Summer is the best season to travel and visit interesting places. Everybody focuses on
choosing where to go, what to do, and how to enjoy the long and pleasant daylight in the most satisfying and delightful way. My holidays are usually a journey back to my hometown. An opportunity to see parents, relatives, and friends I unwillingly neglect because of the numerous miles distance between London and them. It’s true; social media and the internet do allow us to keep in touch daily, but it’s definitely not the same. Wouldn’t you prefer a face-to-face chat, possibly in front of a tasty glass of wine and a lovely sunset on a marvellous seaside, instead of a cold screen? I tell you, I surely prefer the latter. I'm not visiting my hometown only. On 14th of July, I’m travelling to north of France – Normandy – with my life-long friends Silvano and Luca. Since we finished the college and, then, the university, we have been in touch, but some difficulties made quite hard to arrange something together – Luca has been living in Turin, and he’s happily settled in the North Italian city; a few years later, I in turn left for London. This is the first joint holiday we've had in almost a decade. I’m happy and excited. It's an amazing adventure. You might wonder why I’m writing about my holiday in a blog mainly dedicated to books, authors’ events, and reviews. As I said, we’re heading to Normandy. The region is famous for its cuisine tradition, the typical and beautiful villages, and, mostly, for the important and heroic landing of the Allies forces in 1944. The land was the beginning of the attack against the Nazis forces and the end of their invasion. Soaked with intense historical meaning, Normandy has an intimate and inspirational relationship with art and literature. Its small and typical villages helped and instigated the genius of important authors. To begin with, Marcel Proust lived in Cabourg. The cosy atmosphere and the intense landscape inspired Proust to write his masterpiece "In search of lost time." Etretat is probably the most known city, along with Rouen. Etretat inspired Monet for his paintings, but it was home for Guy de Maupassant, the most famous and talented short-stories writer in French literature, and Maurice Leblanc, creator of the cunning and unstoppable gentleman thief Arsene Lupin. Victor Hugo spent time in Fecamp and lived with his family in Villequier. Last but not least, the "son of Rouen", Gustave Flaubert, was born in the city, and the places and environments inspired numerous part of the famous "Madame Bovary" . Normandy didn’t fascinate French authors only; Oscar Wilde lived at the Bernevalle Hotel, near Dieppe, after the incarceration in Reading. Here, the British writer composed "The ballad of Reading Gaol", one of his most known and famous works. In the following weeks, I'm writing about my holidays and the places we’re visiting. The feelings and emotions this literary-soaked region stimulated and enriched these famous authors with are the core of my future posts .
0 Comments
Every book lover that comes to London can’t miss this precious jewel located in the famous and trafficked Piccadilly, a few yards next to Waterstones store. Hatchards is the oldest bookshop in the United Kingdom. Before entering, allow me to do a little bit of history: John Hatchard founded his small bookshop in 1797 at 173 Piccadilly. After a few years, he moved to 189-190 because of the building of the Egyptian Hall, and, in 1820, it moved again to no.187 where nowadays it still is and trades books.
The atmosphere you can feel entering the shop is completely involving; the stylish wooden bookshelves and the soft light green carpeted floor bearing dark green lilies seem to transport you back to an ancient epoch. The wooden floor screeches rhythmically at every step. The shop expands on four floors, respectively dedicated to a kind of literature. The ground floor covers history; Kings, Queens, Emperors, notable politicians, and famous revolutionaries’ biographies are alphabetically and neatly displayed. Climbing the stair to the first floor and trying to avoid curious tourists and passionate readers, I reach the huge first floor. Fiction rules this section, and the immense wall reserved to Agatha Christie’s works catches my total attention. Quite surprisingly, I found numerous crime novels written by Andrea Camilleri. I carry on wandering around books, and the third floor leaves me completely stupefied. The amount of essays, works, and books regarding photography and art is astonishing. I can’t believe this field can have such a rich and interesting literature. Two hours fly literally away. On my way out, I stop in front of a shelf I didn’t expect at all. This is the most unusual and interesting display I’ve ever found in a bookshop. The first editions of British and international authors occupy the shelves. I spot “Satan in the suburbs” by Bertrand Russell, then “The constant gardener” by John le Carré, but what really astonishes me is the first edition of “The house on the hill” written by the Italian author Cesare Pavese. While I get out, a smile grows on my face. Currently, Piccadilly is a trafficked road, full of noisy buses and roaring vehicles. My imagination jumps back to the Eighteenth century, and I imagine the place at that time. Silence, then a few shouts, and a well-dressed gentleman raises his arm to stop a two-horse carriage. He has just walked through the threshold of Hatchards, and, under one of his arms, he holds a small stack of books he has bought in the shop where I’ve just been. |
Archives
November 2020
Follow me on: |