The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Provençal, France, on October 20, 1954.
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Saint Tropez. -- The story of a strange apparition that a well-digger of Saint-Tropez and his assistant claim to have witnessed about two weeks ago in Ramatuelle (the Var), begins to cause a certain stir in the region by already attracting groups of pilgrims.
Mr. Marius Giraud and his workman, Mr. Duperrier, were busy finishing the construction of a well in the territory of the commune of Ramatuelle. It was full daylight. Suddenly Mr. Duperrier, who was leaning towards the bottom of the well, saw with amazement stars reflected at the bottom of the water. "He raised his head," said Mr. Giraud, and, pale and wide-eyed, said to me: "Look behind you."
"Then," continued the boss, "I saw, two or three yards away, the Blessed Virgin." She had a long blue dress and wore a golden crown on her head and stretched her arm towards the sea in the direction of Pampelonne, and disappeared in a sort of cloud."
It was on this beach that the first French forces of liberation landed in 1944 and it was on the margin of this same bay that the submarine "La Sybille" sank in September 1952.
The two visionaries indifferent to everything related to religion
In St-Tropez and in the region, the two well-diggers enjoy a well-established reputation as conscientious and respectable workers. But when the news began to appear, everyone was impressed by the fact that neither of them was noticed by their devotion. The two men, on the contrary, display a total indifference to all that touches religion, their political opinions separate them quite clearly from it.
The religious authorities observe in this case their customary prudence, only the testimony of the two visionaries remains.
