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| The Marne river by Cezanne |
I realized after I had already put up my last post that I should have included rivers as I have lots to say about them too. So this post will be about them. I most love rivers in cities but rivers in the countryside are very nice too. Beaupreau - the little town in France where I went on exchange back in the winter/spring of 1999 - had a little river which ran through it and sometimes I'd go to the grounds of the castle (Beaupreau had this very nice castle with lovely grounds anyone could go to. I never went inside the castle, however, and I'm not sure anyone could) and sit on the banks watching the river. During this time I was listening to Natalie Merchant a lot, particularly her song
Where I go which talks about sitting and watching the river flow by. I liked knowing I did that too.
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| Beaupreau's castle and the little river |
My friend F. who I met when she was in an English class I taught in Paris lives with her husband (and now twin daughters) in a little town outside Paris called Le Perreux-sur-Marne. It is easily accessible by RER train from Paris and I've gone to her apartment several times since I first met her in 2007. Their place is a fairly short walk from the Marne river, which is a tributary of the Seine and a lovely river in its own right. After we'd eat a big and delicious lunch, F., her husband S., our other friend G. and I would all take a long walk along the Marne river. In the summer (the only time I've ever seen the river) it is a really pretty greeny colour. The whole setting was very peaceful and idyllic and it really instilled in me a new love of country rivers.
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| The Marne |
My favourite river in the world is the Seine, mostly because it goes through Paris. I like rivers going through the middle of cities because I mentally map out the city and consider its various neighbourhoods based on which side of the river they are on. The Seine is a lovely river to walk beside; and while it is usually a brown or grey colour I still think it's perfect. The Thames river in London is really cool too. I also think it's good for walking beside and I like it's location. One river I wish I knew better is the Danube. When I was 16 I went to Budapest with my parents and the Danube river flowing through the city dividing Buda and Pest was pretty, and reminded me of Paris in the sense of the river demarcating the city. I hope to go back one day and walk along its banks.
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| The Danube & Budapest |
Toronto has two rivers - the Humber and the Don - but truth be told I often forget about them. I think it's because the Humber is in the west part of the city and the Don is in the east and I guess I spend most of my time in the middle. E.'s parents used to live near the Humber river and so I think we went there a few times back when we were 13 but I haven't been there since. A few years ago I saw some pictures of hers she had taken by the Humber river on New Year's day and they were really pretty and cool. There was lots of snow and the river looked really nice. Just before leaving Austin in June 2009, I went to see the Scottish band Camera Obscura. During one song they played which was off their new album and which I had never heard before I was pretty sure the singer was saying something about a river in Toronto and I both thought that was cool and kind of odd. Mostly just because in terms of bodies of water, Toronto is associated with the lake, not its two rivers. But alas, when I got home that night I did some googling and sure enough, the line from their song
Forests and Sands was: "If the blood pumping through my veins could freeze like a river in Toronto then I'd be pleased." While odd, I do think it's cool they wrote that line; although true be told I am not sure the rivers actually do freeze the whole winter or even some of the winter. In any event, maybe given that I do like rivers, I should try to walk along the banks of the Don and Humber sometime.
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| The Humber River in Toronto - it looks so pretty! |
To sum up my thoughts on rivers, I do prefer the vastness of lakes and oceans. I like how with oceans lakes, all one can see out to the horizon is water and I love how the water colour reflects the sky. It's nice to be able to easily see across to the other sides of rivers though, and they can be very
pretty. They are also great for going for walks along. Plus, as I will talk about in my next post, I love bridges that go over rivers and I love cities with rivers, Paris most of all.
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| So idyllic. |
