newyork

We're back!!!

We landed in Paris this morning. You could say our heads are still in the clouds, especially since we arrived in the middle of a huge storm with lightning and thunder - a bit scary, really!
Antonin and I feel like we haven't landed yet. Still thinking about New York, and our two really good weeks.
A lot of fun, surprises, smiles and questions left hanging in the air.
We both feel like we will definitely have to come back.
Leaving by taxi, I felt a pinch in my heart as I looked back to see the skyline for the last time.
It is such an amazing sight! And once you have learned a little bit about New York, this herd of surging buildings represents so much more than just steel, bricks and concrete. It's like you can feel and see the thousands faces of the people behind.
(this is actually the view taken on our arrival - but it's all the same, and the picture does not do justice!)

As for now, it's back to work!Download 02_back_on_the_chain_gang.mp3

The Met (3)

There is a part of the Museum that looks more like a storage room. A huge space where everything from paintings to furniture, to silverware, to dishes, etc. is piled in glass cases.
In one of them, we find the same trivet (dessous-de-plat in French) than one of ours. It bears the face af George Washington. Our trivet is in a Museum! I feel very privileged and special!
Then, I can't help reflect: who ever got the idea to put the face of this great American hero where you are supposed to deposit burning pots? I thought Georgie was in heaven, is being burned in hell forever???

The Met (2)

Our day at the Met was quite impressive.
Again, everything in New York is big, so the museum is supersized. But it was not crowded.
So we immersed ourselves in art, like one would dive ine the sea at sunset. When it's still warm, but all the other swimmers are gone, and you feel like you are getting a very special treatment. The Met has many sections but we focused on the American art.
I was particularly moved by some paintings from the turn of the century (late 18, early 19 hundreds).
Any idea who painted this one?

The Met (1)

Wonderful & extremely exhausting day at the Metropolitan Museum.
We end up on the terrasse overlooking Central Park and with the NY skyline in the background.
It's hot and humid, and we cannot seem to adapt our eyes from the dark inside of the museum to the bright outside of the rooftop.
Maybe a bit too colorful?

Fyin' High in the Brooklyn Sky

We just had a wonderful evening in Brooklyn.
Not only did Ken welcome us in his beautiful house - very impressive, well done guys! - but he also took us on a very exclusive sort-of-behind-the-scene Brooklyn tour before a delicious diner-dinner.
Now that I have seen the city from the other side, I am even more under its charm The view from Brooklyn is great for itself, but also because it puts sort of a distance between you and this big thing over there.
Brooklyn definitely feels different, more relaxed, and somewhat more "normal". A place to live in, I guess. On the way back, Antonin and I were just hit by the difference between the two sides. Walking out of 4th street subway station, it was suddenly obvious: we were back in New York City.
It's so great that you can have those two different vibes fifteen minutes from one another.
Many many thanks Ken! Here is a little bit of music for you. Maybe you can help me understand the lyrics!Download 05_digable_planets_with_lester_bowie_and_wah_wah_watsonflyin_high_inthe_brooklyn_sky.mp3

Thank you Richard, Merci Kurt

Thanks to Richard (and his good deals) and Kurt (and his great company) we spent more than five hours at the American Museum of Natural History.
The most interesting exhibition we saw dealt with trying to establish more knowledge about dinosaurs. And mainly about their potential capacity for running fast. Various types of scientists have been involved in trying to answer that question. Turns out, contrary to what Jurassic Park would have you believe, that Tyranausaurus-Rex is likely to habe been slow-paced. Weight, bio-mechanics, traks paths, bone structure, etc. all point in that direction.
It's fascinating how, the more we live in the future, the more we learn about the past.

Empire Sate (3)

One rainy day in New York.
Beautiful, crazy and interesting. It completely transforms the city. And the people. Somme are running because they don't have an umbrella. Some are stopped, somewhere sheltered from the rain, and they're letting the day go by, rather than getting wet! The third kind have a half broken umbrella - 2 persons out of 3 seem to have a broken umbrella! - and are going about their business as usual. I am not sure what is the real newyorker attitude, out of the three.
Meanwhile, the buildings have lost their tops (their heads?) in the clouds.
Under the rain New York is even more beautiful and more exciting than ever.

Immigration

Lors de notre passage à Ellis Island, nous visitons le Musée de l'Immigration.
C'est par là que sont passés les dizaines de millions d'immigrants du début du siècle, période la plus fertile en immigration aux Etats-Unis.
Le musée est très grand, très riche. Toute l'histoire du fonctionnement du centre est décrite en détail.
Il y a même une bibliothèque, ou plutôt une médiathèque.
On peut y écouter les témoignages audio de milliers d'immigrants, qui racontent leurs souvenirs du passage par Ellis Island.
Dans une grande salle sont installés 20 postes informatiques.
Nous entrons et nous asseyons. Nous écoutons quelques témoignages. Nous sommes seuls.
Pendant les 15 minutes ou nous sommes restés là, personne n'est passé.
Comme si les seuls récits authentiques et le formidable travail d'archivage entrepris était moins important ou moins intéressant que les explications toutes faites du musée.
Ou bien alors, l'immigration n'est plus vraiment un sujet en vogue aux Etats-Unis ?

Empire State (2)

We've all seen it before. In photos, on TV, in the movies. But it is quite different for real! Being on top of New York is not like anything else. So here it is: one of our great pictures of the Chrysler building, our all-time favourite.

Empire State (1)

Why did we select a saturday evening to get on top of the Empire State building?
Maybe we were afraid of being really lonely up there!
I don't know if it's the same everyday - probably it is - but we had to stay in line for two hours.
So we decided to try and create some kind of picture art, while we were waiting. It's amazing how one can be creative when he/she has nothing else to do!