Being a hermit

It's not too bad to be in hermit-mode for a while, which is what I have been doing. I have been at home for past weekends, working on publishing my film photo book about Marseille.

It's a childhood dream of mine to see a book being published, and I'm glad that there were so many kind beings each step of the way, helping me with film knowledge, travelers who showed me a new way to experience traveling and also hosting me, photography enthusiasts young and old who showed me what they knew. Writers and book authors who encouraged me while honing their craft. Finally, this is the final step - I have launched a crowdfunding campaign that would be a great way to validate the idea. I know crowdfunding campaigns are tough but I will put on an armor and fight for my dream!

I can understand a little bit now about the hard-won small successes by entrepreneurs and everyone who is fighting a different battle in life... ... it is not easy to build something for years... Having recently gone through an emotional upheaval, it was surprising that it became a catalyst for me, to really know what I want to try to do. Sometimes, I always get caught up in the hundred things I need to do in work, in my small daily needs that I lose sight of the mountains that are calling me over. I believe I can make it there, soon!

So, I need more support. Please spread the word far and wide about what I am doing, to photography enthusiasts, supporters of the arts, people who love travel.

Click here to watch the video and read more about the project:

www.pozible.com/myeverydaymarseille

=)

Photo Friday: Summer's almost over

The Frenchie said this week that the north wind blows, cold wind. And that wind signals the end of summer. Those long summer days that I've experienced in places of the Mediterranean imprinted deeply in my mind.

While riding on Le Grand Roue, we could see some of my favorite sights. Can you believe that this is just walking distance from his apartment at the very end of Marseille?

Mountains and seas, I'll never tire of such a lovely view. =)

Photo taken on Nikon 80 with 35 mm lomography color film.

Photo Friday: View from La Caravelle

On Couchsurfing Marseille there is a list of things to do while in Marseille, suggested by locals and travellers. The list has since grown to 200 over suggestions.
One of the places which was a must-visit was the Old Port, known as Le Vieux Port.
We decided to have a café at La Caravelle, a restaurant with a small balcony overlooking the boats that were docked just right in front of us.
 
My other photo was selected for the exhibition in conjunction with Marseille-Provence being the European Culture Capital 2013. Here is the site, it's lovely to spend a quiet afternoon looking at the photos, especially those that are quite ancient. I have grown quite fond of the place while looking at the photos and wonder if I will have the chance to spend more than just a few days there, in future.

http://www.mp2013.fr/chercheursdemidi/?cdm_page=serie&id=177&cdm_paged=5

Photo Friday: Cloud Yoga

Cher contributeur et chercheur de midi,

Nous vous informons que votre photo «Cloud Yoga» se trouve désormais dans la collection «Personnages» et dans la série «Au bord de la mer» =)

Was really happy to receive the news at mid-week (a rather emotional week at that) that my photo 'Cloud Yoga' was added into the collection of Les Chercheurs De Midi, it is a photo compilation of Marseille and Provence, as this year in 2013, Marseille and Provence is themed as the capital of European culture.

There on the album of 'Researchers at Noon' are really great photos - vintage photos and people's memories at the beach front, boats, places or lands they know as paysages. It's really interesting how the French people are the original peoples of the land and everywhere you go there is a natural blend of the ancient and the new. I was able to find harmony in the old rocks and the dwellings carved into it. In the old church of Abbaye St Victor and the 'new' church that is built above it, a superb idea of moving on but not forgetting what is in the basement. There, in the basement, lies 4th century evidence of christianity, old sculptures and niches.

I really like this photo because it was accidental, it was at the end of the French Foreign Legion grounds and someone took off his clothes and climbed the rocks. As we made ourselves presentable and got ready to depart, along came a small little cloud, just appearing like a tiny fluffy thing! I screamed hysterically and told him to pose, 'holding' it. A little while later the cloud dissipated, and we left. I particularly like the rocks at the side.

The colors are pinkish and purplish because I used cross processed tungsten film.


http://www.mp2013.fr/chercheursdemidi/

Having a café at La Caravelle with Julien - Things to do in Marseille

The super sunny view from the small balcony of La Caravelle.

On Couchsurfing Marseille there is a list of things to do, while in Marseille, suggested by locals and travellers. The list has since grown to 200 over suggestions.

One of the places which was a must-visit was the Old Port, known as Le Vieux Port.
"Have a café at La Caravelle" was the suggestion.

We decided to have a café at La Caravelle, a restaurant with a small balcony overlooking the boats that were docked just right in front of us. What a good suggestion!

What do I enjoy most about travel?
Getting lost.

It's about getting lost, and finding things you never even thought about finding.

Being in a place for the very first time, I don't really need an agenda or a walking guide. I used to be nitpicky about this aspect, always, always looking at lonely planet, tripadvisor, travel forums and printing out or buying a street map. When friends ask me about 'Why this place or the other? What's there to do?' I would always be able to reply that I would be going there to: Ride an elephant/ go to the night bazaars/ just lie on the beach, etc. Especially for weekend trips, the short time in the destination meant that you had to plan a day of doing something.


I love to wander around alleyways and street corners, entering into interesting shops not found on tourist maps, often conversing with the locals or admiring the differences, the strange trees, the different ways the people carry themselves. In any case, you don't know what to expect, or where to go since you are there for the first time. And finding things on your own becomes more significant than following a map of must-sees and must-dos.

Walking around the city centre near Le Vieux Port, we stumbled upon an interesting statue. It was a man of marble, in the classical style, with his ass being attacked (bitten) by a lion. Whaaaaaat? 'Julien, why is there a sculpture in the square of Marseille, of a lion biting a man's ass?' Julien, my companion, immediately grounded to a halt, and whipped out his iphone.

Okay. Let's wikipedia that!

Reading from the french version of wikipedia, Julien informed me that this sculpture was supposed to be a legendary six-time winner, Olympian Milon de Crotone - back in the ancient faraway days where they used to do all kinds of sports naked. The story of his infamous death was where, he was walking in the woods one day and decided to test his strength by prising open some trees using his bare hands. However, he had a muscle cramp and stood there unable to move. Thus he was reputedly devoured by wolves, and died. Legendary!

(I'm not sure if what I wrote is truly accurate as I can't really read French.)



So why depict a lion instead of wolves? There are no lions in Europe, informed Julien.
Apparently it was considered a romantic classical style back then to use lions. And why is Mister Milo in Marseille, and not, one might assume, Italy as he originally hails from? Well, the sculptor was a well-known artist, Pierre Paul Puget, born in Marseille. Aha.

We spotted, on other days walking and driving around the city, some other morbid sculptures: a random giant foot without its body, standing in a hotel courtyard,  a finger (could be a thumb, and creepily looking very similar to Julien's thumb), sprouting from a traffic roundabout, both sculptures made from the same cast-iron material and seemingly by the same artist.

I may consider to document all the sculptures and their interesting history the next time I visit Marseille.
But I'd rather build a large sand turtle on the amazing mini-beaches scattered around the coastline!

So here's a few things on my list I would definitely enjoy doing again when I return to Marseille.

1. Having a café at La Caravelle.

 

My cappucino and the world map notebook that has accompanied me on many travels.

2. Take a ferry to Chateau d' If.
This is the small island and prison where the classic book 'The Count of Monte Cristo' is based.

3. Le Corbusier - Cité radieuse.
Julien was surprised that I knew about this place, an odd apartment building made of rough concrete that does not seem like anything special. Jerome, a friend who was from Marseille had informed me about the place as a must-visit, and this is one of the most famous architectural projects of Le Corbusier.

 
4. Lunch in the restaurant in the garden facing the Old Port (Vieux Port).
Little sparrow looking birds will come and snatch your breadcrumbs. We lured one for a photo-op.

 

5. Calanque de Marseilleveyre (and Sugiton). Amazing white rocks that turn salmon pink in the sunset.
So many Calanques, so little time! Don't forget to soak up the sun on the white pebbled beach or take a dip...

6. Notre Dame de la Garde - The church on the hill with a golden statue.


7. Abbaye St Victor - enter into one of the oldest churches in Europe, dating from the 5th century! I just spent my time there running my fingers lightly on top of the chiseled designs on the olden sculptures, signs, and tombs and wondered how they stood the test of time.

8. Watched a football match at Stade Velodrome!
It was the UEFA Europa league and the atmosphere was electrifying even for non-soccer fans, I was just staring, open-mouthed at the burly and super powerful looking, armed-to-the core gendarmes stationed at every entry point, they looked so suave!

9. The Corniche area - great views of boats, houses overlooking the coastline, white rocks. This is a long stretch of road on the waterfront where many people can be found doing a morning jog.

 

 Holding a small cloud in one hand while near the French Foreign Legion grounds!

10. Well, just get lost walking the streets!
I spotted cute laundry, amazing street art, chic French ladies, many dogs, and old buildings with historical significance.

Oh look honey! A Singaporean!

La Vieille Charité

Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille or Cathédrale de la Major

 On the street below La Caravelle, vintage looking souvenirs.

So long for now, Marseille...Quand pourrai-je vous revoir?

La Caravelle is at 34, Quai Du Port, 13002 Marseille.
http://www.lacaravelle-marseille.com/

Couchsurfing Marseille's FB page
http://www.facebook.com/groups/33477637857/

Marseille-Provence 2013
http://www.mp2013.fr

Sculpture of Milo of Croton by Pierre Puget
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_of_Croton

All photos taken by Rachel using Lomography Sunset Strip, Lomography Color 800, Rollei Black and White, Lomography Redscale; shot in Marseille, France.
Camera: Vivitar UWS (Superheadz)

Calanques of Marseille: Sugiton and Marseilleveyre

Les Calanques, the famous white-rocked hills and mountains that made up the landscape of the South of France; limestone rocks on the shoreline; the waves hitting the rocks and forming some sort of inlet, commonly known as fjiords; this was possibly the first time I had heard of them and I had time during my 10 day trip to get acquainted with them.

Coming from the tropical climate often described as 'hot and humid', the walk on the rocks to reach a small, amazing beach was quite arduous. Was it the thinner, drier air that I was unaccustomed to, or the path that required some rigourous knee-lifting movements that did me in? I was not quite sure; the supposedly three quarters of an hours' journey took me more than one. Little children scrambled past me while I huffed and puffed and needed a water and muesli-bar break every fifteen minutes or so: Needless to say I felt like a grandmother for the first time, and also silently berating the nice guy who thought this walk would be effortless for me. My country is too flat and this is perhaps the first of my unique realizations while rendering philosophical thoughts on the grumpily rocky path I found my feet on, trying hard to stay positive.

So on my second day in Marseille, France; I did the Calanques at Marseilleveyre. Much to my annoyance, I was told that local families took this path on a regular basis as their sunday afternoon jaunt.

The destination is this white pebbled beach to soak up some sun on a cold early autumn's day.


I declined politely to join 3 Marseillans (their hobbies included mountain climbing in Nepal, marathon running, travelling in India for years) for their 3 hour climb at the Calanques of Sugiton. To the relief of anyone who wants to keep their original knees past sixty, there is two walks the least sporty can attempt, one pavement that led downwards into the beautiful Calanque; the other leads to the peak. I did the one leading downwards and experimented with my redscale film, taking lovely (or at least I hope) photos of the mediterranean shrubs. The plants are amazing, pine trees, green oaks that are tiny due to the harsh weather conditions, ground-covering tiny white flowers that came in bushes, and many plants with bright colored berries, red ones, some with an ombre of red and pea green. Fat brown birds flew curiously around me but stayed out of sight, their chirping sounds reflected upon the huge rocks that have stood the test of time for centuries locked me into a quiet reverie of how wonderful these three hours spent in almost-solitude, save for the ocassional walkers, who are always looking into your eyes and calling out a friendly 'bonjour'!

And then after what seems like yet another bend in the road; you chance upon the amazing sight of the Calanque of Sugiton. 'It's my favorite Calanque of them all,' declared the marathoner Marseillan who encouraged me to walk all the way down after seeing a look of abject horror on my face at the thought of subjecting my knees to such rigours again.

The sight brought me to tears as Nicki Minaj's 'Va-va-voom' voomed in my ishuffle.

There, at the curve, shaded by small pines; with the sun in my eyes, the white rocky cliffs at the back and at the sides, in the front; the sea, a deep blue. The awe of nature, its beauty, the sight of something majestic yet humble that I had never expected to see, the cumulation of it all just washed upon me, that hey, I have reached this place. Just like the explorers of old who have found a place no one knew, I felt a strange sense of wonder and belonging. A city girl like me who comes from a flat land of buildings. No one ever expected I could find my way here, in so many aspects. Though my city is one of the richest in the world, travelling to this part of the world is a luxury, for most. (But thanks to the declining Euro this trip is cheaper than what it used to be.) I thought that I would be shopping in the old city area, eating in cafes and restaurants and going in pretty much the places I and my feet would be comfortable in.

Who knew that I would find myself in a place like this; Calanque de Sugiton?

 

All photos taken at Marseilleveyre, with Lomo 800 Color film and camera Vivitar UWS.