On the Place du Capitole, the people of Toulouse were able to meet this Wednesday a small film crew, armed with a pole and camera. Sophie Jollivard, presenter of the program Echappées Belles on France 5, cap on her head and suitcase in hand, lends herself to the game of the camera. Under the watchful eye of the director, she enters then leaves the hotel Le Grand Balcon to redo the takes. If the team went to this hotel, it was for a particular reason: Saint-Exépury had its room there. Number 32. To retrace his life, his encounters and his beginnings in aviation, Échappées Belles put down his luggage in Toulouse for three days. A sequence was filmed at the Grand Balcon, but also at the Café Saint-Louis or the Flight of the Pioneers, emblematic places in the life of the aviator. “What we wanted to do was focus on his youth, his beginnings. Who he was as a man, ”describes Sophie Jovillard, the presenter.

In the footsteps of Saint-Exupéry

Accompanied by Agnès Vanhems, journalist and preparer of the show, Mathieu Despiau, the director and Sylvain Delecroix for the sound, Sophie Jollivard walks in the footsteps of Saint-Exupéry. From Lyon, to Toulouse then to Marseille. The episode of Echappées Belles, broadcast on France on October 5, will retrace the moments of his life in France, often poorly known by the French themselves. “We are going to meet the heirs, legacies, memories… what was left by Saint-Exupéry in his cities”, adds the presenter. Saint-Exupéry almost imposed himself on the show when they already had some contacts and affinities with the city of Toulouse.

After filming on Pagnol in Provence, the journalists wanted to dive into the history of this eminent author. “We want to show that it is thanks to his job as an aviator that he became such a writer”.

In the streets of Toulouse, the team is guided by Christophe Jaffardon, director of education, science and culture for the Cité de l’espace and the Flight of the pioneers. The program is also supported by the Toulouse Métropole Attractiveness Agency, which sees it as a way to promote the history of the Pink City. And what has marked the team for the moment is the friendliness: “The reception was extraordinary in Toulouse, it’s not like that everywhere”, smiles the presenter.