Mario Vargas Llosa and Patricia Llosa meet again in Paris: appointment with their children, with King Juan Carlos and with Macron

The love story of Mario Vargas Llosa (Arequipa, Peru, 86 years old) and Patricia Llosa Urquidi (Cochabamba, Bolivia, 77 years old) began and ends in Paris.

The writer has invited her ex-wife to her admission ceremony at the French Academy, which will be held this Thursday, February 9 in the city of light, and she has confirmed her attendance, as EL has learned COUNTRY.

On the morning of this Tuesday, the press recorded her leaving the writer's house in Madrid, and in the afternoon they were both together with their three children to celebrate the birthday of their granddaughter Anaís Reich at the house of the Nobel Prize winner in the French capital. .

The presence of Patricia Llosa at the event, along with that of King Juan Carlos, further heightened interest in one of the most outstanding literary and social events of the Parisian winter.

It is also confirmation that the author and whoever was his wife for half a century have resumed contact after a hiatus of almost eight years.

The couple separated in 2015, when the writer began his relationship with Isabel Preysler, which they ended last December.

For the environment of the author of

,

and

, this reunion in the French capital is the culmination of a story that began more than six decades ago in that same city.

Mario and Patricia met there in 1961 and that was the germ of a love with romantic overtones.

He, at the age of 25, was finishing writing his literary debut,

, and she, at only 16, was taking French culture courses at the Sorbonne.

The writer, who was then married to his aunt, Julia Urquidi, took in his cousins, Patricia and Wanda Llosa, for a year.

The four of them lived together in the area of ​​the Military School, on the Champ de Mars, and on Rue de Tournon, a few meters from the Luxembourg Gardens.

Less than three years later, Vargas Llosa separated from his aunt Julia to marry his cousin

.

Their first years of marriage were spent in Paris, where they became friends with the Chilean writer and diplomat Jorge Edwards, the Lima narrator Julio Ramón Ribeyro, the guerrilla fighter Pablo Escobar and members of the Latin American

of the time.

More information

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“It was Mario who took the initiative to invite Patricia to the event of her joining the French Academy.

It seemed logical and fair to him that the person who has been by his side practically throughout his entire literary career should be there, ”explain members of the writer's family.

"She was at the Nobel Prize ceremony in 2010 and now she is in Paris," the same sources add.

In his Nobel acceptance speech in Stockholm, Vargas Llosa dedicated emotional words to his then wife.

“She does everything and she does everything well,” he said through tears.

“He manages the economy, brings order to chaos, keeps journalists and intruders at bay, defends my time, decides appointments and trips, packs and unpacks my bags, and is so generous that even when he thinks he's scolding me, gives me the best of compliments: 'Mario,

the only thing you are good for is to write”, he pronounced with a broken voice.

Twelve years after that speech, "the cousin with the upturned nose and indomitable character" has returned to the life of Vargas Llosa.

Mario Vargas Llosa together with Patricia Llosa, at the wedding of Don Felipe and Doña Letizia in May 2004. Cristóbal Manuel

The reunion in Paris has led to the first meeting in eight years of "the tribe", which is what the Vargas Llosa call themselves.

The three children of the couple, Álvaro, Gonzalo and Morgana, and some of their grandchildren and other relatives and friends have traveled to the city to attend the events of the French Academy.

In September of last year, the writer and his ex-wife met for half an hour in Lima.

The author of

, who was still living with Isabel Preysler in Madrid at the time, traveled to Peru to do research for her new novel and wanted to visit her old library.

His ex-wife received him in the house they shared for decades.

That was his first contact in almost eight years, a moment that his son Álvaro shared on his social networks.

Now they are enjoying time together in Paris, where, according to their family, in their first hours in the city they have had the opportunity to recall anecdotes about their first years of marriage: the concerts by Édith Piaf, Georges Brassens and Léo Ferré, and the dinners with other intellectuals in emblematic restaurants such as La Coupole and À La Petite Chaise.

As EL PAÍS has learned, this Friday French President Emmanuel Macron plans to give a dinner in honor of Vargas Llosa at the Élysée Palace,

Postcards from 2022. 3 months ago.

Research trip to the north of Peru and review with my parents of what is left of the library in Lima (the rest is in Arequipa).

1/2 pic.twitter.com/alnUIp1m7n

— Álvaro Vargas Llosa (@AlvaroVargasLl) January 8, 2023

Last week, before traveling to the French capital, the Peruvian writer and Patricia Llosa already reunited part of their family in Madrid.

She stayed in an apartment very close to the Nobel Prize winner's apartment, on Carrer de la Flora, where the man of letters, surrounded by his hundreds of books, has been busy preparing his speech for admission to the French Academy, the first writer, since the founding of the institution in 1634 by Cardinal Richelieu, who does so without an original work in French.

"That is his world and it is clear that that is where he feels most comfortable," say his relatives.

The author also took advantage of these last days in the Spanish capital to catch up with his ex-wife and his children.

They walked, went out to eat and went to the Naves Teatro Español to see the play

, by Juan Mayorga, a comedy that tells the story of some friends who have been friends since they were children and who meet again to enjoy one last game.

Despite the media persecution, Mario Vargas Llosa and Patricia Llosa have not hidden or been afraid of being seen together.

“The reunion has occurred naturally and spontaneously.

I think it was to be expected.

They have been married for 50 years, have three children and six grandchildren in common, and continue to share cultural and intellectual interests and concerns," members of their family point out.

They also point out that they have talked about books, politics and the latest movie releases.

Despite having been separated for the last eight years, when they are in Madrid, they continue to read the same three newspapers and have resumed the habit of commenting on the news and current affairs.

"The fact that they have no qualms about being seen together in public says a lot," they conclude.

After his stay in Paris,

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