A community that enfolds itself in its own identity will ultimately smother to death. He sees some hope in the nascent talks but fears a possible backlash if the nationalists' demands are spurned. There is no freedom of expression. Ex-mayor Zanetacci, for one, is not afraid to speak his mind. There are 200 names on it.
Independence is out of the question.
To the town's most infamous son, Yvan Colonna, full independence was the only answer. The son of a local politician, former Socialist deputy Jean-Hugues Colonna, Yvan dropped out of university in his early 20s and took to the hills as a goat farmer. But Yvan was respected. He was discreet. He was a hard worker who got up at 4 a.m. to milk his goats.