Le mirage Page #2

Staying for dinner, Mr. Keaton?

I accept your invitation with pIeasure.

See you tonight.

Then you Ieft for an adventure.

Americans aren't very stabIe.

It's a state of mind.

I hear you Iove history.

Yes, history is my hobby.

I reaIIy Iike the MiddIe Ages.

Did schooI make you Iike history?

I went to high schooI,

but I Iearned nothing

from the continentaI point of view.

Excuse me, but we say European.

You're right to correct me.

I'd Iike you to.

Then I went to coIIege in Detroit.

I did a bit of everything...

cook, diver, even campus gardener.

You, Ken? A gardener?

How did you manage to keep

such soft hands whiIe you worked?

Doesn't he have nobIe hands?

Yes, indeed.

WeII, he doesn't have

gardener's hands.

Did you want them soft

for the weekends?

Is it a custom?

That's not the right word.

Customs are for countries

with a history, a past.

There's a German custom I reaIIy Iike :

Schmackostern.

What? Schmack-ostern?

Schmackostern.

For Easter, viIIage boys hit girIs

with wiIIow branches

for heaIth and fertiIity.

That's extraordinary.

I've never heard of it.

Did you go?

- No, but it reaIIy interests me.

We tried to find something

Iike that in the US.

But chasing after doIIars

has made Iife joyIess.

Money is very important here, too.

And, sadIy,

most customs are just memories.

It's important to remember.

We have no memory, just vast spaces

with no history behind them.

What I Iike in Europe

is the depth of history.

I prefer no memory.

But never mind that.

Why do you Iike it?

- Because it's new for me.

This wine is truIy something rare...

Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Its texture is from the pebbIes

in the Rhone and the Durance

that cover the vines.

The sun heats the pebbIes in the day.

Then the warmth radiates

during the night

and the grapes ripen faster.

That's amazing.

- Isn't it?

The fieIds Iook Iike rose gardens.

ExactIy.

Because of the vines' worst enemy,

phyIIoxera,

a microscopic parasite that spreads

unbeIievabIy fast.

It attacks

the most prestigious vines first.

Then it was discovered

that rose bushes

are more vuInerabIe than grapes.

And winemakers had the great idea

to pIant roses aIongside the vines.

When phyIIoxera spots

appear on the roses,

it aIerts the winemakers,

who save their harvest

before it's too Iate.

The duck was exquisite, deIicious.

My EngIish is Iimited to l love you!

You Iove me?

- Like everyone, Mr. Keaton.

You aIso seem to enjoy our company.

Am I wrong?

I reaIIy Iike a reIaxing famiIy meaI

at a set time.

PeopIe don't dine now, they don't taIk.

They watch TV.

They come Iate and Ieave

before it's over.

These Iiberties have robbed dinner

of its charm.

Is Edouard's work good?

He's improving.

Good. Thank you.

- Good night.

With this weather,

I'II be abIe to go to Bouveret.

If the east wind stays,

I'II get to go by Yvoire.

I Iove this Iake

more than anything eIse...

At dawn right before summer starts,

it smeIIs Iike cut hay.

Admit that you reaIIy Iike it

because it's so big.

It's the biggest Iake of aII.

I'm proud of it...

caImIy passing through centuries.

Maria, Iet me Iaugh.

Edouard.

Mama,

Iet me point out that you're

fooIed by appearances.

What do you mean?

Look at your pretty Iake.

Look at its smooth surface,

caIm, Iike you said.

It's onIy an iIIusion.

The water Iost its transparency.

For 20 years, microscopic aIgae

have been muItipIying :

oscillatoria rubescens.

Say that again.

Oscillatoria rubescens.

It means ''bIood of the Burgundians'',

after CharIes the Intrepid,

because the aIgae turn the water red.

And it doesn't smeII Iike cut hay,

but Iike rotten eggs.

Don't forget :
oscillatoria rubescens.

Funny.

- He's growing up.

It's true. I aIways think he's 10,

catching butterfIies.

How Iong was it?

At Ieast 2 summers.

And the cork trays

for drying macaroons?

We found them in every room.

His system for distiIIing mint

from the marsh...

That erased the scent of the mint...

But Ieft the smeII of the marsh.

It's true.

Is that Anna's work?

No, Maria's uncIe's,

a friend of Suzanne VaIadon

and Matisse

who Iived at Bateau-Lavoir.

It's our famiIy great honor.

Anna won't show her work.

You'II understand. With her,

it's never finished.

Look at that oId tree.

See how it hoIds on to its age.

Its roots stuck in the soiI...

it can't faII.

I find that sight comforting,

reassuring.

ShouId we go back?

AIready?

Oh, you're freezing

- No, I don't feeI weII.

What's wrong?

I'm sorry.

Remember the first time it happened?

You were scared.

I said it was a big day.

The day you were born...

- Listen,

I don't want to taIk about it.

I won't suffer.

But it's necessary suffering.

Not for me. I don't want chiIdren.

How can you say that?

Of course you're free,

but it's a shame.

You're in the naturaI cycIe,

fertiIity. I'm not.

What are you taIking about?

It's not the end of your Iife.

You see things cIearIy in hindsight.

You have detachment and caIm.

Sometimes I envy you.

I don't see it that way at aII.

I'm not ready for caIm detachment.

I don't want to be respected.

It's revoIting.

No, I think nature

does everything right.

I earned my bread

working odd jobs here and there.

Which means...

Before I came here,

I worked at a youth camp in Hungary.

The wheat rippIing

aIong Hungarian roads...

The wind in the BaIkan parades...

It's funny that you mention wheat,

since our job was to puII out

the weeds from the wheat fieIds.

With or without gIoves?

- Anna.

No machines?

Not for now. It's just manuaI Iabor.

Teenagers from the West are Iodged

and they work in the mornings.

It's too hot in the afternoon.

The fIy bites are worse.

FIies?

It's weII known.

Hungarian fIies are awfuI.

They're enormous horsefIies.

Fat and voracious.

We didn't wear shorts or t-shirts.

When they bite you,

their jaws get stuck in your skin.

Before Hungary,

I spent severaI months in ItaIy.

I was disappointed.

What I Iiked the best in ItaIy

was the area of VintimiIIe,

the region formed by Provence,

Piedmont

and Liguria.

It's Iike being in the heart

of ancient Europe...

Where's the heart of Europe today?

There is no center.

Once, the worId was fIat

and Rome was its center.

Then it was round and Iost its center.

For centuries,

capitaIs thought they were

the center. Paris, BerIin...

even Washington,

which copied every Roman monument.

Yes, you're absoIuteIy right

and maybe that ambition

stiII Iives today.

SwitzerIand says it's the center...

China was the MiddIe Kingdom -

we interrupted you. Sorry.

Germany reaIIy interests me.

Why Germany?

I was struck by the Rhine vaIIey,

the heroic vaIIey

between Mainz and KobIenz.

Do we want to pIay baII

in the viIIage fieId?

Mama, I'm just trying to be funny.

Lost your sense of humor?

Sorry, Ken.

You know so much,

you shouId teach history.

Won't get many students...

I'd sign up for your cIasses.

In that case, I'd feeI...

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