Page 53 - A Life - my Live - my path

School - my youth

this didn't really convince anyone. I still finished primary
with over 70%, because that was an important criterion for
choosing the study section for the lower secondary cycle.

On the other side of the street, opposite the miner’s
community where we lived, there was a café. The men used
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56
to play cards and skittles or boules there. When teams
formed to play skittles, to earn a bit of money, we would go
with other kids to straighten the skittles and throw the balls
back. We got a few francs at the end of each game. The café
also had a TV. The owner, who was very nice, would set up
chairs for about fifteen kids to watch episodes of Rintintin,
cloak-and-dagger films and westerns.
July 1963, the holidays, I was almost 12. I was often in the

street. It was the time of black jackets and a chain around
my neck with a medal bearing the effigy of a star of the time.
I had a little black jacket with fluorescent letters on it, 'Billy'.
It was supposed to sound American. It was the time of
rock'n'roll, but the twist was coming and the Beatles were on
the scene. The first transistors had appeared and we were
listening to "Salut les copains" on Europe 1, a programme by
Daniel Filipacchi. We used to cut out posters from the
magazine "Salut les copains" and our bedrooms were
wallpapered with photos of aspiring stars such as Johnny,
Sylvie, Claude François, Françoise Hardy, les Chats
Sauvages, les Chaussettes Noires and Richard Anthony…

55 A game of skittles and wooden balls which were thrown to knock down the
skittles.
56 Like pétanque, but on a flat, well-marked court.
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