'There was a time when we would toss peanuts to the baby monkeys in the Vincennes Zoo. It was party time. It was not forbidden to feed wild animals. We hardly had any props to dress the stage. The comings and goings of the pawnbroker were easy to follow. He who lived not in those times, knows not the true pleasures of life.'Party Time is translated from Un temps de fete (La Table Ronde, 2024). Guillaume Decourt is a double laureate of the Prix Max-Jacob and the Prix Lucette-Moreau de l'academie francaise. Spencer Matheson is a Canadian poet living in Paris.