START HERE WITH YOUR INTERACTIVE TRAVEL IN NORMANDIA
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Il turista, colui che si muove osservando l’ambiente con interesse e desiderio di conoscenza. Il viaggio inizia tra lo spazio e il tempo, tra passato e presente, assume una dimensione sacra. Lo sguardo incondizionato si posa sul comportamento e le relazioni della persona con l’ambiente circostante. Il luogo da visitare viene scelto per suscitare piacere, la scelta viene stimolata da altro, informazioni, sensazioni, rinforzando il piacere e l’immagine del luogo. Se pur per un breve periodo egli decide di abbandonare la routine quotidiana per incontrare persone, conoscere luoghi, modi di vita diversi e differenti da quelli usuali. Cerca il confronto con altre culture diverse e lo porta spesso a riflettere in modo consapevole anche su ste stesso, sulla sua cultura e sul luogo in cui vive. Ma quanto oggi il turista riesce ad avvicinarsi all’autenticità dei luoghi? Il turismo ha portato alla trasformazione dei luoghi rendendoli “turistici” creando un’industria fondata sul consumismo di massa e su un linguaggio visibile, estetico e popolare.
L’autenticità della popolazione locale si trasforma in una versione turistica di se, trasformando l’esperienza del turista non solo in un’esperienza visiva ma anche del corpo e dei suoi sensi. Il viaggiatore postmoderno appare confuso, variabile, sempre alla ricerca di emozioni forti e soggetto a continui cambiamenti. Lo scenario cambia in base alle richieste subendo trasformazioni continue. L’incontro con l’altro svanisce, perché come spettatori attraversiamo i luoghi con l’immaginario personale. Un altro aspetto molto importante che il turismo di massa sta portando ad analizzare e studiare è l’impatto sull’ambiente e sulle comunità locali. Un fenomeno molto complesso è ampio da affrontare, che sicuramente continuerò a studiare in futuro.
Elisa Scaramuzzino
Tourist Experience
The tourist moves by observing the territory with interest and desire for knowledge. The journey begins between space and time, between past and present, it takes on a sacred dimension. The unconditional gaze rests on the behavior and relations of the person with the territory that surrounds him. The place to visit is chosen to arouse pleasure, the choice is stimulated by input in everyday life, by a film, a book, magazines, literature, etc. The set of ideas, information, sensations, reinforcing the pleasure and the image local. Even if for a short time he decides to abandon the daily routine to meet people, to know places, ways of life that are different and different from the usual ones. He seeks comparison with other different cultures and often leads him to reflect consciously also on himself, on his culture and on the place where he lives. But are tourists today able to get closer to the authenticity of the places? Tourism has led to the transformation of places by making them "tourist" by creating an industry based on a visible, aesthetic and popular language. The authenticity of the local population is transformed into a tourist version of itself, transforming the tourist experience not only into a visual experience but also of the body and its senses. The scenario changes according to the requests of the tourist undergoing continuous transformations. The encounter with the other "vanishes because as spectators we cross places with our personal imagination. Another very important aspect that mass tourism is leading to analyze and study is the impact on the environment and local communities. A very complex phenomenon is broad, I will certainly continue to study in the future. The concept of this experience is to bring out the person's interaction with the place.
NORMANDY
Gaugin loved its savage and primitive character. Proust appreciated its mood, suspended between decadence and dream. There are alabaster cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, sandy beaches which seem endless and rivers winding in the bright green of grassland and woods, medieval villages, abbeys and castles lost in the countryside, villages made of trellis houses and grazing pastures everywhere. This is Normandy, but it is also the land of D-day, of the dizzying tides, of Mont St. Michel; the muse of the impressionists that here have found unique skies and a peculiar light that has inspired many artists that marked indelibly the art history. It is a land which has been able to preserve its authentic atmosphere, rich in history and owning some indescribable natural landscapes where the apparent cold atmospheres of its climate is the background of one of the most suggestive scenery in the world. When you see it for the first time, it gives you a feeling of surprise and bewilderment, maybe thanks to the Atlantic skies which seem to have fun in surprising you with unexpected downpours and glimpses of a bright and intense blue.
-Giverny, in this charming and out of the world village “the light is unique, you cannot find it anywhere else in the world” said the master of the Impressionism Claude Monet.
-Rouen is unquestionably the pearl of Normandy, a real architectural jewel in which art, history and culture are exquisitely blended together. Its charm is due to a certain gothic and spiritual climate of inquisition: here Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake. Set between the Seine and the sea, Rouen has remained undamaged from the war devastations and has preserved not only one of the most exceptional gothic cathedrals in Europe, but also an historic centre that store a medieval heart with more than 200 authentic trellis houses which survived to the second World War but also to the Hundred Years War.
-Etretat, it is a small fishing village set between the two most suggestive cliffs of the coast the Falaise d’Amont and the Falaise d’Aval. It has been the land of important celebrities such as Guy de Maupassant, Corot, Coubert and Monet. It seems that this small village is coming out of an impressionist painting, from the XIX century with its retro-style charm and its old colours.
-Honfleur, it is a small sea town with small, picturesque streets and ancient facades. It is one of the cradles of Impressionism. A place where time seems to have stopped, Honfleur shows proofs of its rich past, especially in the historic centre, with its narrow cobblestone streets, trellis facades and small boutiques.
-D-DAY BEACHES, at the dawn of the 6 June 1944, started the biggest military offensive in history, codenamed “Operation Overload”, renamed D-day, in which 7000 units and tens of thousands of English, American and Canadian soldiers disembarked off the coasts of Normandy to free Europe from the Nazi Germany. This whole stretch of coast, called Côte de Nacre also known as Coast of mother-of-pearl, is completely littered by battlefields, holes created by bombings, cemeteries and war museums which testify the horror that happened in this place. The American cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer is the biggest one, the most famous and the most touching among those resulting from the disembarkation. It overlooks the sadly famous beach of Omaha: 9387 pure white crosses; 9387 fallen soldiers lie in this stretch of United States of America in France, all of them facing west, towards a country they will never see again.
-Bayeux is a small and charming medieval town situated in the south of Normandy: streets, canals and windmills, churches add up to its charm, along with the surprising absence of suburbs and industrial areas Bayeux is famous thanks to the notorious medieval tapestry which has been declared UNESCO world heritage with its 68 metres of printed linen canvas. The Tapisserie de Bayeux is one of the most important evidences of the Middle Ages. It tells the story of England is invasion from the Norman point of view, an epic endeavour which decided the course of the XI century.
-Mont St. Michel, according to the legend, the abbey of Mont St. Michel was built where the archangel Gabriel appeared to the bishop of Avranches and it is a UNESCO world heritage since 1979. Besides the endless beauty of the monastic complex and of the medieval miniature city that winds the abbey, a big part of the charm of this timeless place is due to the spectacular charm of the tides.