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Ghent, Belgium, 51.067 / 1.0327
MUSEUM DR GUISLAIN
Due to its brick arches and cathedral windows, the Museum Dr Guislain in Ghent is an impressive, if ominous, sight. Belgiumās first psychiatric hospital, dating to 1857, houses a museum that is both gruesome and uplifting. It leads visitors on a journey through the history of mental health. Freezing water and spinning chambers were among the unpleasant methods of scaring people sane during the late 18th and early 19th century. Repress a shudder as you sidle past straightjackets, cages, shackles and radiographic equipment dating to the turn of the 20th century. Then allow your faith to be restored: Joseph Guislain, who established the original hospice here, was a healthcare reformer who helped phase out brutish treatments and pioneered humane, patient-focused care.
This neo-Gothic complex is located 2km north of Ghentās old town (
www.museumdrguislain.be; Jozef Guislainstraat 43). Hop aboard tram number 1 to Guislainstraat.
The Loire, France, 47.3458 / 0.5314
LES GROTTES PETRIFIANTES
You canāt rush art, especially when the artist is a cave system in Franceās Loire. Place any object, from a doll to a vase (but maybe not your iPhone), in the waters of SavonniĆØres caves and within the space of a year it will be entirely coated in limestone. Water rich in minerals trickles slowly across the grottoās interior, and any objects in its way obtain a glistening coat. Still, nature needs a helping hand: items need to be turned roughly every three weeks to ensure the resulting āsculptureā wonāt be lopsided. Fortunately for impatient souvenir-hunters, the caves have a shop with a few they prepared earlier.
This subterranean system was mostly formed during the Middle Ages. The local limestone, tuffeau, has marvellous applications beyond the sculptures. It is the source material for Franceās famous Loire Valley castles, including world-famous ChĆ¢teau de Chambord.
Inside the caves, you can explore a goblin kingdom of dangling stalactites, overhanging ledges, and tiered rock formations resembling church organs, all of them formed over centuries. These cool caverns also have exactly the right humidity levels to store wine. The final chamber even offers wine tasting ā and what better way to heighten your enjoyment of this geological marvel than a few sips of crisp Sauvignon Blanc?
Visits to the caves are by hour-long guided tour (
www.grottes-savonnieres.com) Jan to Nov. Les Grottes Petrifiantes are 16km west of Tours.
Haute-Vienne, France, 45.9292 / 1.0355
THE MARTYRED VILLAGE OF ORADOUR-SUR-GLANE
Not a single burned-out car was removed after the massacre of Oradour-sur-Glane. The remains of this French village, where 642 inhabitants were murdered during World War II, are memorialised as a warning to future generations.
On 10 June 1944, Nazi soldiers entered Oradour-sur-Glane. They divided the villagers between barns and the church, then murdered them. The few surviving eyewitnesses recall that menās legs were shot to prevent escape before they were slaughtered. Women and children were barred inside a church, which was then set on fire, and they were shot as they tried to escape. An American navigator who witnessed the aftermath even reported a scene of crucifixion. It was WWIIās worst Nazi massacre of French civilians, and historians still wonder why Oradour was targeted. Retaliation for partisan attacks was common, but little Oradour was no hotbed of the French Resistance.
After the war, Charles De Gaulle announced the rebuilding of Oradour-sur-Glane northwest of the original village. The charred rubble of the martyred town would be preserved, making it unique among destroyed villages in Europe, most of which were rebuilt on the same spot or marked with memorials. A sign at the entrance reads simply āSouviens-Toiā (āRememberā). But remembrance doesnāt come easy, especially as the site begins to decay.
Oradour-sur-Glaneās memorial centre (
www.oradour.org) and village is 20km northwest of Limoges.
Cove, Benin, 7.2189 / 2.3394
Egungun Voodoo Ceremony
The drums begin at dawn, drawing people from across the valley. The dancers materialise wraith-like from the forest, where they have spent the night fasting and praying, adjusting their costumes that will allow them to summon deceased ancestors. Voodoo is the official religion of Benin and more than half of its citizens practice it in some form. Six thousand years ago, African Voodoo began its evolution near this village of Cove in Benin, where today, the Egungun ceremony will open a portal for the return of the dead.
Elaborate costumes, layered with esoteric meaning, hide the identity of the dancer who opens his soul to the drumming, and his body to those who came before him, allowing them to see through his eyes how their descendants are faring without them. Drums intensify as the dancers twirl themselves into a dervish-like trance. They twist and jerk as the dead, no longer used to a physical existence, adjust to human form once again. During this vulnerable time both evil and good spirits may arrive, so everyone is wary. The dancers throw themselves about with abandon while villagers call out requests and favours of their dead ancestors. Assistants with long poles keep the spectators from touching the dancers, because to do so would drag them into the spirit world.
I am photographing this transformation when the robes of a da...
