Thomas Daum is a professor of geography and co-author with Eudes Girard a trial without concession on the tourism 2.0: The voyage dreamed of mass tourism (CNRS Editions). Without waiting for the containment, he has planned to do for the first time this summer the experience of the navigation of the river, to counter the excess of speed of the world.
“Read also – The French are rediscovering the pleasure river
LE FIGARO. – What do you think of the river tourism?
Thomas DAUM. – First, the slowness in a world so fast (up to two months ago). The river tourism enables an evolution imperceptible during the journey, our vision of the landscape, anticipating the approach of the cities, to the exit gently, away from the 130 km/h by car and 320 km/h TGV. Then, there is the stress welcome. The axis of movement is determined by principle: scarcity of confluences, the potential to fork. But this constraint is the result of a choice of ancient societies (economic history) and a balance between the genius of men and the natural constraints (physical geography: altitude, declination, swamp, …), the discovery of which becomes the reason of travel.
the attractiveness of The water promotes three geographical areas: the water, the towpath and the landscape, urban or rural. A practical lesson in history and geography?
It is quite that. Very interesting about the artificiality of what appears a priori natural water courses. You can navigate on the channels dug in the past two or three centuries, in the measure where speed, power and level change prohibit to on natural water courses such as our imagination might be remembering David Crockett or Fenimore Cooper. Locks regular the same way, we recall that spaces with a priori constant altitude, the variations exist.
channels we shed light on landscapes a priori natural
Thomas Daum
As for the towpath, it evokes its original pre-industrial before the steam machine, up to its transformation into a bike trail with information panels on the fauna and flora: as if we were eternally children of the primary school to teach, through his status as a theatre of murders, sordid detective novels cheap. And then, there is the splendour of the rural landscape sculpted over time. Here again we have the feeling of natural fragmented agricultural exhibitor of landscapes yet entirely artificial, of the cities -port assigned to the fluvial activity and now half-dead.
The river tourism enables it to recapture the spirit of the trip?
Yes, for more than 50 years, with a few resources, already “made” as it is said so hideously, Asia, New York, the Land of fire, the capitals of eastern Europe, and who can, with understanding, and to wish, that the slowness is now the condition of the trip. But still it is necessary that this navigation is accomplished by being alone with loved ones and not on the “Giants of the rivers,” with 250 passengers… But no, because it does not take short cuts at the last moment. The river tourism, this is the trip organized… but by the past.
The editorial team conseilleTourisme: the tectonic massesVacances summer: 15 experiences to (re)discover the campaign françaiseTourisme river: 11.3 million passengers in 2018Vacances summer, they re-invent themselves: Locaboat wants to make discover the France of the rivers and canauxSujetsThomas DaumVoyageTourismeVacances of étéCoronavirusAucun comment
there are currently no comments on this article.
Be the first to give your opinion !
I write a comment
