In his story course,
Paris, mille vies
, the author, born in 1972 in the 14th arrondissement, tells of the night wandering in the capital of a character who looks like him.
From Gare Montparnasse to Gare de l'Est, the narrator walks through the streets and through the ages.
He remembers his youth on the terraces of cafes on Boulevard Edgar-Quinet, summons Artaud to Vieux-Colombier… When day breaks, he goes up Boulevard Sébastopol, it is his “last step” before returning to his beloved left bank.
The one particularly fond of the writer, Prix Goncourt 2004, who gives us three of his secret addresses.
“Paris, mille vies”, Actes Sud, to be published on October 7, 2020.
● My ideal ride
Go from Montparnasse to the Seine at the end of the afternoon.
Cross the Luxembourg Gardens, arrive at Place Saint-Sulpice then on the forecourt of Saint-Germain Church, greet Place de Furstenberg and finally find the Seine.
The quays of the Seine are always a gift for the eye.
To embrace everything and let the water flow in front of you, I don't know anything more beautiful on a beautiful end of the day, when the light slowly fades.
● My canteen
The Cette, a restaurant as I like them: small (no more than thirty seats), with a narrow menu and a real chef who combines Japanese cuisine and French cuisine.
It is a beautiful place, elegant, sober and Xavier, the owner, dresses the place with high standards, taste and passion.
The This.
7, rue Campagne-Première (14th).
● My favorite
I love the large wall on rue Férou (6th arrondissement), on which the Tegen-Beeld Foundation copied
Rimbaud's
Le Bateau ivre
.
They did it right to left, humorously, assuming it matched the way the wind had plastered the words on the wall.
I like to walk by and catch a glance at a line, a stanza.
It's beautiful when the cities appropriate the words of the poets.
In Montreal, on rue Saint-Denis, you can read words from Dany Laferrière and Michel Tremblay on the walls.
It is the most beautiful thing an author could dream of.
Being in front of passers-by, day and night… What a marvel!
Rue Férou (6th).
