Travel
Travel Photoblog II: France, October 1-6 2019
After Krok, I flew from Moscow to Paris via Helsinki. My destination was this conference in the Loire Valley.
My cheap Paris hotel was near this cemetery.
I stayed in Paris just long enough to meet sister radical feminist Cecilia for lunch at a crêperie near Gare Montparnasse.
Leaving Paris on a TGV. France has excellent trains that put the US to shame.
A double rainbow as seen from the train. A trainbow?
Changing trains in Tours.
French trains have dedicated bicycle areas, while in the US, I can’t even take my folded Brompton on a bus between Champaign and Indianapolis without the driver yelling at me.
From the taxi from in Saumur to l’Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud, I saw yet another rainbow.
The “royale” part of l’Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud, the “palais” where artists-in-residence are housed.
Residents eat, chat, and do laundry in this common area. I was not a resident, just visiting to speak at the annual animation conference. But I had to do laundry after 10 days in Russia, so I used their washing machine.
A fresh batch of international animation residents had just arrived, and I joined them on this tour of l’Abbaye.
Cloisters galore.
The magnificent late-Romanesque cathedral.
More cloisters and animators.
The view from my window in the morning.
It looks so peaceful, doesn’t it? But they were doing construction most of the time, and the drone of power tools and compressors was nearly constant on weekdays.
The architecturally magnificent chimney towers of the ancient kitchen were under scaffolding and submitting to power tools as well. They say they’ll be done in 2021. I may apply to be a resident then so I can come back and see them in their full glory.
The conference opened with displays and presentations from the animators-in-residence. I didn’t take many pictures of the conference itself, and I have no photo from my own talk, with Jayne Piling, but it was apparently well received. I think my take on copyright abolition made some heads explode.
I got to eat breakfast at the swanky hotel, where they had this over-designed tableware. Instead of having a ridge like a normal saucer, this one had a curved cone protruding from its center, on which nestled the reciprocal inverted cone of the teacup.
It was design-for-design’s-sake, serving no purpose but to remind diners they were somewhere expensive, which was probably the point.
I took more photos around the ever-photogenic Abbey my last morning.
The French famously respect comics as an art form. In a bookshop in Saumur I came across this large hardbound graphic biography of George Orwell, among many other handsome and diverse comics.
After a few more French train rides I checked into this Ibis hotel at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
It had a pretty good view, considering.
The next morning I took my cattle-class seat on the plane to Chicago, and now I’m back in Urbana, IL, which feels even less glamorous than it did before (which was not at all). Au revoir, France! Das vedanya, Russia!
Travel Photoblog: Krok, Russia, September 21-30, 2019
Krok is an International animation festival that takes place on a riverboat in Russia or Ukraine or, in the past, both. Political issues have recently forced it to sail in Russia only, even as it continues to be organized by animators in both countries. This year it cruised from St. Petersburg to Moscow, making various scenic stops along the way. I was invited to lead the jury and watched lots of films between taking photos, trying to use the insecure internet in the bar, eating, rehearsing a song for “Carnival”, pretending to drink vodka, and sleeping.
On the drive in from the airport.
Our boat, the Konstantin Simonov, docked in St. Petersburg.
The hallway
My cabin
My cabin’s little bathroom.
A good omen: a rainbow the day before departure in St. Petersburg.
About 800 rubles (approximately $12.50) worth of snacks and provisions I purchased up the road from the boat in St. Petersburg. Those “CHAKA” peanuts-and-mixed-nuts snacks were the best. None of the energy bars tasted good, but I kept one on my person at all times to keep low blood sugar at bay.
A visit to St. Petersburg prior to the Festival Opening.
Distinguished jury members doing the mandatory lifejacket safety test.
Our Itinerary.
Our first stop, Mandrogi. Someone called it “Russian Disneyland”. Yes, it’s a tourist trap, but a rather charming one.
Mandrogi’s “Art Saloon” included this Matryoshka doll painting studio, proudly displaying photos of Putin’s visit a few years ago with his resultant masterpiece in the center.
I rented this bike for a few hundred rubles. Fun, and the only biking I got to do my entire trip.
The world-famous Vodka Museum. Every Russian tourist trap needs one, but Mandrogi’s was recently upgraded at great expense. I didn’t go inside because they charge for entry now. (I visited Krok in 2000, and Mandrogi and other tourist stops have been massively developed since then.)
Next stop: Kizhi Island and its magnificent wooden cathedral.
I remember this structure from 19 years ago. They’re doing a lot of reconstruction now.
Tourists everywhere, including me.
I thought this log “staircase” was cool.
Wood architecture on Kizhi.
I wanted to walk more on Kizhi, but had to turn back so I wouldn’t miss our departure.
Bye, Kizhi!
Fellow juror Isabelle, her Mann Jochen, and fellow juror Daniel “posed” for this photo in Petrozavodsk.
My Lovely Horse in a toy shop in Petrozavodsk.
A cold and rainy morning in Vytegra.
Animators just have to “pose” for every photo. On the right is fellow juror Svetlana, with her signature leg move.
Wood construction in Vytegra.
Our boat went through a lot of locks.
Deck view from inside a lock.
The scenery from my cabin window was ever-changing…
Out on Lake Something-or-Other
On Goritsky I took the tour of the monastery.
The monastery is on a small lake. I went off-tour for a while and passed this local who’d dismounted her bicycle to go fishing.
Back to the tour herd.
Back on board, we passed this church tower of a sunken city buried by a dam.
We all went out to take pictures of it. This was a rare moment the sun was out too.
A bit soured on tours after Goritsky, I didn’t keep up with the group in Dubna. This was my loss, because this tour was necessary and interesting, and I missed it. After getting lost, I found my way back to the boat and looked it up on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubna
Finally, we neared Moscow. Here’s fellow juror Ülo at breakfast.
After much deliberation, we made our selections as best we could and then signed a pile of certificates.
Then, Red Square w00t! I’d been to Red Square just a few months earlier, but was happy to see it again with my new friends.
You can’t have too many pictures of yourself standing in front of St. Basil’s cathedral.
Lenin’s Tomb was closed that day. Even a corpse needs a day off.
Moscow. I loved this Art deco building at the end of the street Ülo is walking down.
More Moscow.
And finally, the Moscow Airport, where I departed for Helsinki and then France. My next installment of photos will document the latter!