Dec

The Art of Light: Fête des Lumières

by Meredith Mullins on December 8, 2014

Lyon Hotel de Ville during Fête des Lumières, light installations that show the art of light (Photograph © Meredith Mullins)

The Lyon Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) is transformed through the art of light.
Lighting Design by Gilbert Coudène & Etienne Guiol
Photograph © Meredith Mullins

The Illuminating Light Installations of Lyon

As soon as darkness falls, electricity pulses through the city. More than 70 light installations come to life, and thousands of revelers buzz in the streets. Energy is everywhere.

Meredith Mullins 4 Comments

France/Innovations/On Foot/The World's Art & Design

Nov

The Art of Traveling Without Preconceptions

by Meredith Mullins on November 19, 2014

Goussainville Vieux Pays: the surprising ghost town just outside of Paris
© Meredith Mullins

The Ghost Town of Goussainville

I expected broken windows, graffiti, boarded up doors, wall-engulfing vines, dilapidation, decay, and, yes, even the occasional tumbleweed.

After all, Goussainville Vieux Pays had been described by many writers as a ghost town. A flurry of recent articles told the dramatic story of the exodus that had happened forty years earlier.

The images and words painted a bleak picture. A once-thriving farming village had died—an innocent victim of the invasive noise of a new airport.

Doorway of the chateau in Goussainville, a ghost town that inspires the art of traveling (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

No longer a paradise (the 19th century manor house)
© Meredith Mullins

In the Flight Path

The quiet rural town just north of Paris landed in the flight path of Charles de Gaulle airport in 1974. Jets came and went every few minutes, shaking the walls of the village houses, breaking the silence. The residents began leaving the town.

Even the year before the airport opened, the fate of the town seemed sealed when a Russian Concorde prototype crashed into the village during the Paris Air Show, hitting several buildings, including an empty school, and killing all six people on board and eight people on the ground.

By the end of 1974, almost all of the residents had moved to a quieter (safer) location in neighboring towns and Paris itself.

vine-covered house in Goussainville, a ghost town that inspires the art of traveling (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Perfect for a mystery movie set
© Meredith Mullins

Ghost Town: A Phantom Adventure

The “abandoned village” is where most of the writers and bloggers left the story, with photographs of the buildings artfully decomposing, a few structures appearing consistently in all the articles.

Armed with these backstories and visions of tumbleweed dancing in my head, I set out for Goussainville Vieux Pays a few weeks ago. I was ready to capture the essence of fantôme and decay, the sad story of human displacement at the expense of “progress.”

abandoned chateau in goussainville france, a destination for the art of traveling without preconceptions (Photo © Meredith Mullins

You can play the game of “Find the Jet” almost every moment.
Photo © Meredith Mullins

Media Spin

I was surprised to find something different from what the writers had led me to believe, a real-life example of the selective presentation by the media to dramatize a story.

The Goussainville park, in a ghost town that inspires the art of traveling (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The beautiful Goussainville Park
© Meredith Mullins

There were parked cars, curtains and flower boxes in some of the windows, a bit of building construction, a working school, a bookstore stuffed to the brim, an occasional pedestrian, a beautifully maintained park . . . and no tumbleweeds (or at least they had been cleaned up in the daily trash pickup).

Goussainville Vieux Pays was not a ghost town.

Daily trash pickup in Goussainville, a ghost town that inspires the art of traveling (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The friendly daily trash pickup
© Meredith Mullins

Granted, the town was less populated than most. There are no restaurants or markets (yet). And, it was true that many of the buildings that had been purchased by the airport authorities to compensate the townspeople had not been maintained.

Many were in disrepair, and the main manor house in town, owned by descendants of the early 1800s mayor, has evolved into a collapsing outer shell and rubble.

doorway to Goussainville manor house with crossbeam, a ghost town that inspires the art of traveling (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The decay of the manor house
© Meredith Mullins

Life in Goussainville

The people who have come to live here are a special breed. They must live with the relentless sound of jets—every two minutes or so. And jet engines are loud, very loud.

Monsieur Essel in front of his house in Goussainville, a ghost town that inspires the art of traveling (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Monsieur Essel in front of his home of 26 years
© Meredith Mullins

“The planes don’t bother me,” said Monsieur Essel, a town maintenance worker who has lived in Goussainville for 26 years. “I don’t hear them much anymore.”

Nicolas Mahieu, the owner of the Goussainlivres, an antique Librarie (bookstore), doesn’t hear them either. The sound of heavy metal music amidst the stacks drowns out the jet engines.

Nicolas Mahieu in front of his bookstore, Goussainlivres, in Goussainville, a ghost town that inspires the art of traveling (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Nicolas Mahieu, the owner of Goussainlivres
© Meredith Mullins

And since people come to him from many miles away to bring him antique books or to buy from his special collection (in person or virtually), he doesn’t mind that there isn’t much foot traffic in Goussainville.

The photos can tell whatever Goussainville story you want to tell.
© Meredith Mullins

The Art of Traveling

I admit I was disappointed when I entered Goussainville and saw immediate evidence that it was not a ghost town.

I was upset with all those writers who had misled their readers “by omission” and painted a picture (with well-selected photos) that made their story more dramatic.

But, the art of traveling is based on being open to whatever you find. Or better still, traveling with no preconceptions.

The Goussainville church, in a ghost town that inspires that art of traveling (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The 14th century church is undergoing restoration.
© Meredith Mullins

Oh, I See

What I found was an interesting town—one that had its share of dramatic decay and photo ops, but one that was coming alive again.

The property prices are low (fixer-upper anyone?), the town is friendly, and, with the rate of air-travel-related strikes in France, there might be more moments of quiet than one might expect.

Comment on this post, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 2 Comments

Art of Travel/France (Paris)

Oct

Going Bananas: Uses for Bananas Around the World

by Meredith Mullins on October 13, 2014

a single banana, representing cultural encounters and uses of bananas around the world (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The multi-talented banana
© Meredith Mullins

Cultural Encounters of the Banana Kind

Q: Why did the banana go to the doctor?
A: It wasn’t peeling very well.

Q: Why don’t bananas snore?
A: Because they don’t want to wake up the rest of the bunch.

Q: What did one banana say to the other banana?
A: You’ve got appeal!

Broccoli: I look like a tree.
Walnut: I look like a brain.
Mushroom: I look like an umbrella.
Banana: Dude! Change the subject.

A priest, a rabbi, and a banana walked into a bar . . .

We can make jokes about this odd shaped fruit until the monkeys come home, but bananas are one of the most useful and widely consumed foods in the world.

Mini bananas from Colombia, representing cultural encounters from around the world and multiple uses for bananas. (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The Human/Banana Relationship

The human/banana relationship has been in place for thousands of years (more if you believe the stories that say the banana was the temptation in the Garden of Eden—not an apple, after all).

Bananas are one of the oldest crops of humankind and continue today as a staple in more than 120 countries.

Why?

They come in their own biodegradable wrap.
They don’t have to be washed.
They can be eaten raw or cooked in inventive ways.
They offer nutrition and health benefits.
The plant offers fruit year-round.
Parts of the plant can be art, tableware, toys, or used to make cloth.

Oh, I see. Bananas are the complete package.

Multiple bananas, representing cultural encounters and uses of bananas around the world. (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Bananas Do Indeed Have Appeal

According to Ryan White, Director of the new documentary “Mondo Banana,” the entire banana plant can be used in one way or another. His film reveals his travel and research discoveries.

“In India the trunk of the banana plant is cooked and eaten as a vegetable in curries.

An entire art form has developed around banana leaves in Thailand.

In China, the root of the banana plant is used in traditional medicine.

There’s an evil banana spirit in Malaysia and Singapore who grants wishes to greedy men, but steals their souls in the process.”

Ten Things You Should Know About Bananas

There is much to know about bananas, but here are ten things to give you a head start.

In both ancient and modern civilizations all over the world, bananas and banana leaves often appear in religious offerings and festivals. They are said to bring prosperity, luck, and the grace of the gods.
A Banana Queen from Thailand
© Ryan White
Think health! Bananas can combat depression, cure hangovers, help to prevent some types of cancer, whiten teeth, moisturize skin, and help to relieve morning sickness. Their tryptophan, potassium, B-6, antioxidants, and calcium are all good news.
Fried bananas
© Meredith Mullins
Think food! From banana wontons and fried bananas to banana stem curry, banana smoothies, banana chips, banana bread, banana pancakes, and banana splits. Bananas appear in food cultures around the world.
Bananas are officially recognized by the FDA for their ability to lower blood pressure and protect against heart attack and stroke.
Bananas are good for digestion. They are high in fiber and rich in pectin and natural antacids, and they produce digestive enzymes to assist in absorbing nutrients.
BBQ bananas in Thailand
© Ryan White
Banana peels can help to relieve the itching of poison oak/ivy or a mosquito bite. Just apply the inside banana peel to the area for 5–10 minutes.
Banana leaves are waterproof and malleable and can be used to make bowls and to create artistic sculptures for a variety of uses.
You can use the underside of a banana peel to shine silverware, clean houseplants, and polish shoes and other leather goods.
Finally, a shoe polish you can eat!
© Meredith Mullins
A traditional way to peel a banana is not from the stem side, but from the other side. Just pinch the bottom of the banana, as monkeys do, and the skin can be peeled easily.
When in doubt, eat a banana like a monkey.
© Meredith Mullins
The common banana, the Cavendish, is fighting Panama disease the world over. Researchers are working to find wild bananas that are immune to the disease and can be bred with the Cavendish to save it.

Thanks a bunch (another banana joke) for reading about cultural encounters of the banana kind. Now . . . let’s go bananas.

Banana shirts in Thailand, representing cultural encounters and uses of bananas around the world (Photo © Ryan White)

The documentary “Mondo Banana” by Ryan White is screening this weekend (17–19 October) at the Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival.

Thank you to Jerry Fielder for his bananassistance, to Instructables for the fried banana recipe, to Food Matters for information about banana nutrition, and to jokes4us for some of the banana jokes.