QUOTE : So quietly flows the Seine that<br />one hardly notices its presence. It is always there, quiet and unobtrusive, like a great<br />artery running through the human body. In the wonderful peace that fell over me<br />itseemed as if I had climbed to the top of a high mountain; for a little while I would be<br />able to look around me, to take in the meaning of the landscape.<br />Human beings make a strange fauna and flora. From a distance they appear<br />negligible; close up they are apt to appear ugly and malicious. More than anything they<br />need to be surrounded with sufficient space – space even more than time.<br />The sun is setting. I feel this river flowing through meits past, its ancient soil, the<br />changing climate. The hills gently girdle it about: its course is fixed.