Deník z Angoulême - 11.

Tuesday, 21.
Today it's fifty years the Russians occupied us. I wish I were in Prague today.

But since it's impossible, at least I go to enjoy the Comics museum.

Claire's going to take me to the archives!

Calvo - Blutch - Rabaté - Sfar

...and then Chris Ware emerges out of the drawer!!!
Special foil covering the picture.
 

... and at the end, the star of stars, Winsor Mc Cay and his dinosaur Gertie. And comic pages of The Rarebit Fiend and authentic sunday pages with Little Nemo!

I'm afraid not to spit or sputter or something like that...

- Beauty! Splendor! Geniuses! I'll never be so good!
- Jesus, stop it! You should have already overcome this competitive thinking!

Wednesday, 22.
Today it's farewell party with Gabri, who's leaving on Friday.





When I got home, little bit tipsy, it happens what necessarily should happen once...

Instead of toothpaste I grab the cleansing milk which has almost the same tube...


But it doesn't taste so bad, after all...

Deník z Angoulême - 10.

Sunday, 19.
I'm going to the City Museum next to the cathedral again.

On the leeward side the little heads on the consoles are preserved.

On the windward side the ravages of time had grinded them.

Angoulême around 1880. Painted by Gaston Boucard, by postcard. (1927)


Why I am so fascinated by the past?


I think Gaston was...

... also a lot...

... nostalgic.

Monday, 20.



















- I think it holds tight...







It seemed to be so giant until we hanged it on our house.

Deník z Angoulême - 9.

In the evening, I go to visit a nice family of C.
- ...quarters you shouldn't go to after the dusk? He was likely to mean XXX or XXX? I used to teach there!

- It's been a lot exagerrated! Ordinary people live there, who have ordinary problems like us...

 - I worked a lot with problematic children. One boy was shot here...

- ...and here.

 - It was supposed to be a warning not to poke his nose into someone's business...

I'm showing C. old pictures from my workshop I had in Angoulême with her students long time ago.
- This boy was such an individualist, talented one, do you remember him?
- Oh yes, Amir! He was fine. But then, he stuck too much to the faith and started misbehave to the women...

- After all, I'm glad I'm here after the dusk...
Again, I was treated with hospitality and now I use them for my diary. But I can't skip everybody and write only about myself!

Friday, 17.8.

There is a mini-shampoo, a mini-shower gel and a mini-soap in the cabinet in the bathroom.They are from the Hilton hotel...

Because Gabri arrived  yesterday from Spain, but in Bordeaux he missed a bus. The only free hotel was...

I like whan somebody is fearless like this. At his age I would go sleep to the rail station...

Saturday, 18.8.
I found a new place for exercise, on a hillside below the ramparts.

I don't have to go down to the river. Long time ago, not far from here used to live a saint man Cybard, the patron of Angoulême...

 For fourty four years he slept in a little cave on a coarse mat, only a stone under his head.
He was contemplating, doing miracles, speaking with animals.

Frederik goes by.
- How come you woke up so early?
- I've seen a kingfisher at the river again!
I would like to get back to the hermit Cybard once more.

I'm going to see Frederik at his studio.
He's drawing at the inclined desk. I should try it.

He likes birds.

He's working on his album about invented prehistory. It's poetic - fun - interesting.

He uses acrylics. The colors are dense, full, than they are transparent, in soft layers. I would like to try it too.

An improvised farewell party  for Noemi, who's leaving after tomorrow. A bit aside is a crazy woman dancing to her mobile phone.

- And you prefer English or French? Mluvíš radši anglicky nebo francouzsky?
- English. Anglicky.
- I'm from Slovakia. Já jsem ze Slovenska.
- What?! You are a Slovakian?!

It seems everybody´s partying, gathering, drinking, eating all the time... it´s a bit too much for me...

Deník z Angoulême - 8.

Wednesday, 15.
- I'm getting a delay with the diary. Now it's Saturday, and the Wednesday is still not ready. And, on top of that, I don't even remember what I was doing on Wednesday.
- Probably nothing much, I was likely to draw the diary; So I'm making a nice circle then: diary about how I'm drawing a diary...
- I wanted just to draw some notes on what's going on by the way, but it griped me and I like it more and more, so when I draw one, two pages a day, there is no more time left.
- I'd better skip to another day!

Thursday, 16.
I'm climbing up to the attic of our house and it reminds me The Sleeping Beauty. In fairy tales, the most magical things are often happening  high in the tower.

I'm going to see Nina to tell my fortune from coffee.
- Yes, it's an old Balcan tradition!

- No sugar, no milk...
- No stirring!

- Let's see...

- I see a bird here, that's good... New thoughts, new things...

- In two days, ot two weeks, an important message will come... but be aware of some hook in it!

- Mmm... this looks like a tree... it's something that needs time, it grows slowly, you can't push it...

- Here is a dragon! To fight the dragon, it's not an easy thing, but the hero usually wins!

- ...and here we have a dog. A guide of a human soul, helpful element...

- This looks like a road. Some man with a backpack and a woman with a backpack. The letter "J"...

Deník z Angoulême - 7.

Tuesday
I'm going to visit Lída, who married into Angoulême long time ago.
- You didn't have to, Lucy! I've bought one just today, you know, Jean-Paul wouldn't buy me flowers!

- Jean-Paul is here, he'll take you over there to have aperitif.
- Shouldn't I better help you?
- Just go, he will explain you everything!

Now i'm already retired, but I used to be...and even now...Do you have a card, too?

France is dead. You understand? Culture - end!

- The taxes are so high that people don't want to work!  I worked hard for my whole life, and now I should feed them?

- We have quarters here, where even the police don't dare to enter after the dusk. No way, France doesn't exist any more!

- So, now we can go to the table.
- Clink, clink!

- Take some more beans, Lucy!
- Macron? Bah! There's absolutely nothing the  parliament can do!
-And which French president was the best, according to you?

- The last good president was de Gaulle. Since then - nothing!

- Wow! They have even this cutlery mat! We had this at home but we never used it...

- Lída told me how you met long time ago in Prague... It must have been so romantic, right?

- We arrived with a friend of mine to check how the socialism looked like. He was socialist, year 68, you understand, not me. When he saw it, he agreed I was right, it didn't work.
- This is my best!
- Thank you!

- Well, I'm going to the meeting now...
- Oh just go, please...

- You've got such a beautiful garden!
- Oh come on, it all have withered...







- And you, what are you going to do today?
- Probably draw something... but after all the wine I hardly do something.

- We'll go out together!
- Shouldn't I give you more pie? Don't you want something? Meat? Cheese?

- ...we had champagne and then Bordeaux, year 2007...
- Podívej se na ní! How her eyes are shining!
- To je roztomilý!

Deník z Angoulême - 6.

(Minule, v neděli 12, září vyrazila naše hrdinka  na výlet na zámek, sledujme její další dobrodružství:
Last time, on Sunday, the 12-th of August, our heroine set out for a trip to a castle, let's follow her adventure:)

On the map, it looked like an ideal place for a short break.

But when I see it, I don't want to have a swim anymore.
RNNN (highway)
PADDLING
NON-SWIMMERS
SWIMMERS
NOBODY!

After next 8 kilometres...

One can go only to the courtyard, the castle is closed. Just the windows are open.


So I go again...

I'm out of water, so I asked some good lady.
- Take!
- I thought just tap water,  to fill my bottle...
- Take it! It's well chilled!
Then another good lady gave me a ride as I decided to hitch-hike. The first car I waved at.
- Thanks a lot!
- Moc děkuju!

Monday, 13.
This is Mr. Jones, the character of Franco Matticchio. It's beautiful, poetic, lot of ideas, fun, boundless fantasy, joy. If I were a publisher, I would publish it.




Going to the library here is a big pleasure, I would just need better French.


Nothing special today, I'm in the studio until late at night,...
...where Noemi pays me a visit...
- In Lebanon everybody speaks English, French and Arabic.

...and Rojer, both from Lebanon.
- ...byla šílená!




Pokračování již brzy!
New episodes coming soon!

Deník z Angoulême - 5.

Saturday, 11.
Time to go to the market...
- What kind of animal beings are they?
- Sole - sea tongue in Czech...from the order of flatfish...synaptura lusitanica lusitanica... Raie = ray

- How to prepare it?
- First, you have to xxxxxxxxxx and xxxxxx, and then xxxxxxxxxxxxx!

So I rather took a piece of filet, after long studies...

With Matylde, we are cleaning the whole apartement... We whooped it so much we stopped not closer than on the sidewalk...

- The Indian from Kashmir observes it and he must think I belong to the lowest caste...

Tony celebrates his birthday.

Sunday, 12.
- It's a bit odd to post on one's blog fresh daily reports. Real situations with real people... when I know they could read it right now...

- It's different than just write a diary for myself and show it to somebody from time to time. It's kind of mediated communication with the characters of that diary...

- First of all, no self-censorship!

- Yes, that's exactly what I need.

- Do you need something?
- No, thanks. I'm just looking at the trees, how they are beautiful.

- Well, there is a whole alley of those plane trees... and where are you heading to?

- I'm going to Balzac, there is supposed to be a castle...
- It's quite far by foot.

- I know, I wanted to take a bicycle, but I haven't found a bike rental in Angoulême...

- I have one home at the basement, I could lend it to you. What about tomorrow?
- It would be nice.

You've almost believed me, right? At least you can see what a tricky thing is this diary. One can easily get carried away. Nothing happened exactly how it looks here. I have to translate the reality all the time. So - it was like this:

- Well, there is a whole alley of those plane trees...
- Oh, I see. So goodbye!
- Goodbye!

You know what I mean? This diary as any other book is like an open letter to the reader. But that's not the end, because the reader could react. If I go to extremes, I give hashtags to this post like #Angoulême, # bicycle, #trip, #Charente, this man purely by accident finds it and then he would come to borrow me the bike. Another thing is, if I wanted it, but for the diary, for the diary it would be a great thing!

Deník z Angoulême - 4.

Wednesday,8.
It got cooler! Clouds, little bit of rain, balmy, splendid!
I go to the comics museum. There is an exhibition on René Goscinny and Arabian comics. But also the permanent exhibion keeps changing regularly.

In a big exhibition space at each period there is a "nest"  with comic books to browse.
I am always enchanted by the oldest ones, mostly...













Then, I sit outside and "inconspicuously" take pictures of a guy practising his monocycle.


Thursday,9.
Early in the morning I had a vivid, dramatic dream and it seemed to me it is an excellent idea for a story, good plot, interesting arrangement of characters. It persisted even when I woke up.

- A marvelous idea came in my dream! Now I know what I'll be working on!
- Fakt, jo?


But...

- Let me guess: you must be the salami skin?
- Go fuck yourself, little spill!


 Lunch with Thierry and Fanny.
- You could post your diary regularly on your blog...
- That's exactly what I told him, too!

- ...and then, if it's successful, you could publish it as a book...

10., Friday
We're going to see the new library behind the railway station.
It looks like a messy heap of binders, it's nice inside, imposing building.
From the terrace we have a panoramic view of the town. There is an exhibition Thierry was working on.
- "...On finishing a book, I should be different from the person I was when I started out..." (Alfred)
Exactly!

Deník z Angoulême - 3.

- The houses here are so close to each other! If I knew it I could spit there! If I left the window open and so did they, would they hear my snoring? In case I snored...





Let's see what I will hear...
At twelve Kashmir is closing and the guests are leaving.
At two the restaurants nearby are closing.
Then I sleep.
At six the dustmen are used to arrive.

Monday, 6.
I was doing my exercise on the edge of the island, on my old place at the floodgate.






It looks there will be no apple pie...


Mat and Gabri are having the series Office for a lunch again. It nicely reminds me Bety.









G. is leaving for one week tomorrow.

Tuesday, 7.
In the morning, with Brigitte we are solving the problems of my computer. The tablet and the Photoshop don't work properly. We don't know what to do.
On the computer next to me works everything well. So now I've got two computers. The conditions are perfect, so now, what for?

Hopefully, it's getting cold. The horizon is misty.

 At the early evening we go with Mat, Nina and cidre down to the river.


- Koukejte, bobr!
- To je taaaková krása!
- Au!
- Jsi v pořádku?


On the island, there is so much rubbish and shards of glass.

Mat showed us a swimming bay, where I haven't been yet.






Late at night I watch in the studio episode 3 and 4 of the series Castle Rock...
- The houses here are so close to each other! If I knew it I could spit there! If I left the window open and so did they, would they hear my snoring? In case I snored...

Deník z Angoulême - 2.

Friday, 3.
In the morning, I go for taichi to the island like then. I take the path to the end.
- It's like in a jungle here! Bamboo! And a palm tree over there!

There's a ruin of some factory...

The water seems to be clean, I'll take a bath here some day.







Maybe I could make an apple pie ...

I had a lunch at that Indian place, so I've got their password!
- What's the password, please?

But the wifi is so weak that I have almost to fall out of the window to download my mails.
So I am solving the dilemma wheather to stay at home, where it is more cosy and I can easily combine work and laziness, or in the studio, where it looks like in the night now, since we have to close all the shutters to prevent the heat, but there is good internet connection. So I'm running here and there several times a day, it's not a big problem cause it's like 3 minutes, stairs and elevator included.

Saturday, 4.
After the lunch I fall into a slobbery nap and then I was even more tired.
The heat chased me into a Museum where was - as I smartly anticipated - the air condition.

Sunday, 5.
Place du minage, late morning. It' pleasant to be in the shadow at the fountain, for the first time I enjoy drawing outside in the town. Pigeons guard on the roofs around and they take turns flying to the fountain - bar.
It's an oasis for everyone.















The sun moved and it starts roasting me. It must be already like 30° now. I'm getting weary of the hot, I can't even make a big nice trip like this.

Angoulême znova - 1

Až do konce srpna jsem zas v Angoulême v Maison des auteurs, na residenčním pobytu. Pod štítkem Angoulême najdete zápisky, co jsem si tu psala před osmi lety. Na tomhle odkazu je první z nich. Tentokrát sem budu asi spíš vkládat stránky komiksového deníku, co si tu vedu.
Vítejte v Nové Aqitanii, ve starodávném městě na řece Charente.

August 2018
Angoulême! 
This is how the French countryside looks like from the TGV windows. But then, I get out of the train and the smells and scents are here again and those old houses and I am happy to be here again. For the whole month, in the residency of Maison des auteurs.

Wednesday, 1.
In terrible heat I am happily climbing the hill up from the rail station to Maison des auteurs - House of authors. I have been here - how many? I am counting the years all the time - eight years ago, when I was drawing Les Sauvages. I worked really hard then.
- french tree
- french railing
I don't have to this time. But I would like to, anyway. I'm just not sure what to do exactly...
Two days ago I finished a big work for TV, so I have time to do "something personal", finally.
I just have to watch out so that this emptiness, this promising free time for creativity wouldn't be overwhelmed by the infamous horor vacui.

Mathilde and Gabriel, my room-mates, are waiting for me at the Maison.

We are greeting with Pili. Since last time she's got fantastic hair. (I mean, she had nice hairstyle, eight years ago she got hair too...)



The staircase like in some castle. Room-mates are so nice, they help me with my suitcases.

They even cooked the dinner.
He's of the age of Bety, she's like Martin. They live in Brussels, he' going there soon.







Later we go out for a drink, with Nina too, we know each other from Norway.

Thursday, 2.
The air is shivering with the heat outside. The sound of French chattering  and calming clinking of cutlery is wafting from the restaurant Jardin de Kashmir. I'll go there for a lunch, at least to get the password for wifi. Then I could catch it across the street.
- My empty half of the bookcase



I switch on my little radio I've brought.
- ... deep in the sky! Your light sees far... You travel around the wide world... (lyrics from Dvorak's opera Rusalka)
- Mooooon, stand stiiiill a while and tell me where is my dear!

I got a place in a studio in the 3rd floor. But I'm alone here. M+G are next.
I wonder what am I going to do here... What do I have in one month...


Pokračování již brzy!  New pages coming soon!