L’avion atterrit au petit matin, par un jour de grand vent. Lors du décollage, sa voisine s’était présentée : « Samantha Brown, on m’appelle Sam » et lui avait demandé s’il venait pour affaires ou en vacances. Il avait murmuré pour toute réponse, sans la regarder : « Paul Lullies, je viens en pèlerinage ».
Read More‘She is a fish’, Tom had said to Lea one day, looking at their little girl, Marine.
Marine had loved being under water since she was a baby. From the moment she was born, Marine’s bath was the most extraordinary moment. Marine would not mind at all having her head under water. She would open her eyes, her face covered by water, and giggle.
Read MoreThey had picked the wrong season. It was a rainy late autumn vacation. Julia lived on the East Coast before and the fall was the most beautiful time of the year. The colours and the trees. The softness of the sun. She remembered of times were her extended family had Thanksgiving lunch on the deck, kids playing in the backyard.
Read MoreMalgré sa taille imposante et le feu qui brûle en lui, Zara n’a jamais peur des colères de Zénon. Depuis qu’il est tout petit, elle lui parle d’une voix douce, et Zénon suit docilement ses instructions.
Read MoreIls sont là, bien rangés sur l’étagère de la chambre jaune. Il y en a de toutes les tailles, des petites des grands et longs, des feuillus et des tout minces et de toutes les couleurs, des rouges, des bleus, des verts ou des jaunes, foisonnant de dessins colorés ou remplis de texte noir écrit serré. Hippolyte les aime tous, particulièrement depuis quelques mois, depuis qu’il sait lire, tout seul.
Read MoreMia decided to give birth in the inaccessible remote corner of the entrance cupboard. In the middle of Margot's most expensive shoes. Pierre and Margot had prepared a comfortable place in a warm corner of the kitchen with a stack of old woolen jumpers in a basket. Mia even seemed to like it and sniffed around the basket for a couple of days.
Read More-"Clare, we all die one day" Leon would say.
She found him particularly annoying in those moments. As if nothing mattered.
Since Alex was born, she could sense the shadows. At night they would come in the form of terrible stories; Alex would die in his sleep, swallow one of his toys, fall from his bike, be knidnapped whilts she was asleep. They were millions of stories, like dark birds flying towards her, keeping her awake and terrified.
Read MoreFor a long time, you thought the walls were rigid. Hard concrete. Grey. With some yellow patches. Covered with scratches and inscriptions. Some that only a really tall man would reach. Some men are giants you thought when you first entered your new home. Then you realised that they were probably standing on the narrow stool. The men before you. Some writings in languages you do not know. The fact that there are so many languages you do not know gives you comfort. You are well learned and well-travelled. But there is a big world out there. Outside those six walls.
Read MoreUn hiver ou un été
Je partirai dans le froid ou dans le soleil
Dans un cristal de neige étoilé
Read MoreHave you ever pushed the door of a store, driven by the nearly magnetic attraction of a name or visual on the front window? I have, many times, often to be disappointed by what I discovered once inside.
There was this one time though were I entered a small narrow shop called Serendipity in a sleepy village in Cornwall where I had rented a B&B.
Read MoreIt all started with a misunderstanding. Zara agreed to meet me at the bottom of the stairs of the Paris Opera, and I waited for 30 minutes at the bottom of the stairs of the Paris Opera.
Except that my sister Zara meant the old Paris Opera and I understood the new Paris Opera, also called the Opera Bastille. Technically I was right of course. The old Opera house has been converted into the home of the national ballet and replaced by the new Opera...
Read MoreThis time, a Moroccan taxi driver picked me up at the airport. He was having strange conversations on the phone mixing English, Arabic peppered with some colourful French words. He specifically fancied "deguelasse" to qualify all things related to American politics and the price of housing in San Francisco.
Read MoreClara sortit son carnet bleu et nota : « cet homme assis à ma gauche se moque -t’il de moi ? » Elle noircit son carnet de plusieurs points d’interrogation avant de reposer son crayon. Elle fit glisser son regard vers la table en terrasse où l’inconnu lisait, paisiblement. « Soleil couchant », Faulkner, éditions Folio, le livre qu’elle venait d’achever, l’avant-veille, assise exactement à la même table de café, place Gambetta.
Read MoreUn matin de septembre, le Canada m’est apparu comme la destination de mon voyage. Bill, mon patron, m’a encouragé à prendre « le temps qu’il faudrait ». Mes collègues de bureau sont venus me serrer la main en silence.
Read MoreOne September morning, it occurred to me that Canada was the place where I really wanted to go. My boss Bill told me to take “as much time off as needed”. One by one, my colleagues came to say a silent good-bye.
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