"My space travels actually began with a trip to Russia in 1985. It was to discover the world of Star City! And to discover the world in general. Before that, I hadn't had the opportunity to travel much. The first time I went to Russia, it was in winter, the temperature was -20° and it was quite disconcerting: to get the bus started, we had to light a fire underneath... The country was still very complicated. We were welcomed by people from the special services, in a very special way, with countless passes. At the time, I really felt like I was embarking on a voyage of discovery...
For me, travelling is a way of bringing what you've imagined in your bedroom into line with reality. China, in particular. I had a classic, almost conservative image of it... Then I went to Beijing and Shanghai; I went through what corresponded to my imagination, and I saw many other things that I would never have suspected existed! Pudong, in Shanghai, for example; with its campuses, its extraordinary labs springing up everywhere, its researchers too, hyper-motivated, hyper-bright people...
Of course, we have to discover reality. But you also have to share it and, of course, pass it on. That's part of the mission when you go into space. You don't do it just for yourself! My curiosity was instilled in me by my father, a great traveller who always came home with something in his suitcases... I try to do the same with my daughter. One day, with a book in her hand, she said to me after seeing the price on the back: "You can't imagine, Mum, with five euros, how I've travelled! "
For me, train travel is the Red Arrow between Moscow and St Petersburg! I have wonderful memories of it: my husband and I would leave the City of Stars on Fridays at the end of lessons, and settle into our little compartment. In St Petersburg, we visited palaces and museums, and on Sunday evening we went to the Kirov... before falling asleep again on the train. The next day, at 8 o'clock, we were in the simu - the simulator, I mean. I also love flying, especially for those moments when I'm glued to the window to look at the Earth and enjoy the sunsets! The blue-black, orange, red and yellow of those moments remind me of the sixteen daily sunsets you can admire from a space station...
Up there too, I've sometimes stuck my nose in the window... It's all so calm and wonderful. So you dig yourself out of your sleeping bag. You put "La Norma", the opera by Vincenzo Bellini, on your ears and you contemplate... You're facing the Earth and the cosmos... and you enjoy, with delight - I was lucky enough to experience this! - of this moment that will never belong to anyone but you... Yes, it's a delight".
Five dates
1957 I was born in Le Creusot.
1996 I spend 16 days on board the Russian space station MIR.
2001 Jean-Pierre Haigneré (astronaut), with whom I have a daughter, becomes my husband. I take on a second ten-day space mission at the ISS (International Space Station).
2002-2005 I was twice a member of the government as Minister Delegate for Research and New Technologies, then as Minister Delegate for European Affairs and Secretary General for Franco-German Cooperation.
2005 I joined the European Space Agency as an advisor to the Director General.
