JOSEPHINE – HUMANISTE EXTRAORDINAIRE
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Une cache pour les gens visitant ‘Les Milandes’ – le chateau ou Josephine Baker a creé sa “Village Mondiale” pour les enfants orphaelins. L’ épitome du “Le Jazz Hot”, Josephine était la vedette de France pour 5 décennies.
A cache for those visiting ‘Les Milandes’ – the chateau where Josephine Baker created her ‘World Village’ for orphaned children. . The epitome of “Le Jazz Hot” Josephine remained the toast of France for 5 decades. The co-ordinates put you at a memorial garden, with a shelter and statue, created in 2006 in memory of the famous dancer and entertainer.
ABOUT JOSEPHINE
Freda Josephine McDonald was born in St Louis in 1906 and, black and poor, her childhood was a long hard struggle to stay alive. At the age of 12 she started work for a theatre dance troupe and got her chance at the age of 18 when one of the troupe fell ill. She took her place at a moments notice and soon became the main attraction. A year later, in 1925, she was stranded in France after “La Revue Nègre” failed in Paris. However, she became an instant success at the ‘Folies Bergères’ with her scanty costume (and a waistband of 16 bananas all pointing up to the sky!) and lively dancing. Her success became Europe-wide and eventually she was better known for her singing, especially scat and jazz.
In the 1930’s she went back to the United States as a black cabaret artiste but could not accept the racism and segregation and after that she boycotted the USA, becoming a French citizen in 1937. In 1938 she discovered the Périgord when she saw a photo in Limoges advertising Les Milandes to rent. She fell in love with the Chateau and signed the lease, eventually buying it outright in 1947. During the war she acted as a spy, carrying information from place to place in her musical scores, and helping get safe conduct for members of the Resistance who needed to go abroad. For these services she was awarded the Legion d’Honneur, receiving it in the courtyard at Les Milandes in August 1961.
She dreamed of a brotherhood of all peoples and on 4th September 1949 she inaugurated her “World Village” at Les Milandes and it provoked a wave of tourists. More than 6000 people came to the region and Périgord became better known for gentle way of life and its gastronomy. In the 1950’s she set out again on her cabaret tours but also took up the cause of racial equality in America, gaining many enemies across the Atlantic. She was one of those who addressed the crowds before the Lincoln Memorial at the end of the 1963 march on Washington.
Unfortunately, from 1951 she began to get into financial difficulties, overspending while her convictions led her to refuse well-paid contracts. In 1953 she adopted her first child and eventually she had 12 of them (from Korea, Japan, Finland, Colombia, Venezuela, Ivory Coast and France) living at the Chateau. Her aim was to get beyond all the barriers and show that all human beings were of a single species. Her husband, Jo Bouillon, was torn between his delight at being surrounded by children and his anger at his wife’s obliviousness of their financial problems. They separated in 1957 although he returned in 1963 to try and rescue Josephine from her chaotic finances but she refused to entertain any of his suggestions In 1968, her creditors forced the Chateau to be auctioned. It was sold for 280,000 French francs (when its estimated value was around 2 million) but Josephine withdrew, with her entire family, into the kitchen and refused to leave. Eventually she was expelled by the new owner and spent a night on the doorstep of the Chateau. After a period in hospital, Princess Grace offered her and her 12 children a home in Monaco in 1969. Josephine was 63 years old and started on the Cabaret circuit again. She was still touring in April 1975 when she died. Her children are now adults and have spread throughout the world.
ABOUT THE CACHE
At the site find the following information:-
A = The date plus the month of inauguration on the memorial stone (eg if it was 5 January 2006 A would be 5 + 1 ie 6)
B = The statue shows Josephine’s medals. B = half their number.
C = The number of notes after the treble clef in the bronze music on the statue.
D = The number of letters in the last word on the line below the music.
The final cache is a small plastic pot less than 1 km from the memorial garden. It can take small objects and its initial contents are a log sheet, pencil, some stickers, a fossil shark tooth and a piece of ‘gold’. There was also a travelbug left hidden below it.
It is to be found at N 44o 4 A . B C B E001o 0 D . A B D
FRANCAIS
Les coordonnées vous mettent au jardin commemoratif, avec un abri et une statue, creé en 2006 a la memoire de la danseuse et artiste fameuse. Pour la vie de Josephine vous lisez au-dessus en anglais ou dans l’abri en francais.
Au lieu, vous pouvez trouver l’information suivant:-
A = La date plus le mois d’ inauguration sur la pierre commemorative (eg si c’est 5 janvier 2006 A sera 5 + 1 = 6)
B = La statue presente les medailles de Josephine et B est leur nombre divisé par 2.
C = La nombre des notes après la triple clef dans la musique en bronze sur le banc de la statue.
D = La nombre des lettres dans le dernier mot sur la ligne au-dessous de la musique.
La cache finale est un petit pot en plastique, moins d’ une kilometre de le jardin commemorative. Ce peut contenu des petits objets et ces contents initials sont une feuille de log, un crayon, des autocollants, une dent fossile du requin et une pepite d’ or! Il y a aussi un ‘Travelbug’ au-dessous.
On peut la trouver a N 44o 4 A . B C B E001o 0 D . A B D
A HUGE THANK YOU TO "BONNE CHANCE" FOR PUTTING A NEW CACHE BOX IN PLACE IN SPRING 2016. I NO LONGER HAVE A SECOND HOME IN FRANCE SO SUCH HELP IS REALLY APPRECIATED.
UN ENORME MERCI DE "BONNE CHANCE" POUR REMETTRE UN NOUVEAU COFFRET EN PLACE AU PRINTEMPS 2016. J'AI PLUS SECONDAIRE EN FRANCE SO TELLE AIDE EST VRAIMENT APPRÉCIÉ.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Va orgjrra obhyqref jurer gur cngu gheaf.
Rager qrf ebpuref n pbgr q’har pbheor qh fragvre.