Ida had a headstart: A mini “girls weekend” as a precursor to our longer trip. While she bummed around Paris on the Saturday afternoon with Celene & Vicky, I was cleaning up the flat and taking advantage of National Cinema Day to watch Tokyo Story - a very tranquil, calm movie, and probably the slowest life would feel for the next 5 or so weeks.
I arrived at Paris du Nord a little before midday to some uncharacteristically warm weather (31C/88F). Wearing a backpack that doubled my depth, and no doubt looking quiet the tourist wearing a baseball cap with my own name emblazoned across its front, I figured that the 22 minute walk to our agreed brunch spot would do me better than braving a busy, overheated Metro system. What I hadn’t quite considered was the vertical location of the restaurant.
The staircase that is the Rue Maurice-Utrillo might only have been half the number of steps as it’s companion the Rue Foyatier, situated at the other side of The Basilica of Sacré Coeur, but with the heat and the weight of the backpack, I felt I had endured the same fight for my life as John Wick had done over there.
Upon reaching the summit ahead of the others, I was grateful of the opportunity to wait for them in the shade opposite Hardware Société. It also gave me some time to work out exactly how I wanted to capture the trip we were about to undertake. I had a couple of analog cameras that I considered bringing along, but experiments leading up to departure, the inconvenience of having to carry exposed film throughout the 5 weeks, and the inevitable cost of development soon put pay to this idea.
So, opting to not lug around the excess, I settled on the Dazz Cam app. It replicates the aesthetic of a range of film cameras, creating the effects “in camera”, rather than in post, and for the risk averse it will save the unprocessed version of the image.
Here’s the outside of Hardware Société using the “D Half” setting.
Soon after, the gang rolled up on the street train and we headed in.
Sufficiently sugar high we were off to Montemarte cemetery. I would love to say it was to pay respect to the likes of Truffaut or Dumas, but in reality, it was to try and make some feline friends and enjoy the shade.
After a short dander and finding more crows than cats, it was time to part ways, with Celene & Vicky heading back to London and us forward to Lausanne.
At this point I should probably point out the great irony of this trip: Ida is not a good train passenger, suffering motion sickness and on rare occasions panic attacks. When we boarded, we realised our seats were facing backwards - far from ideal. Thankfully, we were able to swap seats with someone, after explaining in very broken, very gesture heavy French. I can’t promise I didn’t mime a throwing up motion.
Seated comfortably, anti-sickness medication consumed, I dug out the final calming tool:
It’s Okay Fish had become our reassurance phrase when either of us had gotten a bit stressed out, and this plush dude helped make the journey a bit smoother.
3 1/2 hours later we arrived in Lausanne and not wanting to deal with public transport at 10pm, ordered an Uber. An attempt at conversation got as far as “we are English”, before silence from the driver the rest of the short trip. He delivered us to the top of a pitch-black and very windy cul-de-sac. We found our keys and let ourselves into the first of many AirBnB’s on the trip.
Straight to bed, straight to sleep: the fun would begin properly tomorrow.
Post Script
The smart, beautiful people you are, you probably knew that origin of the term “Pitch-black”; Pitch is the resin substance derived from plants or petroleum, used as waterproofing on boats and roofs.
That’s No Moon…
I’m not entirely sure of the reason’s why, but last week the original Star Wars Trilogy of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi were being shown in select cinemas across the UK. I hadn’t seen them in an age, probably since I bought the DVDs at uni. This was also the first time I got to see them on the big screen: in 1997 when they were re-released as “Special Editions”, my brother and I opted for Space Jam instead…
These were the 2019 versions: upscaled/converted to 4K. It was fascinating seeing how much difference this made, primarily because it seemed to be to the detriment of ANH - sure, the picture quality was sharp enough to slice eyeballs, but the level of detail revealed how “proppy” things like the Stormtroopers helmets looked. The additions made by Lucas in the ‘97 Special Editions age the film more than the late 70’s production values - if they insist on keeping the additional CGI inserts like the arrival at Mos Eisley, then they should probably upgrade the animation with each new iteration.
Thankfully, Empire - widely considered the best of the original run - looks superb, no doubt helped by the budget between it and its predecessor being almost tripled, and the fact that it has much less (obvious) tinkering since initial release.
I still hold out hope that the true original cinematic versions get an official issue at some point in the near future - the 50th anniversary in 2027 is only a few years way (the same year I - gulp - turn 40.)
Since We Last Spoke
- This year for National Cinema Day I watched It Came From Outer Space, a black and white 3D Sci-Fi horror from 1953. I honestly believe this is the first time I’ve watched a 3D film where I felt like the image really was leaving the screen - there is a landslide at the start of the film, and a few audible gasps were heard in the screening as rocks tumbled down; I even ducked slightly…
- A couple of pals has things come out last week: Rosie, former housemate & podcast buddy penned the delightful Godzilla: Monster Island, beautifully brought to life by Oliver Ono, while Natalie Foss’ The Modern Goth Tarot gave me the excuse to finally pick up a deck!
- My second TV credit has begun airing on Amazon: Rings of Power Season 2 where I served as Digital Assets coordinator for the art department. A dream job, working with the best people. I had the opportunity to watch the first 2 episodes at the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, and it is stunning how well the sets that I saw on the backlot last year have been presented on screen. I know the locations don’t exist, but I fully believed!
- With a title track that is a frontrunner for best original Christmas Song of the last decade, Norwegian indie folk band Darling West, have announced the vinyl release of last year’s “Lights”, a very cosy listen with a mixture of English and Norwegian language tracks. Highly recommended, and you can even snag one of 10 test copies if you’re quick!
Okay, newsletters out on two consecutive Mondays. Let’s keep this going!
Take Care x