While the sportsman Arthur Germain begins this Sunday, June 6 swimming down the Seine, the photographer from Le Havre François Guillotte has decided to follow him by bike, from the source to the mouth until the end of July. To relay the feat, draw an intimate portrait of the river and raise awareness of water resources.
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François Guillotte (on the left) in Le Havre a few days before leaving (here with Oscar Paris who helps him with the logistics)
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He was feeling a little feverish a few days ago. And also enthusiastic and excited at the idea of taking up a challenge that he set out on his own, that of setting off by bike, following as closely as possible the paths closest to the river, which are more than 770 km long. For 52 days, François Guillotte participates in his own way in the sporting and ecological challenge of Arthur Germain, this seasoned swimmer of 20 years who goes up the Seine to “raise public awareness of the pollution of the river and show its beauty and its hidden treasures. This somewhat crazy project, which begins in concrete terms this Sunday, June 6 at Source-Seine (Côte-d’Or), immediately resonated deep in the mind and heart of this photographer, Havre by adoption. François Guillotte is madly crazy about the river that he has walked up and down (and a little across …) for years with his “vagabond Seine”, a project carried out through several photographic exhibitions and the publication of a notebook of literary walks. A dive into the landscapes and lifestyles along the Seine, from Le Havre to Paris, which led him to research work in the Bay of the Seine, or to join forces in 2020 with the Le Havre university around the Géoseine program.
No wonder therefore that Arthur Germain’s appeal for crowdfunding relayed on social networks calls out to the sixty-year-old three months ago. ”
I stumble upon this info by chance. I immediately send a fiery message to Arthur, we talk to each other quickly. The current went well straight away. He is young, modest and he reacts to my proposal to follow him for a photo report on a voluntary basis
», Says François Guillotte before his departure. And this is how he prepares his bicycle expedition equipped with two saddlebags (one for food and one for equipment) and with a solar battery by affirming that ”
the tandem was formed in a natural way. »Around the desire of«
travel the river and share it
“. The photographer proposes, with this intimate portrait of the Seine, to relate the exploit for the networks, to make an inventory of the places and to explain the relationship with the river of the inhabitants, gardeners, fishermen …
His “road to Compostela”
«
It will be strong in contrasts with industrial and urban landscapes, agricultural and playful.
»An initiatory quest and a human adventure that resemble a personal Grail for this man, born in Caen, enrolled in the fine arts at 19, who has lived all his life in Paris, has never traveled and spent half of his life. his life in architecture. You can be sure that during the 21 bivouacs on the banks and the islands, crossing 360 towns and crossing 26 locks, the cyclist will have time to savor his “way to Compostela”. As if his whole career should one day converge towards this disinterested project. François Guillotte, retired since January 2020, bought an apartment in Le Havre seven years ago in which he has anchored much of his time for a year. ”
I need to live in an average town so that I can escape and also close to the water. “Practicing photography more professionally since 2014,”
hybrid way
“, And”
for
go toward people
“, The man admits not looking”
to make the beautiful but the sincere. “On that side, he should be satisfied during this trip as close as possible to the water, which he often imagined on the train between Paris and Le Havre. Before slipping into his dream for almost two months, from the Troyes region, via the Paris basin to Rouen before the Le Havre estuary, he prepared the route, IGN maps in hand, spotting the ground, helped in logistics by Oscar Paris, a young person currently without activity who wanted to be “useful”. And let himself embark on the adventure.
www.facebok.com/francvois.guillotte ; www.instagram.com/francoisguillotte ; http://arthurgermain.fr
Photo exhibitions
Through Patricia lionnet
The intimate portrait of the Seine (fauna and flora, observation of pollution, development of the banks, activities, etc.) and its inhabitants will be the subject of a photographic exhibition during Arthur Germain’s visit to Paris (around ten photos in front of BNF), in Rouen (15 photos undetermined location) and his arrival in Le Havre (around 20 photos of Le Havre beach). This traveling exhibition is intended to tour in middle and high schools with the aim of raising awareness of the resource of the river and water in general, with travel diary and educational sheets to support it.
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A historic challenge
Through Patricia lionnet
This is unheard of. Arthur Germain, 19, also son of the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo is launching a historic challenge by leaving this Sunday. This young athlete will travel the 784 kilometers of the Seine, in 52 days, swimming, without assistance. He will swim between 15 and 20 kilometers daily, or about six hours a day. This is not his first record since he was the youngest Frenchman to cross the Channel in 2018. The first kilometers will be covered on foot due to the low water level on the starting portion of the river, at Source-Seine (Côte-d’Or). By pulling 60 kg of material on his kayak where his provisions, clothes and camping gear will be installed, the athlete will spend 478,000 calories and will cross 800 tonnes of visible waste. His arrival in Paris is scheduled for Sunday July 4, his visit to Rouen is scheduled for Tuesday July 20 and his arrival in Le Havre on Wednesday July 28.
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