Stéphane Bern chose to leave Paris a few years ago to settle permanently in Thiron-Gardais, where he renovated the city’s former military and royal college. The 63-year-old presenter says: he has finally found meaning in his life…
Stéphane Bern left Paris in 2021, where he resided most of the year, to settle in the former military and royal college of Thiron-Gardais, in Perche. “I’m relieved to leave. I felt like I was going crazy“, he assured the Parisian at the time. A few years later, does the specialist in crowned heads regret his decision?
Does Stéphane Bern regret his life in Paris? “This place chose me”
Changing your life is not an easy decision to make. However, this is what Stéphane Bern did in 2021, when he chose to settle full-time in Perche. And a few years later, he is convinced he made the right choice! “I’m very happy here, it calms me down. I discovered what a season was, the seasons that pass. We see the buds, we see the flowers, the leaves. Suddenly, we live to the rhythm of nature. This place chose me, much more than I chose it. He winked at me and I replied.”detailed with France 3 Center Val de Loire the one who renovated the city’s former military and royal college, in which he lives with his companion Yori Bailleres.
When he acquired this building in 2012, the specialist in crowned heads decided to restore it, to restore color to its historic garden, with the invaluable help of landscaper Louis Benech, and opened a museum as well as a tea room opposite the orangery for visitors. “I found meaning in my life. I found who I am, I know who I am. I am here. I am from here and I will end up there“, said the presenter, now 62 years old.
Stéphane Bern, annoyed by the capital: “The dirt, the noise…”
The presenter of History Secretswho was appointed by Emmanuel Macron in 2017 to a mission to safeguard endangered heritage, considers that the restoration of the former military and royal college of Thiron-Gardais gave meaning to his life: “I’m very happy, it’s very soothing for the soul to have done something useful in your life. I’m not saying that I absolutely have this need, but I still believe that, somewhere, it bothers me to tell myself that I left a small trace of my time on earth, which is to save a monument and plant a lot of trees.“.
Stéphane Bern therefore does not regret having left the capital behind him, which had become like “a trash can“according to his words at Parisian in 2021.”The dirt, the holes in the road, the permanent construction sites, the noise, and above all, above all, the violence… You have to hear how people talk to each other. Traffic is an incredible source of tension“, he lamented at the time.
