In the beginning there was …. I met Michael, Mr « Numero Uno in Europa », in 1969 (année érotique/Gainsbourg) at the Kindergarten of Marnixlaan in Overijse. I have actually always called Michael « Patrik », the Swedish 🇸🇪 way, as he was called by his parents (with a very long « a », I can hear Ulf shout « Paaaaaaaatrik »). The year thereafter we started school at the German School in Wezembeek. He was a cude little boy with reddish brown long hair (70’s style, later to cover his ears) and freckles. Early on he loved the American way of life: he played baseball ⚾️ and took me to the games where we had hot-dogs 🌭 and Cracker Jack’s (the caramelised popcorn 🍿 in a box with small toys) and drank Dr. Pepper’s. Also early on, as for over 50 years thereafter, he liked to share his music 🎶 with me: in the early 70’s it was The Sweet (« Ballroom Blitz »), Slade (« Can’t feel the noise ») and Suzi Quattro (« Can the Can »). All British 🇬🇧 music which he liked more than US 🇺🇸 music – but he liked so many different styles over time anyway. Over the years (probably some 10 years later), he had found 3 nicknames (he had nicknames for all of us) for me: « bordel roulant », « prince Kropotkine » and « Malty Towers », the first 2 related to my family name, the last related to my stature and one of his favourite TV shows. Fawlty Towers and Monty Python’s Flying Circus were his favourite TV shows in the 80’s. In the mid-70’s he then moved to Denmark 🇩🇰 for 2 or 3 years and came back to Brussels in the end 70’s …. (to be continued, I have to find some pics of this period)