Above the fireplace in our small dining room, hung a gouache painting by Vlaminck, friend of my grand-father. During each meal I was totally absorbed by the romantic depiction of that forest trail covered by snow. In a small red hot painted by the artist, I imagined a child talking towards the horizon.

As a child, during each summer vacation I also enjoyed my own home in the wondefull countryside of Nivernais.

Back at school in Paris during the rest of the year, between classes I would take long walks in the meandering streets of Saint-Germain or along the river banks of the Seine. My love of the streets and the people of Paris was undoubtedly passed on to me by my grand-father as well as his own father, Paul Hugot, dear friend of Caillebote who painted a very elegant full size portrait of him. My ancestor was a true Parisian, who loved to wander its strees, just like a character pulled out of a Proust Novel.

I owe to him my unconditional love for the cobblestone streets, the scenic boulevards and the beauty of the Seine shrouded in the pinkish northern light of Ile de France, viewed from the Passerelle des Arts.

During the war we stayed in the Nivernais region, in the town of Decize, built on a small island of the Loire. It was during that period that I developed my love for nature, rolling meadows, forest and lakes. The Loire and the small brooks that fed it taught me how to perceive the reflection of light, as well as the notion of time passing.

As I grew up, every summer I would go back to the riparian landscapes of the Loire, so dear to the author Maurice Genevoix. The characters in "The Fishing Box" or "Rémi des Rauches" are like friends to me. I feel as if I had been by their side during all these wonderfull years. I have spent a lot of time painting on the sandy river banks, on the edge of a small forest or lake, and nothing has ever given me the same peaceful feeling.