All of Me

**Un Café Montmartrois - Paris - Copyright 2011**

Good evening all!

Oh boy! Things are changing!!!

Wait, it's me - what else is new...

In other news, I have decided to leave Paris, and head towards Iceland! My original plan was to take a train to Nantes, where I would begin my tour of the Loire river valley (castles for the win!), and then continue on into the south of France, but yesterday I sort of had this weird revelation: Summer means nice weather. Nice weather means tourists. Tourists means

CHAOS!!!!!

So, instead of joining the masses on the stunning topless beaches of southern France, I shall begin my trip northward to Iceland!

Among the "touristic reasons", I have also realized that France is simply divine: the people are so kind, the food is out of this world, the countryside and the history are so rich and beautiful - truly everything I thought it would be and more - but it's time for something different. I have been here for almost a month and a half, and I've seen my fair number of castles, museums, and monuments (they are indeed abundant), and I just think that it's time for a change of pace.

**Notre Dame Cathedral - Paris - Copyright 2011**

The point of this long story is that after I have taken my dad to the airport tomorrow, I'm going to head to Gare du Nord and get on a train bound for Brussels! Hopefully will spend a week or so there, before heading north - 1200kms to the tip of Denmark - to the port of Hirtshals, with a mix of trains and biking (whatever mood strikes me).

The interesting thing that I have come to realize is that I never intended to make this trip a "Bike Tour". Don't get me wrong, I love my bike, and cycling around cities is absolutely one of the most fun things I have ever done **especially Paris**! I just have to remind myself that I am using a bike as a way to see a country at my own pace. If my own pace needs to be faster, it's fine to get on a train/plane/boat!

I guess I just need to keep reminding myself of that... It's really easy to get down on yourself when you realize that your destination is either three short train rides away with some time sent in some really cool places, or three weeks of non-stop pedaling (and that's without stopping in the cities for a day here and there...). The choice seems pretty obvious to me...

**Riffling of a World War II Artillery Battery - Longues-Sur-Mer - Copyright 2011**

It's interesting as well, to be trying to listen to that voice inside me. I've always thought that inspiration came in the form of a concrete thought - a series of words that might form a coherent sentence if I was lucky. But I've come to discover that it's actually just more of a feeling. No words can describe it.

I remember telling Adam once - If you're weighing two choices, the one that you should do is the one that feels almost wrong - because you've told yourself and everybody else that you're going to do it the other way, and yet once you make the decision, you feel this inexplicable relief....

I guess I'm sort of dedicating this trip to practicing what I preach!

**German Machine Gun Emplacements (top right) - Omaha Beach - Copyright 2011**

On a totally new note - I have to say that I have had a wonderful time in Paris with my dad! It's been so nice to share part of my grand adventure with somebody - especially an artist! It was incredible to go to the Musée d'Orsay with him, and BOOM - There the original Van Goghs', Monets' and Degas'. Such incredible use of colour and feeling in those paintings. Strange to be in a sheer state of appreciation as I approached these paintings - moved almost to the point of tears they are so beautiful! And I'm not a particularly visual person...

I have to say that those were my favorite four artists. Not because of who they are, or the fame that they have risen to - I had never seen a Degas, or a Monet before. But when you approach their paintings / sketches / pastels there is this intangible sense of something else going on in the works.... and then you feel this wonderful feeling inside of you. Then you look at the little name tag beside the painting and you're like - Oh, Claude Monet, cool. And then that happens twenty times over the day, and you realize why they dedicate an entire museum to these guys!

And before put anybody to sleep with the length of this post (I apologize - I'm not sure when I'll be able to write again as my computer is Calgary bound tomorrow), I have to mention that in the musée d'Orsay, there is a small information panel (the artists bio), in a small room of a temporary exhibit. I forget the name of the painter, but he lived roughly in the time of the impressionists, and painted very similar subject matter, and in a very similar style. When asked about his (at the time) graphic portrayal of nude women, he responded (this is a rough rendition - I forget the exact words):

"Nudes are supposed to be sensual, or raise questions"

WOW.

This totally altered the way I feel about nude paintings. Here I am, this little canadian boy, raised in a reasonably sheltered environment, and now, in front of me (everywhere - in the Louvre, on building facades, in the Orsay, on the beaches of Normandy etc...) is all of this nudity. It's not portrayed in a graphic, pornographic matter, but in a beautiful manner.

A celebration of the beauty of the human body. Both male and female.

And why do I feel such tension inside me? I keep feeling guilty for looking at it. When I look at it, I feel so sensual - But no, it's art - I'm not supposed to feel that way about art.

**Mont St. Michel and Tombelaine - Photoraphed from Genêts - Copyright 2011**

Then I read this quote, and all that tension disappeared.

Nudity is sensual! I am supposed to feel wonderful when I see it. The human body is SO magnificent - from the muscled thighs of a greek god, to the subtle curves in a womans' shoulder blades - it is sensual! And there is nothing wrong with portraying it, and loving it! We as humans have tried to de-sensitize ourselves to it. It has become this sort of dirty little pleasure that teenagers and young adults have.

It is so wonderful to know that it's okay!!!

Anyways, for me, this was a huge revelation, and has altered the way that I think about the human body - male and female - and it's portrayal in art, and in life.

Bed time. Much love to all!

Goða Nott

-Ryley-

"All is Well"