Come back
China is on the bus "Barcelona turistic tour", camcorder into the wind. During the three first months of the SVE project, excepted in the Andaina's college, I flew. With the noble sense of the word. Like Chinese people. The feeling that every place is "the place to be" and that I absolutely need to take and bring back the picture, which will be consumed instantly on Facebook. Far is the time when I had to waste some dozens of "francs" for a disposable camera, waiting the end of the film taking everything and nothing. It was just before hurry up to go and develop the pictures. Then the seller asked you "matt" or "bright". I recover after the shopping (or my parents'shopping) moments that I did not remember yet. This time, the time of my first meeting with Spain, Catalonia and Figueras, is quite over.
De alta velocidad (with high speed).
With the numeric world, the instant has become the standard and matches well with this society who wants always more, always faster, excepted some places out of the world where the time seems not to be influent. So I was looking at this Chinese people some fractions of seconds. They were blowing a wind, on the deck of the turistic bus, camera in hand. Or how to get all Barcelona in a few seconds, without feeling the soul.
However there are some things, relatively near your house, which impeach you to steal the snapshot and motivate you to stop, during a smile, a hello, or a free conversation. I have already stopped in Narbonne, under the sun, to see the harbour but I have never penetrated in the heart of the town. In this day of Reyes'party, the ambient is not festive, the weather is grey and wet. The town dressed its winter dark ornaments, however in a Mediterranean region solidly watered of sun. The market is giving colours to this city which seems to be nice (and maybe it's for real). The center is in a human size, neat, where the monuments are very respectable. The Robine's channel, with locks at its ends, is a very interesting artery especially as a walk is landscaped. The mural of Charles Trenet remembers the son of the country.
However, I have neven seen so many people begging before... or who are asking to other people some money for all reasons. The Mediterranean towns always let me this contrasted picture where the sun, the palm trees, the clear yellow houses with pink tiles assembled in small pavilions hide a sometimes deep misery and important social problems. How many people are walking indifferently above the Robine's channel, without taking a look, five days after have wished the best for everybody. This is a lack of dignity. No matters the reason which motivates those people to crouch down in the cold all the day long, if it's legitimate or not. But each other merits at least an attention, a look, a word. Time and numeric don't have the right to exist here.
Barcelona, a city for the world.
Nowadays the trains is going faster between France and Spain, thanks to the opening of the new international line Perpignan - Figueras, but its soul has not been sold. The landscape are not the same anymore, the channel has subsituted the magnificient Côte Vermeille. The train no more, because now it's the TGV from Paris which arrives in the other side of the Pyrenees. There is still the same happiness to meet people which escapes from the norm, like this Angolan worker who lived 21 years in Spain, between Girona and Bilbao, but which Europa ends to get tired. He dominates perfectly French, Spanish and Portuguese languages. These two young ladies who went out for a trip to Malaga, without ticket, maybe don't imaginate a plan B, asking to their friends to pick them in the way... Because if metropolitan France is the biggest country in Europa, the Spanish territory is nearly so large.
In my own city, after 29 years, there are still streets where I have not put my feet. However, Saint-Etienne, although all this transformations operated since the 1980's, keeps its identity (pedestrianisation, partial retouching of the Grand Rue, new line of the tramway, complete recast of the Châteaucreux's neighbour, construction of the Zenith and reorganization of the Technopole's neighbour). It's still surrounded by seven hills, with two slagheaps, at 50 kms far from Lyon, with the happiness and the limits of its continental climate with mountain influence.
Compared to Barcelona, the time is sometimes stopping, the artery is deserted, letting everyone time to breathe, orient himself, drink a coffee also behing a grey weather, under the awnings of the pubs of the neighbour of the Martyrs de Vingré. There is no way to compare anything else between the two towns. So for the seventh time, Barcelona is presenting a different face. Enjoying still about five hours of correspondence, but only three hours of lights, I would like to go to discover unknown neighbours, like Sarria and Pedralbes (in the west part of the city). The neighbours are crossed by the Diagonal Avenue, which is wearing well its name, because it is crossing the town obliquely, from the feet of the Sierra de Collserola to the sea, walking by the Eixample and the Poblenou.
This town is always surprising, even in its less famous corners. I have spoken yet about cosmopolitan people but it is existing also in the shops, from French to Asiatic, from Galician to Catalan. But it would be too simple : so we can see Asiatic owners of fast-food restaurants who are offer typical French food. I have not seen if it was possible to enjoy quenelles with chopsticks. This is the dairy vision, the sun declining permitting see little by little the buildings lighting, where the magic is operating more clearly on the Passeig de Gracia, Catalonia's Place and the Font Magica. It is a permanent show.
What a contrast with Narbonne, however very respectable, which seemed wear deliberately its history. Barcelona is changing along the time, and wants for itself to be conservative and at the same time young and innovative. The misery is there also and takes part of the history of the town. 100 meters far from the Camp Nou, expressive symbol of richness and power, while by the part of a game like football, we find a neighbour made of bits and pieces, especially of bricks by the way. This time, human dignity permits me to take pictures of it. Before come back to the train station of Sants for another time, I have still two surprises. The first one is to meet a mechanic workshop opened permanently. The second one is to be without wanting it in the middle of a search of a twentieth of young people by the Mossos d'Esquadra (the catalan police) and walk away, Carrer de Tarragona. In Saint-Etienne, such an intervention would have create an event. In Barcelona, it is a banal scene, with no one feeling of insecurity furthermore.
At the early morning, the day is appearing with difficulties on Galicia, near Sarria, with vigorous hills and rain as a landscape. I find again the flat, with clothes everywhere, bottles empty, beer, dishes no washed, a cigarette filter let on the table... (all in reasonable proportions) and a additional bed in the third bedroom, for Maris, who is coming from Estonia on January, 19th. An other youth chapter has been written during my absence.
De alta velocidad (with high speed).
With the numeric world, the instant has become the standard and matches well with this society who wants always more, always faster, excepted some places out of the world where the time seems not to be influent. So I was looking at this Chinese people some fractions of seconds. They were blowing a wind, on the deck of the turistic bus, camera in hand. Or how to get all Barcelona in a few seconds, without feeling the soul.
However there are some things, relatively near your house, which impeach you to steal the snapshot and motivate you to stop, during a smile, a hello, or a free conversation. I have already stopped in Narbonne, under the sun, to see the harbour but I have never penetrated in the heart of the town. In this day of Reyes'party, the ambient is not festive, the weather is grey and wet. The town dressed its winter dark ornaments, however in a Mediterranean region solidly watered of sun. The market is giving colours to this city which seems to be nice (and maybe it's for real). The center is in a human size, neat, where the monuments are very respectable. The Robine's channel, with locks at its ends, is a very interesting artery especially as a walk is landscaped. The mural of Charles Trenet remembers the son of the country.
However, I have neven seen so many people begging before... or who are asking to other people some money for all reasons. The Mediterranean towns always let me this contrasted picture where the sun, the palm trees, the clear yellow houses with pink tiles assembled in small pavilions hide a sometimes deep misery and important social problems. How many people are walking indifferently above the Robine's channel, without taking a look, five days after have wished the best for everybody. This is a lack of dignity. No matters the reason which motivates those people to crouch down in the cold all the day long, if it's legitimate or not. But each other merits at least an attention, a look, a word. Time and numeric don't have the right to exist here.
Barcelona, a city for the world.
Nowadays the trains is going faster between France and Spain, thanks to the opening of the new international line Perpignan - Figueras, but its soul has not been sold. The landscape are not the same anymore, the channel has subsituted the magnificient Côte Vermeille. The train no more, because now it's the TGV from Paris which arrives in the other side of the Pyrenees. There is still the same happiness to meet people which escapes from the norm, like this Angolan worker who lived 21 years in Spain, between Girona and Bilbao, but which Europa ends to get tired. He dominates perfectly French, Spanish and Portuguese languages. These two young ladies who went out for a trip to Malaga, without ticket, maybe don't imaginate a plan B, asking to their friends to pick them in the way... Because if metropolitan France is the biggest country in Europa, the Spanish territory is nearly so large.
In my own city, after 29 years, there are still streets where I have not put my feet. However, Saint-Etienne, although all this transformations operated since the 1980's, keeps its identity (pedestrianisation, partial retouching of the Grand Rue, new line of the tramway, complete recast of the Châteaucreux's neighbour, construction of the Zenith and reorganization of the Technopole's neighbour). It's still surrounded by seven hills, with two slagheaps, at 50 kms far from Lyon, with the happiness and the limits of its continental climate with mountain influence.
Compared to Barcelona, the time is sometimes stopping, the artery is deserted, letting everyone time to breathe, orient himself, drink a coffee also behing a grey weather, under the awnings of the pubs of the neighbour of the Martyrs de Vingré. There is no way to compare anything else between the two towns. So for the seventh time, Barcelona is presenting a different face. Enjoying still about five hours of correspondence, but only three hours of lights, I would like to go to discover unknown neighbours, like Sarria and Pedralbes (in the west part of the city). The neighbours are crossed by the Diagonal Avenue, which is wearing well its name, because it is crossing the town obliquely, from the feet of the Sierra de Collserola to the sea, walking by the Eixample and the Poblenou.
This town is always surprising, even in its less famous corners. I have spoken yet about cosmopolitan people but it is existing also in the shops, from French to Asiatic, from Galician to Catalan. But it would be too simple : so we can see Asiatic owners of fast-food restaurants who are offer typical French food. I have not seen if it was possible to enjoy quenelles with chopsticks. This is the dairy vision, the sun declining permitting see little by little the buildings lighting, where the magic is operating more clearly on the Passeig de Gracia, Catalonia's Place and the Font Magica. It is a permanent show.
What a contrast with Narbonne, however very respectable, which seemed wear deliberately its history. Barcelona is changing along the time, and wants for itself to be conservative and at the same time young and innovative. The misery is there also and takes part of the history of the town. 100 meters far from the Camp Nou, expressive symbol of richness and power, while by the part of a game like football, we find a neighbour made of bits and pieces, especially of bricks by the way. This time, human dignity permits me to take pictures of it. Before come back to the train station of Sants for another time, I have still two surprises. The first one is to meet a mechanic workshop opened permanently. The second one is to be without wanting it in the middle of a search of a twentieth of young people by the Mossos d'Esquadra (the catalan police) and walk away, Carrer de Tarragona. In Saint-Etienne, such an intervention would have create an event. In Barcelona, it is a banal scene, with no one feeling of insecurity furthermore.
At the early morning, the day is appearing with difficulties on Galicia, near Sarria, with vigorous hills and rain as a landscape. I find again the flat, with clothes everywhere, bottles empty, beer, dishes no washed, a cigarette filter let on the table... (all in reasonable proportions) and a additional bed in the third bedroom, for Maris, who is coming from Estonia on January, 19th. An other youth chapter has been written during my absence.
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