"As a child, I had a turtle friend, I was told that on an island - the Galapagos - they lived in the hundreds and very old (older than my great-grandmother), and I thought that when I grew up I would live there. " That's where dreams start. That of Anne-Sophie Mauffré consisted in going to see these famous turtles. Her trip took the form of a world tour that she recounts in a travelogue entitled Recontres.
She gives herself to it with so much authenticity that one has the impression of knowing it for a long time. The familiarity is immediate when it is joined to a terrace of sunny coffee on a beautiful summer morning. Very endearing, she speaks spontaneously. Nearly three years after her world tour, she is able to recall the smallest details of her adventure. "I left just after the attacks of September 11, 2001. My grandmother, whom I was very close to, passed away and the Galapagos suffered an ecological disaster, my dream caught up with me and I felt like an emergency. In one week, I had a sabbatical year with my employer and borrowed 15,000 euros from my bank to leave ... I who had almost never traveled from my home life."
The chance of meetings
A.S. Mauffré - DR |
Once there, little miracle: Anne-Sophie manages to find these children and their families. Unspeakable memory that still gives him goose bumps just to evoke. "It was a huge emotion when they realized that I had traveled three days to find them.What I remember from this is that when you believe it, you get there. encounters when you are totally naked. "
A trip initiatory
A.S. Mauffré - DR |
But the road had to stop one day after a final symbolic stage in the Galapagos: just to close the loop and keep its promise.
Drop everything to live his life
How do we come back from such trip ? "I've changed a lot, I've put limits on my surroundings - something I did not do before - and refocused my life on the essential. "She continues:" To live with love and fresh water for a year has given me confidence in man. I developed an aptitude for happiness and an intolerance in the face of frustrating situations. "
As soon as she returns to Paris, she is reintegrated thanks to her work. "I resumed my life no problem but after a year it scared me. I had all dumped - career, family, friends - to live my life. I did not do it for nothing! "Especially since the desire to become a photographer devours her, she leaves her job and arouses the misunderstanding of those around her." I had the impression that people did not understand not that I made this choice to be happy and free. "
A.S. Mauffré - DR |