Béatrice Carles, From La Paillade to the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, A Woman of Fighting

Béatrice Carles is a journalist specializing in luxury tourism. More than ten years ago, she left the city of Montpellier to settle on the Côte d’Azur, near Saint-Tropez. His book It all starts in the cradle is a testimony of resilience in the face of hardship. It is also a hymn to life. Béatrice Carles wishes to transmit her enthusiasm, energy and perhaps courage to other women or to anyone who is going through difficult times. Born in Montpellier in 1964, she was one of the very first residents of La Paillade. During his youth, school was his only horizon.

Fatma Alilate: You were born in Montpellier, you spent your childhood and adolescence in La Paillade – the large ZUP of Montpellier -, La Mosson. You lived there from 1966 to 1982, are those years correct?

Beatrice Carles : Yes, I was two years old when I arrived at La Paillade. And then, I left at eighteen. I did my schooling in La Paillade, from school to Les Escholiers de La Mosson college. I grew up in a harsh, sometimes harsh environment, where you had to learn to defend yourself very early on. That’s for sure. To move forward, being careful, because still, even at the time, you couldn’t go out much in the evening. I was very careful because I was very academic and I didn’t want to mix with young people who weren’t working, who weren’t at school. But what I can say is that it shaped me. I grew up in La Paillade, in the La Mosson district, but it is not a place of only bad memories. It is also a place, despite everything, of meetings, solidarity and humanity among adults. I remember these families, often of Algerian origin, who opened their doors to me, and my neighbor. There was this sharing of couscous, the scent of tagines, all the spices. My mother was not a cook. Actually now I really like anything spicy. I love street food! It taught me something essential. Wealth is not measured by money, but by the generosity of the heart. And very early on, I understood that life would be a struggle and that I would have to work at school to obtain an academic level that would get me out of all that, from all these trials and to better understand life. It was a starting point, I explain it in my book. I was a “losing horse”, yes. In my environment, I was not destined to succeed. Because growing up in a city, it’s very difficult to get by because you have to work. Academically, always being on top, and I didn’t have the books, they didn’t buy them for me. I was very academic, that’s what saved me. If I hadn’t gone to school, if I hadn’t liked books and reading, I think I would have been like some people who did nothing, who were in the park. There was always a park in these cities. Some talked for hours, didn’t do their homework, it wasn’t important. Me, no. On weekends, I didn’t go out, I did my homework in advance.

FA: And so your mother gave life rules to stay at home, work alone?

British Columbia : My mother was not interested in what I did. I didn’t grow up in love. And at eighteen, she kicked me out. I listened to the teachers a lot. At school, I understood that it was there, that it was through studies that I was going to get there. I felt it was this way. Yes.

FA: Being a good student gave you status, recognition?

British Columbia : Yes, I think it brought me recognition, recognition through the grades. When you get good grades at school, you are proud, you know that you have the respect of other students. I loved giving presentations. And my first presentation was for the Free Midday. I kept the editorial staff. I was fourteen and I was asked to go and do a presentation for the newspaper Free Midday. At the time there was a small annex to La Paillade. And I have always kept the tape of this presentation, I had 19/20. And then, I entered journalism through the back door, doing “crushed cats”, news items, simple subjects as a freelancer. Each piece of writing, for me, was a victory, a step taken. Because I came from far away. At first, it didn’t have my signature. I started at the bottom, without a network, with only my will. And then afterwards, when there was my name, it was extraordinary for me. I was recognized. I believe that my vitality, my energy, is what also carried me and made the doors open. And every fall taught me something. Each difficulty has built the woman I am. I think the key is that the more you fall, the more life lessons you have. I don’t know people for whom everything has been linear. I don’t know people who have never had a problem. And having had a difficult journey can be an opportunity, because it gives you keys. And these are the keys to perseverance, courage, motivation. The more difficulties you have, the more keys you have to get out of it. Of course it takes energy. We must not let ourselves be defeated. I think that’s what helped me, I never gave up. And I have mental strength, which means that I am always positive. There is always at some point a little glimmer, a little door that opens a little.

FA: Since your childhood, you have met people from different backgrounds. What do you think of the journalism industry?

British Columbia : It’s still every man for himself. You have to make your own way, you shouldn’t rely too much on others. You have to rely on yourself. Just believe that anything is possible if you give yourself the means. The word I ban the most is “impossible”. For me, everything has always been possible. In my life as a little girl, when I was at La Paillade – I say it in the book – I stood on this balcony railing. I looked at the stars, I made a promise to myself every day, not to give up, to get there: “Whatever happens, I won’t give up, I will get there. I will get to what I want, to make my dreams come true.” And these dreams, if you don’t believe them, there’s no one who will believe them.

FA: At the age of fifty, you decided to leave Montpellier, in particular because of a difficult separation.

British Columbia : I was married at twenty-seven. For five years, I fought to try to help my husband, but it didn’t work because he didn’t have enough courage or will. So I had to leave him. And then, he didn’t want me to leave him. He put me under chemical submission. So it was complicated. I had to leave with my son who was the youngest. It was hard, very very hard. In fact, I would have stayed in Montpellier, but I had to leave and leave the region. And I knew that in Montpellier, I could not progress in terms of my work. So, I chose to go to Cannes. I was able to work differently with opportunities in luxury tourism. And then, I said to myself, the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, nothing is too beautiful for me, I’m going there. I finally achieved serenity. Each time, my dreams took me higher and higher. But falling is not a failure. If I can convey one message it would be to never give up, don’t let anyone decide for you what you are worth. Everything is possible in life, and we become strong despite the trials and thanks to them, no matter how hard the start is.

Comments collected by Fatma Alilate

It all starts in the cradle by Béatrice Carles, Editions Le Lys bleu, 200 pages.