Simone's Maternal Line

So this handsome dude was my mother's grandfather. The family story goes that when he was born, his father went down to city hall to declare his birth and couldn't remember what name his wife had chosen, so gave his own name ("Hippolyte") and his father's middle name ("Hyacinthe" - Go figure). Considering himself quite the problem solver, he went home, and his wife Victoire (née Roche) sent him right back to get it corrected. The hapless clerk could only add "dit Charles" ("known as Charles"), and so it was.
He was a watchmaker and fixer of clocks, and fell in love with the daughter, Marie Gandiol of the owner of this Hotel, which was called "Le Cheval Blanc" at the time.  This was in a little village in the Cevennes, Genolhac, where I actually spent 10 days on vacation when I was 12, along with my cousins Henri and Lucie.  Give yourself a treat and take a 3 minute vacation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWGpWMLd3Ws
Charles and Marie married in 1879 and moved to Avignon, where they opened a clock/watchmaker and repair store called "La Gerbe d'Or" ("The Golden Laurel") and proceeded to have 10 children in quick succession.

 

La Gerbe d'Or and La Chemiserie Chabal were around the corner from each other.  This proximity would lead to the meeting of my grandparents.

Certainly, when France has been described as "A Nation of Shopkeepers - in my mother's case, OH SO TRUE.

(Yes, there are only 9 kids in that picture...my grandmother, Jeanne, is the youngest picture, but 2 years later, she had a sister, Claire, on the way.)

MCO 2015