Every month we talk to a local mayor about his background and the issues affecting his community. In this issue we visit Georges Langlois in Le Renouard (Orne).

Le Renouard has all the attributes of a typical Pays d’Auge village: perched on a hill with a panoramic view across two valleys, a church, a town hall and a picturesque assortment of colombage buildings clustered around the centre and scattering out into the countryside.

However, two aspects of life here combine to make Le Renouard rather remarkable. First, almost one third of its population is non-French; and secondly, the commune’s social life has flourished so vigorously in recent years that plans have just been drawn up for a new village hall because the existing one is too small to cope with demand.

Mayor Georges Langlois says: “About a fifth of our 200 inhabitants are English. There are also Germans, Dutch, Belgians, Americans, Egyptians and a Lebanese couple.

“Some are permanent residents, others have holiday homes, and altogether they account for about 30% of the total population.

“Naturally I’m delighted to see houses being renovated and lived in, rather than left to crumble, but what pleases me more is that everyone involves themselves in the community. Each nationality adds a different little cosmopolitan touch that makes Le Renouard’s events special.”

A retired engineer and factory manager, Mr Langlois is a native of Caen. Prior to his retirement, he was based in the south of France, and he then spent several years cruising the world on his boat before returning to the Pays d’Auge to be near family.

Before long he had been recruited to an electoral list and, in 2008, somewhat to his surprise, he was voted mayor. “It just happened that way,” he says, with a smile and a shrug.

As mayor, he has deliberately sought to reinforce the social life within the commune. “You often hear it said that people in towns never talk to anybody, and people in villages talk to everyone,” he says.

“But that’s not strictly true. Often in villages people don’t talk either. They need encouragement to come out and socialise, and it’s not always easy.”

Mr Langlois outlines Le Renouard’s annual programme of events. There is the tennis club with 97 members, which hosts a 10-day tournament every August. More than 100 players from neighbouring clubs enter, and each evening everyone gathers for a meal in the village hall, with an orchestra playing.

Then there is the Club de la Joyeuse Rencontre, whose fortnightly meetings regularly attract too many members to fit in the room – another reason why the new hall is needed.

There are art groups that put on exhibitions; local historians; organised walks, day trips and concerts; in July, a weekend-long village fete; and in October, Le Renouard presses its own cider from apples donated by the villagers.

The mayor’s descriptions reveal a diverse mixture of sporting, artistic, artisanal and social interests within the commune – with the word “conviviality” cropping up frequently.
Mr Langlois adds: “I firmly believe that it is the clubs, fetes, exhibitions, cultural activities, all the community events that are most important of all, because they breathe life into a village.”