The second page
The very first place to visit in the mountains was Valsenestre, a small village surrounded by trees and mountains. The other images had to be taken around this village, so on the way there I went crazy thinking every house, road, river could have been it.
Following a small path, and crossing a river (I thought it could have been the third image, but now I’m not so sure anymore), we arrived at Valsenestre. We wandered along the path into the village, where the locals were busy working on their homes and tending to their gardens. They gave us curious looks—probably because we were the only visitors there. And then I saw it: the archway from that last image on the page. The small tunnel from the photograph.
I pulled the album from my backpack and held it up, comparing the old photograph with the scene in front of me. It was a perfect match. Sure, some bricks were missing, and you could tell that renovations had left their mark. The house on the right side of the picture had vanished, replaced by a water well and a garden. The road was now paved, and the roof looked more modern. But the water pipe was still exactly where it used to be, the hole in the building remained untouched, and the view—the very same mountains they once looked at—hadn't changed a bit. Even the house you could see through the archway in the distance was still standing.
It was such a thrill to see this in person! There was so much to take in—the tiny differences, the realization that I was standing on the exact spot where she had once stood. I'd always thought the woman in the image was Hannie, but now I wasn't so sure. The clothes didn’t quite match Hannie's style, and it made me wonder if it could've been someone who lived there at the time. Either way, my first instinct was to step onto the very spot where she had stood 85 years ago.
Eightyfive years had passed, yet so much was still the same. I couldn’t stop myself from taking photo after photo, hunting for more clues, afraid I might miss even the smallest detail. My eyes scanned the area the entire time. Afterall, I still didn’t know what I was exactly looking for. Excited I crossed the imaginary and into the unknown world behind the archway (a bit like the closet of Narnia).
Behind the archway was of course a normal (beautiful) world with more houses, plants, and a place to drink coffee. I talked to the people from the cafe and saw the image behind the counter of the famous archway. When I showed them the album and compared it to their image, I hoped for their excitement. But I forget sometimes, that Hannie & Billo aren’t famous people, their story isn’t famous either, and everyone in this village knows of course what it looked like 85 years ago. So there was no excitement, just confused eyes. Including mine, not knowing where to leave my excitement.
Leaving behind Valsenestre, I thought of how to go about this. What is it that I am looking for, and why is it interesting to me? And; is it interesting to others? But then my mind shifted again to the album, to his page in particular; how did they get here? By car? Where did they get the car? Where is the spot with Florette? Where is ‘on route’ ? On route where to? To Valsenestre? And where is the first image taken…
I’ll discuss the other images on this page in another post !
