From Brest to Paris

In January 2005 I arrived in Brest in a professional context, linked to CERV and to my collaboration with Dorin Mircea Popovici. The journey also had a personal continuation: after the working visit, Mircea and I travelled through part of the Breton coast and northern France before my route continued towards Paris.

The photographs preserve, better than anything else, the emotional itinerary of those days: Brest and the Atlantic, the ruins at Pointe Saint-Mathieu, the small ports, Normandy, Mont Saint-Michel, Saint-Malo and, finally, Paris. This page reconstructs the trip day by day, starting from the images that have been preserved.

8 January 2005. Brest, Pointe Saint-Mathieu and Le Conquet

In the photographs, the first day of the trip remained linked to leaving the strictly professional space of the CERV visit and encountering the Breton landscape. Before the route continued towards Normandy, Saint-Malo, Mont Saint-Michel and Paris, this day had its own unity: a gradual descent from the warm, almost domestic interior of the morning towards the grey light of the Atlantic.

The coast at Pointe Saint-Mathieu does not resemble the sea I knew in childhood and youth. It does not have the open light of the Black Sea, nor the gentler horizon of Constanța. Here the sea seems heavier, older, more restless. The ruins of the abbey of Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre, the lighthouse and the rocks over which the waves broke gave the place a special solemnity, at once historical and mineral.

Towards the end of the day, the images move from the promontory towards Le Conquet: the harbour, the white houses, the moored boats and the orientation table on the coast. It was, above all, a day of becoming accustomed to Brittany: stone, wind, rough sea and that cold January light that made everything seem more austere and more precise.

The first images of the day

Fig. 1. Breton interior, probably at the beginning of the day, before setting out towards the coast.

Fig. 2. Another angle of the same room, with the tables set under the wooden roof.

Pointe Saint-Mathieu: the abbey, the lighthouse and the Atlantic

Fig. 3. The first encounter with the Atlantic shoreline: beach, rocks and rough sea.

Fig. 4. The ruins of the abbey of Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre, with the lighthouse visible in the background.

Fig. 5. A vertical view of the abbey ruins, with the lighthouse again appearing above the walls.

Fig. 6. The open nave of the old abbey, reduced to walls, arches and sky.

Fig. 7. A lateral detail of the ruins: columns, arches and the damp stone of the Breton winter.

Fig. 8. A frontal perspective through the ruined nave of the abbey.

Fig. 9. An unexpected moment on the plateau at Saint-Mathieu: approaching the horses near the coast.

Fig. 10. The Atlantic striking the rocks, with a maritime landmark barely visible offshore.

Fig. 11. The same shore, caught in the sequence of waves breaking against the rocks.

Fig. 12. The rocks at Pointe Saint-Mathieu and the white foam under a grey sky.

Fig. 13. The sea entering violently between the rocks of the promontory.

Fig. 14. The Atlantic horizon, isolated rocks and the cold January light.

Fig. 15. Waves near the rocks, with the maritime landmark in the background.

Fig. 16. Foam lifted by the waves over the sharp edges of the stone.

Fig. 17. Another moment in the same struggle between water and stone.

Fig. 18. Waves and rocks, a view close to the edge of the promontory.

Fig. 19. The Saint-Mathieu ensemble: lighthouse, ruins and the human figure facing the landscape.

Fig. 20. The coast seen from the plateau, with the sea entering between the rocks.

Fig. 21. The stone portal near the ruins, with sculptures and walls marked by time.

Le Conquet and the gaze towards the sea

Fig. 22. A stop on the shore, near a harbour structure or a breakwater exposed to the waves.

Fig. 23. The breakwater and a burst of foam lifted by the waves.

Fig. 24. Le Conquet seen from above, with the harbour and the white houses along the shore.

Fig. 25. The harbour at Le Conquet, with boats moored in the quiet water.

Fig. 26. A wider view of the harbour and the settlement at Le Conquet.

Fig. 27. A paraglider above the Atlantic, an image of freedom in the cold winter light.

Fig. 28. On the observation plateau, beside a painted orientation table.

Fig. 29. Detail of the orientation table, with a schematic drawing of the coast and maritime landmarks.

9 January 2005. Mont Saint-Michel and Saint-Malo

The second day of the trip changed the landscape: from the Atlantic austerity around Brest, the road descended towards one of the most spectacular places in Normandy, Mont Saint-Michel. The photographs first capture its appearance from afar, like an almost unbelievable form rising above the plain and the bay, then the approach to the walls, the narrow streets at the base and the climb towards the abbey.

Inside the abbey, the series of images becomes denser and more solemn: the cloister, the vaulted halls, the corridors, the massive pillars, the church and the side spaces alternate with small details of light. The place does not appear as a simple tourist object, but as a construction in which stone, verticality and silence create the impression of a world set between sea and sky.

After Mont Saint-Michel, the journey continued towards Saint-Malo. There the atmosphere changes again: the city enclosed within its walls, the rain, the narrow streets, the ramparts, the beach and the forts offshore give the day a second part that is both more maritime and more urban. In the photographs Saint-Malo appears as an inhabited fortress, not as a ruin: the walls are old, but the city still breathes inside them.

The appearance of Mont Saint-Michel and the climb to the abbey

Fig. 30. Mont Saint-Michel seen from afar, still detached from the low line of the bay.

Fig. 31. The first approach to Mont Saint-Michel, with the silhouette of the abbey rising above the car park.

Fig. 32. Mont Saint-Michel seen from the entrance side, massive and compact under the grey January sky.

Fig. 33. A narrow street, with shop windows and old houses, at the base of Mont Saint-Michel.

Fig. 34. Stone houses and vegetation at the base of the walls, in a more secluded corner of the mount.

Fig. 35. The bay of Mont Saint-Michel seen from a terrace or from the ramparts, with visitors stopped at the edge.

Fig. 36. The sands and shallow waters of the bay, with the island of Tombelaine barely visible in the distance.

Fig. 37. Stairs and high walls on the route up to the abbey at the top of the mount.

Inside the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel

Fig. 38. A first contact with the abbey complex: Gothic walls, an inner courtyard and the green of winter.

Fig. 39. The cloister of the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, with its slender columns and almost musical rhythm.

Fig. 40. The same cloister from another angle, with the church rising above the gallery.

Fig. 41. A large hall of the abbey, severe and luminous, in which stone dominates everything.

Fig. 42. Arches and columns of the abbey, photographed close up, with light filtered through the windows.

Fig. 43. A vast, almost empty interior, where the vertical lines of the columns accentuate the impression of recollection.

Fig. 44. Detail of massive columns and of a side space within the abbey.

Fig. 45. A religious statue in a corner of the abbey, discreetly lit within the stone space.

Fig. 46. A room of the abbey in which artificial light warms the reddish walls.

Fig. 47. The round pillars of a lower hall, strong and sober, like a load-bearing structure of the mount.

Fig. 48. A long, almost monastic corridor leading the eye towards a distant window.

Fig. 49. The interior of the abbey church, with benches, columns and light coming from the side.

Fig. 50. A group of visitors inside the church, captured during explanations or a moment of quiet attention.

Fig. 51. The nave of the church, where the austerity of stone blends with the high light of the windows.

Fig. 52. Visitors crossing a high space of the abbey, among columns and narrow windows.

Fig. 53. An opening towards the outside, between the thick walls of the abbey.

Fig. 54. A small illuminated niche or chapel, where the space becomes more intimate and silent.

Fig. 55. A personal moment inside the abbey, in front of a bas-relief or stone decoration.

Fig. 56. A trace of mural painting or old decoration preserved on the stone wall.

Fig. 57. Staircase and interior vault, on a route descending or passing between levels.

Fig. 58. A darker space of the abbey, where the arches disappear into the half-light.

Fig. 59. A final look at the vaulted halls before going outside.

Fig. 60. Walls, roofs and narrow streets layered on the slope of Mont Saint-Michel.

Among the interior photographs there is also a short video file, DSCN0087.MOV, kept separately in the assets/video/ folder. I have not yet inserted it into the page, so as not to change the pattern of the photo gallery.

On the way to Saint-Malo

Fig. 61. On the road between Mont Saint-Michel and Saint-Malo: an isolated mill in the winter plain.

Fig. 62. A narrow street in Saint-Malo intra-muros, under the cold afternoon rain.

Saint-Malo: walls, beach and sea

Fig. 63. The first view from the walls of Saint-Malo towards the sea and the fortified islands.

Fig. 64. On the city ramparts, with the beach, the walls and the sea unfolding below.

Fig. 65. One of the fortified islands in front of Saint-Malo, isolated by the tides.

Fig. 66. The offshore fort seen from the walls, with the calm grey sea around it.

Fig. 67. The coast, the rocks and the fort near Saint-Malo, in a cold light.

Fig. 68. The marine horizon, with a low island barely outlined in the mist.

Fig. 69. The long breakwater and the beach at Saint-Malo, seen from the city walls.

Fig. 70. The sea and the headlands around Saint-Malo, in a lateral perspective.

Fig. 71. The green space between the walls and the sea, with the shore stretching into the background.

Fig. 72. A panorama over the green area and the quiet water around the city.

Fig. 73. The walkway on the ramparts, between the city walls and the open view towards the sea.

Fig. 74. The beach, the small islands and the compact January sky, seen from above.

Fig. 75. A short halt on the walls, with the bench, the winter green and the sea in the distance.

Fig. 76. The façades of Saint-Malo, the massive walls and the car park at the base of the fortification.

Fig. 77. The city walls and the rocky shore, in an image linking the fortification to the sea.

Fig. 78. On the walls of Saint-Malo, with the coat raised against the cold and the rain.

Fig. 79. The gate and flags at the entrance to the old city of Saint-Malo.

Fig. 80. The entrance to Saint-Malo, with modern traffic passing beside the old walls.

Fig. 81. An inner courtyard or passage of the fortification, between massive stone walls.

Fig. 82. In the evening, near a lit city gate, before the day came to an end.

Fig. 83. The last image of the day, taken on the move, as the light was fading over the sea or the road.

10 January 2005. The official day at CERV

The third day of the journey had a character entirely different from the first two. After the excursions to Pointe Saint-Mathieu, Mont Saint-Michel and Saint-Malo, I returned to the professional reason for my presence in Brest: the inauguration of CERV, the centre dedicated to virtual reality. The photographs immediately change register: no longer images of coastlines, old stone or fortified towns, but new interior spaces, corridors, metal stairs, offices, technical panels, groups of guests and presentations.

On this day one feels the contrast between the tourism of the two previous days and the institutional world of applied research. CERV appeared as a place built for collaboration, demonstrations and projects: recent and functional architecture, with generous spaces and that atmosphere specific to university or technology centres when they publicly assert their existence.

For me, the event also had a personal meaning. It was not only the inauguration of a building, but also an encounter with an environment in which research, technology and doctoral training were articulated in a visible project. Mircea's presence in Brest, the connection with CERV and the atmosphere of that day made the visit belong, at the same time, to my professional biography and to my personal memory.

The building and the interior spaces

Fig. 84. The CERV building in Brest, in an overall view of the centre that was to be officially inaugurated.

Fig. 85. An interior corridor of the centre, with the metal staircase and brick walls, before entering the official atmosphere of the day.

The official visit and the meetings

Fig. 86. Participants gathered in the demonstration area, around the equipment and technical spaces of the centre.

Fig. 87. Waiting in the corridor, near the interior staircase, during a transition moment of the official visit.

Fig. 88. A smaller group standing near work spaces or laboratories of the centre.

Fig. 89. Discussions in a corridor of the centre, in front of laboratory or office spaces.

Fig. 90. In one of the centre's offices, a calmer, behind-the-scenes image, caught between the public moments of the inauguration.

Fig. 91. An explanatory panel or technical poster, photographed during the tour through the centre.

Fig. 92. Participants gathered in a common area, during a break in the official visit.

Fig. 93. Portrait of some participants in the inauguration, in an interior setting of the centre.

Fig. 94. The audience gathered in the central hall, an image suggesting the density and official character of the event.

The inaugural presentation

Fig. 95. The official presentation of the Centre Européen de Réalité Virtuelle, with the institutions and project partners visible on the screen.

Fig. 96. An intervention at the lectern, during the presentation of the centre's objectives and resources.

11–13 January 2005. Paris: Opéra, Louvre, the Seine and Île de la Cité

After the days in Brest, at CERV and in northern France, the Paris stage changes register once again. It is no longer about the Atlantic coast, fortified towns or the official moment of the centre's inauguration, but about a return to the Paris of the great cultural landmarks: the Opéra, the Louvre, the Seine, Les Invalides, the Eiffel Tower, Sainte-Chapelle, Notre-Dame and the Conciergerie.

From the photographs that remained I selected only the frames that give continuity to this walk. Many images were repetitive or fixed details too closely to support a narrative. The retained series is not meant to be a complete tourist inventory of Paris, but a visual closure of the trip: after Brittany and Normandy, the city appears as a concentration of theatre, museum, monument and memory.

The first Parisian landmarks

In the photographs, the Paris stage begins with a few almost obligatory landmarks: the Opéra Garnier, the Louvre, Place de la Concorde and La Madeleine. It is not yet a Paris narrated in detail, but rather a Paris recognized while walking, through lights, perspectives and monuments.

Fig. 97. Opéra Garnier, one of the first Parisian images of this stage of the journey.

Fig. 98. The glass pyramid of the Louvre, captured at dusk in the cold light of January.

Fig. 99. The obelisk in Place de la Concorde, in a night image in which the city is reduced to lights and silhouettes.

Fig. 100. Place de la Concorde at night, with the fountain and illuminated buildings, in an early-evening Parisian atmosphere.

Fig. 101. La Madeleine seen at night, like a classical temple set in the middle of the modern city.

Fig. 102. Opéra Garnier appearing again in the evening, illuminated and set apart from the city's traffic.

An evening at the Opéra Garnier

The Opéra Garnier forms the most coherent nucleus of this stage. The photographs capture the auditorium, the curtain, the monumental staircase and the grand foyer. They document not only a performance, but also the social ceremony of entering a space where architecture, theatre and cultural memory overlap.

Fig. 103. The chandelier in the auditorium of the Opéra Garnier, above a hall still sunk in half-light.

Fig. 104. The auditorium of the Opéra Garnier before the performance, with the audience seated in boxes and balconies.

Fig. 105. The stage curtain, seen from the auditorium before the evening at the Opéra truly began.

Fig. 106. The monumental staircase of the Opéra Garnier, with the elegant bustle of the audience.

Fig. 107. The grand foyer of the Opéra Garnier, dominated by gold, mirrors, chandeliers and warm light.

The Louvre: palace, museum, cultural myth

The Louvre appears in a double guise: as a historic palace, with medieval foundations, terraces, sumptuous halls and galleries, and as a museum of canonical images. I kept only a few representative frames, because many photographs repeated the same experience of visiting.

Fig. 108. In the area of the medieval foundations of the Louvre, where the museum lets the historical layers of the palace appear.

Fig. 109. The Louvre terrace, with aligned statues and the city visible beyond the palace courtyard.

Fig. 110. A sumptuous interior of the Louvre, probably in the area of the Napoleon III apartments.

Fig. 111. Detail from the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre, with its sumptuous decoration and richly ornamented ceiling.

Fig. 112. Display case with jewels and crowns, in the same atmosphere of museum splendour at the Louvre.

Fig. 113. Veronese's “Wedding at Cana”, monumental and almost overwhelming in its dimensions.

Fig. 114. The Mona Lisa, seen from a distance, as almost always through the filter of the crowd and of the museum turned myth.

Fig. 115. Ingres's “Grande Odalisque”, one of the canonical images of French painting.

Fig. 116. Jacques-Louis David's “The Coronation of Napoleon”, recorded as an inevitable landmark of the visit to the Louvre.

The Seine, Les Invalides and the Eiffel Tower

The walk then continues through the open Paris of broad perspectives: the Seine, the bridges, Les Invalides, the Eiffel Tower and the wide boulevards. After the enclosed spaces of the Opéra and the Louvre, the city returns here as an urban landscape.

Fig. 117. Passing through the Palais-Royal area, with the colonnades and metal spheres of the inner courtyard.

Fig. 118. The Seine seen from the bridge, with the alignment of buildings and the low afternoon light.

Fig. 119. Pont Alexandre III and the Grand Palais, in one of those perspectives that fix official and monumental Paris.

Fig. 120. The dome of Les Invalides, seen from the esplanade, in a winter light that accentuates its silhouette.

Fig. 121. The dome of Les Invalides, photographed close up, with the gold of the cupola standing out strongly from the stone ensemble.

Fig. 122. The Eiffel Tower seen from the Champ de Mars, in the clear morning light.

Fig. 123. The metal structure of the Eiffel Tower, seen close up, like an immense geometric network.

Fig. 124. Under the Eiffel Tower, looking upward through the metal structure of the monument.

Fig. 125. Pont Alexandre III in full daylight, with its gilded decoration and the Seine crossing the city.

Fig. 126. The Esplanade des Invalides, with the dome in the distance, in a wide perspective.

Fig. 127. A Parisian boulevard, probably towards the Champs-Élysées area, with the traffic and usual rhythm of the city.

An equestrian statue encountered during the walk through Paris, in the area of the great urban perspectives. — Fig. 128. An equestrian statue of Henry IV, on Pont Neuf.

Île de la Cité: Sainte-Chapelle, Notre-Dame and the Conciergerie

The last group of images is linked to Île de la Cité. Sainte-Chapelle, Notre-Dame and the Conciergerie reintroduce medieval and Gothic Paris, but in a form that is already museum-like, crossed by tourists and by the cold light of winter.