travel
Castles, cheese, and cuisine.
Grey stone, green moss, and gold ornaments
Old wealth is just a layer that the modern Northern France is built on. A history steeped in rule and braced for cold weather. The money poured into the monuments of each city be it churches, walls, or clock is astounding
The cities have seen their heydays as far as massive works and expansion as the centralized wealth has been partially democratized and flipped into a tourist industry.
It’s pretty.
Mont Saint-Michel is an island off the Normandy coast in northwestern France famous for the tide which pulls itself around its walls, completely sealing it off from the mainland. Due to this unique attribute, the area was never captured by enemies during various wars.
But now, the city within is continuously bombarded with an arguably worse uniformed drove, school children on day trips. The narrow cobble stone streets packed elbow to elbow with matching jumpers bearing school insignia. The slow inclined march towards the abbey filled with those inclined to make fart jokes to test the patience of tourists.
But much like the famous tide the island is know for, eventually the children are pulled away and the area is much more discoverable. Once the water recedes, the unique features of sand and rock are brought to the forefront and allows the area to truly be seen. The snails that hang out on stalks while the water is away, the patterns of the sand when it dries, and the now useless floating warnings telling visitors of the dangers of swimming.
Long hallways and grand rooms with giant windows that are covered by thick curtains. The windows are often covered, casting the opulent interiors into the shadows. As the revolution cast the ruling class who needed these ornaments into a lesser existence.
The gardens as well, which stretch for miles, are covered in such lush arrangements of trees that the mid-day sun could be turned into a minor inconvenience. It’s as if having this amount of solitude and control over your environment can warp your view of the people living around and under you.
Fountains and gardens once only enjoyed by a few are now open parks, traversed by anyone and everyone that can make it to its gates. Being to able walk the grounds with a bottle of wine and watching tourists taking pictures of the rowing teams practicing in the Grand Canal seems like the biggest ‘fuck you’ the people of France could ever deliver to the former monarchy.
A ‘fuck you’ that is subject to park hours, however.
Basically: A bunch of rich dudes got 86’d and now there’s a park.
Paris is an incredibly romanticized city for how much it smells like urine.
Being able to spend all day absorbing incredible works of art and then buying a corn on the cob roasted on a shopping cart outside of your metro stop is something I will always love. But having the exquisite pleasure of cheap, fantastic cheese on every corner to pair with a fresh baguette and some sidewalk wine while walking the streets is what freedom feels like.
From the 1st to the 20th arrondissement there is a sense of history and modernity intertwined. Crowded, narrow cobble stone streets empty out to large shopping and transportation complexes, hundreds year old cathedrals over look squares filled with e-cigarettes and day drinking, and never fails to exist a busker playing ‘La Vie En Rose’ who promptly checks their phone afterward.
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I’ve never received a clear definition for "El Chuco," a.k.a. El Paso.
I’ve read and heard it translates to “The ugly one,“ “disgusting,“ “dirty,“ and that it's a call back to Pachuco, the subculture of Mexican-Americans in the 1930’s associated with zoot suits that originated in the area.
The term is a self-deprecating term of endearment for the city. The people here know they don't live in a glamorous city and accept it in a positive way. Of course, there are some who mire in the self-defeating attitude of not realizing how unique and wonderful the area is, but there are others who do realize the region's potential and they are making such an amazing scene.
Vibrant colors set against the various sands of the Chihuahuan desert and the Franklin Mountains give the city its visual appeal while the people make everyone feel at home. Being in El Paso was such a wonderful experience from the first time I visited to the last time I left.
The problems in Juarez brought over established businesses and incredible food into EP, the kernels of establishing long-term art and music scene infrastructure are popping, and, well, Chico’s Tacos is amazing.
It’s the most beautiful ugly one I know.
All shots in this post were made using a Sony A7Rii and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.2
