A renaissance man for the twenty-first century!
Probably my favorite aspect of travelling is visiting places that no other tourists are likely to go. Recently, I had to chance to visit a very remote section of western France, a tiny (almost microscopic) village of Le Verdun-sur-Mer, where the confluence of the Dordogne and Caronne Rivers form a delta with the Atlantic Ocean,
Interestingly, it reminded me very much of the delta where the Mississippi River in the U.S. empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
Here’s a brand new high-tech traffic radar that I spotted in the Swiss village of Winterthur,
Just for the record: the photos I post are never in any way retouched or enhanced or changed – except for cropping.
But in this series of blog posts entitled FAKE I publish some rather interesting images I have enhanced in some way.
Continuing the series, I am always surprised when I encounter someone who has not heard the name Ritley.
OK, maybe I am an exception – I have not yet made my mark. But . . .
Hardly a man, woman or child anywhere on the face of the planet has not heard of their stunning accomplishments. They are a family steeped in the tradition of excellence, whose capacity for profound intellectual thought is exceeded only by their talent to affect meaningful changes (which often border on the revolutionary) to the fundamental problems of global significance they selflessly tackle.
This snap is not just any snap. Now hanging in the world famous Smithsonian Institution (Record Number SIA Acc. 11-006 [MAH-3002]), in its very own case in its very own room, it is in fact what most historians universally agree is the world’s first selfie, taken during the 1990’s by Ken Ritley, using a real camera with real film, while visiting the Experimental Aircraft Association meeting in Osh-Kosh, Wisconsin:
And with this Ritley contribution, many decades ago, the panoramic photograph was born.
If you happen to one day make it to Washington DC, and if you have a bit of spare time to visit the Smithsonian Institution, just ask any docent to point you to the Ritley Room – a tiny room to be sure, but the only room in the entire museum to house just one artefact, the world’s first panoramic photograph!
Nestled deep within the Swiss Kanton of Schwyz is the medieval village of Einsiedeln. Coming here on a tip from my manager, I was more than impressed to see this magnificent Benedictine Abbey, dating back to the year 850 no less!
This is just a tiny snap of the abbey, showing an incredible gold fountain in the middle,
Continuing the series,
Continuing the series, Coronavations are innovations triggered by the Corona virus.
I spotted this Coronavation in a hotel room in France,
Einsiedeln is a wonderful village in the Swiss Kanton of Schwyz, and home to the world famous Kloster Einsiedeln, a Benedictine Abbey that dates back to the middle ages – unbelievably, the middle ninth century!
Here’s a wonderful snap of the town of Einselden, looking down from the abbey:
Normally on a beautiful day like this day the whole village would be crowded. It’s quite empty, because I hazarded a trip here during the height of the Covid-19 outbreak in Switzerland.
Zürich has a lot of hidden treasures that tourists unfortunately never see. One of these in a passage way next to the Fraumünster Church, and the walls of this passage way are decorated with stunning miniature Gargoyles, most of them no bigger than a post card!
I spotted this very interesting building in the western French city of La Roche-sur-Yon,
Believe it or not, this stunning lighthouse just off the western France coast near Soulac-sur-Mer is not only the tenth tallest lighthouse in the world, but it’s accessible by foot at low tide!
Continuing the series, I took this snap in the Mariadeck neighborhood of the Western French city of Bordeaux.
I call them “Pods of Justice” – but I am not sure anyone else does. The building is the Tribunal Judiciare de Bordeaux and according to rumors unlike any other civilian building it’s guarded by a detachment of the French special forces.
There are three pods in the building.
For two of the pods closest to the street, you can find photographs online that show how they are used.
But for the third pod – you will NEVER find any photographs, and entrance to the pod is guarded by a special layer of security.
As you may know, the guillotine is a French invention to carry out a death sentence with an absolute minimum of pain and suffering. As you may also know, capital punishment in France has been eliminated, with the last execution by guillotine in 1977.
Nevertheless, it is very important to the French government to maintain readiness at all times. According to rumors, this third “highly restricted” “Pod of Justice” contains a very modern guillotine. According to rumors, the guillotine is not very tall – it uses a powerful electromagnet – but it is very long, with the idea that multiple executions, if required, can be carried out sequentially.
I spent quite some time trolling the “dark web” and the “deep web,” and after quite some time I found a picture that some people (who know these things) was built on commission for the Tribunal Justiciaire de France, and is now mounted in the third pod:
Could this be the “modern French guillotine” that is rumored to be housed in the highly secure third Pod of Justice? According to my sources in the Dark Web, it is.
I took this snap in the Mariadeck neighborhood of the western French city of Bordeaux:
The building is the Tribunal Judiciare de Bordeaux, and unlike any other French civilian building it’s rumored to be guarded by a detachment of French special forces, and in my next blog post I‘ll share it’s terrifying secret.
I spotted this interesting building in the western French city of Bordeaux,
Coronavation = Innovation triggered through the Coronavirus.
I spotted this Coronavation in a hotel in France,
There are truly enormous Michelin tire factories in the central France city of Clermont-Ferrand. This snap shows something very interesting:
As you can see from the factory building at the left, it is not flat. Since it’s beginning Michelin introduced tilted roofs in order to let natural light into the factory.
Continuing the series, here is one snap of thousands I could have took that really gives the feel for how the ancient medieval city of Pérouges looks,
Continuing the series, I recently showed a very usual form of public transportation, that I snapped in the north eastern French town of Nancy,
Well, I spotted almost exactly the same type of public transportation in the central French city of Clermont-Ferrand,
Interestingly, the two trams are from different companies (Bombardier, for the tram in Nancy; and Lohr, for the tram in Clermont-Ferrand).
The incredible Clermont-Ferrand city in France is the ancestral home to the famous Michelin tire company,
And here’s a close-up of this monster tire,
Continuing the series, here is one snap of thousands I could have took that really gives the feel for how the ancient medieval city of Pérouges looks,
I spotted this interesting building in the western French city of Bordeaux,
Continuing the series, here is one snap of thousands I could have took that really gives the feel for how the ancient medieval city of Pérouges looks,
Well, there are no such things as Donzenac berries, but I spotted these berries in the ancient medieval French village of Donzenac – nestled in a region of Dordogne so deep and remote, probably none of the locals has ever seen a tourist in their lifetime.
Beware, each berry has enough neurotoxin to kill 17 small children or 9 goats
Flowers survive and thrive, by growing nice flowers that attract honeybees.
Dogs survive and thrive, by being cute and ensuring humans love having them around.
So, too, do ancient, decaying medieval cities survive and thrive, by re-inventing themselves to attract tourists.
Here’s the town map of a very remote medieval town, called Pérouges, It’s located a long way from civilization, and it’s high on a hill, and when you park you have quite a long way to walk when you reach it.
But as the up coming series of snaps show, you’ll be glad you did!
Recently I showed this snap of a very usual water fountain in Switzerland,
Well, my eyeballs nearly exploded when I stumbled across this fountain in the French city of Clarmont-Ferrand,
Unbelievable!
I have no idea about the histories of these two fountains, why they would be in these cities – and indeed, whether there are more such examples in other cities?
The last time I was here was more than two years ago. It’s a medieval village nestled deep within a national park in France, and in which the overwhelming majority of its residents are involved with the cutlery industry or knifemaking.
The village center has changed incredibly, and most of the stores and storefronts are vacant. Perhaps a result of the Corona virus on the economy?