nostalgia

The internet is great for a trip down memory lane. Every now and then i surf the internet ("on the electronic highway"; does anybody remember we used to call it that?) looking for stuff i used to love when i was a girl. Can't help it, it's addictive. It reminds me of our holiday to the Provence in 2007, when we found ourselves near the small medieval village where I stayed during an Easter holiday once when I was 15, and on holiday with a friend and her parents. We stayed a week in this village, Lauris, at the home of her uncle, and I had the best time ever making friends with the locals, riding on their scooters through the forest at night, hanging out on the small square near the church, and walking endlessly through the fields with jasmin and lavender. I had a crush on a boy from Paris and my french certainly improved! At home again after my holiday I started listening to the french radio and writing letters - in french - with my new friends.

Lauris was always a somewhat magical place in my memory. I sometimes dreamed about it. And, being in the neighbourhood about 25 years later, it was hard to resist revisiting it. And so we did. It was hard discovering the "old" village as I had known it; it was surrounded by suburbs with modern houses now. The only thing I knew was I had to get to the church; after that I would certainly know my way around. It took us ages to find the old church. But, finally we arrived, and I said: "follow me!" Somehow it all seemed much smaller than before, and - oh my god - there were cars parked everywhere. Even in the small square in front of the church. We walked round the back where I showed my husband the ancient washing place where the women of the village used to do their laundry back in the early 80s. ( I definitely have a thing for the 80s) It was closed down, no longer in use. And so I wandered around the church and the places I had known so well. I walked down the street, towards where used to be the fields with flowers. It was all gone. I never regretted going back, but I do realise that more often than not, the magical places in our mind are no longer what they are in reality. Nevertheless, it does not stop me from visiting those places. And so I search the internet as well. For information on the things I used to love. Lately I have been searching for my favourite magazines. When I was 17 and in school, I started buying (and reading) Mademoiselle magazine, a monthly fashion magazine from the US. I will post some more about Mademoiselle.

The magazine cost me a fortune (imports were expensive), but it was all worth it! I read all the stories and expert advice (too much information for an innocent 17-year old...) and of course studied the fashion pictures and advertisements diligently, again and again, and again and again, until next month magazine was in the shops. When I googled "Mademoiselle magazine" some time ago, I read it had been discontinued in 2001. So sad... This hasn't stopped me hunting down the copies of Mademoiselle that I used to own (why did I ever throw them away??? I payed even more now than back then...). And so, after a while, my first vintage copies arrived! It has not been disappointing at all. Like in the early days, I still enjoy flicking through the magazines. Maybe because the magazines haven't changed during all these years. They are of course still the same editions as in the 80s. Very different from a village that is alive and changes.