A little bit of buried treasure
‘Un petit pincement au coeur’ can be translated as ‘a little pang in the heart’. Years ago I was on holiday in France and read a notice on the door of a shop that had recently closed. It explained that the owners had retired, thanked all their customers and said that every Christmas they would remember them and feel ‘un petit pincement au coeur.’ It’s a wonderful expression that describes exactly what I felt when recently I opened my copy of Jenny Uglow’s biography of Elizabeth Gaskell. I had read it when Peter and were on our honeymoon in Madrid and inside it, used as a book mark, was a ticket for entry to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia for 28 Julio 1994. The years seemed to concertina as I was taken back to that day over 30 years ago when our married life was just beginning and so much still lay ahead of us.
Peter tended to use whatever was to hand as a bookmark, and in his books I have found among
other things, boarding passes, receipts, compliment slips, tourist leaflets, business cards, and most poignant of all, the bill from my last birthday lunch with him, listing what we ate and drank. Finding that fragment of our shared past was like finding a little bit of buried treasure. We used to have lunch at the same place every year on my birthday. We had no idea that that last time would be the last time. I haven’t been back since, but perhaps I should.
Two little windows into the past, one from the beginning and one from near the end of our twenty-two year marriage: ‘un petit pincement au coeur’ indeed.
6 Comments
Margot Kinberg
March 5, 2025What a heartfelt, meaningful post! I know just what you mean, too, about those little things like ticket stubs or paper boarding passes. They bring back not just the actual event, but the whole experience, not to mention memories of the person. I’m so glad for you that you have those memories. And I’ve been to that museum; it’s wonderful and I’m happy you had that experience.
Christine Poulson
March 5, 2025Lovely of you to comment like this, Margot. We had twenty-two years, but it wasn’t long enough.So glad though to have so many reminders of Peter.
Josh Pachter
March 5, 2025For what it’s worth, Chrissie, I think you *ought* to go back, get a table for two, bring Jenny Uglow’s biography of Elizabeth Gaskell, and enjoy a lunch with fond memories of times spent with Peter….
Christine Poulson
March 5, 2025What a lovely idea, Josh. I think I will.
Moira@Clothes in Books
March 5, 2025A lovely post, and I am sure chiming with many of us in so many ways. I hope you have that lunch.
I went through a phase of leaving small items in books when I put them on the shelf after reading… tickets, leaflets, postcards – perhaps more delibertely than your husband? When moving and getting rid of books I came across many of them and was charmed and intrigued.
My favourite was a ticket for a Bigfoot/Sasquatch Museum in Northern California. I remember visiting the area (we drove through a redwood tree, as I had been longing to do since I was a small child) but had no recollection of the museum.
Christine Poulson
March 5, 2025Thank you, Moira. No, not deliberate on Peter’s part, but now glad to have them. What a good idea on your part! What is also intriguing, though less personal, is buying second hand books and discovering what perfect strangers have used as book-marks. I once found an American Express credit card statement in a book of short stories by Alice Munro, a real window into someone else’s life!