after "7 years and 8 months" abroad, the blog author well known to fans of French-speaking Internet Baltic countries - Lithuania Gilles and Gilles Latvia - returns home.
It is not happy about it, it feels good. Gilles Dutertre appreciates his expatriate life and not afraid of uprooting repeated barracks to barracks, from mission to mission (Germany, Lebanon, Cambodia, Bosnia, etc.).. But for reasons beyond its control, as the saying goes, he decided to return to live in France, more precisely in Indre-et-Loire. Scheduled departure on Tuesday.
During his period Baltic Gilles has not been one to confine itself to the beautiful areas of the capitals. It has melted into the ground. Out of necessity - the retirement of a former lieutenant-colonel is clearly not extending - but also by taste, I think he was resident in the populous suburbs. First on the heights of Vilnius, for 5 years, then in Riga since March 2010, a tower of the "new" neighborhoods connected to downtown by bus and trolley moult.
There, since his three-room, he watched the local life in its way, according to his whims, his interests. He was inexhaustible on the vagaries of weather, road accidents, small events that enliven the discussions every day. They were found in the regular tickets and concise he wrote on his blog, often before dawn, he who, right in his boots, continued to live by the barracks.
Gilles is also fond of history and it has made a specialty of late. In Riga, he attended the library in search of books that could help in the preparation of a book on the French in the history of Latvia. The logical extension of what he had written with the same
approach on Lithuania. Published by L'Harmattan , this first book earned him a reputation in a small region of Europe unaccustomed to what foreigners write about it. 's eyes sparkle when Gilles says he would give lectures "in the provinces of Lithuania" on his favorite theme or just to talk about France or any other topic, for little as it is in French. Guests saw land a guy still green, still own him and bit stingy with anecdotes, which he likes, in particular, dwelling on his career.
Once this first book finished, Gilles has started to get bored in Vilnius. "Five years in the same barracks, it had never happened before!" , he joked, with a backdrop of humor to own (ex-) military. He needed a new project. Why not settle in Riga, four hours away? There are nearly a year, it was exactly in the old Hanseatic city with arms and baggage ( "400 kilos" , including a pile of books, accumulated over the years). Helped by a friend of raw, he was quick to find its footing in this new stage town. Latvian temperament, more reserved than Lithuanian, a little confused, even if expected. It can be explained
by history, occupation, and presence in Riga a high proportion of minority representatives "Russian-speaking, mostly arrived during the Soviet annexation. "Riga, it is primarily a Russian city" , is used to observe our blogger who, in his notes, do not hesitate to espouse the views of "patriots" of all stripes that comprise the Baltic countries. Gilles and I have not always agreed on everything, and he knows it. A few times we have had occasion to explain, always so polite. His way of beating the media in general when one of them commits a blunder, especially when it concerns his beloved Baltic countries, sometimes bored me ... It's not wrong on the merits, but his spikes - much appreciated its most loyal readers - sometimes bordered on demagoguery. But what can I do? To each his opinions, his style. And then, as he himself says, "Anthony, do not feel you covered!" Maybe I've become a bit too sensitive to attacks on my profession is often the victim a little easier, although, as the trains on time, the useful work it performs without derailing passes him unnoticed. Short!
Despite these minor differences, despite my prior departure and our differences (we never talked politics, but I suspect the gap) and despite the fact that we did that
little cross, I believe, however, to suggest that Gilles and I feel a certain mutual respect. It's not bad. Tuesday he will land in his native country, with a vague apprehension. Not easy to return up shop after years abroad, many of us have experienced. I wish him good luck. Odds are that if it encounters trouble in Touraine, he will mislead him by renewing his love affair with Baltics, not least thanks to the Internet. Something tells me that in the coming months, we will water tickets and information Latvia and Lithuania via his blog, as if he was still in Riga, to ensure the top of his tower in the suburbs.
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