Maria

Maria is Spanish, originally from Catalayud, a town located halfway between Madrid and the Pyrenees. She arrived in Paris in 2000 and settled in Jouy-en-Josas a few years ago with her husband and started a family there.

During a report for Spanish television dedicated to Iberians living around the world, Maria made us discover Versailles, its castle and its market, then Jouy-en-Josas, with the Toile de Jouy museum and the Parc de Diane residence. She is masked in Toile de Jouy, you will recognize her easily !

(if you don’t want to watch the whole report, go to the 43rd minute)

Link to the interview (in Spanish)

 

Here is the translation (not literal) of Maria’s interview in Jouy-en-Josas

 

In Versailles, Maria tells about her arrival in Paris, her meeting with her husband. She talks about the Palace of Versailles, symbol of France and the luxury industry, about the Notre-Dame market, about French gastronomy with its varied and quality products.

Journalist: And where are we now?

Maria: We are in Jouy-en-Josas, in the main street of the village where I live. It’s a 15 minute drive from Paris and only 5 minutes from Versailles. We are really close.

 

J: Did you want to live in a suburban village at first?

M.: No, we looked at many apartments in neighboring towns, and one day my husband got a call from the agency saying: don’t sign the lease yet; they found us an apartment in a residence with a swimming pool, beach volleyball courts, soccer and tennis.

 

J: And that convinced you?

M.: No, first I asked the price! Finally we settled here. We are very happy in Jouy, we have made a lot of friends and that is important.

 

J.: I think you’ve found professional stability, and that’s important too.

M.: Personally, I work in a company that makes humidifiers and respirators that improve the quality of oxygen.

 

J.: So you’re not short of work?

M.: Unfortunately, no…

 

J: Now we’re away from the city center?

M: Yes, we are at the exit of the village and we are going to enter the museum of the fabric of Jouy.

 

Maria and the journalist are welcomed by Daniela Ortenzi-Quint, deputy mayor of Jouy-en-Josas, responsible for culture, outreach and attractiveness of the city.

Daniela: Hello, welcome to the Toile de Jouy museum!

J: What is the Toile de Jouy? It’s hard to say, but I’ll manage: “Toile de Jouy”!

D: Toile de Jouy can be worn as clothing.

M: It is a typical printed fabric, invented and made in Jouy.

 

J: What defines the toile de Jouy?

D: Original, a concept applied to a technique that already existed. He [Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf] had the merit of inventing exclusive patterns that made him world famous

M: They were designs that illustrated the lives of people at the time of his creation. For example, here we see the circuit that the toile de Jouy undergoes.

D: The objective was to tell the story of his time through these canvases, to a population that sometimes, and often, at that time could not read.

 

J: It is a typical print that can be found in many countries?

D: Indeed, it is known in all the countries of the world.

M: The creator of the toile de Jouy is Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf. He followed the course of the Seine from Paris to the region. He was looking for clear waterways because he wanted to be able to treat his paintings with clear water. And he discovered Jouy-en-Josas, whose river is the Bièvre.

 

J: Were there important clients for the factory?

D: Yes, because the Palace of Versailles was very close to the factory. Thus its customers were the customers of the Court of the King.

M: But also, with Jouy could reach a middle class and more well-to-do people; because from an economic point of view, they were more accessible.

 

J: And here we see a room showing the King’s bedroom?

M: Indeed.

 

J: Thank you very much for introducing us to this very important factory.

D: Thank you.

 

J: From this tennis court, I guess that it is in this residence that you live?

M: Yes, this is where we live.

 

J: How did you experience the confinement?

M: We can say in parenthesis that we are very lucky: we live in a south-facing apartment, high up with a large terrace that dominates; we could go out for 1 hour a day. But at Easter, we could not leave for the Holy Week and in summer, only a few days with our family. I am with my husband and my two boys.

Then, Maria explains that she made masks out of recycled fabric for use by her family and neighbors during the first spring lockdown in 2020. Then, the reporter asks her about the feast of Saint Roch (“San Roque” in Spanish), the religious patron saint in all of northern Spain, of which Aragon is a part; and finally, Maria explains the recipe for pancake dough, demonstrates and tastes it with her children, and explains that in France we also eat galettes – salted pancakes. And the children love it!