Stamp - Paul Bocuse 1926-2018

And to think that, in the twilight of his life, he expressed doubts as to the durability of the trace he would leave in history, not so much the small one (that of gastronomy) as the big one (with a capital H): "After I'm gone, you'll do what you want...". From the Paulo of his youth on the banks of the Saône to the "Chef of the Century", celebrated by Gault & Millau, Paul Bocuse's life remains a constant emotional divide, between the overexposed chef and the everyday man, turned towards his friends, nature and the one he never lost sight of, even from the other side of the world: the Saône. Almost everything has been said about Monsieur Paul and his Auberge - self-proclaimed "temple of world gastronomy" - and no one has yet found anything to say against it. And yet... A touch of melancholy lingers in the eyes of a man, "a poor man's child who lives like a rich man's child", whose personality conceals a complexity that marks both eras and spirits. For Monsieur Paul was a contemporary throughout his life, always a step ahead, an iconoclast who, in addition to getting cooks out of their kitchens, succeeded in giving his profession letters of nobility. To sketch the life of the "primat des gueules" is a challenge in itself, so dense is it: the average person will nevertheless remember two dates: that of 1961, when he was awarded the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France ("The most beautiful because it's a personal distinction that we keep for life"), and then, four years later, his three stars in the Michelin Guide (which he kept until his death). This is how Bocuse, "the man near the bocage" in old French, turned his name into a worldwide signature. "I don't copy, I do the same", he would quip. The fact remains that the original is unique. Forever unique.

Timbre : création et gravure Louis Genty d'après photo © Stéphane de Bourgies. Contour : création Louis Genty © médaille MOF, Maison Bocuse