i just arrived at port vendres. or cóte vermeille as locals call it. it's located outside perpignon, close to the spanish border where i have come from this time, and i'm here to see claudio and veronica and stay at their beautiful guesthouse overlooking the litlle harbour.

i met claudio and veronica on my travels on the great donau in 1997. we spent a week on the same yacht, all following in the footsteps of magris and became instant friends with many late nights on the deck. this couple, both have retired from universitylife in paris, have also a beautiful daughter suzanna isabella which i came to know a little later in munich.

because in the beginning of 99 she moved in with me in my apartment. it was perhaps a hasty thing to do but we didn't care. she came to live there with me and to study the cello. it was wonderful to have her around because work was hard and agonizing at that time. the balkan war was still not over and many discussions, flights back and forth to haag and later to brussels took all my attention. i can see that today.

well, a wonderful thing happened one winter when an old familyfriend of ours - the great aldo simoes parisot - was generous enough to give her extensive krzysztof penderecki classes while he worked in munich. i remember her dancing up and down the stairs, running thru all the rooms and around out on the balcony shouting over the plaza. 'la rencontre d'une personne avec une autre est toujours spéciale!

and yes. it really is. and was for a time. well. today suzanna lives in grenoble with tom. we see eachother when i occasionally pass thru town.

ohh yes. my friend leslie vaughan. his father displays aldos paintings in boston. or new haven? i forget this. well. if you happen to go. and so here for two days in the south of france. cheers and salut from lukasz.