{"id":39343,"date":"2015-03-20T11:35:31","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T10:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/groenland-comme-au-commencement-du-monde-20150320.html"},"modified":"2016-02-10T10:25:05","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T09:25:05","slug":"greenland-as-at-the-beginning-of-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/greenland-as-at-the-beginning-of-the-world","title":{"rendered":"Greenland: like the beginning of the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

The intense blue of an icy sea is reflected in a myriad of icebergs. The beauty of the Ilulisat fjord is almost inaccessible, except to those who want to experience the unique experience of a journey to the Far North... Where, for Baudelaire, \"the sun only grazes the earth obliquely, and the slow alternations of light and night suppress variety and increase monotony, that half of nothingness\".<\/em><\/p>\n

Departure from the harbour is virtually frozen over - three quarters of the basin can be crossed on foot until late in the spring - via a channel cluttered with large saucers of ice on which seagulls perch and which the boat bumps into with loud thuds. At times, the boat is even jostled around a little, which raises a few questions and even, in the minds of some excessive people, ideas of a titanic shipwreck. And then there's the ocean. A deep, intense, icy blue. The boat weaves in and out of countless icebergs of all shapes and sizes: peaks, fairy chimneys, ice balloons... It skims over them, revealing mountains and wonders and, to impress the tourist, it amuses itself by making its bow climb onto the base of a gigantic ice cube that is slightly smaller than the others.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the commentator offers his explanations. He tells us, among other things, that \"some icebergs can form cliffs over a hundred metres high<\/em>\"thatthe first explorers mistook them for a mountain range<\/em>\"thatthe emerged part represents only one seventh to one tenth of their total volume.<\/em>\"He also says that the bottom of the ford is bowl-shaped, so that the opening to the open sea is a little higher than the centre, which prevents the ice from playing air girl straight away. In all, it will take between three and 12 months for them to get past the shallows and vanish far into the North Atlantic, and sometimes much further, as far as the coasts of Norway, Ireland and even the Azores. In fact, it was one of them, travelling at only 42\u00b0 North latitude, that sank the Titanic on 14 April 1912.<\/p>\n

Then it's back to the harbour and the fishing boats moored directly to the ice. For fishing, like hunting, is engraved in the collective subconscious of Greenlanders. In the past, it was done exclusively for subsistence, but today it's done to earn a living, to improve the quality of life and sometimes simply for pleasure.<\/p>\n

\"Greenland\"<\/p>\n

Not a tree in sight<\/h2>\n

City tour, so to speak: everywhere rough wooden staircases climb the hills, footbridges lead to painted wooden houses. Scandinavian red, of course, but also petrol blue, duck green and canary yellow. There's no skimping on pigment in Ilulissat. It's even accentuated by painting the window frames white. It makes for a very cheerful habitat, a real counterpoint to all the snow and the occasional black rock outcrop. Especially as this part of Greenland has virtually no trees. There are none. Not a single shrub like you'd find in Siberia, for example.<\/p>\n

There's nothing to surround the houses, which are clearly separated from each other, not even the slightest artifice. Oh yes, there is! They often have fish drying sheds, a kind of rough-hewn wooden pergola that is not lacking in charm, where halibut or codfish hang unidentifiable in their current state. Here and there, a kayak, a boat on chocks or a push sledge. There are also a few sled dog enclosures, but these are becoming increasingly rare as they are relegated to the outskirts of town: too much noise, as these dogs don't bark but howl like wolves. One starts, and hundreds follow. Hell on earth... Moreover, even if they are generally very cuddly, it is hardly advisable to approach them, except in the company of their master, as some can behave unpredictably. They are what we call working animals, not cushion dogs.<\/p>\n

\"Since<\/p>\n

And then, at the end of the village, set on a snow-covered black rock, a miracle of a Sion church, a Lutheran church - the 99 % denomination of the Greenlanders - sublime in its solitude facing the sea. A real moment of poetry, a divine je ne sais quoi emanating from this wooden building painted black with white highlights, built in 1779 and moved there in 1929. A few steps away is Knud Rasmussen's house, now a museum dedicated to the great Greenland explorer. The building is superb, but the interior could do with a real museographer's touch. The collection it houses is a real mess, and we don't really understand much of it. On the other hand, just next door, a large pile of stones flanked by a door and a window is well worth a visit. It's actually an Inuit house, one of those they were still building in the 50s. Sometimes just two or three houses, and several families in each one.<\/p>\n

\"Enormous<\/p>\n

According to the Danish explorer Gustav Holm, a hut six to eight metres long could accommodate up to 38 people. All winter long like that, and God knows winters are long in the Arctic... So it was an aggregate of peat and stones, all covered with old skins salvaged from unusable canoes. The interior was lined with polar bear or seal skins, and the furniture and objects were generally made from driftwood from faraway Siberia or whalebone. Access was via a six- to eight-metre-long passageway that provided protection from the cold, and lighting was by oil lamp. According to Paul-\u00c9mile Victor, the famous French ethnologist, it was stiflingly hot inside. It's easy to see why, from April onwards, each family would set up its own tent to spend the summer.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

\"Charcot,<\/p>\n

\"Anchored<\/p>\n

The ice people<\/h2>\n

While the exterior of this winter house, as it was called, one of the very last to be used, doesn't really look like much, the interior is perfectly cosy; a pretty little world with panelling, flooring, wooden bunks covered in seal and bear skins, shelving and religious engravings on the walls. In small groups, we take the opportunity to listen to the lecturer briefly summarise the very long history of this people who have settled on the ice of the Far North since the arrival, 4,500 years ago, of the first Eskimos from Asia, Alaska and northern Canada. From civilisation to civilisation, the Inuit have accumulated a wealth of customs, sumptuous festive costumes, art in the form of grotesque little figurines - tupilaks - carved from the bones of sea animals or birds, stories of whale fishing and polar bear hunting, shamanic practices and hallucinating traditions that commanded old men to commit suicide, either by throwing themselves off a cliff or by setting out to sea in a kayak to their death when they felt they were becoming a burden on society...<\/p>\n

Then, of course, comes the story of the Vikings, especially Erik the Red, who settled in Greenland in 985. At the end, it's time for Norway and Denmark, evangelisation and the inevitable emancipation of Greenland. For the time being, the country is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and shares with it the royal family, the constitution, foreign policy, defence, the judicial system and the currency. However, it has its own language and its own system of self-government.<\/p>\n

\"What<\/p>\n

After that, you'll be really glad to get back to modernity in one or other of the town's caf\u00e9s-restaurants, places with no fuss - they're more into the functional in these parts - which turn into a discotheque at 7pm, or rather a good-natured popular ball like they used to do in the old days in the countryside. It's all fun and games, singing, dancing and above all drinking... and not in moderation at all; usually beer and strong spirits. It's also an opportunity to meet extraordinarily friendly locals - almost all of them Inuit, since 88 % of the population is Inuit or Inuit-Danish and 12 % European - and also a few modern-day adventurers telling their own stories. Like the helicopter pilot who landed alone on an iceberg for almost a month because of a persistent blizzard, with food rations but without a single book... Or the extreme sportsman from Aix-en-Provence, whose nose and left thumb froze after returning from an expedition on the ice floe. And so many others. As you can imagine, you shouldn't use one of these places as part of an incentive to get together with your friends. Certainly not.<\/p>\n

\"Cruising<\/p>\n

\"Although<\/p>\n

\"Halibut,<\/p>\n

While you're waiting for that unbelievable evening in the convoluted disco, you can always try the local specialities in the restaurant: shark, caribou, seal or whale... Because that's how it is in Greenland, we still eat certain protected mammals. Ethically minded souls can always make up for it with Danish specialities or international cuisine. And then, as expected: the shindig. But not too much, because the very next day, our business tourists have a dog-sleigh ride to look forward to; and dog-sleighing is fabulous, but it's no picnic either.<\/p>\n

Crazy speed on the ice floe<\/h2>\n

As the group approached, the dogs, already harnessed and doing their masters' bidding, howled with joy and wagged their tails in delight. It's their job, and it's a job they love. For the occasion, some of the mushers have dressed up and, instead of the sealskin overalls - which are loaned to all the participants - they have donned a pair of beautiful polar bear skin trousers. It's not very stylish, but then, it's very chic here. The whips snap in the air and the start is lightning fast. The sleds set off in single file, hurtling at breakneck speed across the ice floe. There's banging, shaking and banging. The snow lifted in a thin film by the previous team marks the blue air with thousands of silver dots. With their tails in the air and bellies to the ground, the dogs, ten to twelve per team, fan out. The musher is in front, the passenger behind. And suddenly, the ice pack is gone. A mountain looms ahead, to be climbed in a gully as steep as a black alpine track. Brave beasts, the dogs pick themselves up, give it everything they've got, and pull and pull and pull...<\/p>\n

\"Driven<\/p>\n

Sometimes, when the slope is too steep, you still have to get off the sled to help them in their efforts. It's at this point that the suit on loan becomes too hot and you start to sweat profusely. Then it's downhill, sledge-style, with the dogs at full throttle, the pack ice again and another mountain. And so on for four or five hours. After that, you won't have missed the gourmet dinner at the city's most chic restaurant, Mamartut, run by a Danish chef and reserved for the occasion. This is a welcome opportunity to exchange impressions with those who have rejected the overly sporty sleigh ride in favour of a helicopter flight over the ice cap. Dinner is sumptuous, with smoked fish, Greenland prawns and smoked meats. And that's just as well, because you'll still need some strength before setting off into the starry night to watch the aurora borealis, which on a clear day enchants the polar sky.<\/p>\n

So it's back to the Great North, a bit of a minibus ride to get away from the city lights and a descent at the end of an improbable path. You have to climb wooden stairs, follow the guide's footsteps in a row, sink knee-deep into the snow, skid on icy patches, get caught in a blizzard as you climb a hill and from there enjoy a magnificent view of Disko Bay, its icebergs and mountains in the distance. To make up for the wait, the guide has thought of everything. He takes out a sort of couscous pot in which he heats up a cocktail, a combination of whisky, alcohol flavoured with local herbs, a dash of Grand Marnier and two or three other secret liquids to make what is known here as a \"Greenlandic coffee\". Exhilarating.<\/p>\n

\"After<\/p>\n

\"10,000<\/p>\n

And suddenly the magic happens: white veils form and distort in the sky, contorting, lengthening and sometimes descending in fantastic rain behind the glaciers. The guide takes the opportunity to explain that these are atoms, protons, neutrons, magnetic poles, the clash of all these things... in short, all sorts of things that are extremely nebulous for anyone who has never taken a close interest in the laws of physics. Mystery: what we see in the sky is as white as a cloud, while what appears on the screens of our cameras is coloured pink, green or yellow. The guide does point out, however, that the aurora borealis can also be coloured by the naked eye.<\/p>\n

This will be our last glimpse of one of the world's most beautiful destinations, because tomorrow morning, the little propeller plane, a Dash 8-200, will take off from the icy runway at Ilulissat airport for Reykjavik, in Iceland, from where we will return to Paris after a day or two's stopover. And if it's a weekend, what a stopover! The crazy nights we call \"round tours\" consist of going from bar to bar, singing and dancing with the local youth. The next day, we'll be taking a city tour of a capital undergoing a complete overhaul. We'll stop off at its port, where modernity, like in every city in the world, is reclaiming the docks. On one of the docks, you can visit the Harpa centre, a new concert hall and conference centre, an architectural masterpiece built by Danish architect Olafur Eliasson. Unless you prefer the maritime museum on the other side of the harbour. Then you can wander through the charming old districts that have been rehabilitated, along the steep streets lined with colourful wooden houses. A Nordic urbanity that is particularly popular with architects, artists, designers and others...<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Geysers as a grand finale<\/h2>\n

Outside the city, there are a couple of things to see and try. Firstly, the Hellisheidi geothermal power station, since the whole of Iceland is heated by geothermal energy; a unit that is remarkable for its modernity and design, and perfectly suited to hosting groups. The tour continues with a visit to the greenhouses, where Mediterranean trees and banana plants abound. At the very end of your stay, 15 minutes from the airport, you can take a dip in the Blue Lagoon, naturally heated to over 38\u00b0. And to be blue, the lagoon is blue. Exactly as shown on the postcards. Basically, like everything else up there above the world, when the sky decides to join in: blue icebergs, blue glaciers and blue ice floes.<\/p>\n