Articles in Snapshots
Remic Rapids
A year ago, I stumbled upon this magical place, by the Ottawa River, where John Ceprano is working on the art of balance. Last year’s work has probably been dismantled naturally during the winter, but the sculptures currently on display just blew my mind. They are taller, bigger, and there are dozens of them.
Summer in the Farm
Last week, in the Greyhound from Montreal airport to Ottawa, I stared at the window for the two hours’ long trip. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from the scenery. We drove that road many times, and yet it still appeals to me: Canada is beautiful.
Such a vast land. Such empty places between cities. Such as wild place at times. The light, the sky, the colors, everything looked vivid and alive. It was like being in a painting.
French Bakeries
I love French bakeries. There is one at every corner and they all carry fresh bread, croissants, pains au chocolat and pains aux raisin. They also have their specialties, from elaborate cakes to simple fruit pies.
St Nazaire
For our last week-end in France, Feng and I went back on the Atlantic coast. We spent a few days with my family and left to explore St Nazaire, a few kilometers away. The town isn’t pretty: it was heavily bombed during WWII and 80% of it was destroyed. It was rebuilt right after the war in a somewhat minimalist style — understand one main street and square buildings scattered around.
Nantes By Night
I love cities by night. Most change a lot and reveal a totally different atmosphere — it’s like traveling. I’ve already shown you snapshots of Ottawa by night, Toronto, London, Paris… Here is Nantes, my hometown.
Nantes' Elephant
The 12 meters high mechanical elephant is made from 45 tons of wood and steel. Several times a day, it takes passengers for a walk around the Isle of Nantes, located in the middle of the Loire River. Riding it is quite expensive but it’s free to just see it move around, wink, trumpet, and spray nearby photographers with water (oh well, it was a hot day).
The Isle of Nantes
Jules Verne, the famous French author, was born in Nantes. And today, in the warehouses of the former shipyards of Nantes, artists try to recreate a travel-through-time world which borrow from both Jules Verne’s imagination and Leonardo da Vinci’s passion for mechanic.
The site has two main attractions: the Great Elephant and the Marine Worlds Carrousel.
Bastille Day in France
This is a sleepy village 45 minutes from Nantes. Its claim to fame is the cookie factory. Other than that, there isn’t much: a roundabout (French love roundabouts and even the smallest village has one), a church, a bar-tabac (a small corner store) and a news agent.
