The closed shutters at mid-afternoon made it seem like there were no people living in this part of town, next to the Opera House in Marseille.
But the people were there, they were just behind the slats that were closed over the windows. The people of Marseille were taking naps, or watching l’information on their televisions. The children were haranguing their parents with questions, grandmothers listening to opera, and husbands were fighting with their wives while the wives were cleaning. Someone was washing dishes, a couple were planning their evening, and a single, lonely person began to cook dinner. Cigarette smoke permeated it all. There was life going on behind those shutters, but only the locals knew it.
To an outsider it just seemed like a desolate afternoon on the edge of the second largest city in France.
l’information = the news
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Tags: daily photo, desolation, impressions, marseille, shutters
2 Comments
interesting post…i was there and didn’t experience a day like that. thanks for sharing.
This post was more of a pastiche of experiences rather than what was literally happening that day, of course. During the afternoon, when the shutters are closed, one can only guess at what is going on behind them. But I took some ideas from things I have seen in places I’ve been when the shutters are closed in the afternoon.
But I did find that part of Marseille – near the Opera not so much a few blocks down by the water – to be desolate at that time of day. Marseille is a big city – who knows what else was going on?