Upper Savoy Haute-Savoie
—  Department  —
Coat of arms
Location of Haute-Savoie in France
Coordinates: 46°00′N 06°20′E / 46°N 6.333°E / 46; 6.333Coordinates: 46°00′N 06°20′E / 46°N 6.333°E / 46; 6.333
Country	France
Region	Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture	Annecy
Subprefectures	Bonneville Saint-Julien-en-Genevois Thonon-les-Bains
Government
• President of the General Council	Christian Monteil (DVD)
Area1
• Total	4,388 km2 (1,694 sq mi)
Elevation2	1,160 m (3,810 ft)
Highest elevation	4,810.40 m (15,782.15 ft)
Lowest elevation	250 m (820 ft)
Population (2007)
• Total	706,708
• Rank	33rd
• Density	160/km2 (420/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Department number	74
Arrondissements	4
Cantons	34
Communes	294
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 ^2 Inventaire forestier départemental, IIIe inventaire 1998

Haute-Savoie ([ot savwa] ( listen); Arpitan : Savouè d’Amont / Hiôta-Savouè; English: Upper Savoy) is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its capital is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva and Switzerland; to the south and southeast are the Mont Blanc and Aravis mountain ranges. The French entrance to the Mont Blanc Tunnel to Italy is in Haute-Savoie. It is noted for winter sports; the first Winter Olympic Games were held at Chamonix in 1924.

History[link]

Before 1860, the territory occupied by modern Haute-Savoie and the adjoining department of Savoie was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Annexation of the region by France was formalized in the Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860.

From November 1942 to September 1943, Haute-Savoie was subjected to military occupation by Italy. The Maquis des Glières (a band of Free French Resistance fighters who opposed the Nazi, Vichy and Milice regimes during World War II) operated from Haute-Savoie.

Geography[link]

Haute-Savoie, with arrondissements outlined

Haute-Savoie comprises 4 arrondissements, divided into 294 communes and 35 cantons. To the north, it borders the Swiss Canton of Geneva and Lake Geneva; to the east the Swiss Canton of Valais and Italy's Aosta Valley; to the west the French department of Ain, and to the south the department of Savoie.

Haute-Savoie has the largest range of elevations of all the departments in France; the lowest point is 250 metres (820 ft) in the Rhone River Valley, and the highest Mont Blanc at 4,810.40 metres (15,782.2 ft).^[1]:9 Some of the world's best-known ski resorts are in Haute-Savoie. The terrain of the department includes the Alpine Mont Blanc Range; the French Prealps of the Aravis Range, the Chablais, Bornes and Bauges Alps; and the peneplains of Genevois haut-savoyard and Albanais (known collectively as L'Avant-pays savoyard).^[1]:9 Its mountainous terrain makes mountain passes important to trade and economic life. Some of the most important are the Col de la Forclaz (which connects Chamonix to the Canton of Valais) and the Mont Blanc Tunnel, linking Chamonix to Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley.^[1]:10

Views of Haute-Savoie

The Hôtel Royal, Évian   Arve Valley and the town of Cluses   Seyssel, Haute-Savoie   Montriond Lake   Mont Buet, seen from Flaine

Forests[link]

As of 1996, 178,624 hectares (441,390 acres) of Haute-Savoie is forested (38.8 percent of the total land area), compared to 34.4 percent for the Rhone-Alpes region and 27.1 percent for France as a whole. Of the forested area 141,063 hectares (348,570 acres) (79 percent) is managed for timber and other forest products, with the remaining 37,561 hectares (92,820 acres) having no commercial value or used for outdoor recreation.^[1]:12

Map of Haute-Savoie

National nature reserves are designated by the French government as areas where an outstanding natural heritage is present in both rare and typical areas in terms of species and geology. Management is charged to local organizations, with direction and evaluation focusing on long-term protection for future generations and environmental education.^[2] Of the 37,561 hectares (92,820 acres) of land not managed for timber, Haute-Savoie has nine national nature reserves totaling 24,542 hectares (60,640 acres).^[3]

• Aiguilles Rouges National Nature Reserve – 3,276 hectares (8,100 acres)
• Bout du Lac d'Annecy National Nature Reserve – 84 hectares (210 acres)
• Carlaveyron National Nature Reserve – 599 hectares (1,480 acres)
• Contamines-Montjoie National Nature Reserve – 5,500 hectares (14,000 acres)
• Delta de la Dranse National Nature Reserve – 539.7 hectares (1,334 acres)
• Passy National Nature Reserve – 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres)
• Roc de Chère National Nature Reserve – 68.24 hectares (168.6 acres)
• Sixt-Passy National Nature Reserve – 9,200 hectares (23,000 acres)
• Vallon de Bérard National Nature Reserve – 3,276 hectares (8,100 acres)

Lakes[link]

Aerial view of Annecy Lake from the southeast

Haute-Savoie has significant freshwater resources. Lake Annecy is a major attraction, along with the town of Évian-les-Bains (perhaps the best-known town on the French shore of Lake Geneva, and known worldwide for its Evian mineral water. Haute-Savoie is entirely within the watershed of the Rhone.

[edit] Economy

Agriculture[link]

In 2006 approximately 142,000 hectares (350,000 acres) of land was suitable for agriculture, of which 33,600 hectares (83,000 acres) (24 percent) was arable land suitable for market gardening, cultivation or pasture; 600 hectares (1,500 acres) was orchards; 300 hectares (740 acres) was vineyards, and 108,300 hectares (268,000 acres) was alpine tundra or grasses.^[4] There were 4,450 farmers in 1999, 4,800 farmers and over 1,700 full-time farm employees at the end of 2006. In 1999, crop production was valued at €71.5 million and animal production at €165.4 million.

Reblochon cheese

Dairy production is a large part of the Haute-Savoie economy, earning €117.2 million in 2006 and representing 74 percent of the net animal-product worth. Cattle earned €29.7 million.^[4]:8 Cheese production (by variety) in 1999 (except as noted) was:

• Reblochon – 16,950 tons
• Tomme de Savoie – 5,500 tons
• Emmental – 3,000 tons (2006); 4,050 tons in 1999
• Raclette raw milk – 2,000 tons
• Abondance – 700 tons
• Tome des Bauges – 650 tons

Crafts[link]

In late 2000 crafts occupied 15 percent of the workforce, or 28,443 employees and 1,922 apprentices. The 11,951 companies represented on the Répertoire des Métiers (Trade Index) were divided into:

• Food: 955 companies
• Construction: 4,924
• Production: 2,834
• Services: 3,238

Construction and public works[link]

In late December 2000, building construction and public works included 13,867 employees in 4,838 companies as follows:

• Construction: 20 percent
• Decoration, electricity, plastering, painting: 70 percent
• Public works: 10 percent

Trade[link]

In late December 2000, the trade sector accounted for 33,994 employees in 9,351 companies as follows:

• Tourism, culture and recreation: 23.7 percent
• Food and restaurants: 22.5 percent
• Hygiene and health: 15.2 percent
• Service: 14.3 percent
• Cars, motorcycles, bicycles: 13.1 percent
• Household equipment, home appliances: 11.2 percent

[edit] Retail

In late 2006, the département had 600 commercial establishments in over 300 square metres (3,200 sq ft) (for a total area of 705,419 square metres (7,593,070 sq ft)), including:

• 13 hypermarkets (78,105 square metres (840,720 sq ft))
• 92 supermarkets (112,844 square metres (1,214,640 sq ft))
• 24 maxidiscounts (17,600 square metres (189,000 sq ft))
• 6 department and variety stores (14,640 square metres (157,600 sq ft))
• 465 other stores (482,230 square metres (5,190,700 sq ft))

From 1998 to 2005, 65 new supermarkets were built for an area totaling 50,000 square metres (540,000 sq ft). The average expenditure per capita in 2006 was €21,706. With the 2004–2007 rise of the euro, Swiss customer traffic decreased five or six percent (Swiss shoppers make up half the shoppers in the Geneve Savoyard district). At the end of 2006, traditional small businesses (less than 300 square metres (3,200 sq ft)) represented 84 percent of businesses and 40 percent of retail space.

Companies[link]

4,301 companies were established in 2004 in Haute-Savoie: nearly 80 percent in the service sector, with a high percentage offering service to individuals (hotels, restaurants, recreational, cultural, sports, personal and household services). This accounted for 21.6 percent of new businesses. The most active sectors were real estate (up 24 percent), construction (up 15.4 percent), business services (up 12.4 percent) and the food industry (up 10 percent).

Industry[link]

In 1999, Haute-Savoie had 2,779 industrial companies producing 13.60 percent of all business income.

[edit] Companies in Haut-Savoie

• Food: Entremont, Evian (mineral water), Cereal Partners France, La Gerbe Savoyarde, France, Decoration, Besnier, Fruity
• Chemistry-Pharmacy-Medical: Labcatal, Nicholas Roche, Pierre Fabre Galderma, Ivoclar-Vivadent, Corneal, SNCI, Anthogyr
• Commerce: Provencia, Botanic
• Electrical and electronic: Chauvin-Arnoux, DAV, Label, Amphenol Socapex, Cartier, Varilac CEB
• Mechanical equipment: Dassault, Alcatel Vacuum Technology, Bosch-Rexroth, Union Pump-Guinard Pumps (Group Textron)
• Home, household equipment: Tefal, Scaime Bourgeois, Mobalpa, Somfy
• Personal items: S.T. Dupont, Rexam Reboul, Gay, Maped, Pilot
• Data: Sopra, Cross Systems
• Machine tools and special machines: Stäubli, Prosys, Mach 1, Techmeta (Bodycote), Wirth and Gruffat, Mecasonic, Almo
• Mechanics: SNR Bearings, Parker Hannifin, Glacier Vandervell, Invensys, Eurodec, Frank and Pignard, Bouverat, Nicomatic, ZF, Sandvik, Rossignol Technology
• Metals and materials: PSB Industries, Pechiney Rhenalu, Fonlem Lachenal
• Plastics: Veka, SMPI, Decoplast
• Sport and leisure goods: Salomon (skiing), Mavic, Dynastar, Millet, Fusalp, Eider
• Other: Velsol France, Mecalac, ABMT (Bodycote)

Screw-cutting is a precision parts-machining industry, and Haute-Savoie generates the bulk of French screws. Firms engaged in screw-cutting are major employers in the department. While the automotive industry is the principal client, firms also service the electronics, household-appliance and medical sectors.^[5]

Arve Industries is part of 67 "competiveness clusters" created in 2005. The cluster is dedicated to mechatronics and includes 60,000 industrial jobs in over 280 companies (primarily small), 1,200 researchers and 250 patents in 2002. Among the projects supported by the cluster is inertial tolerancing, a new approach in evaluating the quality of machined parts. Based on the Taguchi loss function, inertia is defined by its deviation from its target. Inertial tolerancing is a research-and-development program supported by the cluster for its member companies. It is led by a research team from the Symme Laboratory of the University of Savoie and the CTDEC (Centre Technique du Decolletage). The publication of the French standard NFX 04-008 demonstrates the relevance of topics covered by the cluster.

Other programs involve the production of clean parts (4P project), developing new models of customer-supplier relationships to improve the effectiveness of simultaneous engineering tasks, and development of the international visibility of the cluster and its members. The companies concerned are involved with industrial mechanics, precision engineering, precision turning and sub-assemblies and mechanical assemblies, often associated with integrating technologies such as plastics, electronics and hydraulics. Markets served by member companies of the cluster include transport (cars, trucks, rail and air), production and distribution of electricity, hydraulics (gas or liquid, high-pressure vacuum), medical and health-related.

Research[link]

The research sector in Haute-Savoie filed 201 patents in 2000. It is represented by:

• Laboratory for Particle Physics in Annecy-le-Vieux
• Technology Center Engineering Industries (CETIM)
• Research laboratories related to Polytech Savoie, ESIA and Savoy University
• Technical center for screw-machining industry (CTDEC) in Cluses
• The Thésame - mechatronics and management

Services[link]

In late December 2000, the service sector employed 75,768 people in 11,129 companies in:

• Hotels and restaurants – 26.5 percent
• Real estate activities – 24.6 percent
• Consulting and assistance – 14.0 percent
• Transportation – 6.1 percent
• Financial activities – 6.2 percent

Tourism[link]

As of late December 2000, the tourism sector had a total of 635,000 beds divided as follows:

• 1,250 – Rural lodgings
• 803 – Hotels
• 453 – Guest rooms
• 191 – Campsites
• 70 – Bed-and-breakfasts
• 40 – Mountain huts

In 1999 there were 37.9 million overnight stays: 56 percent in winter and 44 percent during the rest of the year.

[edit] Cross-border workers

Many people who live in Haute-Savoie (more than 52,200 in November 2006) work in Switzerland (in the districts of Geneva of Vaud and Valais).^{[citation needed]} The phenomenon has accelerated since bilateral agreements concluded between Switzerland and the European Union, of which a significant part concerned free movement of people. In 2007, commuting increased over 12%.

Effective June 1, 2007 a resident of Haute-Savoie may freely work in Switzerland. The department and municipalities receive compensation ("frontier funds") allocated to municipalities in proportion to the number of border residents there. Following an agreement signed in Geneva in 1973, the Canton of Geneva transferred to Haute-Savoie 3.5 percent of total worker compensation, equivalent in December 2006 to €77.687 million.

Export[link]

Exports are an important part of the economy; forty percent of Haute-Savoie employees work for exporting firms. Exports are primarily to Germany, the United States, Switzerland, Italy and the United Kingdom. Imports come mainly from Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States.

Taxation[link]

Haute-Savoie has property and income taxes. In 2006, 312,823 households were subject to property taxes and 27,747 were exempt. The average income tax per household was €25,621 in 2007 (compared with the national average of €21,930).

[edit] Transport

Haute Savoie is served by the A41 and A43 highways. Annecy is accessible from Lyon, with an estimated travel time between two and three hours in normal traffic. Since it is closer to Geneva, the new highway connects the two cities in about an hour. Meythet Airport in Annecy has Air France Regional round-trip service to Paris Orly. Saint-Gervais is the only railroad station directly serving a ski resort. The main rail line serves Annecy-Annemasse-Geneva. The Annecy railway station has TGV (high speed trains) departures and arrivals to and from Paris via the high-speed line from Lyon Part-Dieu.

Sources[link]

• Assedic (January 2000)
• Construction 74 (January 2000)
• ERC / DDAF 1999
• Chamber of Agriculture
• Chamber of Trade (December 2000)
• Customs
• SIRENE of INSEE (July 2003)
• CTDEC
• Chamber of Commerce
• Thésame

See also[link]

History[link]

• Savoy - Historical region
• House of Savoy - Ruling dynasty of Savoy from 1032 to 1860
• Duchy of Savoy - Rulers of Savoy region from 1416 to 1720
• Kingdom of Sardinia - 1720 to 1860.

Language[link]

• Arpitan language
• French language

Places[link]

• Lake Annecy - The second largest lake in France.
• Lake Geneva - Lake which joins Upper Savoy and Switzerland.

Wine[link]

• French wine - Haute-Savoie AOC Wines
• Savoy wine or Wine of Savoie Allobrogie

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Haute-Savoie

• (French) General Council website
• (French) Prefecture website
• (English) Haute-Savoie Tourism Guide
• (French) Haute-Savoie Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Employment statistics access to regional statistics (Department of Labor Region Rhone-Alpes)

Francis Cabrel
Background information
Born	(1953-11-23) 23 November 1953 (age 58) Agen, France
Origin	Agen, France
Genres	Folk, pop, blues
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Years active	1974–present
Labels	CBS, Columbia

Francis Cabrel (born 23 November 1953 in Agen, France) is a French singer-songwriter and guitarist.^[1] He has released a number of albums falling mostly within the realm of folk, with occasional forays into blues or country. Several of his songs, such as "L'encre de tes yeux" and "Petite Marie" have become enduring favourites in French music.^{[citation needed]} Others, such as "C'était l'hiver", about the suicide of a young girl, have since been covered by other artists such as Canadian Isabelle Boulay.

Biography[link]

Cabrel was born into a modest family, his father was employed as a blue-collar worker and his mother was a cashier. He has a sister, Martine, and a brother, Philippe. His paternal grandfather, Prospero Cabrel, immigrated to Gascony from Friuli, Italy, in the 1920s with his wife and six children. Cabrel's mother, Denise Nin, was born in Gascony to an Italian family who had also immigrated from Friuli. The family's original surname, Cabrelli, was abandoned in the 18th century.

A shy teenager, Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" inspired him to pick up a guitar and start writing his own songs. At 16, enthralled by music, he started to sing the songs of Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and Dylan. He also learned English by translating the lyrics. He would later say that his guitar enabled him to appear more interesting to others.

Expelled from secondary school in Agen for lack of discipline, he went to work in a shoe shop while playing gigs with a group named "Ray Frank and Jazzmen," which later became known as "les Gaulois" because every member of the band had a moustache. Indeed, at that time, Cabrel's appearance was that of a hippie, with long hair and a moustache.

In 1974 he took part in a song contest organised by Sud Radio and performed in front of a panel of judges, which included Daniel and Richard Seff. With his own song "Petite Marie", dedicated to his wife Mariette, he won the contest and was signed to a record deal by CBS.

In 1977, during CBS's "New French Song" campaign, his first record "Ma ville" was released. However, he quickly realized that CBS, having tampered with the accent of his singing voice on "Petite Marie", had thus interfered with the expression of his true personality. That version of the song is disavowed by Cabrel today.

At the Paris Olympia he opened for Dave for one month. He also won the "prix du Public" at the Festival de Spa in Belgium in 1978.

Although he writes predominantly for himself, he has written for other artists, in particular Rose Laurens ("Quand tu pars", 1986). Cabrel is involved in the politics of Astaffort commune in Lot-et-Garonne and was elected its councilor in March 1989.

While Cabrel is best known for singing in the French language, he has also recorded Spanish renditions of many of his most popular compositions.

In 1989, Cabrel's album Sarbacane was released. The singer spent months honing the new songs on Sarbacane to perfection, working out the musical arrangements and recording part of them in a makeshift studio he had set up in his own home. Sarbacane, undoubtedly one of Cabrel's finest works, proved an enormous hit with the public, selling almost 2 million copies. The singles "Sarbacane" (dedicated to his daughter) and "C'est écrit" also did incredibly well in the charts. By now Francis Cabrel had become one of the most popular recording stars on the French music scene and his life was one busy whirl of TV and radio interviews, autograph signing and promotion. Naturally, a tour was called for and Cabrel soon set off on an extensive tour – which included hundreds of dates in the provinces as well as several concerts at the Zénith in Paris – accompanied by his faithful musicians Gérard Bikialo (on keyboards), Denys Lable (on guitar) and Bernard Paganotti (on bass).

Meanwhile, Cabrel continued his work on behalf of humanitarian associations and charities, taking part in the famous "Soirée des Enfoirés" to raise money for the Restos du Coeur (the charity set up by the late great comedian Coluche to help the homeless). He also recorded compilation albums with other French stars on behalf of AIDS charities such as Sol En Si (Solidarité Enfant Sida) and Urgence. In 1990 Cabrel embarked upon a mini tour with singer Dick Rivers, delighting audiences with their re-worked versions of American rock'n'roll classics. This mini tour, performed without the slightest bit of publicity in smaller, more intimate venues such as the Bataclan in Paris, allowed Cabrel to make closer contact with his fans and wind down a little after his busy promotional schedule earlier in the year.

Following several more months of intensive touring, which took Cabrel all over Europe, South America and Quebec, the singer released a triple live album entitled D'une ombre à l'autre. The 43 tracks on this mega opus included memorable acoustic versions of Cabrel's greatest hits.

Cabrel fans had to wait another three years for the release of any new Cabrel material, the renowned perfectionist shutting himself away in the studio for months on end to work on his next album. Samedi soir sur la terre, the singer's eagerly-awaited 8th album, was finally released in 1994. Musically things had changed little from the early days – Cabrel was still surrounded by his loyal group of musicians and the guitar remained the most distinctive feature of the "Cabrel" sound. But the song-writing was more expressive than ever. Twenty years after "Petite Marie" the new singles "Je t'aimais, je t'aime, je t'aimerai" and "La Cabane du pêcheur" displayed extremely mature, sophisticated lyrics. One of the most outstanding tracks on the new album was undoubtedly "Corrida", Cabrel's attack on the cruel sport of bull-fighting. The album was followed by a new tour and a series of memorable concerts in Paris – at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, the Olympia and the Zénith. In February 1995 the music profession honoured Cabrel at the annual "Victoires de la Musique" awards ceremony, presenting him with an award for Best Album of 94 (for "Un samedi soir sur la terre"). Later that year Cabrel went on to win Le Trophée RFI/ Conseil de la Francophonie for his hit single "Je t'aimais, je t'aime, je t'aimerai".

Throughout his career Cabrel has tried hard to keep out of the media spotlight, leading a quiet life with his wife and two daughters. Yet the singer was prepared to become a prominent figure in his local community, working as a councillor and organising cultural events in Astaffort. It was Cabrel, for instance, who organised the "Rencontres d'Astaffort', a gathering of young singer/songwriters who came to the town for training and advice. Cabrel also proved himself to be an enthusiastic entrepreneur, setting up his own label Cargo with Charles Talar in 1995. The first artists the pair signed to their new label were Vincent Baguian and Michel Françoise.

In 1997 Cabrel continued his charity work, performing a tour with a host of French stars including Maurane, Michel Jonasz and Maxime Le Forestier, to raise money for the children's AIDS charity Sol en Si. Cabrel's live performances continued to attract a huge turn-out, his fans rightly suspecting that a new Cabrel album would not appear for another few years.

1997 also saw the publication of Hors Saison, a photo album of Cabrel portraits taken by Claude Gassian. A special bonus CD accompanied the book, featuring the duet "Vengo a ofrecer mi corazon", which Cabrel recorded in Spanish with the Argentinian star Mercedes Sosa. The song, recorded at the Francofolies Festival in Buenos Aires, received a massive amount of airplay which encouraged Cabrel to release it as a single. (This was not the first time that the singer had recorded his songs in Spanish. The release of the album Sarbacane coincided with the recording of an entire album in Spanish, which featured new versions of the singer's greatest hits).

Cabrel rocketed back into the French music news on 30 March 1999 with a new CD album entitled Hors Saison (Out of Season). The album generated a huge amount of interest among fans and music critics alike, as it was Cabrel's first new album in five years. Recorded with the same crack team who had joined the singer in the studio for his last two albums (i.e. Manu Katché, Gérard Bikialo and Bernard Paganotti), Hors Saison did not mark a radical departure from Cabrel's usual style. Not surprisingly, "Presque rien", the first single release, received an impressive amount of airplay on French radio. And a few months later sales of the album topped the 1 million mark, earning Cabrel a diamond disc.

Encouraged by the success of Hors Saison, Cabrel kicked off a new tour at Le Zénith in Caen, going on to perform a long stint at the Olympia in Paris (28 September – 9 October). Ten days later Cabrel brought the house down at Le Zénith in Paris. Appearing on stage against a pared-down minimalist décor with eight musicians, the singer was supported by Québécois diva Isabelle Boulay who, once her own set was finished, joined Cabrel on stage for a special duet. Cabrel brought his highly successful tour to a close in December '99.

The atmosphere of Cabrel's acoustic/electric tour was captured on a 3-CD live album, Double tour, released in 2000. In January 2000 and 2001 the singer went on to take part in the "Enfoirés" fund-raising tours, from which all profits were donated to "Les Restaurants du cœur" (a feed-the-homeless charity set up by the late French comedian Coluche).

Cabrel, who has built up a huge following of loyal fans both at home and abroad, is renowned for his modesty. Throughout his career the singer has done his utmost to keep his personal life out of the media spotlight and in his early interviews he showed himself to be an extremely shy person. In more recent interviews this timidity has given way to a more relaxed attitude and a mischievous sense of humour, which has only served to increase Cabrel's immense popularity.

While Cabrel continued his involvement with humanitarian projects, he eventually dropped his role in local politics. Considering that he had achieved his goals (which included renovating and re-opening an arts venue and a school), the singer did not stand in the next elections to prolong his position on Astaffort's local council.

Meanwhile, on the music front, Cabrel returned to the stage to take part in a series of concerts entitled "Autour du blues." These concerts, where Cabrel performed alongside international artists such as Patrick Verbeke, Tanya Saint Val and Beverly Jo Scott, resulted in two live albums (released in 2001 and 2003). The "Autour du blues" concerts also gave Cabrel the opportunity of working with the American musician David Johnson, who guested as sax-player on Cabrel's following album, Les Beaux Dégâts (released in May 2004). This album, produced in collaboration with Cabrel's loyal pianist, Gérard Bikialo, featured a new addition to the Cabrel sound in the form of a vibrant brass section.

The album proved to be a huge success, selling over 600,000 copies within a few months of its release. In the autumn of that year, the "bluesman" from the south-west of France hit the road on a tour he vowed would be on a human scale. Cabrel refused to play anything other than small or medium-sized venues, preferring to maintain direct contact with his audience. Needless to say, as this was the first tour Cabrel had performed in four years, tickets were all sold out weeks in advance. The tour, which kept Cabrel on the road until the end of the year, included a sold-out stint at Le Casino de Paris (2–14 November 2004).

In 2005, Les Editions Delcourt published a cartoon-strip tribute to Cabrel. Cabrel-Les Beaux Dessins featured eye-catching illustrations of twelve of his songs.

Cabrel returned to the live circuit with his "Bodegas Tour" in the spring of 2005, playing dates across France and Switzerland right through until June of that year. On 7 November Cabrel took to the stage on a very special occasion, organising a fund-raising concert for New Orleans, the home of jazz and blues, which had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The concert, staged at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, featured an all-star line-up including Garou, Alain Souchon, De Palmas and Véronique Sanson.

A few days after the New Orleans concert, "La tournée des Bodegas" was released as a CD featuring live versions of songs from the album Les Beaux Dégâts.

Cabrel kept a relatively low profile on the French music scene throughout 2006. He did join Michel Delpech in the studio to record a duet ("Le Loir et Cher") which appeared on the album Michel Delpech &…. And he agreed to play one of the colourful characters in Louis Chédid’s musical Le Soldat Rose, taking to the stage at Le Grand Rex, in Paris, on 12 November that year alongside a host of famous French music stars including M, Alain Souchon and Vanessa Paradis. In 2007, Cabrel marked the thirtieth anniversary of his career with the release of a double album entitled L'essentiel 1997–2007.

On 31 March 2008, Cabrel released a brand new album of original material entitled Des roses et des orties (Roses and nettles). This album, the eleventh of his career, revolved around a vibrant mix of electric and acoustic guitars and sultry blues arrangements and was recorded, as per usual, in his studio-barn in Astaffort. While Cabrel’s lyric-writing remained as sensitive and poetic as ever, the tone of this new album was ostensibly harder-hitting than his previous work.

The songs on Des roses et des orties tackled a range of serious social and political issues such as immigration ("African Tour"), religion ("Les Cardinaux en costume") and poverty and social exclusion ("Le Cygne blanc"). Cabrel also examined the artist’s role in society ("Gens formidables") and even delved a little into his own personal life for inspiration, addressing a song to the biological mother of the young Vietnamese girl he had adopted in 2004 ("Mademoiselle l'aventure"). The singer also included a number of interesting cover versions on this new album, performing French adaptations of Bob Dylan’s "She Belongs to Me", Creedence Clearwater Revival’s "Born on the Bayou" and JJ Cale’s "Mama Don't."

Trivia[link]

• Cabrel is an avid Dylan fan, and knows Dylan's entire^{[citation needed]} recorded works by heart.
• Cabrel has around fifty guitars which he has collected (not counting his own performance guitars which he has had made by luthiers).
• Cabrel has been an active organizer and participant in concerts for charity, including repeat appearances in Les Enfoirés.
• Cabrel actively plays tennis and supports MSTY.
• Cabrel's cover of Jackson Browne's "Rosie" (on Sarbacane) is a faithful translation, except for the chorus, which (intentionally or not) avoids the double-entendres of the original.
• His song "L'Edition Speciale" was featured in the 1987 film Broadcast News, in which the character of Aaron Altman (Albert Brooks) plays it on his record player and sings along.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Francis Cabrel (also known as Les Murs De Poussière) (1977, CBS)
• Les chemins de traverse (1979, CBS)
• Fragile (1980, CBS)
• Carte Postale (1981, CBS)
• Quelqu'un de l'intérieur (1983, CBS)
• Photos de voyages (1985, CBS)
• Sarbacane (1989, CBS)
• Samedi soir sur la terre (1994, Columbia)
• Hors-saison (1999, Columbia)
• Les beaux dégâts (2004, Columbia)
• Des roses et des orties (2008, Columbia)

Live albums[link]

• Cabrel Public (1984, CBS)
• D'une ombre à l'Autre (1991, Columbia)
• Double tour (Électrique & acoustique) (2000, Columbia, 3 CDs)
• La tournée des bodegas (2005, Columbia)

Compilations[link]

• Cabrel 77–87 (1987, CBS)
• L'Essentiel 1977–2007 (2007, Chandelle Production)
• Lo Mejor de los Mejores (1994, Sony Music, Special Marketing)
• Concierto en Bogotá, Colombia (1991)

Singles[link]

• "Petite Marie" (1977)
• "Pas trop de peine" (1978)
• "Les Murs de poussière" (1978)
• "Je l'aime à mourir" (1979)
• "Je rêve" (1979)
• "L'Encre de tes yeux" (1980)
• "Je pense encore à toi" (1980)
• "La dame de Haute-Savoie" (1981)
• "Carte postale" (1981)
• "Répondez-moi" (1982)
• "La fille qui m'accompagne" (1983)
• "Saïd et Mohamed" (live) (1984)
• "Je te suivrai" (1985)
• "Encore et encore" (1985)
• "Tourner les hélicos" (1985)
• "Il faudra leur dire" (1986)
• "C'est écrit (1989)
• "Animal" (1989)
• "Sarbacane" (1989)
• "Tout le monde y pense" (1990)
• "Petite Marie" (live) (1990)
• "La corrida" (1994)
• "Je t'aimais, je t'aime, je t'aimerai" (1994)
• "Samedi soir sur la Terre" (1995)
• "La cabane du pêcheur" (1995)
• "Octobre" (1995)
• "Presque rien" (1999)
• "Le reste du temps" (1999)
• "Hors-saison" (1999)
• "Le monde est sourd" (2000)
• "Ma place dans le trafic" (live) (2000)
• "Bonne nouvelle" (2004)
• "Qu'est-ce que t'en dis?" (2004)
• "Tu me corresponds" (2004)
• "Les gens absents" (2005)
• "Je pense encore à toi" (live) (2005)
• "Le gorille" (2007)
• "La robe et l'échelle" (2008)
• "Le chêne liège" (2008)
• "Des hommes pareils" (2009)
• "Né dans le Bayou" (2009)
• "Les cardinaux en costume" (2010)

Videography[link]

• Sarbacane tour (1989)

References[link]

External links[link]

• (French) Official Francis Cabrel website
• Biography of Francis Cabrel, from Radio France Internationale