7\u00a0h\u00a032 au caf\u00e9 du village
\nComme vous le savez, il m\u2019arrive bien souvent d\u2019\u00e9crire une lettre au caf\u00e9 du village. \u00c0 force d\u2019\u00eatre l\u00e0 depuis bient\u00f4t un an, je suis devenue une habitu\u00e9e de l\u2019endroit, tout comme la copine Claudette qui arrive chaque matin avec ses stylos et ses multiples carnets lign\u00e9s \u00e0 spirale. Elle a sensiblement mon \u00e2ge, je suppose, et une longue queue de cheval \u00e9paisse et tr\u00e8s blanche. Comme nous arrivons tr\u00e8s t\u00f4t, elle et moi, nous avons le loisir de toujours choisir les deux meilleures tables qui s\u2019av\u00e8rent l\u2019une \u00e0 c\u00f4t\u00e9 de l\u2019autre.<\/p>\n
Toutes deux nous avons un certain empressement \u00e0 traduire sur la page ce qui mijote dans nos t\u00eates. Claudette noircit ses lignes \u00e0 la main et moi je pianote sur l\u2019iPad. Telles des moniales copistes des temps anciens, nous travaillons en silence la plupart du temps. Nous buvons quelques caf\u00e9s chaque matin sans vraiment converser.<\/p>\n
Et voil\u00e0 qu\u2019\u00e0 la longue, je deviens curieuse de ce qu\u2019\u00e9crit cette \u00e9trange femme silencieuse. Outre son sourire b\u00e9at et son calme majestueux, qui est-elle vraiment? Tous ces feuillets grouillants de myst\u00e8re qu\u2019elle retouche sans cesse ne peuvent \u00eatre un roman. Zieutant de loin, j\u2019ai plut\u00f4t l\u2019impression qu\u2019il s\u2019agit d\u2019un plan d\u2019affaires; d\u2019une \u00e9bauche sans cesse retravaill\u00e9e d\u2019un quelconque projet grandiose.<\/p>\n
Claudette lib\u00e8re toujours sa table \u00e0 la m\u00eame heure et son d\u00e9part attise ma curiosit\u00e9. N\u2019est-elle pas \u00e0 la retraite? O\u00f9 va-t-elle donc? Les jours passent et P\u00e2ques s'installe dans le caf\u00e9 soudainement inond\u00e9 de gros \u0153ufs en chocolat, de lapins, de canards, de poussins multicolores et de figurines de tout acabit.<\/p>\n
En arrivant ensemble devant l\u2019\u00e9talage de chocolats, Claudette et moi pouffons de rire comme de jeunes \u00e9coli\u00e8res en vacances. Nous rejoignons nos tables et commen\u00e7ons \u00e0 jaser. La fine glace printani\u00e8re est cass\u00e9e. Enfin, nous nous parlons.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0 Tu sais, madame Cora, je fais moi-m\u00eame un excellent chocolat maison. Quelques fois, je le truffe de ganache et c\u2019est encore plus d\u00e9licieux.
\n\u2014\u00a0 Ah bon, vous \u00eates une cuisini\u00e8re?
\n\u2014\u00a0 Non, je ne le suis pas. Je suis une musicienne de carri\u00e8re.
\n\u2014\u00a0 Et vous connaissez mon nom?
\n\u2014\u00a0 Tout le monde vous connait; surtout comme \u00ab\u00a0la dame qui \u00e9crit\u00a0\u00bb. Et moi, c\u2019est Claudette.
\n\u2014\u00a0 Enchant\u00e9e, ch\u00e8re Claudette. Sachez que vous m\u2019intriguez avec votre \u00e9criture \u00e0 la main qui me semble de la plus haute importance.
\n\u2014\u00a0 Effectivement, j\u2019\u00e9labore un projet qui me tient \u00e0 c\u0153ur. Et maintenant, sur le tard, je veux \u00e0 tout prix le r\u00e9aliser.
\n\u2014\u00a0 Puis-je vous demander de quoi il s\u2019agit?
\n\u2014\u00a0 J\u2019ai finalement vendu ma derni\u00e8re demeure et je veux maintenant en acheter une plus grande que je voudrais convertir en genre de commune o\u00f9 moi-m\u00eame et quelques cinq ou six personnes \u00e2g\u00e9es pourrions vivre ensemble.
\n\u2014\u00a0 Ah bon, je comprends. Vous \u00eates en train de r\u00e9diger votre plan d\u2019affaires et c\u2019est ce que je vous vois faire chaque matin?
\n\u2014\u00a0 Exact. Je suis une artiste musicienne, mais j\u2019ai les deux pieds bien ancr\u00e9s dans la r\u00e9alit\u00e9. En planifiant la vente de ma maison, je me pr\u00e9parais \u00e0 d\u00e9m\u00e9nager dans un tr\u00e8s grand \u00e9difice o\u00f9 je serais aux petits oiseaux, comme on dit par ici.
\n\u2014\u00a0 Et alors?
\n\u2014\u00a0 J\u2019y suis depuis six longs mois et j\u2019ai la nostalgie d\u2019une vraie maison. J\u2019ai donc d\u00e9cid\u00e9 d\u2019utiliser tout mon p\u00e9cule pour am\u00e9liorer ma situation et celle de quelques comparses qui accepteraient que nous vivions ensemble.
\n\u2014\u00a0 Wow! Vous n\u2019avez pas les deux pieds dans la m\u00eame bottine. Je vous vois \u00e9crire, rayer et r\u00e9\u00e9crire depuis plusieurs mois. Vous tenez beaucoup \u00e0 ce projet, mais est-ce r\u00e9alisable? Qui serait en charge?
\n\u2014\u00a0 Chacune d\u2019entre nous fournirait \u00e0 \u00e9galit\u00e9 l\u2019argent n\u00e9cessaire \u00e0 acheter une maison propice \u00e0 loger cinq ou six personnes de 65\u00a0ans et plus. Chacune d\u2019entre nous aurait sa chambre et contribuerait au train-train quotidien ainsi qu\u2019aux frais aff\u00e9rents. Au besoin, nous pourrions structurer un comit\u00e9 et nous entendre sur une proc\u00e9dure d\u00e9cisionnelle.
\n\u2014\u00a0 Vous m\u2019impressionnez, ch\u00e8re Claudette. Ai-je votre permission pour demander \u00e0 mes lectrices et lecteurs ce qu\u2019ils en pensent? Question de savoir si le projet est viable selon eux.<\/p>\n
Cora
\n\u2764<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
7\u00a0h\u00a032 au caf\u00e9 du village Comme vous le savez, il m\u2019arrive bien […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":414,"featured_media":21061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lettre-mme-cora"],"acf":{"img_en":"","contenu_en":"7:32 a.m. at the coffee shop\r\nAs you know, I almost always write my Sunday letters at the coffee shop in my village. After sitting there every morning for nearly a year, I have become a regular, like my friend Claudette, who walks in every morning with her pens and multiple spiral notebooks. She\u2019s about my age I guess, and wears her hair in a thick, long white ponytail. We both arrive very early and get first pick of the best tables in the shop, which happen to be next to each other.\r\n\r\nWe both feel a sense of urgency to commit to paper everything that is percolating in our minds. Claudette likes to do her writing by hand while I hammer on my iPad. Just like copying nuns from years ago, we work in silence most of the time. We drink a few coffees each morning; we sit at adjacent tables, without ever engaging in a proper conversation.\r\n\r\nAnd so after a while, I become curious to know what this strange, silent woman is writing about. Aside from her blissful smile and majestic sense of calmness, who is she really? All the mysterious notepads she is endlessly tweaking can only be a novel. Glimpsing at her papers from a distance, I rather get the impression that it\u2019s a business plan \u2013 the draft of a grandiose project she is constantly fine-tuning.\r\n\r\nClaudette always leaves her table at the same time and her departure makes me even more curious. Isn\u2019t she retired? Where does she go? The days pass and Easter has taken over the coffee shop, which is suddenly crumbling under huge chocolate eggs, rabbits, ducks, multicoloured chicks and chocolate figurines of all kinds.\r\n\r\nAs we make our way together towards the chocolate display, Claudette and I start giggling like school girls on vacation. We go back to our tables and strike up a conversation. The thin spring ice has broken, and finally, we are having a proper conversation.\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cYou know, Madame Cora, I make excellent chocolate myself. I sometimes stuff it with ganache and it\u2019s even more delicious.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cOh, really. Are you a cook?\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cNo, I\u2019m a professional musician.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cAnd you know my name?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cEveryone knows who you are. You\u2019re \u2018the lady who writes.\u2019 I\u2019m Claudette.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cDelighted to meet you, dear Claudette. I must tell you, I am very intrigued by what your writing, it seems to be very important.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cYou are quite correct. I\u2019m working on a project that is very dear to me. I\u2019m getting on in years and I absolutely want to make it come true.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cMay I ask you what it\u2019s about?\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cI finally sold my last house, and now I want to buy an even bigger one that I will transform into a type of commune where I and five or six elderly people can live together.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cOh, I see. And you\u2019re writing your business plan. Is that what I see you working on every morning?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cExactly. I\u2019m an artist and a musician, but I have both feet firmly planted on the ground. When I was planning the sale of my house, I was preparing to move into a big building where I was going to be very happy.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cWell?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cI have been there for six long months and I miss the feeling of a real home. So I decided to use all my savings to create a better situation for myself and a few other people who would agree to live together.\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cWow! You have so much passion and drive! I have watched you write, cross out and start again for several months now. This project clearly means a lot to you, but is it feasible? Who would be in charge?\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cEach one of us would contribute an equal amount of money required to buy a house big enough to lodge five or six people, 65 and older. We would each have our own room and would pitch in to do everyday chores and cover common costs. If needed, we could put together a committee and agree on a decision-making procedure.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cYou impress me, dear Claudette. Do I have your permission to ask my readers what they think about this idea of yours? Just to get their impression on whether or not this project could work in their opinion.\u201d\r\n\r\nCora\r\n\u2764"},"yoast_head":"\n