Almost half a century I contemplate the Seine unrolling its meandering in front of my workshop. It has become my interior landscape.
I follow her moods, unless she follows mine! She inhabits me, constitutes me. It is a dream that nothing ends.
It is the season of mists. At dawn, she gives me the first morning of the world. The day rises, she is absent, invisible, lost. A sea of perfectly flat clouds extends to the horizon. To the horizon, no more landscape. Emptiness, erasure, disappearance. Have the patience to wait. Wait until the smooth surface of this sea becomes disunited, becomes vaporous. Dark islets appear slowly, like a photo in the developer. Appear, then disappear. From the tops of trees, ghostly,
profile here and there. The sun on the horizon illuminates and gilds long veils of mist that wind through the forest, large shadows lengthen infinitely. Imperceptibly a world is born before our eyes. Trees are emerging, a twinkling pulsates in the heart of the
cloud. Then, like a silent film star, lazily the Seine wakes up, reveals itself, spreading its veil of mist. The sun rises in the sky. Small fumeroles run on the surface of the water that seems ready to boil. The trees regain their reflections. Barges
come and go, the swans fly on the water. The geese gossip on the banks. Sometimes the fog persists. Sweet and melancholy day. Silence and mystery. I think of Basho, Japanese poet: «Beautiful this day of mist where the Fuji remains invisible».
Also say the magic of colors, blue, pink, turquoise, lavender, emerald green, pearl gray, white, violet, mauve, pearly. Interrupting my work I remain long moments, immobile, contemplative. Fascinated, dazzled by a light, a color never seen.
Say the two sublime moments of the day. «Noon, king of the summers»... at the zenith, the sun falls vertically on the water. Silver melted, sparkling like the sea. The light sparkles. And in the evening, downstream, where all the drama is played out. There, anything is possible.
The water flows, the sand flows, the days flow, the time flows... how much sand is left in the hourglass? Yet every morning, there in front of my window: the first morning of the world.
Christian Broutin
July 2022
The town halls of La Roche-Guyon, Moisson, Bonnières-sur-Seine and
Bennecourt joined forces in 2022 to celebrate the Seine, their
common living heritage: they offer meetings,
animations, conferences on the 4 sites to promote access for all to biodiversity, history, culture, art and literature
specific to this territory and create a link in the valley.