La Chassaral in the Jura Mountains

La Chassarel is the highest point (1607m, 5272 ft) on the Northern Jura Mountains. On a clear day, it offers a justly famous panorama of the Swiss Alps across Lake Biel and Lake Neuchatel – a 3-star sight according to the Michelin green guide.

We visited La Chassarel in the summer when we were living in Peseux and this place is only about 1 hour away.  We approached the top from the north via St Imier (another watchmaking town in the area, Longines’s  factory is located there) and parked our car just next to the Hotel du Chassarel (they are open for a few months in the summer). On the way up, we passed by numerous cows spending their summer up the mountain.  I posted a short video of our drive up here earlier at – cowbell music.

In case you are wandering why the name of this mountain range sounds familiar, “Jura” was used to name a geologic period – “Jurassic” which in turn was used to name several movies – Jurassic Park.  More about the Jura Mountains here.

As you can see, it is a somewhat hazy day.  One cannot see the alps.  The visibility gets as far as the two lakes.  But the clouds above us are of the big fluffy kind and created patches of shadow on the slopes.

Perfect for hiking? More about this place in our next post.

Radisson blu @ Luzern (Lucerne)

Just a few pictures of my hotel in Luzern. I came here for a 2-day conference. See earlier post about the town, Luzern (Lucerne).

Interiors with cheerful colors without looking like a Disney theme park hotel.

This is the first time I stayed at this chain of business hotels. Luxurious it is not, but its interiors are luxuriantly painted and visually stimulating.

The room’s interior felt like a student’s dormitory – a frosted glass sliding wardrobe door, no natural wood, all a bit Ikea-like, although they are not … these comments should not be taken as a complaint.  See the classic Panton chair (1967, Vitra) by the desk?

Modern and utilitarian – the shower enclosed by a pane of frosted glass, separating it from the living room. I stayed at the Louis Hotel in Munich (see earlier post) with a similar idea (except that the glass there is not frosted, but a rattan screen is provided).

Anne Semonin – a brand of spa toiletries that I don’t know much about.

The moody colored lights in the room add to the dorm ambience.  There is also a floor-standing lamp with a red plexiglass shade in a corner.

For some reason, I’d like to blog about hotels – here are a few more posts about hotel beside the Louis in Munich mentioned above: Le Morgane in Chamonix, Hyatt in Berlin, Jefferson in Virginia and the bath menu in Ritz-Carlton, Washington DC.

Classic Electronics: Oxygène IV – Jean-Michel Jarre (1977)

                         Click on the cover to start listening to Oxygène IV.

Oxygène by Jean-Michel Jarre is one of my all-time favorite album.  I heard Part IV first on the British singles chart in 1977, and made me a fan of electronic instrumental music.  The album has 6 tracks, named by numbers sequentially, and can be enjoyed from beginning to end as one long piece (or two pieces when it was first released as a black vinyl LP). Made with numerous at-the-time state-of-the-art analogue synthesizers, the instrument list was closely studied by many.

Oxygène IV has been the most successful track and it opened the B-side of the LP.  Listen by clicking on the album cover above, put on your headphones. It will be breathtaking (pun intended).

The music is mersmerizing without putting one to sleep (as many of the current crop of electronic music will do).  Rather, it holds your attention and take you to a dynamic space.  Unlike many electronic music, the pieces do not feel cold.  It will make your head spin with its stereo effects if listening with headphones. It depicts the act of breathing without reproducing the exact sound of it.  Some of the bubbly/bouncy effects makes me think of the rhythmic action of a pneumatic medical device that is hooked up to a dying patient.

Not only is the graphic art on the album cover stunning and it accurately interpreted the music. Don’t know if you can see the white strands of connective tissue stretching and peeling/tearing away from the skull.  Certain hissing/sucking sounds in the music conjure up that very visceral image.

Given the sounds, the album cannot be better named.

The track which follows Oxygène IV in the album, Oxygène V (duh) is also available online. The first five minutes of it consist of calming church music but the remaining five minutes is pulsating and trance-inducing, and ends with a series of big wave sounds starting at 8:50.  It is a precursor to all the progressive trance and chilled music that was popular in the late 90’s.

“Oxygène 7-13” (1997) is a sequel of the first “Oxygène”.  It was released twenty years later, although Jean-Michel Jarre had made more albums in between.

As a bonus, below is Oxygène 7 (about 11 minutes long). This track opens the sequel and is the first thing in the series that fans heard after 20 years (hence, the opening 4-notes tease).  Have a listen and compare with Oxygène IV.  Part IV is still better in my opinion.

Classic Electronics: Memories of green – Vangelis (1982)

This music is part of the Blade Runner soundtrack. It matched the mood of the movie perfectly. The treated piano sounding a little bit cold and off tone is layered on top of a warm melody, which together suggests the sadness of the human clone and its slight imperfection.  The blips and woosh give it the sci-fi hi-tech gloss.

If it does not load properly, watch it on Youtube.

The entire length of the piece was not used in the movie and it was not included in the movie soundtrack. The music was released first in Vangelis’s studio album “See You Later” (1980) which I have not listend to from beginning to end even to this day.  The piece was released again in a collection of Vangelis movie music in “Themes” (1989).  I loved Blade Runner and remember searching for this track for a long time after the movie came out.

I wonder when they are going to make a sequel or prequel. Hurry up people.

L’espai Dalí·Joies – objet d’art

In addition to the wearable jewelry (covered in the last post), Dali also made many pieces of jeweled objet d’art, which are also on display at the L’espai Dalí·Joies, e.g., this flower with petals shaped like grasping hands.  I do not know if it has any function (I somehow doubt it) but it is exquisite nevertheless.  It can make a very expensive stand for hanging rings and earrings – literally, blings on blings.

To find out more about this collection, goto this web page of the La Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí.

Close up of the grasping hands with ruby nails.

The elephant with spider-like legs appeared in several of his pictures. The piece really works as an object and the Indian gemstones look much better than painted. The hugh crystal it is carrying on its back makes the legs so much more precarious.

He apparently made many bejeweled crosses.

Quite a collection.

L’espai Dalí·Joies

After our visit to Dali’s theatre/museum in Figueras, we wandered next door to a new gallery showcasing his creations.  This gallery shows a collection of thirty-seven pieces of jewelry in gold and precious stones and twenty-seven drawings and paintings on paper that Salvador Dalí made in designing the jewels between 1941 and 1970.

Notice the clock face in the eyeball and the flock of birds forming a woman’s face (above). The same piece at a different angle (below)

I like Dali’s paintings but after a while, the novelty wears off and the magic fades a little.  But not with the jewelry he designed, I suspect, perhaps the bling makes a longer lasting impression.

Some of the pieces are motorized and move !  The middle portion of this heart-shaped piece rises and falls slowly but rhythmically.  A bit creepy actually.

The wings on the piece below flap slowly.

Gala (his muse, long time girlfriend) is featured above (back of her head) and below.

There is a face behind the giant piece of gem (below).

I guess only he can pull off these designs. Pearly whites !

More pieces from the exhibition in the next post.

El Teatre-Museu Dalí, Figueras

One side trip we took while we were in Barcelona earlier this year was a visit to Figueras.  The only reason to visit that place is the Dalí Theatre-Museum (El Teatre-Museu Dalí), the largest surrealistic object in the world. I came to see this place many years ago but did not mind revisiting. It has a geodesic dome, gold-colored mannequins, and a dozen giant eggs on top, while the perimeter wall is studded by an array of croissant-like baked products.

It occupies the building of the former Municipal Theatre, a 19th century construction which was destroyed at the end of the Spanish Civil War. On its ruins, Dalí decided to create his museum. This inner courtyard is to me the most interesting space.

Inside this classic American car, is a mannequin and a sprinkler system which can be turned on by inserting coins into a slot next to the driver.  The effect is raining inside a car. Surreal ?

There are rows of waving gold-colored  faceless mannequins which remind me of the Academy award statutes.  High up is a boat dripping thick drops of blue liquid, and beneath it a fat lady standing on a black car.

Several pieces are massive, occupying several floors  …

Lincoln ??

The museum was a bit of a let down, especially the paintings. The pieces do not seem as impressive and I believe the best are displayed elsewhere. Perhaps I had too high an expectation – likely a by-product of only vaguely remembering how I enjoyed the previous visit.

The patches of feather on the wall behind the bust are stuffed pheasants and those black dots on her face are painted ants (below).

Below is a construction of Mae West’s face as viewed through a lens while standing on a platform.

The painted ceiling of a room depicting Dali and Gala going to heaven.

What turned out to be more interesting is what lies next door, an exhibition of jewelry designed by Dali.  Next post.

A short hop to the UK

Traditional Shopping Arcade in Bournemouth downtown – the mall of yesteryears.

A couple of weekends ago, we hopped over to England to visit Westbourne, near Bournemouth on the south coast. When I was in boarding school, I spent many of my half-term breaks in this area with a family. The last time I was in this area was more than 5 years ago. The trip was a bit of a rush but it was nice to see familiar faces and places.

We flew into Gatwick but since there is no direct train to Bournemouth, the only option was to take the National Express coach.  If I choose to go via London, we would go into Victoria by train, then by tube to Waterloo and then another train to come down south.  Both trips would have taken about the same amount of time, i.e, 4 hours, but the coach delivered us directly from the North terminal to within one block of our Bed & Breakfast.

We were not in the mood to see sights but snapped a few pictures nevertheless.  Below is a mosaic in downtown Bournemouth.

Poole Harbor

Full English Breakfast at the Southernhay B&B.

I bought some fusion sushi from Marks & Spencer  – out of curiosity – because of the range of flavors suggested by the combinations of ingredients. Really quite creative. The label states clearly “No Raw Fish.”

In case the text on the label is not legibly displayed, the pieces are:  duck and cherry hoisin California roll, Thai style chicken California roll, edamame gunkan, prawn & mango gunkan, tamarind & tomato nigri, coconut & red pepper nigri.

They all had a distinctive flavor but the flavors were not sharp. But the dressing was really tasty and made them all good.