Noëlle Bréham “Sleeping on the floor, a delicious discomfort”

You just published Head in the air and feet on the ground. What does this book reveal about yourself?

I tell my story through my experience of walking. I have always loved walking freely. As a child, I spent my weekends and holidays in Sologne, with my family. I was lucky enough to be able to walk around without constraints. This shaped my practice as a walker.

The place that inspires you to write?

I like to sit in the kitchen of my house in Yvelines on sunny mornings. I sit in front of a small window from which I gaze at my poplars. These trees are my writing companions.

For what cause would you mobilize?

I could campaign against nocturnal lighting in order to respect the natural balance between night and day. In the same spirit, I like to fully experience the changing seasons. In winter, I don't heat my house much and I pile up sweaters. As spring approaches, I'm happy to feel the warmth settling in.

A good plan to reconnect with nature?

I've slept on the floor before. It's both uncomfortable and delicious. The Swiss engineer Ernst Zürcher, in his book The pulse of the Earth (Ed. La Salamandre), affirms that this contact is very precious for us. This allows our body to connect to the earth and receive beneficial energy from it.

Your latest crush?

Sunday Bach, meeting hosted on Sundays from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. by Corinne Schneider, on France Musique. Listening to these two hours of broadcast dedicated to the German composer has become my Sunday ritual, as mass could be… except that I am in my bed!

For you, Jesus, it is…

An extraordinary man whose teachings guide me. Born into a Catholic family, I loved going to catechism when I was a little girl.

A spiritual place where you like to take refuge?

Churches do me a lot of good, especially in the city. When I worked at the Maison de la radio, I often found refuge in the nearby Notre-Dame-de-Grâce de Passy.

We offer you an hour of silence. What do you do with it?

Speaking has been my profession, but I sometimes use it too much. So, for once, I will keep quiet, in order to fully enjoy this magnificent gift that is silence.