children’s dreams
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Être née quelque part…
C’est une chanson connue. C’est aussi une étiquette qui colle à la semelle comme un vieux chewing-gum : on a beau gratter, il en reste toujours quelque chose. Mes premières années dans un coin que la civilisation semblait avoir oublié,… Continue reading
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Every day we walked the road to school—and without knowing it, we were learning our first lessons in freedom.
In our family, we attended the local public school—not out of deep republican conviction but simply because it was the closest one. The school stood in Hamanxard, a small village about a mile and a quarter from the hamlet called… Continue reading
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Does scaring ourselves for fun help us grow?
Every evening, the boys’ bedroom turned into an improvised conference room. Well… “conference” might be a big word: it was mostly Jean doing the talking, while Alain served as the free audience. The endless string of “let’s suppose that…” began… Continue reading
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Let’s say : Improbable inventions of globetrotters?
In those far-off days, when the news reached our ears through a faintly nasal vacuum-tube radio, Geneviève Tabouis, in her gravelly voice, foretold political disasters. She always opened her commentary with the phrase that became legendary: “Attendez-vous à savoir.” —… Continue reading
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What Amazes Me Today?
A life — a single drop of dew in the ocean of time. Soon, the counter of my days will proudly reach eighty. Eighty! A round number, a bit solemn, a bit mischievous too, as if it were whispering: “So, are… Continue reading
