Philippe GRANDVAL

Je me souviens de notre collaboration, il y a déjà si longtemps… mais toujours présente dans ma mémoire.
À La Fontaine Gourmande, c'était une belle époque.
Merci encore, Philippe, pour ta confiance.
R.I.P.

Philippe always had a twinkle in his eye and an interest in everything. As a child, I remember his thirst for knowledge, his attention to detail. (Later, he would correct Sheila's and my stumbling French, but also insisted that we correct every single word of his almost-perfect English).
Then, a young man with big ambitions; he was very taken with learning that his grandfather, in his youth, had been a prize-winning harrier. Philippe wanted at that point to become one of the world's top runners, and that family link was important to him.
With only a decade or so between us, Philippe was as much a friend as a relative, who teased us and made us laugh.
Along with those big ambitions was generosity; he wanted his own plane, but his first intention was to make easy the visits to Scottish family. Another time, when he thought he might expand a business to Britain, I 'had' to be his British agent!
Enthusiasm and determination were surely the drivers that once, to our astonishment, took him from his home in Lyon to Arnisdale in 24 hours.
Seeing so many of you at l'Epinguet was a great pleasure to me, but I think the greatest pleasure was each morning, when Philippe had already been to the boulangerie and was sitting waiting with a large pot of coffee, always ready to chat.
He has gone too soon, was seen too rarely, but leaves us with fond memories for ever.

We have fond memories of Philippe and our thoughts are with you all.
Here’s a picture of the Philippe, and Mathurin we remember.

De tout coeur avec la famille de Philippe. Très touché par le départ de celui-ci. Partenaire pendant de nombreuses années grâce à la Demeure de Chrysalis et un mémorable week-end écossais à l'Abbaye de la Commanderie à Marseille. R.I.P.

A devastating loss that will undoubtedly hurt you all so much and our love and thoughts are with you. In time, hopefully many memories will help to sustain you and we remember Phillippe's ebullient character filling life with joy.