The charming little town of Rochechouart in the Haute-Vienne has many attractions and a real curiosity.
In the cemetery of Rochechouart, there is a unique monument, the imposing and astonishing tomb of a wholesale wine merchant, Léonce Chabernaud, who died in 1953.
This tomb reproduces a large concrete barrel on wheels, a 100 hectoliter lightning wagon, mounted on rails.
An atypical character, Léonce Chabernaud was the creator of his own tomb from the 1930s. At the time, the religious authorities cried scandal!
It is said that he had to destroy a first realization that was taking on water!
In his will, he specified that his funeral would be a time to drink wine and be merry, not a time of mourning.
Léonce Chabernaud also asked for a telephone in his barrel, but was refused. His story was covered by the media, so much so that Paris Match, following his health, sent reporters 8 days before his death.
His son, Marcel Chabernaud, moved to the United States, opened a French restaurant in Dallas and chose to include the famous barrel and its story on his menu.
The restaurant became famous, and it is even said that J. F. Kennedy was to have lunch there on the day of his assassination.
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