…I went for a stroll in the gardens of Versailles Castle. Gold and marbles are a testimony of past fastuous living.
Louis XIV, the Sun King extended drastically the castle under his reign and transformed it in a jewel for festivities. It was then that classical french arts flourished.
Now children are running barefoot in the green. Old couples, hand in hand, listen to the wind flapping tree leaves. But still, when you get lost in the maze, you could swear you heard famous writers from the golden age whisper.
Here is what they said about happiness …
Bossuet was born at Dijon, in Burgundy, in 1627. He was a catholic preacher.
“Human happiness is composed of so many pieces, that it always misses some”
Corneille was born at Rouen, in Normandy, in 1606. He was a famous dramatist.
“We never taste happiness in perfection, our most fortunate successes are mixed with sadness.”
“Happiness seems made to be shared.”
Molière was born at Paris, in 1622 . He was a playwright. In French we say Shakespeare’s language for English and Molière’s language for French. He played a major role in French literature.
“Unbroken happiness is a bore; it should have ups and downs.”
Jean de La Fontaine was born at Château-Thierry, in Champagne, in 1621. He was a poet and fabulist. I am quite sure that 99% of French people have learned or read one of his fables.
“We ought never to scoff at the wretched, for who can be sure of continued happiness?”
Montesquieu was born at Bordeaux, in Aquitaine, in 1689. He was a political thinker.
“False happiness renders men stern and proud, and that happiness is never communicated. True happiness renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is always shared.”
Budapest
What an esoteric city to me ! A good kind of magic that gets you on the top of a hill for a three-hour talk about the Huns, the Turkish, the Hapsburgs and the communists. I was taught the Hungarian history by a 71 years old man. Georges is a man who knows his history and his stories well. From the pictures of the kids to the Manhattan project, from the top of the hill to the other side of the bridge, I think that the BBC documentaries looked like this before television. What a great story teller!
One morning, I was given a private reggae concert. Amazing. It looked so natural to create rhythm like this, with their body , their voice, their flow. At times, my little voice couldn’t help but scream « I am so Lucky ». The next day I went to their concert and got to see them with a different light. Riddim colony: so fan.
I would have really liked to stay a few more days in Budapest but time was pushing me out.
Belgrade
This is a test. If the people who lived that story are Reading, I pray that they don’t throw me stones.
The word we had to remember was « forget ».
But I didn’t forget.
I spent 3 days at a friends’ place. They showed me the city. I saw a fort and a river. I can’t really remember. The only thing I remember is the food. Food from morning to night. Sliding from the lunch table to the dinner table. But even those mountains of food didn’t erase that beautiful moment.
All the guests were standing on their way out. It was a Sunday night and it was time to prepare for a new week. Then it stroke us. It started in slow motion. You see the movement but you don’t quite hear what is being said. You just follow the flow. And suddenly comes the full speed again. You are in the living room, dancing with 6 Serbian people in a round. You hear laugh, you see legs bouncing and the voice of a man saying « Forget. Forget » as if we had to forget such a great moment. It is so rare to spontaneously dance and share so much fun with a group of people. At this very moment: happiness was for me to share a crazy moment with others.
When we stopped dancing, we all looked at each other to check if it is ok to have fun. Everybody started to streathen up when it happened again.
It is out in the open now. Silliness is good for your heart.
I am now back in Paris drown in sunshine. It’s been a great trip with great people.
I danced. I spun and spun. I’ve been Dizzy. I experienced a great sens of joy.
At first when Glenneroo (glenn /silly + kangaroo /bouncy = glenneroo / bouncing sillyness ) told me about mobile clubbing, I heard this little voice in my head saying : « don’t be up-tight, go and see. Get outside your comfort zone ». My little voice is always a good adviser so I said “OK ! Let’s go and dance in the middle of the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna.”
I have to confess that I have some difficulties with public display. Sometime I sound like an old lady ☺ Well, when I joined the group, I was using my camera as a protection to stay an observer. Then I started to dance, again, like an old lady.
But before going further and to fully understand my deepest experience in Vienna, you have to know a strange fact.
Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
Exhibit C:
Exhibit D:
Exhibit E:
Vienna is a giant umbrella cemetery. Here, are coming the wealthy umbrellas of the world to have a beautiful end. Braves, they come to the windy city Vienna for a last dance with the wind. Some open completly toward the sky. Others wave like break dancers or embrass their holders.
So now you follow me ? Vienna was very windy when I was there. Cold windy. It was raining and my hands were missing the warmth of the glove. I am very sensitive to cold.
I started to dance; like an old lady as you remember now. Then as we moved toward the center of the gigantic court, the rythm of movements slowly rocks you into a fabulous feeling of freedom. Then you let go of self judgment and you start to feel the air blowing its gentle strongness… Strongness! That can’t be right. Excuse my English but I just was thrilled. I was out of space and time. My hands and feet were warm. I felt an extreme well being but didn’t name it at the time.
At this very moment, a fellow dancer taped on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and he said: “Is this happiness?” At this moment I realised that I lived a great joy that is part for me of a happy life but I was suddenly brought back by the same question I am asking everyone. “What is happiness?”
Several persons I interviewed during this trip asked me what was my vision of happiness and my answer is always different. At this very moment in Vienna, it was: happiness is being here and now. Several people in the happyviews had this learning as a life lesson. I believe that’s what they meant.
Happiness in Berlin! I didn’t really connect with the city so I come back almost empty handed. Luckily, on my last night I met Tino. It lasted 10 minutes but he was so enthusiastic and friendly that we did an interview while waiting for the metro.
I then went to Prague where I met incredibly welcoming people, an international crowd in fact. I had a lot of fun but also loved the city. It’s a beauty.
SWEDEN
Swedish people are living for the summer and it’s true that the cold and the short days make it a challenge to live there in winter. Even if the lack of light could be a happy downer, I found joyful people on my journey. And I learned quite a few things about Sweden.
DENMARK
“Out of 97 countries surveyed, Denmark is the happiest nation on Earth”
Well, I can totally understand it since Copenhagen has almost everything of the dream city to me. The sea is at a walk distance and you can even park your boat on the canal in front of your house. Parks are everywhere and the architectures is very diverse with huge monuments and colourfull houses. The city center is only for pedestrian and I found Danes very outgoing. What a great place to live in!
But the funny thing is that when I asked people I met if they were happy, half of them said no!
Check out this report on Denmark:
Update (May 12, 2009)
extract from a great article
“Vaillant brings a healthy dose of subtlety to a field that sometimes seems to glide past it. The bookstore shelves are lined with titles that have an almost messianic tone, as in Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment. But what does it mean, really, to be happier? For 30 years, Denmark has topped international happiness surveys. But Danes are hardly a sanguine bunch. Ask an American how it’s going, and you will usually hear “Really good.” Ask a Dane, and you will hear “Det kunne være værre (It could be worse).” “Danes have consistently low (and indubitably realistic) expectations for the year to come,” a team of Danish scholars concluded. “Year after year they are pleasantly surprised to find that not everything is getting more rotten in the state of Denmark.”
I left Paris and my comfortable life to go on the roads of Europe. I feel a bit like an old lady putting on leather pants to ride a Harley. I used to travel a lot but I was young and fresh. Now in my thirties, I should be sleeping in hotels and fly first class but I am very grateful that the money limit pushes me to choose alternative solutions and opens new horizons.
So it is bus and couchsurfing. Couchsurfing.com is a website, a community. Their mission statement: Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch at a Time. The system of friendship and references makes it easy to trust other couchsurfers. Once you have tasted it, it’s a delight. You meet people who love travel and sharing. A truly happy community.
So my first stop is Stockholm, Sweden.
Happy?
To go to one of my favorite places in the world, I used for the first time carpooling. I love to decide things last minute but the drawback is cost. The yield management used by transport companies makes it a luxury. But I found a transport company that has no yield policy : carpooling.
I used this site to find my ride and everything went smoothly. It was even a great experience. My fellow carpoolers were Nicolas, volcanologist, Guillaume, sound engineer and Caroline, teacher. I was in a Small car, my chin on my bag but I enjoyed so much the conversation that time flew. We talked, talked, talked and all started with the word happiness.
I will try to interview people only in English from now on. I am just not so much into translation and subtitles. You could also call it laziness ☺
