“This second day of navigation opened my eyes to contemplation. Crossing the rail with its sea monsters offered me a hitherto unknown panorama. The English cliffs seemed even whiter than white to me, and with gaze fixed on the horizon, the landscape punctuated by these enormous “almost flying” machines paraded before my eyes. The boat sailed over the azure blue to soften it a bit, leaving an army of sheep in its wake. At sunset, the sky metamorphosed, plunging the viewer into a magic atmosphere from which he could not escape. As the element carrying the ship darkened, the sky ablaze, blowing in a gentle sea breeze the most subtle vermillions, carmines and pinks. The palette was already established, and my mind would keep track of it. Going up the Thames where, at its mouth, factories from another time were installed, London finally appeared to me.”

Collection of poems by Isabelle Delannoy