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In the rue de la Tombe Issoire, there is the Comptoir des Catacombes, where you can quench your thirst on the terrace in the summer or enjoy a good soup indoors, while watching the passers-by pass by in their coats in the winter.

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There is the Cours des Halles  » le Familial  » and its beautiful fruit and vegetable stall.

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There’s Christian, the florist with the beautiful arrangements, where it smells like lilies and roses.

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There is « Rénove et Tradition », the furniture restorer, where it smells like beeswax and the life of another century.

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If we go up the street a little further, going towards the Jardin d’Isoré, where young people have fun sharing a beer, we also pass in front of the Jugurtha, where it smells good the spices and herbs of Kabylia.

And then there’s number 62 Rue de la Tombe Issoire. First pizzeria, then local for sale, the 62 turned into a summer. The decor has changed completely and caught my attention. It was the summer of 2019.

A new logo on the door, a modern, sober and classic front at the same time. A few days later, on my way home from work, I came across a small table, a cactus, a pencil pot and some flyers on the doorstep. It is raining a few drops but the person inside hasn’t felt the need to rush in and tidy everything up. On the flyer, activities are listed: creative writing, singing, guitar, speaking.

The other evenings, on my way home from work, there’s a je ne sais quoi that draws my attention to this shop all dressed in grey. An aesthetic touch, a harmony, in short, the desire to enter itch me.

On Friday evening, back home, a little washed out by a busy week at the professional level, I mechanically grabbed a small flyer placed on the table. Why would I do that? I don’t know, maybe simply because it’s beautiful, soothing, simple, tempting. On the last few meters that separate me from the reunion with my beloved, I get out of the hubbub of the Avenue René Coty, immersing myself in the reading of the flyer.

Atelier 62 invites us to a free creative writing session, just to discover, this Sunday at 4pm.

How am I going to convince Jean-Yves to go and spend two hours at the Atelier instead of the great ride initially planned? In two words: « I feel like … », with the flyer, by making him pass in front of 62 rue de la Tombe Issoire. That’s it, it’s in the pocket and I don’t know why, but I feel very invigorated. It’s like a flashback to my student years. After a serious attraction for the literary, I had ended up branching off into the social…

All is not won, because this Sunday at 3:45 p.m. Jean-Yves is still in the arms of Morpheus, struggling with a recuperative nap. Dilemma…waking him up, abandoning this fleeting idea, out of nowhere? Envy is tenacious, imperious, so much the worse for the warrior’s rest, I go on the attack and succeed in waking him up.

« Darling, it’s time… did you sleep well? » « What? » « You know, l’Atelier, you told me that… »

« Um »-« You know the flyer, maybe it’s worth it?  »  » You know, I feel like…  »  » Ah, ok, here we go, I’m getting up  » A brush on the hair, a splash of water on the face, he’s awake and we’re rushing down the stairs.

Arriving at rue de la Tombe Issoire one or two minutes early, we discover the door of the Workshop ajar. As we enter this unexpected place, we are seized by a good smell of coconut carpet.

My eyes are drawn to an old Remington on a shelf. Around a large table, two people are waiting. Daphne, the founder of the Atelier, the one who teaches creative writing, welcomes us warmly. On the table, a few freshly baked cookies, paper and pencils. It’s off to a good start and the people seem very friendly. We start by playing with our pens to untie the writing and give free rein to our creative hands. Then, for two hours, which we won’t see pass, we will play with words and emotions. I remember that the work week had its share of emotions and I talk about hell, fire, I express the violence felt and it feels good. Here there is no competition, everything resonates right and has its own value. It is as exhilarating to share your writing in front of others as it is to discover and let yourself be carried away by those of others. Our voices, our words resonate in this small haven of peace, in harmony with each other.

Daphne guides us without constraint and we all move forward together. So as you can imagine, there was that Sunday in September and there were many others, always eagerly awaited. Rainy, windy Sundays, departure Sundays in India, where we had come early with our suitcases, but which we wouldn’t have missed for anything in the world. There were Sundays of confined writing, in visio on Skype and it was good to get together and to be able to put down on paper, under Daphne’s guidance, our feelings, our experiences, which were both similar and different at the same time. Daphne took us on a journey through the concepts of writing: the Incipit, the plans, the characters, the polyphonic stories… We described loved photos from our repertoire and unknown photos from Daphne’s repertoire, and we had a lot of fun. We produced narratives, expressed emotions, posed reflections, shared moments of our story, gave flesh to characters, animated colours, gave meaning to insignificant things. We got carried away by our imaginations and let our sensibilities express themselves. This has enriched us, liberated us, made us feel fulfilled. There was one Sunday, two Sundays, Sundays and a whirlwind of pleasure. And here I am at the beginning of the summer, waiting for the start of the new school year with the same impatience that I felt when I was 15 years old.

Par Nathalie

If you want to discover how Jean-Yves experienced this same event: https://nathjy.travel.blog/2020/07/06/my-wife-has-a-new-desire-to-participate-in-a-writing-workshop/

Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)