Blondin, a young man on a quay

Born in Paris on April 11, 1922, died on June 7, 1991, the author ofA monkey in winter leaves behind him the image of a whimsical author and a poignant and melancholic work.

Back on the journey of a disenchanted poet. The train is heading towards Austria. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to have turned 20 in the early 1940s. The Good Lord has gone away, leaving his children alone to tear each other apart. The Nazi flag flies over Paris. He would not forget the day Germany declared war on us. It was July 31, 1939. He had just met Sylviane. She was 15, he was 17. It sounds like a song by Michael Fugain. It was under the corn exchange in the village of Lyons-la-Forêt, in Normandy. They were laughing, carefree, rebellious. A photo from the time shows him, a lascivious prince, lying in the middle of the golden youth whose families had long owned a second home in this resort of the Parisian bourgeoisie.

Their France was a kindergarten…