so, i am crazy but u must me so proud of me. i went out of my way to see an architecture piece and not just any architect's work but Le Corbusier ! Yes. i walked 1 hr 30 minutes looking for the Maison Radieuse. its actually not in nantes but in another suburb called reze. and yes i walked all the way there. which i m glad i did because i saw lots of other interesting things long the way. boy, i am impressed !
Day 12 - casual encounters
so i thought i stay one more day here and i m determined to go look for le corbusier's building. from the map i got it didn't look too far but i didnt realize the map was scaled at 1:1000. fucking hell !
Encounter #1
This woman came up to me and went "blah blah blah blah".
jxe, went "huh ? english ?"
woman "oh" took out a poster showing god and destruction.
"do you believe that god and he brings destruction to the world" (along that lines but broken english)
jxe shook his head
woman, "how u explain that ?"
jxe removed his sunnies, looked into her eyes and responded, "bad karma !" and put his sunnies back on.
woman laughs profusely and responded, "maybe haha!"
jxe walkes away.
along the way i saw some really interesting buildings, warehouses, structures and cranes. one that i was most impressed was the Palais de Justice.
Encounter #2
i was taking pictures, this guy came up to me and went "blah blah blah blah".
jxe, went "huh ? english ?"
he went, " no blah blah blah blah ..."
jxe just noded and noded and smiled and noded ...
more, "blah blah blah" and then we shook hands and we walked away.
(Palais de Justice)
(Maison Radieuse - in sight)
when the Maison Radieuse was in sight, i got very excited because with my lousy sense of direction, i was actually heading the right direction. the booklet said i should call and make a booking for a guide and pay 5 euros. though fuck this shit i'd just turn up and look for the guide. when i arrived, i was really impressed by the building. i was surprised that its a residential apartment and people live there. really run down building. went to the reception but no one was there and everything was written in french. so i thought fuck it. i m here i may as well give myself a tour and go up the elevator.
(Maison Radieuse - ground level)
people were all staring at me and all going blah blah blah. i just ignore them and went to every level. its just literally a corridor leading to the individual units. so i saw nothing.
Encounter #3
she saw me lost and all clueless. "blah blah blah, tourist ?"
jxe, noded, "yes, english ?"
woman, "a little, blah blah blah, come come, blah blah blah"
jxe followed.
anyway, she took me to her pad, unit no 633. she had a little 4 year old kid. could tell she didnt have much, living very modestly. yet she was really proud that she is living in a designer building. to my surprised, she took out a folder filled with information about le corbusier and the building and started explaining to me about the building. the pad is a duplex and give me a tour around the pad. she was explaining the desgn concept of the pad to me, the balcony, the kitchen, the arched doors to the toilets and baths, the colors, the floor materials etc. i could only understand 1/4 of what she said but enough to put the pieces together. she even had a 3D section of her pad. i was so impressed with the spacial planning of the pad. i tot it was abit inappropriate to take any photos, so i took pictures with my mind. its such an experience. love it.
(Maison Radieuse - roof top: kindergarten)
(me and Maison Radieuse and more)
when i left, it rained, so i had my packed lunch under the building.
head back to the city and it rained some more. i ran to a shelter.
Encounter #4
this guy started talking to me in what he later claimed to be japanese.
jxe, "errr english ?"
guy, "oh i love speaking in english, i love expressing myself in english"
jxe, what the fuck ?
anyway he went on about shit and more shit, to world piece and how he just found out he is a jewish and there are jewish out there who dont even know they are jewish.
jxe rolled his eyes.
he asked me what i did today and i said i went to the Maison Radieuse.
guy, "no way. i live there !" he took out his wallet and showed me his address and then went on and on again.
the rained stopped. jxe smiled. we parted.
what a day.
back at the hostel at night, got abit upset that i couldnt book anything for bordeaux tomorrow.
Encounter #5
this korean guy saw me feeling disturb and asked me whats wrong. i told him why and he said, "no problem, go to la rochelle, very nice."
so i said, "really? ok!" and chatted to him and his wife all night.
coincident ? its the moon cake festival tonight and mr korean is called Moon !
i love this city. this is by far the best city i have been. love to live here for a couple of years. if only i could speak french ... and what a day !
xxx. j.
No comments:
Post a Comment