Page 47 - A Life - my Live - my path

The journey - coal miner’s community

salary rose to 320 Belgian francs a day (€8.00), making a
monthly salary of around 6,300 Belgian francs (€160). The
last salary I remember was 470 Belgian francs a day
(€11.65, or €230 a month).

Life seemed much easier. My grandfather had a few chickens
and rabbits. In the garden, he grew potatoes, lettuce, onions,
beans and other vegetables.
As soon as he arrived in Belgium, my father bought a
bicycle. Then he bought a Gillet-Herstal 500 motorbike, a
big bike with a seat for two people and a fairly long luggage
rack. Several times we rode with 4 people on it, particularly
to go to the cinema in Souvret, a village 3 km from Goutroux.
It was a carefree way of life that made a big change from life

in San Giovanni Lipioni. With this motorbike, my parents
went to visit my aunt and uncle who lived in France, in
Culoz, a village in the Ain department next to Haute-Savoie.
They travelled 1,500 km there and back with newspapers
under their clothes isolate themselves from the wind.
In 1962, when I was 11, my parents bought their first TV.
The technician from the Censini shop in
Marchienne-au-Pont had to come and deliver and install it.
It was an important moment, and the instructions were very
strict. In short, given my young age, I had no say in the
matter. We all got together and the technician arrived with
his big box. He unpacked it, installed the TV and aerial and
made the necessary adjustments for it to work properly.
When he'd finished, he looked at me and asked me to come
and stand next to him. He explained to me how buttons

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