2 days in Girona to observe Easter rituals. I've been waiting to do this since I missed it 4 years ago and it was worth the wait. Extraordinary images of the Setmana Santa walking and manoeuvring religious floats depicting scenes from the Easter story. My favourite was the truly meta Jesus in a glass box held up by maybe 8 angels who are then carried by the Confloria del Sant Sepulchre with huge displays of flowers...... all lit up. The procession lasts 2 hours with the individual groups representing different areas of faith. I noticed that Pete Hegseth's tattoo is part of the insignia worn by the same Confloria del Sant Sepulchre. Not disturbing at all. If in Gerona check out the Jewish Museum. A must see in Girona is the extraordinary fortress that is frightening in its scale - all that energy devoted to war.
Continuing the yearly walk along the coast of Spain into
France. On the train to Figures to get a bus to Cadaces to start the walk
tomorrow on the coast where Dali lived and where we stopped the previous leg
this time last year. 4 days later.....on a train to Montpellier to meet
friends. It was the fourth-year walking from Loret du Mar to Banyul-s-Mer and
this has got to be the most beautiful leg of the walk. Striding through areas
filled with luminous flowers in full bloom, their scents filling the air,
unusual insects, butterflies and lizards, all under blue skies with sea on your
right shoulder. Crossing the border from Spain into France was interesting as
the culture changed dramatically. Hola becomes Bonjour. Restaurants in Spain
that only opened at 9:00 were into their coffee and dessert at a similar time
in France. Crem Catalan gave way to île flottante (possible my all-time
favourite dessert) and tapas evolves into a proper 3 course meal. Typography on
buildings and in church yards became florid and landmarks go from rock formations
to lines of poplar trees as the coast flattens out into salt marshes. Stunning.
Got the train to Montpellier to see friends, eat interesting food and see art.
The shows at Moco had a sci-art concoction, mainly focusing on the body with
some great medical models. The food included pig cheeks, tiel, and candied
hibiscus flowers. A final day was spent in Arles to see the Frank
Ghery......what an architectural mess - it looks as if 3-4 people 'designed' it
in the local bricomarché after a long lunch, so many different approaches and
materials. Messy, unused spaces everywhere and the restaurant was given over to
an artist........oh dear - the most uncomfortable and bizarrely unnecessarily
over-thought chairs and table ever. But there was a Gustav Metzger
exhibition that was fantastically confrontational, but a nonsense of over-tech Philippe
Parreno exhibition was unnecessary and maybe only there because it
could be. It was a joy to leave and go to the Lee Ufan foundation, Designed in
collaboration with Tadao Ando - it is a thoughtful space with stunningly
considered work that transcends the ordinary - a must see.
