Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Author and artist Lawrence Bohme lives in Old Nice - or Vieux-Nice in French, and "Babazouk" in the local slang. Having visited Nice and this fascinating corner of the great Riviera town over four decades, he has finally written a guide book explaining the "infernally complex" history of this unique and captivating "three-sided labyrinth."Lorenzo - as he's known in Nice and other Mediterranean places - first discovered Nice's old town in 1980 when it was still an insalubrious but fascinating slum teeming with impoverished immigrants from Italy and North Africa. "I was, as usual, on my way to somewhere else," he recalls - a village in the hills of Provence, where he set up his art-and-craft shop. During that first magical visit to Old Nice, though, our itinerant author and artist found inspiration for one his unique pen-and-ink postcards of Provence, "because that was my way of making a living then," he explains. Ever since, Lorenzo has visited Old Nice often and dreamed of "staying here long enough to delve into its origins and figure out how this jumble of teeming alleyways and crossroads came into being." And now "in the autumn" of his life, he's made his dream come true, living in a garret of the quarter with his son August and writing this whimsically narrated but also rigorously well-informed book, "as it could only be, from the pen of a self-taught historian such as m'self," he adds with his English sense of irony, "about the only thing English I have left, along with the language." "Old Nice's Changing Heart" is the result of two years of "straggling back and forth in the honeycomb of dizzyingly intertwined crevices here called streets," he recounts, and also "sitting down to read everything I could get his hands on about this south-eastern corner of France and its amazing past: first perched atop the castle hill within the fortified walls, then, after the Franco-Turkish siege, forced for lack of space to rebuild itself down below, between castle and river - a few steps from the glamorous "new Nice" which sprung up on the other bank with its glittering hotels and casinos. Yet, Lawrence muses, "in spite of their nearness to one another, the two sides of Nice have - fortunately - remained as distinct as if they were on different planets." Now, with Nice's first book in English aimed at unravelling "Babazouk's" origins, from medieval Proven al "county" to Savoyard seaport, and then rejoining France in the 19th century, it is possible, says the author, for the "serious tourist" to come away with more than just the pleasure of taking a very picturesque - but also quite confusing - stroll...."Old Nice's Changing Heart" joins, therefore, Lawrence's collection of "historical guides for the curious traveller," which began with his illustrated classic "Granada, City of My Dreams," published in 2001 and translated, by the author himself, into Spanish and French. The title for the forthcoming French version of "Old Nice's Changing Heart" is "Un promeneur anglais dans le Vieux-Nice..".
Synopsis
Old Nice - or Vieux-Nice in French, and "Babazouk" in the local slang - is the ancient corner of the great Riviera town famous for its bayside Promenade des Anglais. After four decades of visiting this "three-sided labyrinth," as it has been called, Lawrence Bohme - Lorenzo as he's known in Nice and other Mediterranean places - has dreamed of "staying here long enough to learn how this jumble of teeming alleyways and crossroads came into being." And now "in the autumn" of life, he's settled in Old Nice and, after much searching and researching, written this whimsically narrated but also well-informed book, "as it could only be, from the pen of a self-taught historian such as me," he adds with his mordant wit."Old Nice's Changing Heart" is, therefore, the synthesis of two years of "straggling back and forth in the honeycomb of crevices here called streets," Lawrence recounts, and also "reading everything which might shed light on this living relic and its amazing past: first, in the Middle Ages, perched atop the castle hill, and then forced for lack of space to rebuild itself down below, between castle and stream" - just a few steps from the glamorous "new Nice" we all know.. Yet, Lawrence muses, "in spite of their nearness to one another, the two sides of Nice, ancient and modern, have - fortunately - remained as distinct as if they belonged to different planets." Now, with the first book in English devoted to unravelling "Babazouk's" origins, from Proven al fiefdom to Savoyard seaport, and then after many twists of fortune returning to France in the 19th century, the truth-seeking traveller can come away with more than just the satisfaction of having taken a picturesque if confusing stroll.... "Old Nice's Changing Heart" is the latest of Lawrence's collection of "historical guides for the curious traveller," which began with his classic "Granada, City of My Dreams," published in 2001 and later translated, by the polyglot-author himself, into Spanish and French. The title he has created for the forthcoming French version of "Old Nice's Changing Heart" is, playing on the name of Nice's legendary waterfront, "Un promeneur anglais dans le Vieux-Nice..".ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lawrence "Lorenzo" Bohme was born in London in 1942 and raised in Vancouver, Mexico City and Kingston, Jamaica. He finished school in New York's Greenwich Village and went on to study at the University of Madrid and the Sorbonne. After many years fending for himself as a language teacher in Rio de Janeiro, where he lived in a favela and also learned to become a leather craftsman, he sought other adventures in Baby Doc's Haiti where he taught the local cane-cutters to make leather handbags and learned to speak cr ole, followed "in a great hurry" by Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) and then a succession of Caribbean islands "where I could ply my trade more peacefully," San Andr s, Grand Cayman, Sint Maarten and Saint Barth. He returned to Europe in 1983 to work first as a translator for Unesco and, later, a simultaneous interpreter in southern Spain. After retiring, he and his son August made their home in Nice's historical quarter, the setting for this book.As well as his "guide books for the curious traveller," Lawrence is the author of My Very Long Youth, a memoir in 16 parts, followed by the sequel Life After Mother. All of Bohme's books are richly illustrated with his own drawings and photographs "because I miss the time when not only children's books had pictures."
Synopsis
Old Nice - or Vieux-Nice in French, and "Babazouk" in the local slang - is the ancient corner of the great Riviera town famous for its Promenade des Anglais. After four decades of visiting this "heart of Nice", Lawrence Bohme - or Lorenzo as he's known in several Mediterranean places - has dreamed of "staying here long enough to learn how this jumble of teeming alleyways and crossroads came into being". And now "in the autumn" of life, he's produced this whimsically written but also well-informed book, "as it could only be, from the pen of a largely self-taught historian"."Old Nice's Changing Heart" is, therefore, the fruit of seven or eight seasons of "straggling back and forth in the honeycomb of crevices here called streets", Lawrence recounts, and also "reading everything which might shed light on this living relic and its amazing past: first, in the Middle Ages, a fishing village perched atop the castle hill, and then, in the Renaissance, forced for lack of space to rebuild itself down below, between castle and stream" - just a few steps from what became the glamorous "new Nice" of hotels and jewellery shops we all know.. Yet, Lawrence muses, "in spite of their nearness to one another, the two sides of Nice, ancient and modern, have - fortunately - remained as distinct as if they were on different planets". Now, this first book in English devoted to unravelling "Babazouk's" origins, from Proven al county to Savoyard seaport, and then after many twists of fortune returning "like the prodigal son" to France in the 19th century, will help the curious visitor to go a step beyond what might be just a picturesque if confusing stroll in what Lawrence calls "the triangular labyrinth of Babazouk".... ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lawrence Bohme was born in London in 1942 and raised in Vancouver, Mexico City and Kingston, Jamaica. He finished school in New York's Greenwich Village and went on to study at the Universities of Madrid and the Sorbonne "but restlessly dropped out of both". After five years fending for himself as a language teacher in Rio de Janeiro, where he lived in a favela and also learned to become a leather craftsman, he sought other adventures in "Baby Doc's" Haiti where he taught cane-cutters to make leather handbags and learned to speak cr ole, followed "for fear of the tonton-macoutes" by the fascinating fortress-town of Cartagena on the South American shore "where I was soon relieved of everything I had". After such calamities, the author - still accompanied by his mother Joan, a painter, and her little flock of dachshunds - "sensibly" opted for a less challenging existence on the Caribbean islands of San Andr s, Grand Cayman, Sint Maarten and Saint Barth. Finally, weary of adventures, Lawrence returned to Europe in 1983 to practice a new profession, that of external translator for Unesco and, later, simultaneous interpreter."Old Nice's Changing Heart" is the latest of Lawrence's collection of "artistic and historical guides for the curious traveller", which began with his classic Granada, City of My Dreams, published in 2001. As well as his "books for the curious traveller", Lawrence is the author of My Very Long Youth, a "fast-moving memoir" in seven volumes, followed by the "somewhat more sedate sequel" Life After Mother. All of Bohme's books are richly illustrated with his own drawings and photographs "because I miss the time when not only children's books had pictures".