Johnny Hallyday

The désespérée is now Désespérée. It was her idea after she discovered that's how I think of her. Far from being angered by my less-than-flattering characterization of her, she was quite taken with the description; enough to adopt it as her new prénom.

Il y a des Aimées, des Désirées. Pourquoi pas une Désespérée ?

What pleased her far less than her new name was the fact that I had to take time out from my day to actually work. People don't realize how much work is involved in just being me. Add to this the effort required to put words to paper--forgive the anachronism--and it can be an all-consuming task to make it through the day.

She was very keen to talk politics, which encouraged me until I understood that meant an endless discussion--monologue, actually--on Johnny Hallyday and how she saw his new relationship with la Suisse as being the loss of innocence for la France. Getting an explanation of this view from her would have been like getting General Ripper to explain his Purity of Essence credo. I simply nodded sagely, which she appreciated to such a degree that she immediately led us back to the sleeping area of my (junior) suite.