How did I discover Martinů, the composer ?
Let me think... it was recently, a few months ago, it was "by accident"...
Ah yes, I remember. On a regular basis (roughly once a year?), I catch up with the discography of a few performers that I find exceptional. To see if, by chance and good fortune, they have recorded pieces that I otherwise love. One of my favorite pieces, played by one of my favorite performers, this is the holy grail, and sometimes it happens.

So, a few months ago, I was looking into the recent discography of a few young pianists, whose musicality is in the same vein (but with their own sensitivity) as the famous S. Richter: Beatrice Rana, Anna Vinnitskaya, Bertrand Chamayou, and Andrei Korobeinikov.
Quickly, I stumble upon the sonatas for cello and piano by Bohuslav Martinů, performed by Johannes Moser (cello) and Andrei Korobeinikov (piano).
This is far from my usual favorite pieces, as I have never listened to Martinů, his name only vaguely rings a bell. But this is Korobeinikov playing. So I listen religiously. If there's any underlying magic, it is bound to work.
And bingo! This is really good!
How is it that I never listened to this composer before? given that I enjoy above all the early 20th-century period (Debussy, Ravel, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, ...).
Following this discovery, I start looking into Martinů's work. Ah, [...]

La passeggiata is part of the Italian art of living. With the fine weather, when the sun disappears behind the roofs, the time for the aperitivo approaches, and minute by minute, the historic artery of the city center, pedestrian and charming as it should be, is transformed: a crowd gathers, as if the whole city had come together to stroll and chat. With friends. Or with family, with strollers. All generations gathered in a calm and cheerful flow, which goes up then down the street, an uninterrupted flow. Then night falls, the terraces are full, the restaurants too, and the flow continues its great traveling conversation, until late in the evening.

We watch it from a café terrace. Then we join in, we become actors in the scene. Feeling of communion and serenity.
It's magical, because in the space of the evening, we understand what it means for a society to be genuinely cohesive.

The passeggiata is unknown to us in France, even though we're also a Latin and neighboring country.
So, where can we experience it ?
Almost everywhere in Italy! But there are places where it is particularly striking and memorable.
It will often not be big cities, where the crowd is necessarily "diluted"; but it will be small or medium-sized towns, where this surreal impression operates: "but, there are more people in the street [...]

travel date: 05/2023

A must-see... augmented

Without a doubt, Guatapé and the Piedra del Peñol are an unmissable day trip from Medellin, where you can enjoy the calm of tropical nature, the stunning scenery and the traditional architecture of these wonders.

Ok but... what if we added a second day to this getaway? All it takes is a few detours, to a few small towns ignored by mass tourism, in order to discover the authentic, smiling Colombia, a blend of calm and a touch of craziness, on these high plateaus of the Antioquia region.

Another strong argument: the last night is in Rionegro, i.e. close to Medellin airport; perfect for a stress-free end of the stay in the region, with a flight the next day.

How's that for a concept?

Why ex-Yugoslavia ?

travel date: 08/2022

I reverse the question : why restrict the journey to Croatia only, on some remarkable sites of the Dalmatian coast only ?

In Croatia, in Bosnia, in Montenegro, as well as the other countries of ex-Yugoslavia, still as of today and despite the sufferings caused by the war in the 1990s, the inhabitants are brotherly peoples, with the same language, and with a culture, traditions and destiny which are still intermingled.

Yes, the Dalmatian coast is worth the journey, it's extraordinary, unique. But not alone. Visiting also the brother countries, meeting also the brotherly peoples, allows for an authentic and rich tourney in the Balkans.

The former Yugoslavia is still on people's minds, with hostility for some, with regret for others. The phenomenon of "Yugonostalgia" is alive in part of the population of these countries. This feeling that a golden age of fraternity and common destiny has vanished, in a country that had its glaring flaws (zero political, press and entrepreneurial freedom) but also its qualities (rather good standard of living for the masses, free studies & health care, freedom to travel to the West, non-alignment with either the West or the USSR) ; in short, a unique case in history of a socialist model that "kind-of worked" at fulfilling the fundamental human needs. And of course, [...]