Category Archives: year 1992

Tuesday December 1, Paris           I got an enthusiastic and intriguingly informal reply to my letter from the person in charge of the Association pour l’autobiographie, Chantal Chaveyriat-Dumoulin. She starts by telling me there’s not a single Englishman in the association. What she writes encourages me to get involved with these people and share myContinue reading “December 1992”

Monday November 2, Paris           Went back at long last to writing ‘Nadia Days’ and quickly finished the chapter I’d started. For the first time, I included a complete day’s entry almost verbatim. Thought again about the approach I’ve chosen for the novel which consists of incorporating my journal into what purports to be thatContinue reading “November 1992”

Thursday October 1, Paris           I dropped into Printemps to look for a book by Jean Echenoz called Le Meridien de Greenwich just because it uses a title similar to, (but not as good as) the ‘Mean Time’ I have in mind if ever I get around to writing a novel set in the RoyalContinue reading “October 1992”

Thursday September 3, Paris          My opinion was that Mitterrand’s idea of holding a televised debate on the subject of the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty wouldn’t do him any good at all. I thought it could only damage his image. Since he was playing poker by holding the referendum in the first place, it would’veContinue reading “September 1992”

Thursday August 6, Paris           In the afternoon, I took my mat and my book reviews and walked to the park. There was hardly anyone else there; a few parents with babies and some middle-aged women sunbathing topless. Lay on my mat and tried to think about something else than the narrative I’m writing. IContinue reading “August 1992”

Wednesday July 1, Paris           Went to post the pile of mail I’ve been preparing for the last few days. You don’t queue any more in the post office; you take a numbered ticket, sit down and wait your turn. It was like an airport departure lounge in there; at least thirty people sitting orContinue reading “July 1992”

Thursday June 9, Paris           When I left Emma in her classroom this morning, she clung on to me, saying she wanted to stay with me. I tried to talk her through it, even to reason with her, but she remained firmly attached and uninterested either in her teacher or her classmates. Eventually, her teacherContinue reading “June 1992”

Friday May 1, London           No rain – for a change – but a chilly north-west breeze blowing as Jimmy and I went down by train to Greenwich. We got off at Maze Hill and walked through the park to the Maritime Museum. There were hundreds of schoolchildren milling about on the lawns wearing cardboardContinue reading “May 1992”

Thursday April 2, Paris           France waits for a new Prime Minister. Edith Cresson is assumed to have tendered her resignation but there’s no announcement of her successor. Libération expresses the impatience with the headline: “Et alors ?…” But you can hardly expect a Prime Minister to resign on April Fool’s Day, now can you?Continue reading “April 1992”

Friday March 6, Nice           We drove to Monaco, arrived in pouring rain and did the ‘sights’ – which is the only thing to do in Monaco. It holds no surprises, there is nothing to explore or discover. Nothing is left to chance; everything, right down to the last waste-paper bin has been strategically placedContinue reading “March 1992”

Tuesday February 11, Paris           It is with reduced confidence that I wend my way to the institute in the morning. I walk through the pedestrian precinct of Les Halles, past the Pompidou Centre with its counter ticking down the seconds until the end of the millennium, across the rue de Renard to the caféContinue reading “February 1992”

Thursday January 2, Paris           Le Bourget, grey dawn: factories with saw-tooth roofs and windowless walls all along the track, railway wires, pylons, stationary vehicles. The name ‘BABCOCK’ in man-high letters over the cornice of an ancient stone-and-glass façade. The factory was once someone’s pride and joy. Industrial architects lost sleep and the sympathy ofContinue reading “January 1992”