CD

CD « To love is to act »

« To love is to act » is the last word written by hand by Victor Hugo three days before his death. This very precious manuscript from our collection, which has just been classified as a historical monument, inspired Maxime Piolot for one of his songs and gave its title to this CD. This thought is the conclusion of a lifetime and, at the same time, a message of hope for the future. We must act to create a new humanism, such was the goal and the example of the life of Victor Hugo that the Maison Littéraire wishes to share with its visitors.

               Yes, it’s one of those places where our heart feels alive

               Something from the heavens that floats and upsets him;

               One of those places that I loved and dreamed of as a child,

               Whose serene, inexhaustible, intimate beauty,

               Pour into the soul a serious and sublime oblivion

               Of all that the earth and man have that is bad.

Victor Hugo, “Bièvre” The Autumn Leaves, July 8, 1831

This poem written by Hugo during his first stay at the Château des Roches in Bièvres symbolizes this place where our museum was founded. That an artist once again draws his inspiration from it, a century and a half later, is a vibrant tribute to the Maison Littéraire and to its illustrious guest, may he be thanked.