Category: Reminiscence

“Esteban” (A portrait from the past)

“Esteban” oil -WM

Esteban is a Spaniard of Catalan mother and Andalusian father. He grew up in a small Catalan city. He came from Barcelona to Paris with dreams of journalistic glory as an envoy of a literary magazine. He had the great sensitivity of a writer but for success he lacked two basic qualities: education and money. In Barcelona, the magazine published his rubric a la Dear Abby which he surely handled well because he knew how to dig into life situations and his religious morality concorded with that … Read More

“Janek” (A portrait from the past)

ink drawing of Janek
“Janek” – ink – WM

Unfortunately I can’t give his family name even if, as readers will find out, it has an important place in history. Janek was born either in Westphalia like his parents or in France. He had some German blood, I am not sure from which side. In Polish he spoke correctly; in French, like a Frenchman. During the war, when he was 8 or 9 years old, his father sent him to the Hitlerjugend. Janek told me how the whippersnappers of his age sliced each other … Read More

Down the Ladder (Humorous Survey)

I’ve written about this topic previously. Now it comes to mind with a little twist.

There is a list of things I like but which have disappeared. The list could be longer if I remembered everything.

One of my preferred spots was Normandy with its cider. There was so much and it was so varied that it seemed eternal. Cider of every colour, alcohol content, sparkly, flat, sweet and dry. It was a poem just looking at the countless barrels resting in cool, dark cellars. Returning once for a cider … Read More

…Cracow

If the old city of Cracow is bursting with life, the old city of Warsaw, rebuilt from scratch after its total destruction by the Nazis and filled with tourists on a quest for souvenirs, is an unreal souvenir in itself, seemingly detached from the rest of the city. Modern Warsaw absorbs you into its dynamic whirlpool as well as into its vestiges of martyrdom and heroism from WW II.

Beautiful old Cracow is commercialized; so filled with business that it seems to be one big display window. The entire old … Read More

Moment of Light

“Christmas Tree” woodcut WM

One Christmas evening I was strolling with my girlfriend and a man friend on the street of a town near Paris. A small man in a beret was walking toward us, looking slightly drunk and like a street person even if not particularly unkempt. Seeing us he screamed “Joyeux Noel!” (Merry Christmas). I made a sudden decision and, when we passed each other, saying “Joyeux Noel!” I kissed him on the cheek. His skin was slippery and cold, like plastic material. He stopped, stunned, and we … Read More

ALMANZOR’S REVENGE?

A vacation souvenir topic:

Almanzor’s revenge? Of course not! But this comparison came to mind as an analogy to ‘Montezuma’s revenge’ which afflicts tourists in Mexico. A strange incident which occurred in the mountains of Alpuharas, Spain, might look like a manifestation of Almanzor’s burst of bad humour. But if Montezuma has his good reasons for revenge, Almanzor could have nothing against me — on the contrary — as the rest of the story will explain. In my view, what happenned, was a sort of communication, a magic message that … Read More