It's my life...

法国,特别是法国南部,蔚蓝海岸,普罗旺斯地区,让人着迷的一快地方. 半个月的法国之行很累,但也很值,一次gorgeous的旅行!

第一天先飞到马塞,然后转火车去巴黎,车票早在2月就订好了,很便宜,只有25欧,看到别人面值100多的车票,心中窃喜. 去巴黎之前其实对它并不很感兴趣,但到了之后还是要赞叹一下,不愧是既有现代魅力有文化底蕴的地方,总的来说感觉很好,就是每个景点排队的人太多,排半个小时是很平常的事情了. 但另一方面也物有所值,尤其是那些博物馆. 在Louvre看到了《蒙娜丽莎》、《萨莫特拉斯的胜利女神》以及《米罗的维纳斯》,特别是罕默拉比法典,当这个我觉得只是在传说中才提到的东西出现在我面前时,还是很震撼的. 在奥赛美术馆里看到了凡高的几幅真迹. 整个凡高展示厅一眼望去尽是黄色和蓝色的海洋,他真的是把这两种颜色发挥到了极致. 还有莫耐的名画<水中的莲花>,也是经典中的经典了.我觉得对与大多数和我一样的普通人来讲,参观这些博物馆就是寻找自己知道的那几个作品的过程,天知道有多少珍品就从眼前晃过去了,可惜. 在Louvre和Orsay都可以看到一个老师带着一群不过10岁的小朋友,向他们讲解那些作品,那些小朋友围坐在画前,似懂非懂的听着.其实培养一个人的艺术修养也是要从小做起的,不一定以后就非要画画,至少让他们知道闲暇时刻不只有网络游戏可以打发…特地去了次罗兰.加洛斯,尽管法网已经结素了,但还是看到了那片想象中的红色! Champs Elisee很漂亮,和传说中的一样,除了名牌还是名牌, 有点像淮海路,不过当然是加长,加宽和奢华的版本了,呵呵. 因为名声在外, 去逛了老佛爷和春天百货. 品牌的丰富和知名程度没法比,但就商店的整体布局来说,感觉一般, 甚至有点拥挤, 毕竟是200年前的建筑了. 在老佛爷的LV专柜,不可思意, 全是中国40岁左右的中年妇女…旅行前有朋友要我带个LV包包回去,我拒绝了,主要是实在不方便, 但看到这种场面,即使我答应了,也会食言的. 想想看,当那些中年妇女像在小菜场买菜一样买着LV时,所有的购物欲望全然没有了,这时LV不再是一样奢侈品,反而成了最俗的东西,我想做的就是离开那里,越远,越快,越好. 有时候想想真是,难道这些人除了LV就不认识别的牌子了啊?It's just a bag,made of leather, relax...

在Cannes的两天很舒服, 其实也是预料中的, 本来在这里就想好了要脱光了躺在沙滩上晒太阳,看美女就是所有要做的事了. Cannes海岸果然名不虚传, 风景没话说, 同时享受着皮肤因强烈的阳光而微微灼伤的感觉, 天堂也就是这样的了吧. 哦,还有美女,那些皮肤黝黑的女人身材好的让人匪夷所思,都不知道从小吃社么长成这样的, 更佩服那些裸泳和裸晒者,就这样赤裸裸的想人们展示着自己的身体,是何等的自信. 至于我,在Cannes的两天, 每天睡到11点, 然后直奔沙滩,一直晒,晒到6,7点. 一边晒一边睡(真的很容易就睡着了),醒了就看风景,看美女,然后再晒,晒完正面晒反面,一遍又一遍…成果么, 呵呵,全身都黑了. 尤其是脸,因为我带的防晒霜不能作用在脸上, 结果眼睛周围带太阳镜的地方是淡色的,其他地方就全红了. Cannes虽然景点不多,但Cannes电影节的主会场, palais de festivals以及那些明星的手印,还是要看看的. 有些人不认识, 有些人因为字迹太潦草看不出,不过还是找到了一些名人, Bruce Willis, Roman Polansky, Sophia Loren, David Lynch, Tim Robbins和最近被骂的很凶的Sharon Stone…

从Cannes乘25分钟火车到Nice. Nice的太阳不如Cannes强,但水更蓝,近沙滩的地方还有颜色的变化,很漂亮.不过沙滩其实都是鹅软石, 赤脚走在上面,我是吃不消,突然想到有说身体不好,走的就会疼,呵呵,也许吧,难道有社么隐疾? 不过在Nice最难忘的还是认识了Tim, Tina和Carmen. 一个德国男孩,两个Hongkong的girls. 很少在hostel遇到中国人, 更不要说交到朋友了. 最开心的就是和他们在沙滩上晒太阳. Tim游泳真的很好, 我游到离岸20-30米的地方就觉得慌了,毕竟有浪的感觉还是和室内的很不一样的,算了,这是在水里, 还是太平点吧.Tim一口气就游出100米开外了, 强啊. 还有我们唱自己国家的国歌,真的没想到, Tina和 Carmen这两个香港girls, 唱国歌比我好, 我多少年没唱了,有些歌词都不记得的了(别笑,你们现在试试看!). 另外也很长时间没说广东话了,这次正好和她们说了一点点, 呵呵,听还是不错的,说的就不提了…她们俩个开朗的性格给我印象很深, so girls, listen up, appearance is not everything, personality does matter as well! 当然要是长的好看, 性格又好,那就完美了,比如Tina, Carmen, 哦,还有Lorraine,嘿嘿.

在Nice用了半天去了Monte Carlo, Monaco. 很小的地方,但很富有,因为不用交税,吸引了很多人. 马路就是F1赛道,走了走,其实也不是很平啊,呵呵. 到处都是游艇和Casino, 哎,万恶的资本主义世界啊,哈哈哈哈. 哦,我的脸更夸张了,开始脱皮了,还好有Tim oil-free的facile cream. 从没想到我会往脸上涂这种东西,但是,但是这次真的搞大了,不用会痛死的…我想我现在比大多数我的朋友都要黑了, very nice. 17号离开Nice 去Aix-en-Provence那天遇到了法国交通系统大罢工,社么运气,这都被我赶上,据说是6周内的第5次罢工,连traffic control的人都罢…还好找到一家私人的bus公司,他们不参加strike, 又是一个beautiful day!

Aix-en-Provence是一个精致的南法小城, 狭小的街道, 路边的咖啡馆, 大大小小的喷泉…在Mirabeau大道, 眼中的颜色特别饱满, 黄色的墙, 金色的阳光, 蓝色的天,绿色的树,红色的瓦…一种温馨的感觉. Aix最有名的应该是画家塞尚(Paul Cezanne)了. 他的画室一般, 但后花园很有意思.

因为政治和战争原因, 有6位教皇舍弃罗马而生活在Avignon, 所以Avignon又叫做教皇城. 从Rhone河对岸看教皇宫殿,的确有肃穆的感觉,为社么这里让我想到了圣斗士? Avignon的hostel实在有点吓人,没有locker也就不说了,连房门都没钥匙,谁让我的budget没有那么多呢, 穷学生, 认了吧. Hostel是在一个CampSite, 有夏令营的小学生, 有开房车的, 搭帐篷的, 还有backpacker. 看到那些小朋友让我想起自己的小学毕业夏令营和初中在长兴岛的退队仪式. 在Avignon就会去看薰衣草, lavender. 传说中的紫蓝色,淡淡的香味, 就是太少了,和想象中的不一样. 在lavender trip途中好发生了以外, 我们的车的左反光镜被迎面而来的小货车撞掉了,然后两个司机差点打起了,瞧,素质差的人全世界那里都有, 即使是在迷人的普罗旺斯. 另外在Avignon吓逛的时候还迷路了,于是用了N95的GPS,还好之前刚下了Nokia和Route66的法国地图,嘿嘿,找位置极为精确,不过导航就差了,无所谓了,免费的GPS,还想怎么样.

用了半天去了Arles, 凡高曾住过好多年的地方. 他有幅画,<夜晚的咖啡屋>, 非常非常开心在Arles找到了它, 那个咖啡屋的名字就叫’Le café la nuit’. 虽然作为印象派画家, 很多细节都是夸张的, 但这个咖啡屋总的感觉还是和画里的是一致的. 站在凡高画画的角度, 仿佛时间也回到了100多年前凡高做画的那个夜晚…

从Avignon乘火车一个半小时到了本次旅行的最后一站, 马塞. 马塞给我的一个感觉就是阿拉伯(裔)人好多啊, 尤其在我住hostel, 靠近Gare de Marseille的地方, 稍有点反感. 可能是这两个星期已经被晒傻了, 到了这里已经没有社么玩的兴致了,就市中心看看吧. 不过真的到了路上, 还是忍不住去了马塞圣母院. 其实也不远, 从旧港步行25分钟就到了, 但全是上坡路,差点累死在半路上, 算了,就当减肥了. 圣母院的内饰和其他教堂很不一样,色彩斑斓, 显得很活泼,这个教堂对于我这样的不信教的人来讲感觉更亲切,宗教色彩不是那么浓重.

15天的旅行该看的基本都看了,人也晒黑(健康)了, 除了当初办签证和第一天在马塞进关有点破折外, 还是很完美的. 第一天在马塞转车时, 一度雷电交加,火车也为此晚点了,当时想这次算完了, 没太阳晒了, 后来看看,完全是多虑了, 夏天, 在南法, 除了好天气,就是更好的天气了!

这四年每年6月都在欧洲旅行, 去了很多自己喜欢的地方, 似乎每年一年到头就期盼着夏天的旅行,也算是对自己一年辛苦读书,辛苦工作的回报. 人生就是这样的吧, 有苦有甜才能体会生活的美好. 很有可能是最后一次旅行了, 明年这个时候应该回去了, 也许和很多朋友一样为生活和工作奔波. 特地把这次游记写的长点, 就是为了让自己记住旅行时的快乐,希望它能成为今后工作和生活的动力之一.

南法, 让人难忘的地方…

On 14^th March, a serious riot broke out in Tibet, an autonomous province in People’s Republic of China. Those mobs (although mass media calls them ‘protesters’, I think mobs would be more appropriate) attacked shops, burned vehicles and boutiques, more outrageously, they even attacked innocent people. At least 19 people were killed in riot, according to Chinese government. China’s riot police fired teargas to control and restore the order.

All those mobs are anti-Chinese government, and what they want is to make Tibet independent. Honestly, such ‘daydream’ will never ever come true since no countries in the world will tolerate that one of province of in their territory declares independence. It’s just like Russia will say NO to Chechen’s attempt of independence; Canada will not agree that Quebec does so and of course, Britain will always traditionally use their middle finger and shout ‘go and fuck yourself’ to Scotland and Northern Ireland who are looking for independence. This riot is supposed to be clear enough reported as a violent and anti-social event, however, most western mass media reported it oppositely.

Western media focused more on how Chinese police ‘violent suppression’ of the mobs and just lightly mentioned what mobs really did; those media was more interested in the ‘terrible Human-rights situation’ in Tibet instead of rational analysis of the event. Some media, like CNN, which is the most notorious mass media in this event, even put many false pictures in their website and TV programs without verifying its authenticity. Why so many world-class media made such unprofessional mistake?

The western believe that they know Tibet every well. They think Chinese army invaded in Tibet in 1950 and then forced Tibet people to sign a 17-point treaty allowing for the "peaceful integration of Tibet". On 11^th March, there was a report titled ‘Factfile: Tibet's fight for independence’ on Times Online which introduced and listed some remarkable events on Tibet history since 1949. The report made it like Tibet was historically an independent country. However, what they failed to mention are some even bigger events long before that year. It’s undeniable that Tibet is always on the map of China since Ming dynasty. But through two Opium Wars (by the way, how many western people know this history?!), China lost its power and influence on Tibet, Tibet independence seekers appeared and Tibet issue arose. When The Times tried to tell people Tibet history, why didn’t they tell people where the so-call ‘Tibet issue’ came from in the first place? When they accused Chinese government of governing Tibet with non-democracy and anti-human rights policy and police of violently suppressing the protesters, why they didn’t mention how many Tibetans were killed by British army a hundred years ago because those Tibetans actually fighted for freedom, democracy and human rights? When mass media portrays those pro-Tibet-freedoms as heroes, why don’t media ask those people, especially those western people, how many of them have actually been Tibet? Do they know what most Tibetans really want? Do Tibetans really want ‘freedom’ so badly? Do they really be persecuted? Or, western mass media just obstinately think that something bad or even terrible is supposed to happen in China; any news against China is always naturally true and acceptable to be put on the paper without source checking and authenticity verification? With this mind, it’s just too hard for media to report the incident without prejudice.

I can not deny that there is human-rights issue in China and I can even say that in a sense, I don’t like the ways china government deal with some events and incidents. On the other hand, who can say that their government is perfect? I can accept some people say that China’s lack of human rights, yes I can simply because it’s true; I am also kind of fine that there are some people who want to make Tibet an independent country (not through the violence like this and in my opinion, it’s never gonna happen!) because democracy means the freedom of holding different political opinions (again, even so, this is not the excuse of being so violent and criminal). However, it’s absolutely unacceptable that mass media use some sources lack of authenticity and report event with prejudice. Media is a powerful and special industry. It requires every single one in this industry does their job with conscience and responsibility. Media has great influence on public and therefore, an inaccurate and false report can and will damage a people and a country’s image. To be successful in media industry, quickness is important, but what’s more crucial is news’s authenticity and the response to the false report. Back to this Tibet riot, many western mass media obviously made mistake, is that too much to ask for an apology? Apology is never too late.

As mentioned above, I am not a Communism believer and would sometimes be disappointed at China’s human-rights situation as well as china’s democracy, but not this time on this event. Every country will do the same to those mobs, I and every Chinese, we have nothing to be ashamed of.