FROM THE NORM TO THE MARGIN

The nuggets, part one

For the past four years I have experienced magnificent moments. All these moments of happiness are so many treasures that I cherish and that allow me to ease my wounds. The past loses its first place, fades away.

With my last, we treated ourselves to a weekend in Paris for a new year. What a treat to walk along the Louvre, near the Opéra Garnier. And the magic of the shops. The windows of the Printemps store with their automatons that bring Christmas decorations to life. The enchantment of the Galeries Lafayette with its giant tree under a retro dome. We find ourselves on a glass pontoon overlooking several floors of the glittering shop. Meal in a restaurant with a panoramic view of sunny Paris. There's no better place to enjoy fish and chips. In the evening we stroll along the illuminated passages between our hotel and the Champs Elysées which have become pedestrianised for the occasion. Great to walk in the centre. We will not deprive ourselves.

Other escapades in Paris with my sister and the girls: La Défense, Place de l'Etoile, Trocadero, the Eiffel Tower, the Invalides, the Alexandre III bridge, the Champs Elysées (with traffic). Then back, exhausted but happy.

There is also our stay with one of my daughters who lives in Paris. Small restaurant at the foot of the Sacré Coeur, funicular, the Montmartre hill, the pink house, the Louvre. As soon as I can, I read the explanatory panels. I know that my children are very upset about it but they told me to let go. So I revel in it. I travel to each historical inscription. So many lives, so many stories around us that have carried their flood of sorrow but also of joy. And the world kept turning.

The board game evenings at my sister's house with cider. The long weekends when my cousin and her family join us. We return to the coast: white nose cape and invigorating hikes, restaurants with local food and beer. I breathe.

There are family Christmases, more or less large, on the North Sea coast with indoor swimming pools to meet up with, walks along the pebbled beaches and lighthouses. In the mountains with snow, hot chocolate and marshmallows, a fire and laughter just for the hell of it. Oh yes, there's also the one at Center Parc with the girls, with morning jogging while everything is still frosty and your lungs burn with each breath, the slides that never end, the spa and the slates of charcuterie - cheese in the dome.

All those holiday mornings at my parents' house. The sun streams through the house and I take advantage of the remaining shade on the terrace to have breakfast outside before the heat of the day (my pleasure with breakfast in bed). And the family evenings of tarot, belote, qwirkle and so on, which only end when our eyes sting too much.

And then there are all these encounters, these chances with my directors who trust me, my colleagues who simply welcome me, my pupils whom I am not ready to forget. All these people who, without knowing it, have enabled me to move forward, to regain confidence in myself.

I am a lucky person if I look at everything that has happened to me. And this is still true today.