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Mazan is a postcard of Provence — a small medieval village perched on a hill, surrounded by vineyards, in view of the windswept Mount Ventoux rising in the distance.
For years, it was known for its nearby cycling routes often featured in the Tour de France, and for a notorious figure from the 18th century, the Marquis de Sade, whose graceful mansion in the middle of the village has become its fanciest hotel.
Now, it is infamous as the place where Gisèle Pelicot was regularly drugged by her husband of 50 years and offered up to strange men for sex. In September, 51 men went on trial in nearby Avignon, most charged with the aggravated rape of Ms. Pelicot, 71.
Some 15 of the defendants, including Dominique Pelicot, Ms. Pelicot’s ex-husband, have pleaded guilty. The rest have said they had sex with her but contest the rape charges. Most argue they were lured into the couple’s bedroom by her husband, with a promise of a threesome, and were led to believe she was pretending to sleep or was sleeping as part of the couple’s sex fantasy.
The trial has rattled the country, raising profound and disturbing questions about relations between men and women, and the prevalence of rape.
No place has been as shaken as Mazan, 21 miles northeast of Avignon, with a population of 6,300.
Here, the story is not just horrifying; it feels oppressively personal.
“It’s not on the other side of the world,” said Elisabeth Koenig, 72, who lives a few blocks from the couple’s former home, which she used to pass regularly walking her dog. “It’s at my home that this happened. It feels a bit like it’s in our family.”
A few weeks ago, she drove to Avignon with her granddaughter, to spend the day in the courthouse watching the trial. She left “red as a poppy” with fury, she said.
“It’s a catastrophe,” she said. She said she imagined the horror of learning of a family member’s “harming my children or my grandchildren like that.” Ms. Koenig added, “It feels personal, this story.”
About 30 percent of Mazan’s residents are retired, drawn by the mild temperatures, quaint village feel and access to big-city amenities and culture nearby. That’s what drew the Pelicots in 2013, when they moved from the Paris area soon after Ms. Pelicot retired from her management job at a large French company.
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The map highlights the town of Mazan, in the Provence region of southeastern France. It also locates Mount Ventoux, slighlty northeast of Mazan, and the nearby city of Avignon, southwest of Mazan.
English Channel
GERMANY
Paris
FRANCE
SWITZ.
MOUNT
VENTOUX
ITALY
Mazan
Avignon
PROVENCE
Marseille
100 miles
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