ille on cold, wet
mornings, the retreat in fog and at lights on time, the evening
call-out that finds you late and breathless!

"Oh, the bois de Vincennes, the thick, white, cotton gloves, the walks
on the fortifications.... Oh, the Military School entrance, the loose
women, the sound of the cornet at the Salon de Mars, the absinth in the
bars, the shared secrets between hiccoughs, the sabres drawn, the
sentimental tale told hand on heart...."

* * * * *

Dream on, poor man! I won't be the one to stop you.... Hit your drum
and hit it hard, hit it as hard as you can. I have no right to ridicule
you.

So, you are nostalgic for your barracks; am I not just as nostalgic for
mine?

My Paris haunts me just like yours. You--you play your drum among the
pines. Me--I write here.... What a right pair of Provencal people we
are. Back in Paris, we miss our Alpilles and the smell of wild
lavender. Right here and right now, bang in the middle of Provence, we
miss our barracks, and everything that reminds us of it is so dear to
us!...

* * * * *

Eight o'clock strikes in the village. Pistolet, drumsticks at the
ready, starts on his way back.... He can be heard, playing non-stop,
coming down from the woods.... Me--I lie down in the grass, overwhelmed
with nostalgia. As the drum fades into the distance, All my own
familiar Paris passes before my eyes, there amongst the pines....

Ah, Paris!... Paris!... Paris for ever!

End of Project Gutenberg's Letters from my Windmill, by Alphonse Daudet

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS FROM MY WINDMILL ***

***** This file should be named 30442.txt or 30442.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/4/4/30442/

Produced by Mireille Harmelin and Keith Adams

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will be
renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one
owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and
you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission
and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the
General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and
distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the
PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a
registered trademark, and may not be u