be there?

MP: Oh yes!!! I’ll be there, no problem. It will be fantastic! If we win like we won the French Cup, that would be extraordinary. I love football! My husband, it’s rugby, but I don’t understand anything about it. I’ve always wondered why they needed to tumble over each other for the ball! The only interest is seeing their butts! (laughter)

Barbara: The Nice Carnival is over. Next year, the theme will be “the king of the scrum”, rugby and municipal elections will be in the spotlight. Do you think your husband will be one of the main “players”?

MP: Yes, I hope so! And I hope you’ll vote well and campaign.

Barbara: How is your life as a “Mayor’s wife”?

MP: I don’t like politics because I consider it hypocrisy! I’m not good at playing politician in the traditional sense, yet, having lived for 40 years by my husband’s side, if I were 30 years younger, I would run again right now. I want to do something, well, it’s over for me, maybe in a second life.

When I stopped working, first because I was of age and also because I couldn’t work with my husband as mayor, I needed to get involved. Only then, I don’t know how to play bridge and I only know checkers. I can’t make jam because it makes you fat. I had only one desire, which was to get involved in an association.
There’s a very beautiful phrase by Bartlett that says:
“You can love a politician and not love politics, but you can hardly marry one without being part of his career”. And I think that’s excellent.

Either you stay completely outside, stay home or you stick with him. That’s why I created Nice Presence, which is a charitable association: we organize events for affluent audiences so they can make donations for major causes like sick children, elderly people…

Before that, I had created “the women of the County”. It’s interesting and rewarding to get involved through actions. Of course, I receive criticism, threats, anonymous letters, but you know, in the work environment too, there are banana peels everywhere!!!

Barbara: What do you see as the primary change that should be created in this city?

MP: The city is beginning to have a new face and what I wish for is to bring in many companies to generate jobs.

Barbara: What events does Nice Presence organize?

MP: We always have 4 themes.
It starts with Christmas for underprivileged children, the cake of kings for elderly people who, I must say, are very well cared for in Nice. Did you know that our city has the second largest social budget after Paris?

There are many retirement homes, but the tragedy of an elderly person is lack of entertainment, boredom, it’s very pleasant to see the happiness on their faces at these moments… this year, we proposed reversing roles and it’s they who will present us with a show. Many of them are talented, they dance or sing
The social workers thought the idea was fantastic and told us that with this project, they could maintain continuity throughout the year for preparation…

In June, a fashion show or an event to bring people in and thus raise money, because I don’t have subsidies.
The women’s gala at the opera, October 6.

Barbara: What is the program of Nice Presence?

MP: Each month, we have outings to interest members. We went to discover the medical imaging center, we’re going to visit ALIOTIS for water treatment, then tour the green spaces of gardens and greenhouses. Then for the last outing, we go to the Lérins Islands, if you want to come, you’re welcome. We’ll leave Nice in the morning, attend an outdoor mass, picnic then play boules.

Barbara: Why don’t you have a website?

MP: I’m going to create one. I knew computing when it started and I haven’t had time to dedicate myself to it for a long time. I have a computer but I admit I’ve fallen behind.

Elise: When we read you, it’s authenticity that stands out, what emanates from your painting and your piano playing?

MP: When you have an enormous amount of things to express within you and you find yourself alone in a room facing yourself, you need an