31/08/2026
đŹđ§ ENGLISH
30 YEARS OF TITANIC. â
Today marks exactly 30 years since Titanic entered my life.
August 31, 1996. I was 10 years old.
And contrary to what you might expect, it didnât begin with James Cameronâs movie.
It began in my parentsâ kitchen.
It was around 1 p.m. The television was showing the news while my mother was preparing lunch.
Then came a report.
On the screen were divers, cables and an enormous piece of steel underwater. They were attempting to raise a section of a shipâs hull from the bottom of the Atlantic.
I watched for a moment and asked my mother:
âWhatâs that? Why are they bringing up a piece of the hull?â
She simply replied:
âBecause itâs the Titanic! If youâre interested, I have a book about it in our libraryâŠâ
One sentence.
One book.
That was all it took.
I went to find that book.
And without knowing it, I had just discovered something that would stay with me for the rest of my life.
That day, I knew almost nothing about Titanic. I couldnât possibly know how many hours I would eventually spend reading its history, studying photographs and plans, and trying to understand every detail of its construction.
I didnât know that a Revell model would arrive one Christmas. That only a few months later, a certain movie would intensify that fascination even further. Or that decades later, I would be recreating parts of the ship myself â sometimes even at full scale.
And I certainly couldnât have imagined that one day all of this would become Titanic 401.
So when I look at this photograph from the 1996 expedition today, I donât simply see a piece of Titanic.
I see the beginning.
I see that kitchen again.
The television playing.
My mother preparing lunch.
A 10-year-old kid asking a question.
And an answer that, without anyone realizing it at the time, would change part of his life.
Thirty years later, Iâm still here.
Still searching.
Still learning.
Still modelling.
Still trying to understand how this ship was built and, in my own way, bring small fragments of that lost world back to life.
And these 30 years are also something I want to dedicate to my mother. â€ïž
Because ultimately, she was the one who passed this passion on to me.
On August 31, 1996, she could simply have answered my question with:
âItâs the Titanic.â
But she added:
âIf youâre interested, I have a book about it in our libraryâŠâ
Of course, she couldnât possibly have known what she had just started.
She showed me that book. She opened the door to this story for me⊠and I never closed it again.
So, thank you, Mum. â€ïž
Thank you for that book.
Thank you for that discovery.
And thank you for passing on to me, almost without realizing it, a passion that has now been part of my life for 30 years.
When I look at everything that passion has become today, all the way to Titanic 401, I realize that, in a wayâŠ
it all began with you, in that kitchen, in front of the 1 p.m. news. â€ïžâ
30 years of passion.
30 years of learning.
30 years of Titanic.
And somehow, I still feel like Iâm only getting started.
â 31 August 1996 â 31 August 2026
âž»
đ«đ· FRANĂAIS
30 ANS DE TITANIC. â
Aujourdâhui, cela fait exactement 30 ans que le Titanic est entrĂ© dans ma vie.
31 aoĂ»t 1996. Jâavais 10 ans.
Et contrairement Ă ce quâon pourrait imaginer, tout nâa pas commencĂ© avec le film de James Cameron.
Tout a commencé dans la cuisine de mes parents.
Il était environ 13 heures. La télévision était allumée sur le journal télévisé pendant que ma mÚre préparait le repas.
Et puis ce reportage.
Ă lâĂ©cran, des plongeurs, une Ă©norme plaque dâacier sous lâeau, des cĂąbles⊠On tentait de remonter un morceau de la coque dâun navire depuis le fond de lâAtlantique.
Je regarde quelques instants et je demande Ă ma mĂšre :
« Câest quoi ce truc ? Pourquoi ils remontent un morceau de coque ? »
Et elle me répond, tout simplement :
« Parce que câest le Titanic ! Si ça tâintĂ©resse, jâai un livre dans notre bibliothĂšque⊠»
Une phrase.
Un livre.
Câest tout.
Je suis allé chercher ce livre.
Et sans le savoir, je venais de dĂ©couvrir quelque chose qui allait mâaccompagner toute ma vie.
Ce jour-lĂ , je ne connaissais presque rien du Titanic. Je ne savais pas encore que jâallais passer des heures Ă lire son histoire, Ă observer ses plans et ses photographies, Ă essayer de comprendre chaque dĂ©tail de sa construction.
Je ne savais pas quâun NoĂ«l, il y aurait une maquette Revell. Que quelques mois plus t**d, un certain film allait encore amplifier cette fascination. Que des dĂ©cennies plus t**d, je chercherais Ă reproduire moi-mĂȘme des Ă©lĂ©ments du navire, parfois mĂȘme Ă lâĂ©chelle 1:1.
Et certainement pas quâun jour tout cela deviendrait Titanic 401.
Quand je regarde aujourdâhui cette photographie de lâexpĂ©dition de 1996, je ne vois donc pas seulement un morceau du Titanic.
Je vois le commencement.
Je revois cette cuisine.
La télévision allumée.
Ma mÚre qui préparait à manger.
Un gamin de 10 ans qui pose une question.
Et une réponse qui, sans que personne ne puisse le savoir à cet instant, allait changer une partie de sa vie.
30 ans plus t**d, je suis toujours lĂ .
Toujours Ă chercher.
Toujours Ă apprendre.
Toujours à modéliser.
Toujours à essayer de comprendre comment ce navire était construit et à faire revivre, à ma maniÚre, quelques fragments de ce monde disparu.
Et ces 30 ans, je veux aussi les dĂ©dier Ă ma mĂšre. â€ïž
Parce quâau fond, câest elle qui mâa transmis cette passion.
Ce 31 août 1996, elle aurait simplement pu répondre à ma question :
« Câest le Titanic. »
Mais elle a ajouté :
« Si ça tâintĂ©resse, jâai un livre dans notre bibliothĂšque⊠»
Elle ne pouvait Ă©videmment pas savoir ce quâelle venait de dĂ©clencher.
Elle mâa montrĂ© ce livre, elle mâa ouvert la porte vers cette histoire⊠et moi, je ne lâai jamais refermĂ©e.
Alors merci Maman. â€ïž
Merci pour ce livre.
Merci pour cette découverte.
Et merci de mâavoir transmis, presque sans le savoir, une passion qui fait partie de ma vie depuis maintenant 30 ans.
Quand je regarde tout ce que cette passion est devenue aujourdâhui, jusquâĂ Titanic 401, je me dis que quelque partâŠ
tout a commencĂ© avec toi, dans cette cuisine, devant le journal de 13 heures. â€ïžâ
30 ans de passion.
30 ans Ă apprendre.
30 ans de Titanic.
Et jâai toujours lâimpression que ce nâest que le dĂ©but.
â 31 aoĂ»t 1996 â 31 aoĂ»t 2026