A Nor’easter, a Canceled Ed Sheeran Concert, Doggy Time & a Finished Book

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  This was not how I expected the weekend to go. There was a Nor’easter rolling through Rye, New Hampshire . The wind was whipping sideways off the coast, the rain had settled in, and then came the notification: Ed Sheeran was canceled. Well. There went that plan. A Little About Rye If you’ve never been to Rye, it captures a beautiful stretch of New Hampshire’s very small but mighty Seacoast. The town has eight miles of coastline, the longest of any town in the state, with sandy beaches, rocky headlands, salt marshes and my favorite view toward the Isles of Shoals.  One of those special places is Awcomin Marsh , protected by the Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire. And there’s history here, too. Odiorne Point was the site of the first permanent European settlement in what would become New Hampshire, established in 1623. Today, the area is home to Odiorne Point State Park and the Seacoast Science Center . Follow Route 1A along the coast, something I like to do on ...
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Les Bassins de Lumières Bordeaux: Inside the Famous Digital Art Museum in France

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Les Bassins de Lumières in Bordeaux is a place where history and art collide in the most unforgettable way.

Located in an old port district north of Bordeaux, this enormous building once served as a submarine base during World War II. It was originally built for Italian submarines, a massive structure designed to disappear from view.

The scale of it is hard to comprehend until you’re standing inside.

At its peak, 32 submarines could hide beneath the structure’s bomb-proof, iron-reinforced concrete roof, nearly nine feet thick. The space was built by an estimated 6,500 workers, many of whom were Spanish laborers, including Republican prisoners. The building itself was reinforced by 2,000 concrete piles driven deep into the ground, a reminder of both the engineering and the human cost behind its creation.

Today, the building still feels cold, dark, damp, and water-filled. The air carries a heaviness. You can feel the magnitude of what once existed there, as if the walls never fully released the past.

But what makes Les Bassins de Lumières so unique is what it has become.



The same space that once held submarines now holds art.

It has been transformed into an immersive digital art experience, open to the community and to travelers who stumble into this unexpected masterpiece of a museum. Projections stretch across towering walls, and the images reflect off the dark waters where submarines once anchored.

The effect is haunting and beautiful.

The feature on display during my visit invited visitors to “explore the universe without limits” and “let yourself be carried to the heart of the art,” showcasing works inspired by Monet, Renoir, and Chagall. Their colors and brushstrokes danced across the concrete chambers, turning an industrial war relic into something luminous and alive.

Standing there, watching historic art ripple across the water, it felt surreal.

A place once built for destruction now repurposed for beauty.


 









Living my best life.

Cheers to 2022.

jMf 

This journey eventually became part of what I wrote in Watered & Whole

If this story resonated with you, you can explore more reflections on healing, growth, and faith in my book From Soil to Soul: Watered & Whole, available on Amazon.


If this resonated with you, I share more reflections on gut health, healing, and whole-person wellness at Forward ThinKer Wellness. Follow along or reach out directly at forwardthinkerwellness@gmail.com — I'd love to connect.

Comments

  1. Cindy MurphyJanuary 2, 2022 at 10:23 AM

    So much ART! I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jackie FraryJanuary 2, 2022 at 11:28 AM

    The building was really sobering. The contract between the warmth of the art and the space was conflicting.

    ReplyDelete

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