Winter 1966, Hastière
56
Letter from Claude to his parents, November 1965
Hasterie by beyond
...Here everything is going well, after our weekend in Brussels that delighted us and the children. L-Atomium, Waterloo, and the Manneken Pis who had just been kidnapped. (Tandrea t-said that we were caught in the lens of TV?) Everything was very successful.
...I am at this moment in my psychological studies which are very interesting – but as I am a little rusty, it makes me feel bad. Children start counting on the days that separate them from the Saint Nicholas, since the traditional feast of gifts will be for us the Belgian tradition. Children are nice and I care a lot about them. J-Learning to Christophe – because his class is very serious... and I see that it is flourishing Christophe.
Frédéric is not a school problem anymore. I said that before All Saints I was seeing his teacher, an intelligent and fine man – which I find very good since he only said nice things about Frédéric (that he was a "subtle" and particularly gifted child). There was also a meeting of parents of the student and we could see that the faculty team was young and dynamic. Now Frédéric follows his class very well, he is at the top of the class and interested in what he does. The house in the trees being a little fresh at this season.. and Charles
(a friend of the Hastière family with whom the children had built a cabin in a garden apple tree) There are also fewer outside temptations to visit.
Martin is gaining weight and I'm glad to find him less gringal.
But our rest is always Renaud: always the smile and the malice. Babies up to 1 year if they don't give any health care are a real pleasure to raise. But I think that with this naughty we will find the teeth. I hope it will be liquidated when we go to Switzerland
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Letter from Frédéric to Granie
Hastière on 22/12/65
My dear Granie.
Your magnet is very interesting, we make some great games with Christophe, this game is not broken at all, even if it was used for the demonstration. The Meuse flooded the road that runs along to Dinant. We prepare a piece at the Patro which is a little baby. Winter starts to make itself felt and only the fir trees keep their green adornment, the sun has almost disappeared, and I hope we will move on to the side of the coast d'Azur. I hung on my ceiling 5 models, but soon there will be 7. We will leave to winter sports tomorrow and we are already preparing the luggage. Christophe also writes letters but much less. I kiss very hard. GOOD ANNEEFréder Cordelle
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Letter from Frédéric to Fanny,
Verbier on 24/12/65
...The paper basket ms was a great pleasure, because I had one but, it didn't have a picture and was less beautiful, so we gave it to Christophe and Martin. I am in Verbier as you see it and I do skiing differently than Mom. The ski lifts are much softer and it prevents me from meeting at 1 m above the ground as in Vars. At Hastiere it snowed twice but not as much as here where there is 1 m of snow. Yesterday it was the next morning that we had a trial for being put in a blue zone. Papaa said, "How did we come yesterday at 11:00, and the next day you're drawing up a report?" The policeman said that it was going and that we shouldn't have to go into a blue zone. I did my first ski lesson today and I'm starting to remember everything I've learned in Sauze and Vars. Dad was in 2 ski lifts today.
I return on 5 January and return to school on 6th. The master had asked to review the Latin for 1 or 2 days before the start of the school year, but I was in a hurry.nd
- I'm in class.
Letter from Claude to his parents, circa March 1966
Hasterie by beyond
...I'm having a hard time getting through my books so interesting..I'll send them back to you at the beginning of next week – so that Papy won't be reminded of the order by the library. I got to do in 2 years a year from my school by mail. I'm not in a hurry and do not want to be pushed.
...This said I am very busy with my house, the kitchen, the broom, the garden, the lessons and duties of Christophe and Martin. Did I say that I had to turn the vegetable garden into a grass because I had no time to mutter with fun and relaxation at the gardening. I have not been walking Renaud for 1 week.nd Our baby never cry, he stays in his park or swings in his relaxing chair.
Yesterday we saw Yves talking for 5 minutes. The next part of the show will be on the channel "Champagne-Ardenne" He looked like a young first. We went to the Lisons to see this show.
.... Wednesday I was bridged to Givet with these ladies of the factories. We're in "the silk", "Trefimiteaux", "Forges", there is a pretty friendly environment, and next Wednesday I'm invited to another bridge. These ladies bridge every Wednesday, I think to avoid simmering.
I go back to the market of Givet.. and am surprised to hear foreign speaking about half of the population. It is a small cosmopolitan city as are the workers' cities.
Martin has an angina right now. J-en takes advantage of it to make him read, he starts to start.
Frédéric always works a lot, no grace. We must have these schoolchildren not failing, we ask them to finish and do well. And we are happy to have put Frédéric in Dinan.
For the moment Frédéric and Christophe are reassuring a dramatic performance that they give with the Patro. Usually these events are not very fun.
I did a horse again with Marie-Agnès and a great dream hike with Yves in the big forest (we saw deer, lakes and a whole vegetation ready to burst).