Stepping over the gate of the private farm that leads to the Slope Point trail, the untamed character of these lands draws visitors into an enigmatic realm. Amidst sheep and trees bent by the wind, the spray of waves crashing violently at the foot of the cliffs lashed the face. Twenty minutes of walking are enough to reach the photogenic yellow sign marking the southernmost point of New Zealand (excluding Stewart Island): 5,140 km from the equator and 4,803 km from the South Pole, the sign states.
Slope Point is located in the tranquil Catlins region, home to about 1,500 inhabitants. “You mainly find small coastal villages, a few farms and two or three schools”, details Lloyd Esler, a teacher, tour guide and former city councilor of Invercargill, the largest nearby town. 75 kilometers away. In the Catlins, proximity is relative.
Southern Lights, Dolphins and Penguins
“Each year, around 30,000 people stop here. It’s an estimate; we don’t have precise tracking,” notes the teacher. Beyond this unique feeling of being at the edge of the world, as author Mélissa Da Costa so well describes in her book The Women at the End of the World, visitors come to this site for its dramatic scenery. “It’s a place highly appreciated by photographers, much like the Catlins as a whole”, explains Lloyd Esler. From the top of the cliff, with eyes fixed to the south, at dusk one can glimpse the aurora australis in the sky.
“It’s regular, but you have to be patient and lucky. The sky must be clear and you sometimes have to stay up late. Just last week, a very beautiful aurora was seen at Slope Point.” The southernmost point of New Zealand is also an ideal observatory for rare species: albatrosses, Antipodean penguins, Hector’s dolphins or more commonly fur seals and giant petrels glide around the unsteady waters of Foveaux Strait, which stretches from the Southland region to Stewart Island.
But they are not the only ones. Near the gate leading to the trail lies a commemorative plaque. Subtle, almost imperceptible, it pays tribute to men who fell at sea. “Every year there are accidents”, recounts the former councilor. The most infamous wreck is that of the Tararua in 1881: 131 lives lost and 20 survivors. It is the second-deadliest in the history of New Zealand. The SS Tararua wrecked on Otara Reef, at the foot of Slope Point and Waipapa Point.
Extreme Weather Conditions
All you have to do is look at the twisted trees leaning over the cliff to imagine the conditions under which sailors take to the sea below. Foveaux Strait is “renowned for its extreme weather and strong currents. It has long been a place both dangerous and of deep cultural importance. The Māori have navigated these waters for generations, and European seal and whaling hunters followed them in the early 19th century”, one can read on the region’s website.
In response to the tragic wreck of 1881, a string of lighthouses was built along the Southland coast, including the famed Waipapa Lighthouse, located about 20 kilometers from Slope Point. “Today, sailors are more vigilant. There is better communication at sea and they know how to situate themselves”, says Lloyd Esler with satisfaction. More than just a postcard backdrop, this majestic site reminds us of a truth we often prefer to ignore. Nature, as beautiful as it may be in its wild and uncontrollable aspect, can also be a source of suffering if its power is underestimated.
Twelve hours cooped up in an airplane, meals served in the middle of the night, and the sense of arriving exhausted before one’s vacation has even begun: long-haul flights remain a challenge for many travelers. Yet, certain habits can reduce fatigue and help cope better with these endless journeys. After 25 years spent in the skies, British flight attendant Kris Major shared with CNN his tips for traveling in better conditions. From seat selection to mistakes to avoid before boarding, he outlines the practices that truly make a difference.
Sleeping first and foremost, even if that means turning down a meal
For travelers boarding a night flight, Kris Major believes the priority should be to get some sleep. He says that eating before boarding helps prevent losing valuable rest once in the cabin. The issue is particularly significant on the comparatively “short” legs of long-haul journeys, such as a New York–London route, where passengers sometimes have only five or six hours to actually sleep.
In his interview with CNN, the cabin crew member explains that regulars in business travel have already embraced this logic. “Experienced travelers, after takeoff, when you walk through the cabin, you see they’ve disappeared: they’ve pulled the covers up and they’re sleeping”, he says.
The flight staff also advises not forcing yourself to eat when meals are served amid a large time shift. “Most airlines do not plan their meal service particularly around the passenger, the acclimatization and the time zones crossed”, he explains. In short, if the body wants sleep rather than a dinner served at roughly 3 a.m., it’s better to close your eyes.
The steward also recommends bringing your own comfort accessories, even when the airline provides cushions and blankets. An eye mask, a travel pillow, or a personal throw can markedly improve cabin rest. Especially since some gear can be missing on very crowded flights. “That happens, he admits. So I’d say: do as much as possible to ensure your own comfort and your own needs.”
When sleep simply won’t come, it’s nevertheless pointless to push it. Kris Major notes that the body may just not be ready to sleep due to jet lag. However, if a long journey or a meeting awaits the passenger on arrival, he nevertheless recommends trying to rest as much as possible during the flight.
Move around, choose the right seat, and don’t hesitate to take off your shoes
Staying immobile for more than ten hours isn’t harmless for the body. To limit discomfort and promote blood circulation, the steward advises moving regularly, even without leaving your seat. “Move around in your seat, move your legs, do whatever comes naturally: wiggle, move, get the blood circulating if that’s what you need”, he explains.
Regarding comfort, Kris Major also defends a practice that often divides passengers: removing your shoes during the flight. According to him, it helps circulation and improves well-being during long journeys. “We do it ourselves. I think most people do it. It’s the right thing to do if you’re on a long-haul flight”, he asserts. The steward does caution, however, that a minimum of courtesy remains essential, particularly with clean socks.
The seat selection also plays a significant role. For travelers sensitive to turbulence, Kris Major recommends seats toward the front of the aircraft, where movements are less noticeable. Taller passengers may prefer seats near the emergency exits to gain more legroom.
He himself always favors the window. “It’s purely a personal preference; I can lean against the wall, drop my head, and sleep”, he explains. Conversely, he believes the middle seat remains the worst possible choice on a long flight, especially for those hoping to sleep a few hours.
Finally, the steward advises always to plan entertainment and snacks for the journey. A tablet, noise-cancelling headphones, a power bank, and snacks help avoid many annoyances when the in-flight screen offering films and series malfunctions or when the first meal is late.
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Where and what are the dirtiest places in a hotel room
Pendant des années, elle a intrigué les voyageurs de passage dans la province chinoise du Guizhou. Avec ses étages empilés de manière improbable, ses structures en bois et ses échafaudages de bambou, cette habitation hors normes évoquait pour beaucoup les décors fantastiques des films du studio Ghibli, fondé par Hayao Miyazaki et Isao Takahata. Mais cette maison devenue attraction touristique dans le village de Xingyi a finalement été détruite par les autorités chinoises. Une démolition spectaculaire qui met fin à un long bras de fer entre son propriétaire et l’administration locale.
A Structure That Became a Symbol of Resistance
À l’origine, la maison de Chen Tianming n’était qu’un simple bungalow en pierre situé dans le village de Xingyi, dans le sud-ouest de la Chine. Mais à partir de 2018, cet habitant de 43 ans a commencé à transformer progressivement l’habitation familiale en une construction verticale atypique, composée de petites pièces en contreplaqué empilées les unes sur les autres.
Selon l’AFP, Chen Tianming a investi environ 200 000 yuans, soit plus de 25 000 euros, sur une période de huit ans pour donner forme à ce projet. Au fil du temps, la bâtisse a gagné des étages jusqu’à atteindre une dizaine de niveaux. Et sa silhouette pyramidale et désordonnée a rapidement attiré l’attention des touristes et des internautes chinois.
De nombreux visiteurs se sont alors mis à comparer cette maison aux univers imaginés par Hayao Miyazaki, célèbre réalisateur japonais et cofondateur du Studio Ghibli. De “Princesse Mononoké” au “Voyage de Chihiro” en passant par “Totoro” et “Le Château Ambulant”, le studio Ghibli est connu pour ses films d’animation aux décors très détaillés, souvent composés de villages anciens, de bâtiments immenses aux formes irrégulières et d’univers mêlant nature, poésie et fantastique.
De quoi, donc, faire penser aux assemblages de bois, les détails bricolés et l’aspect presque irréel de la maison de Chen Tianming. Plusieurs internautes chinois ont notamment fait le parallèle avec “Le Château ambulant”, un film mettant en scène une immense construction mobile composée d’extensions métalliques et d’éléments assemblés de manière chaotique. Comme dans ce long-métrage, la maison de Xingyi semblait s’être construite progressivement, presque sans logique architecturale classique, au fil des ajouts réalisés par son propriétaire.
Mais derrière cette apparence poétique se cachait un contexte beaucoup plus conflictuel. En 2018, une grande partie du village de Xingyi avait été détruite dans le cadre d’un projet touristique porté par les autorités locales. La région est connue pour ses paysages montagneux spectaculaires, très prisés des visiteurs. Alors que de nombreuses familles ont quitté les lieux, celle de Chen Tianming a refusé de partir.
Le projet de complexe touristique ayant ensuite pris du retard, l’homme a poursuivi la transformation de sa maison, malgré les avertissements répétés des autorités. Ces dernières considéraient l’édifice comme dangereux et dépourvu des autorisations nécessaires.
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A Swift Demolition Under Police Supervision
Le conflit a pris une tournure décisive en août 2024, lorsque les autorités locales ont officiellement qualifié la maison de “construction illégale”. Chen Tianming a alors reçu l’ordre de détruire tous les ajouts réalisés au fil des années et de ne conserver que le bungalow d’origine.
Le 18 mai dernier, les autorités de Xingyi ont adressé un dernier avis à la famille, exigeant qu’elle quitte les lieux avant 9h du matin le mercredi suivant. Après l’expiration du délai, des agents des forces de l’ordre et du bureau de la sécurité publique sont intervenus sur place. Selon l’AFP, Chen Tianming et ses parents ont été escortés hors de la propriété avant le début de la démolition. Son téléphone aurait également été confisqué et il aurait été placé en détention pendant l’opération.
Quelques heures seulement ont suffi pour réduire la construction à son état initial. Sur les images filmées après les faits, on distingue des amas de matériaux éparpillés là où se dressait auparavant cette étrange tour devenue célèbre sur les réseaux sociaux.
Malgré la disparition de sa maison, Chen Tianming affirme ne pas éprouver de regrets. “Je ne ressens pas de regret, parce que regretter ne sert à rien”, a-t-il déclaré à l’AFP. Il a également ajouté : “Je ne me blâme pas non plus de ne pas avoir réussi à la protéger : c’est simplement que la force qui a conduit à sa destruction était trop puissante”. L’homme espère désormais obtenir une reconnaissance juridique du caractère illégal de cette démolition forcée. “Alors j’aurai une chance de la restaurer“, a-t-il conclu.
Between sheer cliffs, isolated villages and waves that seem to brush the rails, certain railway lines turn a simple trip into a true travel experience. All across Europe, coastal routes let travelers admire spectacular scenery without leaving their seats. From Scotland to the Spanish fjords, and along the Italian coast, these lines attract both slow-travel enthusiasts and lovers of maritime panoramas. And France has its own railway journey capable of rivaling the finest European itineraries.
Trains that skim the ocean as closely as possible
In Scotland, the line linking Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh threads through some of the UK’s wildest landscapes. Stretching 133 km, it offers glimpses of both the country’s eastern and western shores. After leaving Inverness, the train first follows the Cromarty Firth before venturing into the Highlands. The final twenty minutes of the journey provide a particularly spectacular view of Loch Carron and the Applecross Peninsula.
Further south, Ireland also offers a celebrated coastal route. The line from Dublin Connolly to Arklow tracks the country’s east coast for around 80 miles. The most striking stretch is at Bray Head, where the rail line climbs along a sea cliff. This segment was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the renowned engineer of the Industrial Revolution. The journey then glides past beaches and the Murrough Wetlands, with the Wicklow Mountains forming a backdrop.
Germany also has a singular line: the connection to the island of Sylt. To reach this North Sea island, trains traverse the Hindenburg Dike, built in 1927 above the Wadden Sea. Since April 2026, high-speed ICE trains have for the first time been able to run on this stretch. The route becomes particularly awe-inspiring at high tide, when the waters envelop the tracks.
Spanish fjords and Italian coastlines
In northern Spain, the line from Ribadeo to Ferrol runs along part of the broad coastline of narrow-gauge railways that skirts the Cantabrian coast. Over nearly 150 km, the train snakes between cliffs, eucalyptus forests and the Galician rías, these large estuaries typical of the region. The route remains relatively little known despite its spectacular landscapes, notably around Ortigueira and Cape Ortegal. The journalist Nicky Gardner describes this journey in The Guardian as “a slow-travel adventure.” He also notes that “the waves crash on the right while a dense eucalyptus forest stretches to the left.”
In Italy, the Calabrian Ionian line offers another striking setting. Between Reggio di Calabria and Soverato, the rails almost continuously hug the coastline for about 160 km. On one side appear the dark peaks of the Aspromonte, on the other the Ionian Sea extending toward the Libyan coasts. According to Nicky Gardner, “no other railway line in Europe hugs the coast with such constancy.” The journey passes through a succession of capes, coves and Mediterranean villages, far from Italy’s major tourist routes.
The Train of Wonders, France’s route that rivals Europe’s finest rail journeys
France also has its own spectacular itinerary with the Train des Merveilles, which links Nice to Tende in the Alpes-Maritimes. Reopened in December 2025 after a year of works, this line climbs about 1,000 meters in elevation over roughly 100 km, spanning the Mediterranean and the Mercantour mountains.
The journey begins just a short distance from Nice’s beaches before quickly delving into the Alpine relief. Built from 1883 onward, the line crosses more than 100 bridges and viaducts and traverses nearly as many tunnels. Some of these are spiral tunnels that allow the train to gain altitude inside the mountain itself.
In The Guardian, journalist Annabelle Thorpe describes “one of Europe’s most spectacular rail journeys.” She also notes “jagged peaks that give the valley road the appearance of a slender ribbon.”
The train serves several perched villages such as Sospel and La Brigue, before arriving in Tende, perched at nearly 800 meters above sea level. The contrast between the azure coastline and the Alpine landscapes is one of the journey’s highlights. Annabelle Thorpe also notes that “it’s amazing to think we’re barely an hour from Nice—we feel as if we’ve been transported to a wholly different region of France.” All that remains is to book!
Costa Rica, Thailand, Greece, Croatia… Chaque année, de nombreux Français partent en vacances à l’étranger, mais non sans une certaine appréhension à l’idée de tomber sur un voisin de siège désagréable dans l’avion, capable de transformer le trajet en véritable épreuve.
Dans le cadre d’une étude, Kayak, a interrogé 1 000 Français âgés de plus de 18 ans et ayant déjà voyagé afin d’identifier les comportements qu’ils jugent insupportables à bord d’un avion. Parmi les principales attentes, reviennent notamment la politesse, le respect de l’espace personnel et la propreté à bord. Des règles de cohabitation en cabine qui ne sont pas toujours respectées.
What behaviors annoy the French when they fly?
Respecting each person’s personal space appears to be an essential condition for an enjoyable flight. That is why 92 % of the French consider “manspreading” in an airplane unacceptable, an English term describing the posture of certain men in transportation or on public seats, when they sit with their legs widely apart, thus taking up more space than necessary. In the same logic, 87 % of the French deem it unacceptable to place feet against the seat in front or to lean on a stranger, while 83 % consider it inappropriate to occupy more than one seat at the boarding gate.
Being polite with the cabin crew and other passengers is also a key element to ensure the smooth running of a flight. Thus, 90 % of those surveyed find it intolerable to be rude to the crew, just as 85 % feel that it is disrespectful not to say “thank you” or “goodbye” when leaving the plane. The lack of cleanliness of some travelers can also give rise to tensions, or even altercations, during a journey by plane.
According to the study, 91 % of travelers think it is unacceptable to leave trash behind, 90 % consider it unacceptable to cough or sneeze without covering, and 88 % find it inappropriate to pick one’s nose on an airplane. Similarly, 86 % think it is unbearable to pop pimples, 78 % to trim nails and 70 % to skip dental floss when traveling by plane. These are behaviors that 26 % of French travelers have already faced in cabin.
The Sagrada Família: between lost heritage and global triumph
An architect on the path to beatification
Gaudí’s spiritual turning point
“With him, nothing was left to chance”
Mosaic salamander
Fascinated by dragons
The art of experimentation
The spirit of the “Architect of God” lingers nearby
He could almost touch it by stretching out his arm. Ferran Tomàs, 65, lives in one of the buildings surrounding the Sagrada Família construction site, the Basilica of the Holy Family. The film producer, whose latest movie premiered on Netflix in February, climbs the stairs of the jointly owned building and makes his way to the roof terrace now and then to observe the progress of the work. Jovial, he opens a double-locked metal door, steps over the final step. Straight ahead, the monument rises, casting a heavy shadow over Ferran’s building on this sunny morning. From here, the four-armed monumental cross raised at the end of winter 2026 at the top of the church’s tallest tower, the Jesus Christ Tower, looks gigantic. Its balance seems precarious, above the luminous star crowning the Virgin Mary’s tower, the neighboring smaller one. When Ferran was born, the site had already begun in 1882 and was funded by donations. “When I was little, I used to come and play in the sand piles on the site,” he recalls. There was only the northeast façade, the Nativity, and the first little turrets symbolizing four of the twelve apostles.
Instead of following the builders’ usual sequence—foundations first, then walls, and finally the roof—the flamboyant modernist architect Antoni Gaudí opted to raise an entire façade first, in order to quickly give Barcelona residents a sense of the project he had in mind. A “teasing” aimed at attracting donations and securing financial support to continue this edifice commissioned by a devout Catholic bookseller, Josep Maria Bocabella i Verdaguer, who wanted it to be a “temple of expiation,” where believers could wipe away their sins in exchange for hard cash. “It was like a vertical film set, all flat, that left the Barcelonans utterly indifferent” says Ferran, who, for his part, finds these early structures of the religious building magnificent. The master designer did not see further. On June 10, 1926, Gaudí died after being struck by a tram, at almost 74 years old. The remainder of the basilica, largely built later after the 1992 Olympic Games hosted by the Catalan capital, leaves Ferran Tomàs doubtful: “The church that hordes of tourists come to photograph is very recent. It is not the work of Gaudí.”
The Sagrada Família: between lost heritage and global triumph
Indeed, a large portion of the architect’s plans, drawings and models disappeared in 1936, ten years after his demise, at the onset of the Spanish Civil War, when anti-clerical groups burned his workshop located in a small house adjoining the Holy Family. It is from fragments of models and especially photographs of these models, published earlier in various books, that plans interpreting Gaudí’s logic were redrawn in the 1940s. Today, the question still haunts Barcelonans: is the basilica, as it appears to us, in line with what its creator had imagined? No one dares to decide…
Cent years after the death of its creator, The Sagrada Família is now the tallest church in the world (172.5 m) and the most visited monument in Spain (5 million visitors each year), ahead of the Alhambra in Granada and the Prado Museum in Madrid. From afar, an inattentive eye might mistake the completion for imminent, after nearly a century and a half of labor, though another decade or so remains to finish it. After all, it took roughly two hundred years to build Notre-Dame de Paris! Would Gaudí have rejoiced at the sight of his masterpiece? The man, a devout parishioner, was austere and taciturn. Not the type to gush. And the Barcelonans returned the sentiment in kind. Before the 1992 Olympics opened Barcelona to the world, prompting the city to transform its urban planning and reconcile with a seaside that had long been neglected, the architect’s legacy elicited, at best, indifference, at worst, contempt.
“In former times, in art history books, the mention of his work was contained in a single line,” confirms Ferran Garcés, 60, a former teacher, bookseller and writer. “Many of them despised him. People who moved into his houses even threw out the furniture born under his pencil.” This Gaudí specialist likes to sit at the café of Casa Amatller, a residence designed by another Modernist contemporary, Josep Puig i Cadafalch (1867-1956), on the imposing Passeig de Gràcia, Barcelona’s local Champs-Élysées. While sipping a chocolate as thick as it is hot, he recalls with a smile that Salvador Dalí, another native of the country, began reviving Gaudí in the 1950s by photographing his works. “But up to the 1990s, no one went to see his most spectacular buildings, Casa Batlló and La Pedrera,” he says. “I myself, as a child, used to frequent Park Güell because it was the only place with space to learn to ride a bicycle. Everyone used to ignore Gaudí’s columns, staircases and balustrades, which now attract millions of visitors.”
An architect on the path to beatification
What a contrast with the honors he now receives! The one some have begun to call the Architect of God, and whom his mother reportedly nicknamed the Child Jesus, has been on the path to beatification since the Pope Francis, a week before his own death in 2025, declared him “venerable.”
To grasp how Gaudí has come back from such a distant past, nothing beats a trip south of the city, on the right bank of the Llobregat river, near the Mediterranean and close to the airport. There, a town named Santa Coloma de Cervelló houses a treasure: the crypt of a small unfinished church. The building, regarded as a draft, a small-scale precursor to the Sagrada Família, was commissioned in 1898 from Antoni Gaudí by businessman Eusebi Güell for the believers of Colonia Güell, the workers’ colony surrounding his textile factory. The colony was once in town, but the boss had desired to keep his workers away from social conflicts and the chaos of the anarchist movement. And he housed them in the countryside, near their new workplace. Güell also commissioned a country house in Pedralbes for the architect, of which today only the stables, the riding arena, and the gatekeeper’s lodge remain, as well as an urban palace in the central Raval district. In Santa Coloma de Cervelló, Josep Padró, 79, with impeccably trimmed beard and white hair, lives in one of the restored brick houses along the tranquil lanes of the Colonia. He is one of the 750 inhabitants still populating this once modernist precursor neighborhood. One of his maternal great-grandfathers, a machinist, was part of the first workforce to arrive there. His paternal grandfather was a baker in the Colonia, his father a clerical worker at the Güell factory, his mother a worker in the weaving workshop. “In my family, we say Gaudí was very diligent,” says the former teacher turned local historian, now retired. “He would come every day from Barcelona to supervise the site. A real epic! He had to descend to the Sants station, take a train to Cornellà, and then a horse-drawn carriage for the last five kilometers. Since he worked on models rather than plans, people teased him, saying he was bad at math.”
The nature as model
At first glance, Gaudí’s creations appear strange. But on closer look, one notices familiar shapes: like the stone trees in Güell Park (below), actually the projecting parts of a supporting structure, or tall pillars branching under the Sagrada Família’s vault… Antoni Gaudí not only drew from nature’s aesthetics but also transplanted its principles into his architecture. In Casa Batlló and Casa Milà, he designed a natural ventilation system based on air circulation and the use of courtyards to regulate temperature without air conditioning.
Stone trees in Güell Park.
Today, it has become very chic to marry in the famous crypt that locals, until recently, compared to an ugly cave. In the middle of a vast pine forest, Gaudí enjoyed, with this project, complete creative freedom. “Rumor has it he experimented with a lot of techniques and often changed his mind,” recalls Josep Padró, comfortably settled in his office-library. “The masons went crazy; they predicted that when the church was finished, the crypt’s pillars would collapse.” Concerned with respecting nature, Gaudí drew a polygonal plan to avoid cutting down any trees. An unusual idea for the time. Nature, this avant-garde, also aimed to reproduce itself in construction. “He implemented here the major innovations that would later allow, several decades later, to erect the Sagrada Família,” emphasizes, admiringly, Andrés Andrés, 53, technical director of the Güell Colony Consortium, the institution that owns the premises. Wearing large glasses, this Gaudí enthusiast stands at the crypt’s entrance, knowing every corner. “First notable element, the pleated structure of the crypt façade, designed to bear the weight of the future church without buttresses or flying buttresses,” he notes. “Then the inner inclined pillars, mimicking the shape of the trunks of the surrounding maritime pines. Finally, the branching of the columns at the upper part, forming a stone canopy.” Two other novelties complete this mineralized forest: the treatment of light, with a stained glass arrangement inviting the sun to illuminate the crypt from morning to night, thanks to an altar oriented northward, rather than toward the east as is common in churches; and liturgical furnishings, with benches shaped in curves and scalloped basins serving as ciboria.
Gaudí’s spiritual turning point
Gaudí was also a pioneer of recycling. He used, among other things, the wood and hardware from Güell’s packing crates to fashion this furniture. The outer grilles of the stained glass panes were formed from weaving loom needles and old bobbin supports. In 1918, upon Eusebi Güell’s death, his heirs told the architect that the project was costing too much. A concrete slab was poured over the crypt as a roof, and the church ultimately never came to fruition. In the meantime, Gaudí’s involvement on the Sagrada Família site, which he had led for more than three decades, took on a whole new dimension. It marked the turning point of his career. From then on, he stopped all private projects to devote himself entirely to the future basilica.
In Sant Gervasi, a district of Barcelona traversed when leaving the Güell Colony, another example of Gaudí’s visionary talents is found. While the Sagrada Família project was starting, he was chosen by the Sisters of the Saint Thérèse company to build their convent. This commission marked the beginning of a spiritual shift that led him to develop religious themes in his work. Thus, the large internal metal gate of the Saint Thérèse school opens only from the inside, referencing the “inner castle” that Saint Thérèse spoke of to explain the intimate encounter with God. To this day, the convent is the architect’s only building still standing under the same ownership.
Returning to the cloister concept, Gaudí arranged on the first floor a narrow rectangular gallery around two courtyards, using the famous parabolic arch he employed in nearly all his subsequent projects. A clever way to avoid the heaviness of Gothic architecture, something the resident nuns are proud of. They point to four-armed crosses at the upper corners of the building, on the edge of the roof. The motif is inspired by the cypress fruit whose scales, falling to the ground, release seeds that will give life to a new tree, a symbol of resurrection. It is the same cross that crowns the Sagrada Família.
“With him, nothing was left to chance”
And it crowns Torre Bellesguard, on the heights of the Sarrià district, perched a little higher than Sant Gervasi. Identifiable by its corner tower shaped like a bell tower, the Figueras family townhouse, started in 1900 on the ruins of a 15th-century castle, shows how attached Gaudí was to Catalan identity. “On the main façade, he drew the crown of Barcelona and inscribed in gold letters the name of King Martin, the last monarch of Catalonia’s golden age of independence,” notes Ferran Garcés, Gaudí specialist who has conducted research here for thirteen years. He invites visitors to climb onto the roof. There, from a precise angle of the narrow rampart path, suddenly the tower, the chimneys and two dormers of Torre Bellesguard seem to form a massive dragon’s head, the evil creature felled by Saint George, Catalonia’s patron saint. “With Gaudí, nothing is left to chance,” observes Ferran Garcés. “By studying him, one can gradually discover all of Barcelona and all of the local history. He branded our city with his imprint, much like Edith Piaf in Paris and Frank Sinatra in New York, eclipsing, unfortunately, the many other talented architects who were expressing themselves there at the same time.”
Mosaic salamander
Juani, who runs a 400-square-meter souvenir shop at the foot of the Sagrada Família (she prefers to keep her surname private), has likewise noticed that Gaudí outshines all others. “The best-selling item is the mosaic salamander from Güell Park, and when tourists buy plates depicting city monuments built by other architects, they still think they are Gaudí’s,” she notes, amused. Tea cups depicting the Sagrada Família and La Pedrera are in high demand by Russians, jewelry reflecting the door handles of Casa Batlló by Americans, while the Japanese prefer chocolates bearing the architect’s image.
Gaudí, in truth, has only a dozen completed works to his name among the roughly 70 projects he had in mind during his life. Yet, seven of them are inscribed by UNESCO on the World Heritage List. Among them is Casa Vicens, one of Antoni’s first realized works, just after graduating from the Barcelona Provincial School of Architecture, in the Gràcia district that one passes after leaving Torre Bellesguard. A ochre residence covered with Orientalist ceramics, blending Mudéjar, Persian and Byzantine arts, this country home of broker Manuel Vicens commissioned from Gaudí in 1878 has been open to visitors since 2017.
Fascinated by dragons
Descending further toward the city center, the dragon who fascinated Gaudí reappears on another roof: the Casa Batlló, a jewel among jewels, its shimmering façade topped by a wavy shape covered with blue ceramic scales suggesting the dragon’s back. To the left, a slender turret crowned with the famous four-armed cross, again, symbolizes Saint George’s sword. Interior designer Ana Atance, 56, never tires of marveling at the subtleties of the colors in this house acquired in the 1990s by the Bernat family, founders of the Chupa Chups lollipop company, to transform it into a museum. She has been working on its restoration for more than thirty years. “I’m like an archaeologist who makes new discoveries every day, scraping away layers of paint to uncover the original stuccos,” she says, stroking the stone-colored walls of the entrance hall, where the trompe-l’œil mosaics have recently been restored with gold leaf. To restore the colors of the original, there is no choice but to dig, because the period photos are in black and white.
The art of experimentation
A worker ant’s labor that still holds pleasant surprises, even though the detractors of Modernism destroyed many marvels, here and in other houses, over the years. At the death of the last descendant of the Batlló family, about a decade ago, Ana recovered the chandelier with its glass beads, carefully dismantled and stored in a leather suitcase.
Further up on Passeig de Gràcia, Casa Milà, which Barcelonans call La Pedrera (“the quarry of stones”) because of its mineral façade, also flaunts admirable plasters that draw fluid lines across all ceilings, hinting at plants, waves and spirals of water. In the attic lies an inverted-scale model used by Gaudí to model shapes in space, using gravity. Without computers or 3D software, he suspended chains and strings to which he attached small bags of sand representing the loads of the future structure. With a horizontal mirror placed underneath, on the floor, he obtained the right-side-up image of the project. This is how the parabolic silhouettes of the Sagrada Família were born.
“Everything he experimented with throughout his life ultimately served him to build the basilica”,
summarizes Alejandro Seoane, 46, one of the seven architects currently leading the Sagrada Família project.
The spirit of the “Architect of God” hovers nearby
From his office beneath the splendid dome of the sacristy, this salt-and-pepper-haired enthusiast believes he is “haunted” by Gaudí: “I fell under his spell at 13, when I went to an exhibition at La Pedrera. I was blown away by the beauty of the place and immediately asked my father to take me to visit the Sagrada Família construction site. From that day, I went every Friday after school; it became an obsession. I didn’t listen to what people said about Gaudí in town. People didn’t like him; I wanted to go back to the source, to the roots. Here, we’re all like that.” The spirit of Gaudí lingers nearby. It must be said that the “Architect of God” rests in an apse of the crypt at the Sagrada Família, right under the feet of those who are finishing his work.
Fieldwork return
In search of Gaudí’s traces in the streets of Barcelona, our journalist questioned a large number of experts to establish a list of all the places where the architect, who came from his Catalan village of Reus, lived from 1868 onward. “What a surprise, Gaudí was a real nomad,” notes Guillaume Delacroix. “In fifty-eight years, he lived in every neighborhood: the Born, near Santa Maria del Mar, then Ribera, the Raval and Eixample, before settling in Gràcia, in the pink house of Park Güell, and finally back in Eixample, at his Sagrada Família workshop. He lived everywhere… but never in a house built by his own hands.”
➤ Article published in GEO magazine no. 568, “Barcelona, Antoni Gaudí’s open-air studio,” June 2026.
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To enter her apartment, Ana Viladomiu, 71, must regularly push her way through, arms full of groceries, among a crowd of tourists queuing at the entrance of her building. Each year, more than a million people flock to 92 Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona to visit Casa Milà. Referred to as La Pedrera (“the quarry”), because of its austere limestone façade, this structure is a masterpiece of the Catalan Modernism conceived by Antoni Gaudí between 1906 and 1912.
Ana, a writer who has lived here for forty years, has written novels set at La Pedrera and shares her daily life in this unusual place on Instagram; she would not move for anything in the world.
The Privilege of Living in Gaudí’s Pedrera, a Masterpiece of the Catalan Modernism
GEO magazine: How did you end up living in such a monument?
Ana Viladomiu: By chance! It was in 1986, I fell in love with a man, Fernando Amat, who had been living at La Pedrera for years. He first occupied the top floor, under the attic. There was a whole series of duplex studios of about 30 square meters, lit by the two rows of skylights visible at the top of the façades. These kinds of lofts formed an artistic epicenter frequented by famous Barcelona figures, such as the photographer Leopoldo Pomés. They have since been transformed into an exhibition space of plans and models on Gaudí’s work. Then, four years before our meeting, Fernando managed to rent a 340-square-meter apartment that had become available on the fourth floor.
Did you imagine you would stay there so long?
Not at all! Fernando and I got married, had two daughters, and the lease was put in our names. It’s an old rental agreement at a very low rent, which provides that the tenant can stay for life. After our separation, Fernando moved to another neighborhood and I stayed here. The apartment has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and long balconies where I grow cacti. The east-west exposure allows the sun to pour in fully everywhere; it’s a marvel. What more could one ask for? When I was young, I wasn’t aware I was living in a place with exceptional architecture. In hindsight, I realize the gift fate offered me!
What did the place look like when you moved in here in 1986?
Originally, the La Pedrera apartments each contained around twenty small beige rooms separated by partitions, as bourgeois customs dictated. Later, these partitions were knocked down. When I arrived, my apartment already had generous spaces, with a very large living room. My husband had painted the walls in bright colors, the living room in dark blue, the hallway in green… Years later, fashion changed, and we repainted everything white, and the rooms became even brighter.
When she moved in here in 1986, Ana Viladomiu did not realize she was living in an apartment of exceptional architecture.
You were able to repaint the walls even though the building has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1984?
It’s no longer possible to remove partitions or add new ones, but I am allowed to do what I want with the cosmetic aspects: I can place furniture I like, carpets, general decoration, and change paint colors. However, I am strictly forbidden to touch the floors, which date back to 1912, as well as the radiators connected to the central gas heating, the sanitary facilities, the windows, the switches, and the outlets…
What happens if you damage something?
In a building this old, you must handle things with care. Recently, a friend who was visiting me turned a brass door handle the wrong way and broke it in two. I called La Pedrera’s maintenance team, which is on call 24/7. Its supervisor referred me to a specialized locksmith, who had to order a new handle from a workshop in Zaragoza. The mechanism was remade to measure, and I paid for the repair. Last summer, an air-conditioning unit installed on the rooftop terrace failed. It caused a flood and water damage in two bedrooms of my apartment, in the middle of August. I wasn’t there. It was the maintenance team that took care of things, under the authority of the private Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation, which took over the walls in 2013 from Caixa Bank. The owner handles major problems. Like in any building!
One of La Pedrera’s peculiarities is that the interior walls are all curved, with no right angles. How does that affect daily life?
Installing shelves or even carpets has sometimes been a headache. I had a few custom-made pieces, like the bookcase in my study, and I opted for a minimalist design. Over time, I’ve come to accept it. It’s the architecture that counts here, not the furniture. My daughters, for their part, struggled to come to terms with living in this modernist home. As children, they had a mix of love and hate for this apartment with curved walls, stone columns, and ceilings sculpted in waves. At school, they were ashamed to say they lived here!
Today, you are down to only three residents in this building. Is it burdensome to live alongside crowds of tourists?
Sometimes I dream of settling by the sea, in a quiet little house surrounded by a garden. Yet that idea fades as quickly as it arises. The constant presence of tourists is the price to pay for living in one of Gaudí’s most beautiful houses. When I enter the building, I must of course push my way through the crowd. The same goes for friends who visit me, who must show ID to security before taking the elevator! At first, I closed my shutters to hide from the tourists. I eventually grew used to their presence and understood that they kept me company, now that my daughters have grown up and moved away. Sometimes people ring my door, but I don’t answer. From my windows, I watch them wander on the roof and take selfies in front of the chimney conduits, and it amuses me…
Gaudí, the Catalan Modernist Architect
1. Who was Antoni Gaudí?
Antoni Gaudí was a Spanish architect born in 1852 in Catalonia. He is famous for his unique style inspired by nature, organic shapes, and religious art.
2. What is his most famous work?
His most famous work is the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, a basilica still under construction today.
3. To which architectural style did Gaudí belong?
Gaudí belonged mainly to the Catalan Modernist movement. His buildings blend colors, mosaics, curves and natural forms.
4. Where can Gaudí’s works be seen?
Most of his works are located in Barcelona, including:
Park Güell
Casa Batlló
Casa Milà
5. Why is Gaudí still famous today?
He is admired for his imagination, architectural innovation, and the originality of his creations, which attract millions of visitors every year.
➤ Article published in GEO magazine no. 568, “Barcelona, Antoni Gaudí’s open-air workshop”, June 2026.
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On the island of Hawaii, a beach captivates both geologists and travelers seeking extraordinary landscapes. The reason, its color… green! At first glance, its sand seems artificially dyed by its striking hue. Yet this spectacular setting is entirely natural. Located in the southern part of the Big Island, Papakōlea Beach is among the very few green-sand beaches known on the planet, an exceptional geological phenomenon that draws visitors from around the world each year.
A Spectacular Color Born from an Ancient Volcano
At Papakōlea Beach, also known as Mahana Beach, the sand does not display the white hues typical of tropical shores, nor the black tones often linked to Hawaii’s volcanic scenery. Here, the coastline presents a striking green shade, visible along much of the bay.
Contrary to what one might think, this color does not originate from algae or marine vegetation. It is tied to the presence of olivine, a mineral rich in magnesium and iron, commonly found in volcanic rocks. Nicknamed the “Hawaiian diamond,” this stone is a product of the volcanic activity that shaped the archipelago for millennia.
The beach lies inside the Pu’u Mahana volcanic cone, formed after a Mauna Loa eruption around 49,000 years ago. With the crater gradually eroding, olivine crystals accumulated on this portion of the coastline. Heavier than other volcanic particles, they remained trapped in place while lighter sand was swept away by the ocean.
Today, this mineral concentration still gives rise to several shades of green along the shore. This phenomenon remains extremely rare: Papakōlea Beach would be among the only four green-sand beaches in the world. The others are located in Norway, Guam, and the Galápagos Islands.
A Demanding Hike Before Reaching the Beach
Exploring this unusual beach, however, requires a bit of effort. Papakōlea Beach is indeed situated in the Ka‘ū region, near South Point, the southernmost point of the island of Hawaii. From Kailua-Kona, plan for roughly 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours of driving by taking Highway 11 south.
Upon arriving near the designated car park, the final stretch of the journey is on foot. Visitors must traverse about four kilometers along a rugged trail that runs along the Pu’u Mahana volcanic cone. The route is known for exposure to strong winds and heat, demanding good preparation before departure.
It is thus recommended to wear sturdy footwear, use reef-safe sunscreen, and bring enough water for the round trip. Access to the beach is then gained via a steep path down to the sand level.
Once on site, the landscape offers a striking contrast between the volcanic cliffs, the Pacific Ocean, and the green reflections along the shore. Yet this natural site remains particularly protected. It is illegal to remove sand from Hawaiian beaches. Visitors are also urged to take their trash with them to preserve this fragile environment.
Despite the challenging trek, Papakōlea Beach continues to fascinate travelers seeking rare and spectacular places. Between geological curiosity and an almost unreal backdrop, this Hawaiian beach ranks among the most unique landscapes in the United States.
They say all roads lead to Rome, and for these five, that’s precisely true. At a moment when hiking is gaining popularity — nearly 30 million French people report having practiced it in the last 12 months, making it the most widespread physical activity — here are five itineraries rich in history and culture, to walk in order to discover Italy differently. From nature trails to villages, the “Antichi cammini d’Italia” (Ancient Paths of Italy) unfold several hundred kilometers across the country, and even beyond to the heart of Europe. All converge on Latium and Rome, and all share the common aim of revealing a preserved Italy.
1/ The Via Francigena, one of the oldest medieval pilgrimage routes
A thousand kilometers through some of the most beautiful landscapes in Italy: a dream come true! The Via Francigena is one of Europe’s most attractive cultural routes. While it links Canterbury to Rome, it is its Italian section that enchants walkers from all over the world the most. From the Grand-St-Bernard Pass to the Eternal City, the Italian stretch, about 1,000 kilometers long in 45 stages, reaches its experiential heart in Latium, through the Tuscia of Viterbo. In Bolsena, on the shores of the eponymous lake, the Eucharistic miracle of 1263 inspired the feast of Corpus Domini; Montefiascone houses the Rocca dei Papi, the papal fortress; Viterbo, an ancient papal city, preserves one of the largest medieval districts in Italy; Sutri offers its Roman amphitheater entirely carved in tuff. At the end of the path, La Storta, the final stop before Saint Peter.
Basilica di Santa Margherita a Montefiascone
2/ The Saint Francis Way: between forests, villages and sanctuaries
This route, both athletic and spiritually infused, connects the most emblematic places of Saint Francis of Assisi’s life. It consists of two branches that converge on Assisi: the North Way, about 190 kilometers from La Verna where Francis received the stigmata in 1224, and the South Way, about 300 kilometers in 13 stages, which traverses Latium entirely from Rome to Assisi. In the heart of Latium, in the Valle Santa of Rieti, four Franciscan sanctuaries concentrate the memory of decisive moments in the Saint’s life: Greccio, where in 1223 Francis made the first crib in history; Fonte Colombo, where the Rule of the Order was dictated; La Foresta, the site of the grape miracle; and Poggio Bustone, where he received the revelation of the forgiveness of sins. Upon arrival in Assisi, pilgrims receive the Testimonium.
3/ The Benedictine Way: on foot, by horse or by bike through the villages of Umbria and Latium
From Norcia in Umbria to Montecassino in Latium, this route exudes a singular spiritual and cultural depth. The itinerary runs about 300 kilometers in 16 stages — and it is in Latium that the longest stretch unfolds, across the Aniene Valley and the central valleys of the Apennines. In Subiaco, the Sacro Speco houses the cave where Saint Benedict lived as a hermit for more than thirty years, while the Abbey of Santa Scolastica hosted in 1465 the first active printing press in Italy. From there the path continues via Trevi nel Lazio, Casamari with its Cistercian abbey, Arpino (birthplace of Cicero), Roccasecca (linked to Thomas Aquinas) and the Melfa Gorges, before culminating at Montecassino, where around 529 Benedict founded the abbey that remains the heart of the Order. Patron of Europe since 1964.
Ponte di San Francesco,Subiaco
4/ The Romea Strata: on the traces of pilgrims from Central and Eastern Europe
The complete route follows the tracks of medieval pilgrims for over 4,700 kilometers across seven countries, from the Baltic and Central-Eastern Europe to Rome. Recognized as a Council of Europe Cultural Route on June 17, 2025, the Romea Strata comprises 245 stages and more than fifty UNESCO sites along its journey. Its Italian section spans about 1,000 kilometers in 47 stages and touches, in Latium, Bolsena, Montefiascone, Viterbo and San Martino al Cimino before reaching Rome as the culmination of the voyage. Since 2024, thanks to mapping work by a network of volunteers, the final stretch no longer joins the Via Francigena: the Romea Strata now has an autonomous entry into Rome, which defines its identity.
5/ The Via Romea Germanica: from Germany to Saint Peter in Rome, following the path of a 13th-century abbot
The Via Romea Germanica retraces the route of Abbot Albert of Stade, who walked in the 13th century from Lower Saxony to Rome. The Italian section measures about 1,050 kilometers from the Brenner Pass to Rome and joins, in Latium, the Via Francigena at Montefiascone. From that point, the two paths merge and together cross the Tuscia of Viterbo: Bolsena, Viterbo — where every September 3 the Macchina di Santa Rosa takes place, recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage of humanity —, Vetralla, Sutri and the Veio Regional Park, up to La Storta. A northern variant in Latium also passes through Civita di Bagnoregio, the famous “dying city” perched on a tufaceous spur in the heart of the Tuscia.
Along the Antichi Cammini d’Italia, each stage offers a plunge into an Italy still preserved, where history, nature and contemplation blend harmoniously. At the end of these long marches, in Rome and in Latium, it is the living heart of the country that speaks.
Mausoleo di Romolo, Roma
To learn more
Projet financé par l’Union européenne – Next Generation EU « Antichi cammini d’Italia »,
PNRR – Mission M1C3 Investissement 4.3 Intervention 274 – maître d’ouvrage MINISTÈRE DU TOURISME ITALIEN, Agence d’exécution ENIT SpA
Refusing a glass of tap water at a hotel might seem trivial. Yet in Italy, this situation sparked a seven-year legal proceeding. A guest challenged the repeated refusal by a five-star establishment to serve her tap water during her stay. The case eventually reached the country’s highest court, which ruled in favor of the hotel. At the heart of the matter lay a simple but explosive question: should water be considered a right in hospitality?
A Christmas Stay That Turns into Litigation
The facts date back to the Christmas period of 2019. The guest stayed at the Sassongher, a five-star hotel located in the municipality of Badia in the Italian Alps, from December 26, 2019, to January 3, 2020. She booked a half-board plan for 5,712 euros, including breakfast and evening meals, but not beverages.
During dinners, she repeatedly requested tap water. According to case materials, staff consistently refused and offered only bottled water, priced at around 7 euros for 0.75 liter. The guest even stated that she was willing to pay a possible service surcharge to obtain tap water, but to no avail.
From this situation, she initiated legal proceedings, seeking about 2,700 euros in compensation for economic harm and moral distress. She argued that access to water should not be treated as an ordinary consumer good within a hotel establishment.
In court documents cited by the tribunal, she maintained that “water is a natural good and a universal human right of every individual, and that providing free of charge a minimally vital quantity necessary to meet essential needs must be guaranteed, even in the case of arrears”, according to the judgment. She also compares this principle to basic services expected in a hotel room, such as bed linens or soap.
Her appeal was initially rejected by a court in Rome, then by an appellate court. She therefore decided to bring the case before the Italian Court of Cassation, the country’s supreme judicial authority.
Italian Law and Table Etiquette
The highest Italian court ultimately confirmed the prior decisions. The judges found that no national law obliges establishments to serve tap water to customers. In other words, this is a choice left to the discretion of restaurateurs and hoteliers.
The hotel’s lawyer, Silvio Belardi, summed up the court’s position by stating that “there is no obligation to provide tap water”. The establishment in question said it would respect the Court of Cassation’s decision, offering no further comments.
Beyond the individual case, the matter sheds light on persistent cultural differences in Europe regarding water at the table. In Italy, asking for tap water in a restaurant is often perceived as contrary to local custom, and waitstaff typically favor selling bottled water. Some argue that the mineral composition of tap water could alter the taste of dishes.
These practices contrast with those in other European countries. In England and Wales, venues serving alcohol are required to provide free potable water. In France, the rule is also regulated: restaurants must offer free potable water to customers who request it, usually in the form of a carafe, a practice that has become a cultural reflex as much as a regulatory one. In the United States, by contrast, no federal obligation mandates restaurants or hotels to serve tap water, though it remains common.
This case, which went viral in Italy, therefore rekindles a broader debate about the border between commercial service, cultural norms, and access to an essential resource.
