He tells about the ghosts of his property. “I’m not a believer or a mystic, but I felt I had a mission to fulfill.”

In the first part of this story, Mael Vincencini told us about his meeting with Alice, the connection he made with these non-Agenians and his desire to buy back his long-abandoned home. Before starting work, she and her husband Reno discover a secret room that contains many treasures and surprises.

Ghosts

“I’m not a believer or a mystic, but I had a feeling that I had a mission to fulfill, a kind of obligation to these people that no one else thought about. We had to put them back in their place,” explains Maele. Then he will stop investigating completely, which will bring him many surprises.

“I became completely passionate about the paths I discovered in all this correspondence,” Mael asserts. The fantastic thing was that I was able to go back to the late 19th century with a generation born between 1870 and 1890. These people lived through World War I and sometimes World War II. I thus connect little lives that are never told in the history books, and which are nevertheless exciting. We also found clothes at home. Getting rid of it was out of the question. Washed, mended, they are now part of our daily routine, part of my wardrobe. It is also a way to support this family. So I wear the pajamas of Alice’s little sister, Louise, who is the same name as my daughter. All this time, of course, I continued to check on Alice.

Before this adventure, I was never particularly interested in the history of France, and anyway Renault is a history teacher, but then everything changed because I understood it through real people and objects. For example, I came across a hanger with instructions still on it. This surprised me. So I did some research and learned that the hanger came into homes in the 1920’s and that we need to explain what this thing is for and how to use it.

I thus connect little lives that are never told in the history books, and which are nonetheless exciting.

by Mael Vincenzo

I have collected many jokes. for example, in the 1950s, the French made colanders from German soldiers’ helmets found during World War II. I have shared all of this information on social media and the exchanges with my community have been and continue to be fantastic. However, I told myself that this adventure also deserves a book. Deciphering the lives of unknown people, connecting them to material and social developments… I wasn’t sure that this would be of interest to publishers. I contacted one anyway. I didn’t get an answer. This annoyed me and I decided to make my own book, especially since being a graphic designer I already knew the tools and codes to make a beautiful object. I set up a crowdfunding campaign. I needed 15,000 euros to finance the printing. I pre-sold 1,000 copies for €35, which meant that not only could I cover the costs associated with this project, but I could also pay myself. It was a miracle. I threw myself headlong into this business. I set goals for myself and, because I’m quite lazy, I went to isolate myself in a rented apartment, the apartment we occupied during detention. My only companions: my computer, my archive boxes, and something to prepare to finish my writing days, which stretch from 9am to 7pm. Three days later I completed the first draft. »

Crying

After the text is finished, Maele still decides to send it to a publisher because he needs a specialist for distribution. Waiting for an answer, he gave himself two months to design the model. During this time, at the end of August 2023, an unexpected event takes place. It is 11 p.m., Maele is in bed with her husband and cat, the children are sleeping upstairs. A howl is heard. Reno immediately recognizes Alice. They run up the stairs together. The scream comes from the kitchen. Alice isn’t there… But her voice comes from a computer that’s strangely connected to itself and is broadcasting a recording of Maele’s discussion with Alice. This phenomenon is incomprehensible… Maele had a heart attack. “I said to myself, I don’t believe in anything, but still there is a sign. The next day I went to Brest to see Alice, for I was afraid she was dead. It was the first time I went there alone. He had changed the room. It was bright, the sheets were beautiful, she was so cute. I had excerpts from the book with me. I showed them to him. We spent an hour and a half together. I explained my approach to him, told him the story of his loved ones. I told him that it was his memories that I put on paper. He found the book beautiful and recognized his school notebooks. But I realized he was mixing up names more than before, not understanding everything I told him, remaining in disbelief. I think as soon as we left the notary, he forgot about us during our first interviews. I knew he had lost his bearings when I discovered Alice was shuffling houses. As he talked about returning to his birthplace, I asked myself questions. I found a ruin, the birthplace of Alice and her mother Margaret, built in 1830 by her grandfathers and which collapsed in the 1940s, where she thought she ended her life when the house no longer existed…

Alice’s disappearance

“Am I allowed to tell Alice’s story?” This is the question that Maele asked herself a lot while writing the book. At the end of the August meeting, he feels that Alice has given her consent. As he leaves, Maele tells him that the book will be published at the end of November and that it will coincide with his birthday. He tells her that he will come and give it to her. And Alice seems very happy. Sadly, Alice passed away in mid-September. “It was very brutal. I had just pieced together all of his family history. He had taken all my time, I was living in his house with things, his clothes… I sank. I discovered Lexomil. Then the book Villa Alice: was released and it made for some beautiful and powerful moments. It does not focus on the personal life of Alice and her family, but tells real things, tells the poetry of everyday life. It does well in a world of madness, war, hunger, rape… It proves that we stray too often from simplicity. »

The book Villa Alice does not focus on the personal life of Alice and her family, but tells real things, telling the poetry of everyday life

Villa Alice

Since July 2014, Maele and her family have been living in Alice’s house. They turned the building belonging to his aunt, where they lived while working, into a lodge. But be careful. No ghost hunting to speak of. Everything could be stored: handles, switches, castings. The cabinets are Alice’s, as is the kitchen table. Many finds are showcased in the storefronts. No nostalgia in all this. On the contrary, there is great joy in living. it has to do with the joy of cultivating memories that we might otherwise lose. “And because I wanted all this to continue after me, the book Villa Alice is buried under the house. If one day, three hundred years from now, someone does something, finds this story and can continue to spread it. »

Museum lodge rental. greengo.voyage:

The Extraordinary Story of Villa Alice by Maële Vincensini, Locus Solus Publications, €35.

@villaalice.29: