Fresno: a sick city?

I thought about including my little adventures in central California and more precisely in Fresno in my article about San Francisco. However, I think that it deserves an article on its own.

Fresno is not a city easily reachable by public transport. It still benefit from six trains per day thanks to the San Joaquin Line of the AMTRAK. A bus line manned by Greyhound is also available. An airport is present in the city but I have not really checked for that opportunity.. I took the train and was a bit surprised by how slow it was going. Nevertheless, it was comfortable and I had a lot of space for my legs. It also gave me the opportunity to enjoy the rural landscape of California and to learn more about it. The countryside seems to be a really nice place often sunny, as it was this day, but I did not expect to see so many decrepit factories along the way. They reminded me of the 50’s-70’s. As expected, I saw a lot of orange trees field, vineyards and some beehives. Nevertheless, there is a difference between a city like San Francisco and this countryside which seems to be stuck some decades behind as the towns that the train serves have a kind of miserable feel about them that does not lent toward dynamism. Interestingly it reminds me that in America, cheap can sit with no shame next to poshness.  In addition of being the country of opportunity, the USA are perhaps also a country of great contrasts whether they be geographical or social. Overall, the car remains the best way to reach it and enjoy the city.

Indeed, the city’s structure reminded me a lot of Johannesburg in South Africa. Down-Town is kind of deserted and riddled by crime, as I was told. It was a sad thing for me to see as I hate a city with no real centre. Some buildings deserve more attention and the central streets could use more high-profile trade and shops rather than some cheap Hispanic shops. As a matter of fact, most of the big name will be found in malls scattered all over the city. And as the commuting is pretty much inexistent and that the city has expanded a lot, walking is not an effective way to reach a point, even for me! So the car remains the best way to travel around. It is obviously a vicious circle as nothing seems to be done to make people walk more. I am curious to know if the situation of Fresno, fifth biggest city in California with more than half a million inhabitants, is unique in America or if second rate cities across the country share the same flaw. Looking at the demographic statistics reveals that the city population boomed in the 90’s and that it probably suffered from a bad city development and now it would take a lot of effort to restrain the expansion of the city as no buildings exist in order to stall it. So the more the city grows, the more it expands and the more things get scattered.

Anyway, thanks to my designated driver, I could enjoy all the services that a city could offer. It is just that everything is scattered all over the place which might be a bit frustrating and I do not think that it is a positive motivational factor when the question of going out or doing some activities is raised. I have been able to enjoy a base-ball match where the local team, the Grizzlies, were trounced by the visitors. At first, this sport is to me as interesting as cricket as I do not fully grasp how it works. Yet, I am persuaded that if I had to live in the country, I could learn to appreciate it for its dynamic and relaxed ambiance and of course for its foot-long hotdog!

The proximity of a lot of natural parks should make of Fresno an ideal hub but it seems to be left unexploited and I am pretty sure that the fact that it is hard to be reach for tourists and backpackers does not help at all. In addition, the city is barely known abroad. I have a feeling that a lot of things could be done in this city but that people do not know how to deal with it because most of the competent persons leave the city and only the less motivated stay. Indeed, in the current state; why would they stay when they could go to bigger and more exciting cities? Interestingly, one of its sister’s cities is Verona in Italy: a city cradled in culture and history; it should be for Fresno a great way to improve its own status. Indeed, if the USA is not reputed for its fine culture and its long history, they are on the other hand a major actor on the outdoor’s activities scenes and Fresno happens to be close to a lot of them while being not so far from seaside and mountain activities. If the city is broke, why could not they use their potential outlaws, since crime is rife there, to help them develop the city instead of parking them into some overcrowded prisons? What’s going on there?

-C

Washington D.C.: the sanctuary of a culture

The capital of the United States of America is designed accordingly to its status and offers a lot to see and visit. Indeed, it is the sanctuary of the American psyche as many of the museums and monuments illustrate.
I will start my observation with the travel system. If the commuting system at the Logan airport of Boston is quite clearly indicated, it is not what I thought about Dulles airport in Washington DC. Tickets in the metro are not valid for 24h as in New York and Boston but just for a day. Like at Dulles, the indications are not crystal clear as to where one is going. On the other hand, it is clean, spacious and allows going across the city quickly.

The city shelters a lot of free museums, most are located around the National Mall, which have been made possible thanks to the donation of British scientist Mr James Smithson , whose testament helped to create the Smithsonian Institute: “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” Interestingly Smithson never set foot in America.

The first one of them that I visited was the Museum of Air and Space. It reminded me of the museum of Le Bourget near Paris. I guess that every museum about air and space are similar, nevertheless it is a very interesting place explain the history of the planes and what challenges are faced nowadays in space notably. It showcases a lot of planes and for the majority experimental vessels which are sometimes unique. However, it sounds to me as if the USA invented the plane; the USA obviously carried out the bulk of the aeronautical innovations after WWII but before it was not the case and this, to me, not clearly pointed.

I went after at the National Gallery. It is composed of the east and west buildings: one for the classic and modern works and one dedicated to the contemporary art. I would say that this museum is probably on par with the Metropolitan Museum of New York bar a few things. The museum exhibits some splendid collections of Degas and Daumier sculptures that are truly astonishing, as I have rarely seen that kind of compilations in any other museums that I recall. All the art eras displayed are quite complete. In addition, they are enshrined in a beautiful classic building. The contemporary art building is conceived to reflect what it contains too. On second thoughts, the Met seems more complete apart on the contemporary section, not something that I would care a lot for.

The National Museum of the American Indians, recently opened, seemed to be part of the political correctness tendency of the USA to please its minorities. It is not that it should not be done, but the reason makes it sound less genuine that it could be. As a result it is suppose to justify the existence of the native communities across the country. Their main message is to tell people about what is it about being a Native American and that their culture is trying to survive. “It is in my blood so i am a Native American and as a result I cannot ignore it” or “Fishing has been the main activity of my ancestor so I am myself a fisherman...” are the kind of testimony that the visitor can read. The bottom line seems to be pretty much naive as all cultures and peoples fight for “survivance” and succeed in different ways; political correctness is what saved the Native American. It shows that these communities do not adapt and choose to continue their ancestral activities in the face of evolution. Not to say that it is stupid and sound too harsh but as we say in France “c’est la vie!”; adapt or die is what life is probably all about as history teach us. The museum boasts a large collection of presentation of different Indian people but it makes it hard to distinguish all of them.

The Smithsonian Institute Building is a red brick neo gothic castle built in 1847 and is the hub of all the Smithsonian museums. It displays an eclectic collection of objects drawn from various eras which is probably supposed to give an outlook of what the museum of the Smithsonian Institute can offer.

After visiting these museums, I decided to head for the various memorials in town. As the city is not little and that there are many memorials, I could not walk to all of them. I went first to the Jefferson memorial which contains a little museum dedicated to the man and his ideals, although slave-owner against his wishes. The memorial is a classic construction reminding of antic Greek temple which offers a nice view on a water space. The Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial is not too far and is about peace in the world. While trying to reach the Iwo Jima memorial situated in Rosslyn I went wrongly to the national cemetery in Arlington: like any military museum, it is in impeccable order and even though it was not my country I could feel a lot of respect for these fallen men, whatever their allegiances.

On the next day I went to the National American History museum. There were exhibitions about the dresses of the first ladies, about the American flag in Baltimore during the war of 1812, Americans at war and other patriotic subjects such as anti-slavery. It is an interesting museum to get a first glimpse of American History; however the later is much more complex and less heroic and glamorous than told, as it is with any history.

The nearby National Portrait Gallery, did not raise a lot of enthusiasm in me I was not very interested in viewing all the portraits of various political figures of different political eras of the US history exhibited in most of the museum’s rooms. Neither did I particularly appreciate the exhibition on “American” arts.

I finished my tour of the memorial with the World War 1, World War 2, Korea war, Lincoln memorial and Vietnam War memorial where one can see pages of paper left by pupils thanking soldiers long gone for their sacrifice against the “nasty communists” and others. Some European travellers that I came across found it a bit too patriotic but it is a good example of the American patriotism and I do not think that it is something that excessive for a country that has been at war abroad for most of its history.

I finished with visiting the Georgetown area and its campus, like Harvard it looks like a British campus only with grey brick instead of the traditional red ones. Not much to say about it except that the area of Georgetown is much more friendly and lively than the centre of the city.

Overall, I noticed that the official status of the city was influencing my perception of it. Apart from the Smithsonian Museums and the various memorials dedicated to the history of the United States of America and the buildings, emblems of its power, or maybe because of that, the city did not feel very much lively in its centre. It felt like a city dedicated to showcase and glorify the attributes of the US nation, and in a certain manner justify its actual stance, behaviour on the international scene, its past. Critical spirit is nearly absent from this glorification and if it is not abnormal it remained slightly annoying to me.

The number of memorials of “recent” nature, as opposed in European countries tends to prove this justification. But every country, notably my own, has a city dedicated to that kind of historical justification and mythology, so how could I blame them for that?  As it happened in Europe, will this trend ends and see a change and maybe an end in the militaristic culture of the USA? Does a historical circle exist? I, for one, believe that it might be possible, however I will be long dead when it happens, as I believe it will take a few generations to happen, if I observe how it happened in Europe.

-C

Boston

My stay in Boston is over after around a day and a half. Even though I spent a lot of time walking around, I feel that I have missed something there. The fact that I did not take a guide did certainly not help as I can not check whether I have miss something important or not. The suggested itinerary offered by the hostel, which was supposed to be done in three days did not suggest more than I could do. I checked what I did with the people backpacking around and they seem to have done the same thing as me. Nevertheless, I still think that somehow I could have done more, maybe my expectations of Boston were too important. Not that I did not like the city because I found it charming and superior in someway to New York, so what happened?

On my first day there, I did not have the time to visit anything as I arrived in the middle of the afternoon. It remained that as the weather was sunny, it was a good occasion to visit the city and scout for my next day. Even though my hostel was in an industrial suburb, called Everett, (or what seemed to be so) of Boston and far from down town, it only took me half an hour to reach any important point of the city. In addition I found that the indications in the metro and bus were quite clear, things that puzzled me in New York from time to time. Moreover, the city was really really clean especially compared to New York and much greener somehow although I did not seem to see more trees in Boston, probably the fact that Boston down town count less skyscrapers. As a result of all this free time to roam around and walking along the harbor of Boston proved to be a good opportunity to be liberal with my camera. Unfortunately my battery died at the critical moment: sunset; gutted, I swore to not let pass this occasion the next day. And I thus went back home with my tail in between my legs, although this walk proved to me that Boston was a pretty city taking full advantage of the sea unlike New York. 


 On my second day, I raced to the Museum of Fines Arts and stayed in for 3 hours, almost as much as in the Metropolitan. I enjoyed an exhibition of Durer and went through the whole museum. What I found odd is that there were not that many people in the museum, it felt a bit empty even on a Sunday afternoon. The cards giving indications on each works sounded a bit stupid sometimes, giving sometimes useless details like " this works shows someone falling like a paratrooper, a type of soldier introduced during WWII". It just sounded a bit odd sometimes. There was also an exhibition on the excavation of an Egyptian tomb. Here again, a lot of superlatives were used in the various description as if it was a world first. I took the opportunity to have a lunch in their garden which proved something wise as the sunshine was warm, fact that surprised me being in Boston. Overall I liked the possibility to see different art from everywhere but I also felt that sometimes there was a lack of coherence between the works exhibited or that the collections shown were too little. Something was definitely missing. Besides, I noticed in Boston that every wing, escalator, wharf or bench were dedicated to someone that died, as if people in America were afraid to die without leaving their names written somewhere. I noticed this tradition in England, only on benches though, but not to that extent. Why would someone have an escalator named after him/her when dead? It might seems nice and respectful but I just could not bring myself to fully find it this way, I found it a tad superficial or probably the fact that it was done on every possible object.

  

 I then decided to go to Harvard. Going there, I discovered that what I thought was downtown was not and I thus understood I had more walking to do. Before going to Harvard, I went to the MIT campus first and then on the banks of the river Charles. The sight of the river filled with white sails, with the financial center in the background was quite breathtaking and I must say that it really made my day. I knew that it would be the spot where I would the sunset. So I set to reach Harvard campus located in a part of Boston ironically called Cambridge although, the campus reminded me more of Oxford...Nothing special to declare about the campus as it looks like as I said earlier like Oxford. Old red brick houses with lots of trees around: a nice place to study and idle when you find yourself with too much time on your hand. As the afternoon was closing to the evening, I decided to ambush the sunset and after monopolizing a bench (un dedicated this time but I spotted a dedicated pedestrian bridge!) for two hours and after much experimentation with my camera and its settings, I could at last take some nice pictures involving boats, a river, a sunset in an urban environment. It proved at least to me rewarding and I thus went home again in the lovely Everett to spend my last night, I planned the next day to go to the Institute of Contemporary Art but it was unsurprisingly closed on Monday.

Granted that I did not go to the Tea Party Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art , the Harvard Art Museum, the Aquarium nor did I went on a boat trip checking the islands around. Would it have changed my overall perception of the city? I don't think so. I enormously enjoyed the city but I felt it was to tiny compared to what I am used to lived there in a pleasant manner, even though if I was offered a good job there I would not decline it either. Maybe it is the provincial side of the "Athens of America" that  turned me off, probably a reflex from people coming from "big cities". Something is simply missing, maybe the buzz of something more speedy? I would not consider myself as a hardcore Parisian but on my first impression of Boston, I found this buzz missing a lot and now slightly frustrating.

-C

New York, part II

My stay in New York is reaching its end and out of these three weeks that I spent there, here are my thoughts.

As for Manhattan itself, I found it quite windy and that there was a smell of food everywhere thanks to the little stands present in the street selling hotdogs and Co. The weather is really fluctuant and reminds of England. Indeed, it could be very hot and then very cold on the next day. The Tube stations are not always very well designed (i.e. 86st street/Lexington station) because one must go outside in the street in order to reach the other platform, something I did not find very intuitive. In contrast, the possibility to take either an express metro or a metro going to more local stations is a smart idea. I enjoyed a lot walking in Manhattan and all sort of sculptures present in the city. It also boasts some nice places to take a drink sometimes and other mini gardens are present which makes it easier to eat a sandwich in the shade. The geometrical disposition of the town makes it easy to navigate in unlike the European cities but on the other hand, it makes it less charming as a result in my opinion. I went to the top of the Rockefeller Centre at night time; the vista on the 60th+ level on NY is enchanting.

Having lived in Harlem for most of my stay, I had some apprehension with violence and security but finally, I never had to deal with any of these troubles; that said, I do not think that I would live there eternally and I felt a bit out of place as being one of the few white person in suit walking around these streets. Being an area populated mostly by the black community, most of the streets and avenue are renamed with a famous black person; as an example, I was living close to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and Malcolm X Avenue. For some reasons, a lot of churches are present. They are not always in a proper church building and can be found in classic buildings. I guess that faith is an important part of the culture of the people residing there. I heard of some masses being packed and that booking was necessary in order to join. Nevertheless, I did not have enough time on my hands to assist to some Gospel choirs. I have also noticed that a lot of crippled people wander in the area either with a single crutch or in a wheelchair. I have absolutely no idea why it is like there and not in the other part of the city I have been in. Apart from the campus of Columbia University which is nearby and the Morningside Park that offers a view toward Central Park, I do not think that there is a lot to see there.

On Sunday, I went to Battery Park again: the heart of Manhattan and its historical area. With its narrow streets and its tall skyscraper, lower Manhattan gives the feeling of being overwhelmed; in addition, as it is the oldest part of NY, the streets do not all benefit from the grid system. These narrow and curvy streets add to this feeling. It also proposes some nice photo opportunities thanks to the perspectives offered by the buildings. The famous Wall Street is also around as is the bronze Merrill Lynch’s bull [ERRATA: the bull symbolize the rising trend of the stock auction as opposed to the bear which symbolize the fading trend, Wall Street traders are strong believers in the bull] ; interestingly enough the parts that have been the more touched are golden and are its head and genitals...classy...From there it is possible to look at Brooklyn and the Queens and their bridges on the East River.

I then proceeded to go to Staten Island from the Lower Manhattan ferry station. The urban architecture doesn’t look like Manhattan or any big city. Actually, it looks like something miles away from the very urban downtown but it makes a good change from time to time to switch to a more suburban environment. However, it looks as if it was stuck in the eighties and I found it a slightly depressing side as not much seemed to happen there. South beach provides a good walk thanks to the wooden boardwalk. It felt a bit surreal to walk there as I was less than an hour away from downtown. To access it, a ferry at Battery Park is available and it is free, it also allows having a stunning view on the statue of the Liberty, Ellis Island and the skyline of Manhattan. My trip was very very windy but it was an excellent opportunity to take pictures. The metro card works also on the island and let people take advantage of the bus network.

 The Upper East Side is a posh area of New York, with all the hype and prestigious shops notably on Madison Avenue and close to the museum mile (including notably the Metropolitan Museum, the Guggenheim, the Frick Collection and the Whitney museum of American Art). It remains a nice area where to wander although the nearby Central Park is a much better option. I went to the Whitney Museum  which the museum for the American Art. It hosted its biennal and a tons of different artists on 5 levels. What marked me the most was this series of picture by Nina Berman about this horribly mutilated 24 years old Marine going back from Iraq and getting married. His would-be wife on the pictures did not seem that joyful which is understandable. It concluded that in the USA the military culture and its consequences were seen as acceptable. The rest of the works exhibited was not really worth it as there was not anything that holding some esthetical value to my eyes.

I also went to the famed MOMA, museum of contemporary art of New York, which current exhibition was on the South African artist William Kentridge, depicting pieces of art denouncing the Apartheid and the cruelty of mankind; it was obviously rather depressing and dark. The MOMA boasts a nice collection of contemporary classic including some Warhol, Lichtenstein, Klein and other figures of the post-war and contemporary period. A gallery dedicated to the history of mundane items design is there and it is interesting to observe that some form of art can be found in these objects. A garden allows people to chill out in the shades of the skyscrapers and offer another example of the NY urban feeling.

Walking toward Central Park can be found the Frick Collection.   This impressive collection of paintings and works from European old masters and renaissance era are nestled in an equally impressive building. Constituted at by Henry Clay Frick , an industrial tycoon from Pittsburgh, who desired to turn his New York residence into a museum after his death. The house was conceived from the start to host art works as the windowed ceiling in the main gallery can show. In addition, the house which is built according to the standard of the nineteenth century possesses an internal garden with a fountain that was added after the death of the magnate, it is however covered up by a windowed ceiling. It is relatively small compared to the other museums around but its collection does not have to blush of its size. It is perhaps why the Frick is one of my favourite museum in New York.

On the other side of the 5th Avenue lies Central Park. It is a little paradise for the joggers and they literally proliferate on the week end. It is also one of the few big green spaces available in New York, let alone Manhattan. It offers some magnificent view on the skyline of New York from the northern side of the city. It features some big water plan like the Jackie Onassis Reservoir, which could be a potential place to sail, and the Harlem See where people can fish. The Conservatory Garden let people relax amongst its plants and hedges. It is possible to play different sports in different parts of the park and to bike/skate on its road during the week end as the later are closed to the cars. I believe that it is an excellent place to relax on a Saturday afternoon, on the other hand, it will not be a very quiet place given the amount of people going there.

With the end of my article is also the end of my stay in the Big Apple and I wish I could stayed longer to explore more of it and its nightlife. I find it very different from the other cities I have been to, notably the European cities and even if less charming, more urban than its older sisters, New York remains a fantastic city to go and live in for anyone enjoying the buzz of a major city. Overall, what ticked me the most was that posh places could be found next to some miserable ones downtown and the state of the streets which could use some renovations.I will be then off soon to Boston and Washington DC..

-C

Carla Bruni

I am sitting watching the Sundance Channel on the family tv. We have more channels than necessary but I will admit this is a good station for me to watch French films periodically. Currently, I am watching a documentary on Carla Bruni and I am quite surprised by her. I knew she was accomplished on her own, with out her president husband but I am intrigued by her. There is a particular air about French women that is alluring and capturing but she is also of Italian descent which shows that French eloquence can be learned or acquired. She says the only problem with being French and Italian is with football. She doesn't find that being two nationalities is a large conflict.

She is an amazingly beautiful woman with a captivating voice and there is no surprise about her success. She speaks clear English and takes her ambitions and music very seriously. I think this is a refreshing work ethic for young girls to aspire to.

It was a surprise to me to hear that she is not the biological daughter of the father that raised her. Her mother is very open about this and has no remorse in her life. This sits on me with some weight. "Life goes on" she claims. This is true. Bearing a child that is not your husbands' would generally cause such a stir but not in this case. The family seems so undeterred by this fact and it makes me reevaluate what is important in life. I have been raised to believe that children are the most important, which can be true, but what about love in general. A child's happiness is supposed to precede the parents' happiness? One area of criticism however can be that Carla and her mother appear not to be bothered by this 'affair' but I wonder whether when everything came out if things were different.