The White Cliffs of Dover and Calais Bunkers

The other day we drove from Goes to Calais, caught a ferry to Dover and stayed the night in Dover. Calais is 2 1/2 hours from Goes, Netherlands by car and because Goes is located on a peninsula we traveled under the Westerschelde Estuary via a 6600 meter tunnel which ends at Terneuzen.  Terneuzen is still the Netherlands. This transition seems strange to me because my assumption is that political boundaries coincide with natural features like rivers and mountain ranges. However the Belgium border does not coincide with the Westerschelde. I understand that this boundary is complicated due to the Holy Roman Empire, the Spanish and French occupation of the Netherlands and Flanders. 

Beach at Calais

As foot passengers on the ferry we lazily moved from the docks of Calais along beautiful beaches with summer sunbathers toward the harbor mouth. The spell was broken by the strange juxtaposition of WWII bunkers dotting the coastline and we were reminded of the great struggle that took place on these Normandy beaches so many years ago. 

One and one half hours later, the White Cliffs of Dover emerged on the horizon after the English Channel crossing in beautiful sunshine.  The White Cliffs really are as iconic as one imagines. Shakespeare's 'King Lear' mentions them "There is a cliff, whose high and bending head looks fearfully in the confined deep: Bring me but to the very brim of it" 

White Cliffs of Dover

Geologically speaking the White Cliffs are made of chalk. Formed from plankton they accumulated around 145.5 to 65.5 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. At that time this part of Europe was underwater and similar cliffs exist across the channel in France called Cap Blank Nez. 

As it turns out my husband Tom's Grandmother was from Dover and his Grandfather's family was from Colchester approximately 20 km north of Dover. It is interesting that though they were from such nearby villages they met in Venezuela. It was a great adventure for Tom. 

One of the highlights was enjoying several pints and a steak and ale pie at a pub. Tom was very happy.  We also had fish and chips!

Tom enjoying a pint in Whitfield

We visited Dover Castle and walked about 2 miles unexpectedly through green fields with sheep peacefully grazing under blue skies. Dover Castle is well... very castle like and it has working fireplaces. 

Dover Castle

Learning about Calais in history class is very different than actually being there. It is very moving to see the downtown which no longer has a medieval character all sacrificed for "Operation Dynamo". Only the old church bell tower remains in the square.  It really got me thinking about a world that my own parents grew up in. 

Market Square Calais with remains of the Church Bell Tower

We ended our visit at Dunkirk. Today there is a museum, a monument and it is unexpectedly quiet. Little kids drive go karts and families bike along the boardwalk. The city of Dunkirk like Calais shows WWII architectural scars. The homes though they are next to one another appear centuries apart in age. Providing a vivid reminder that one building was destroyed and its neighbor was not.  

Rembrandt and Me

Rembrandt's Studio  Museum Het Rembrandthuis Jodenbreestraat 4, Amsterdam

I begin this blog as a blank canvas. A canvas to help me better understand science and its unexpected relationships, juxtapositions and anachronisms with art, culture, and history. Essentially everything for which I have a passion.  As I am currently in the Netherlands, it is appropriate that my first blog explore one of the Dutch Masters. I choose Rembrandt because I suspect he was a conflicted scientist as well.

He explored. He systematically tried new media. He painted on linen, cooper, and wood canvases.  Is it fair to call painting in the 17th century a social media? Was it the blog of its day? Rembrandt's paintings attracted a broad audience.

Rembrandt, has drawn me into his world. I am attracted by his inspiration from nature and his use of the color red. As I visited his home and workshop, I was surprised to find butterflies, beetles, seashells and all sorts of biological, cultural and artistic things displayed in the manner of a scientist, catalogued, and encased.

Rembrandt's  Nature Collections (note tortoise shells on the right hand-side of the photo)

The chemistry of color. The Museum Het Rembrandhuis describes Rembrandt as using only 15 pigments throughout his entire career. Contributing to his mastery of color was his ability to develop and mix pigment. He used lead for white; bones for black; Lapis Lazuli for blue. His famous red pigment was derived from cochineal beetles!  And 300 years later we still use these beetles. Today we  use them to add a reddish color to Strawberry Frappucino's!  Last March Starbucks was embroiled in controversy over the use of a natural FDA approved cochineal beetle food coloring.  Here is the link to the Washington Post article www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/all-well controversy/2012/03/30/glQA7QAylS_blog.html

Rembrandt, it seems was not conflicted by the relationship between science and art. He captured the synergies and organized his paintings around color and nature within a systematic framework and a world where the macro and micro-details of both disciplines combine and emerge into monumental achievements.

Newly discovered Painting by Rembrandt 

Don't you just love Vermeer ! Sigh!!!