Week IV - France on the Horizon

Full picture album is here: "Pics"

Through the quirks of politics, geography, and haphazard travel plans, I've covered three countries this week (four, if you count Switzerland -- see below), so forgive the long post.

From Wolfheze, Netherlands, near the Kroeller-Mueller museum, I took back roads into Belgium, arriving in Bruges after a fairly dubious detour on a road that I still think might have been a bike path.

The claim "Venice of the ...." wherever seems to be growing in popularity, even as Venice itself sinks. A quick Google search for the phrase "Venice of the North" shows the leaders to be Stockholm, Amsterdam, St. Petersburg, Maryhill (??), Bornholm (??), and Glasgow (by virtue of an art festival, rather than water or scenery)....basically, anyplace with a history and some canals.

The same applies to "Little Paris" (Bucharest, Brussels, Milan, and others, although Paris Hilton has screwed up Googling this one).

That vented, Bruges (Venice of the North, they say) really is quite nice. Unlike so many European cities, the guidebooks aren't peppered with the phrase "destroyed during the war" and despite sometimes out-Praguing Prague, the quiet, shadowy streets outside the touristic center, and the tangible pride of its citizens, made it a pleasant surprise.

On Saturday, I drove to Oostende, on the coast, and wandered through a Tintin and the Sea exhibit. Turns out Herge's family came there every summer for the traditional beach month. Mediocre, but lovingly exhibited, and heck, who wouldn't claim him?
I then took the (currently) longest tram line in Europe along the coast, an idea garnered from a random article in The Telegraph. Sadly, the coast was a bit like a Belgian Miami, having seen better times. Calming and a bit wistful, though, in its "holiday at the sea" tradition, and the eagerness and excitement of the kids riding the boardwalk in a variety of wheeled contraptions. Beach resorts whose time has passed -- with scents of candy and echoes of music still lingering amidst the faded and cracking pastel colors competing with defiant hydrangea -- make me nostalgic for a time that probably never really was.

From Bruges, I shuttled to Brussels, which has a reputation as a government town. The EU Parliament, NATO, and other government orgs are headquartered there. I once had the glimmer of an opportunity to work in Brussels, and was flown over for a few days from London to check it out. Then, as now, I liked it.

It's a bit like Berlin: the drive to impress tourists isn't all-consuming and you can sense that it's a city to actually live in.

Brussels was also a major center of the Art Nouveau movement. Victor Horta, one of its most renowned practitioners, built his house and studio here. Today it has been restored and maintained as a museum, with the emphasis on the house itself. Since photography isn't allowed inside, here are some sanctioned pics: http://www.hortamuseum.be/main.php?page=visite_m2&part=maison
Finally, Brussels marked the first chance on this trip to speak French. Rustier than a Richard Serra sculpture, and just as cumbersome.

Spent one night in Luxembourg, which was all I needed. Rainy and cold. Not the country's fault, I know, and I can see the attraction, but moved on.

Back into Germany for two nights, based in Freiburg, which is a pleasant university town with a famed Muenster. Don't know what that is? In English, it's a Minster. Still lost? Me too. It's a cathedral. Under wraps for reconstruction, right now, but it supposedly approaches perfection in the design of its tower.

My real reason for being in Freiburg (other than its reputation as the warmest town in Germany) is its proximity to the Vitra Design Museum. Vitra owns the production rights for all Eames furniture in Europe and Asia, and maintains an archive collection of over 4,000 furniture pieces by hundreds of designers. For mid-century furniture freaks like me, it is basically Mecca.

Unfortunately, the archive isn't displayed; rather, it serves as a "lending library" to other museums. The on-site museum itself shows only temporary exhibits. However, I took the tour to see the Eames Production/Process exhibit, which was excellent. In a room surrounded by examples of all their major furniture, in various states of assembly, you truly understand their genius and craftsmanship. By also showcasing their architecture, "amusements" (plywood elephants, games and toys) and multimedia work, the museum also provides context to underscore their humanity and love of life. And of course, it all took place in Venice, California!

Vitra is also where Ghery got his first taste of Europe, designing the main museum building (which is flanked by a Fuller dome, Oldenburg sculpture, and other architectural salutes.)

Oh yeah. Switzerland. Vitra, in Weil am Rhein, is inches from the Swiss border. (Not being a Schengen signee, Switzerland still *has* a border, by the way. With officials -- rare in continental Europe.) I had to explain that my visit to their nice country was only going to last long enough for me to turn around, if they could be so obliging. (That last exit a kilometre back in Germany and tucked away in the middle of hundreds of red road construction cones, was easy to miss.) They obliged, and not for the first or last time, I'm sure.

Freiburg was the last port of call before heading into France for awhile. Classes start Sept. 3, so I have begun earnestly checking every word I don't recognize in my little dictionary.

A plus tard!