It is impossible to talk about France without mentioning holidays, so important are they to its inhabitants. Living in Bordeaux, my companion and I have our own habits on the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean, which are only an hour away. We are also not far from the Basque country, with its gastronomic traditions that are among the most remarkable in Europe, or from Spain. Every year, we also travel to the Mediterranean coast, to Sitges to be precise, where we take pleasure in recharging our batteries. As you can see, we are more sea than mountain.
However, this winter we were invited by a cousin to join her in the Pyrenees. This is the first time I have climbed a snow-covered mountain since moving to France. Between the view of the Pic du Midi, the starry sky and the beauty of the dawn, the constant proximity to nature leaves us in contemplation of the most beautiful things. I didn't think it was possible to admire such breathtaking landscapes only three hours away.
When I see the mountains from our cottage, I am reminded of the ancient syntax of "mountain". This would have taken shape from the silhouette of three mountains lining up. I was lost in my reverie as I imagined the Chinese ancestors looking at the Himalayan peaks.
While we were talking as a family about the origin of this character, the sun was setting.
Original text
「ピレネーの山々を眺めながら」
フランスに住めば住むほど実感するバカンスなしにフランスを語れないほど、バカンスはフランス人にとって最重要項目です。私たちはバカンス以外でも週末に時間を見つけては年中、海に行くほどの海派です。ボルドーの自宅から1時間で行ける大西洋。南西ボルドーはスペイン寄りでもあるので、バスク地方も最高。ヨーロッパでも有数の美食の地でもありますね。そして毎年恒例の地中海。バルセロナの近くにあるシッチェスでその自然の美しさを味わいながら深呼吸をしています。
今回はパートナーの従姉妹家族に誘われてピレネーに行ってきました。フランスに住んで初めての雪山の体験でした。車で３時間。想像以上の絶景で、ケーブルカーやピク・デュ・ミディ天文台からの眺めも、満点の星降る夜もドラマチックな朝焼けも、自然がいつも私たちにその美しさを教えてくれます。滞在していた山小屋から見た山々を眺めながら、その姿が漢字の「山」の古代文字と同じであることを思い出しました。山の象形文字は正しく山の形にかたどり、三つ連なってできた様子からできたようです。古代人は、中国大陸からヒマラヤ山脈を見ていたのでは？と、時空を超えて古代人の想いにも重ねながら、見入っていました。そんな話を従姉妹の家族と楽しみながら、夜は更けてゆきました。
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Maaya Wakasugi
Calligraphy artist
Born in 1977 in Okayama, Japan. Lives in Bordeaux. Maaya Wakasugi was born in 1977, in the province of Okayama. At the age of 6 he began calligraphy, at 17 he held his first exhibition. In 2001, he graduated from the prestigious DAITO BUNKA Faculty of Arts and developed a personal style based on the so-called "ancient characters". Then, his choice of motifs that he liberates from the classical style, as well as the quality of his artistic expression, bring him a notoriety in Japan as well as abroad - exhibitions at NY ART EXPO (New York), at NEXT STEP BIENNALE (Paris), realization of a performance at MoMA. In January 2017 he calligraphed the title "Onna Jōshu Naotora" of the new historical fiction of the national television channel NHK. In 2018 he is the "Guest Artist of the Summer" by the municipality of Andernos-les-Bain. In 2019 he was chosen to calligraph the name of the new Japanese era "REIWA" on the official website of Yahoo! For the past three years he has been training adults from the PHILOMATHIQUE de Bordeaux, as well as primary and secondary school students from the region, in calligraphy workshops, the most recent of which took place at the DON BOSCO Institute in Gradignan.
