François is retiring after forty five years in his job as a stagehand at the Paris Opera.
He tells us a few things about his work.

« When I started, forty five years ago, everything was done by hand. We were continually running to and fro; sometimes carrying heavy objects, and by the end of the evening we were exhausted. Today it is very different. Nearly everything is done using a computer. If you want a chair, you enter its code with your keyboard, and, hey-presto, the chair comes up from the storeroom. Before the show, the codes and the sequences are entered into the computer, and from then on everything is done digitally. But a mistake can be fatal. The whole business can be mentally exhausting. To tell you the truth, I am glad to no longer be behind the scene. «

We wish him a happy retirement !