Back to the Greater Metropolitan Area of TUNIS

A year later, I am back to Grand Tunis, a place that remains dear to my heart. I am here again, not

Qatar Airways flight landing approach

only to visit friends and former colleagues, but also to expand the field of my current researches as well as share some of my research contributions both with the University of Tunis & the new Canadian International School. It is also the first time I will meet with active members of the online cultural association "Tunisie: Mémoires plurielles" to which I also contibute.

LE KRAM:

This coastal community between Carthage and La Goulette is the place I chose to stay in the first days of my visit.

Morning view from my guesthouse at Le Kram

The basic amenities of the Le Kram guesthouse provided a large view of the Gulf of Tunis. As it was facing the East, sunrises were always a delight for the eyes just before the breakfast.

On the beach, one early morning

The guesthouse is run by a single Tunisian lady. Although it is furnished in a western tradition, the home has a local flavor in its decoration. There are rugs of course, but also more typical elements of the Tunisian history and cultural background.

On a wall: two Tunisian puppets

In the garden: a Roman mosaic reproduction

The mosaic is a copy of a Roman work of art that can be seen at Le Bardo Museum in Tunis, representing the poet Virgil with two Muses.

SIDI BOU SAID:

It would seem hard to be in the area without visiting back the charming white & blue hill village of Sidi Bou Said, one of the Mediterranean coastal jewels.

Sidi Bou Saïd: hillview on the Gulf of Tunis

At the hilltop of Sidi Bou

View from Café de Sidi Chabâane

--> Clip de YouTube sur 'Le Café des Délices' par Patrick Bruel

Online link of the article I wrote on Sidi Bou Saïd

La maison du peintre Albert Marquet

L'ancienne maison de Paul KLEE

La beauté des moucharabiehs

Oh! The luminous beauty and taste of the Tunisian oranges!

The entrancing charm of this hill village also resides in the intriguing diversity of all its house doors. Here is a sample of their design:

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Many of the door design contain a symbolic value

A typical alley

A narrow street made of stairs

CARTHAGE:

Carthage today is a highly residential suburb, having the Presidential Palace. It once was the brilliant Punic city that the Romans destroyed. But Carthage also played an important role in early Christianity.

Le site de la basilique de Saint-Cyprien

Ruines de la basilique

The Acropolium (former Saint-Louis Cathedral)

A morning at the train station

LA MARSA:

This is the place, where I used to live when I was working in Tunisia. A quiet, residential town overlooking the strait of Sicily on the blu Med.

And here are some snapshots of on of my favorite cafés there:

Sundeck terrace...

...with a touch of African Art

And I was never too far away from the Far East.

Christian Sorand