1 — What is your mother tongue? What is the most beautiful word in your native language and what does it mean to you?

I was born in Nantes and French was the only language spoken in my family. I did learn another language later on: Brazilian Portuguese. I’m not sure if ‘révolution’ is the most beautiful word, but I find the various meanings it evokes wonderful: an uprising, but also an internal shift, an open gaze towards the horizon. This word undoubtedly appeals to me because it triggers the urge to move, to head towards the unknown.

2 — What did the landscape of your youth look like?

On one hand, it was the world of the working class and factories, of the shipyard where my father designed ship hulls. On the other hand, it was the landscapes and seascapes of Brittany where we spent weekends with family and friends.

3 — What do you associate with the words 'Á la flamande'?

Naturally, it makes me think of food, but I also associate them with a way of life, with the use of colour, with art and architecture. They also say something about human relations, about a historical boundary between the Romance and the Germanic.

4 — Where do you feel at home?

Paradoxically, I feel at home far away from people, in a forest, surrounded by the scents of dense vegetation, between sunbeams falling through the foliage. I am also at home at sea, on rivers, among aquatic animals. Or when it rains or the wind blows, when my senses are sharpened.

5 — What is your favourite dish?

Without any doubt, Hungarian goulash soup. You simmer cubes of lean beef for several hours with garlic and onion in a soup made of water, hot and sweet paprika powder, marjoram and vegetable stock. Later you add potatoes, carrots, peppers, tomatoes and salt and pepper, and you serve it with bread.