The Venice Carnevale is not entirely about masks. Some people enjoy coming here in historical costumes. On this day, Nhalle, an old friend from France visits me at the Mystery Hotel in her Agatha Christie themed outfit.
The book she holds - Quinze jours à Venise (15 days in Venice) is a guide book by André Maurel.
André Maurel (12 April 1863 – 5 May 1943) was a French journalist, contributor to Le Figaro and director of La Revue bleue. He is also the author of numerous books, in particular travel accounts in Italy.
"We can infinitely vary the occasion, the spontaneous vertigo which seizes the traveler arriving in Venice always remains of this quality. Instantly everything disappeared. No more memories, no more worries, nothing more of life gets in the way. The intoxication is immediate, total and deep. We are taken, dragged away, torn from the earth, kidnapped on wings — we ourselves have wings; the soft cushions of the gondola seem like clouds on which we rest. Tomorrow? We will see well, there will be time again. But let's be happy, let's get drunk, slip- sounds like we run in dreams, let's swing in the soft black boat as we rock to the sound of waltzes. And the palaces parade along the canal, as well as at the theater the rolled canvas, and which simulates a landscape crossed by a walking hero. A world unreal presents itself to us; for the first time, the impossible happened. Let's reach out and grab it! And he doesn't run away, he doesn't escape not night in smoke; our embrace tightens him; we hold it, the let's touch it, caress it, it's finally ours. Venice, unique in the world, is the only one capable of providing such pleasure. The only floating city, it alone can give to the riveted man to the earth the light sensation of deliverance. How to believe in city which has no roadway, where no dogs loiter, where no car is moving, no familiar noise resonates? The beautiful toy for our monotonous senses! So here is something new in this a world where there have been none, we are told, for a long time. Our luck is great to know him. When the memories come back troop, that of Venice, mixed with all the others, will soften these. The necessities of life will seem less bitter; since life is capable of giving us Venice, we will curse it less; the life can be good which provides minutes where it no longer intervenes. This, I believe, is what every human being feels when he boat in Venice, from the smallest to the largest, from the most artistic to the most ignorant, as long as he is a little sensitive. Can we be surprised, since Therefore, may the exceptional Venice be the best setting for love, or at least appears to be so to lovers? He who loves believes himself the object of a predilection, considers himself unique in the universe, person never having been able to experience the feelings so completely and absolutely absolute and total ments that he experiences. Two chosen beings found to feel, as never existed. They need a place as rare as themselves to complete the masterpiece..." - André Maurel
Most of my costumed friends and Carnevale revellers come to Venice every year and try to spend 15 days here. And just as what André Maurel described, it seems Venice today is very much like what it was a hundred years or so ago...
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
"I take you to Venice, in an imaginary novel by Agatha Christie. In this "small murders in Venice", am I the culprit or the detective? It's up to you to conduct the investigation!
My edition of "15 Days in Venice" dated 1926. My pin is from the past.
It’s always magical to me to recreate a story by gathering such beautiful Chinese items
Notice in the reflection of the glass the Venetian architecture. We were by San Zacharia..." -Nhaelle de France
This year, I have changed my photo subjects quite a bit, focusing more on the locals and non-masked costumes....a more realistic photo approach to the whole Venice Carnevale. After being at the Venice Carnevale for the past 9 years, I tend to avoid the crowded places nowadays. Quiet moments with friends, a coffee at the Cafe Florian and secret gatherings at the Mystery Hotel, and we are happy...
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