Translation (provided by Erwan Barret) of a five minute report about Claude on French TV, in a program called Sur la Piste du Dakar (On Dakar's Tracks) on national channel France 3.
On a Yellow BicycleAdventures happen to be everywhere. Take a look at Serge Marthaler, this Genovese who is ending a crazy trip around the world. 114 00 km on a bike, peddling across 58 countries, four continents. He left his home seven years ago. So now he's about to end this journey around the world through Morocco and Mauritania, all of it on a yellow bicycle that weighs more than 90 kg, taking some time to stop and talk with people. A report by Éric Berg, Fabien Thormos and Éric de Bieffe*.
"The essence of travel is... is... is what you... you remember, in fact, people, that's the best in travelling. Really."
"My name is Claude Marthaler er, I'm from Geneva, from Switzerland, and I've been traveling around the world since March 12, 94, so now er, nearly seven years, so now I'm going back to Switzerland through Africa."
Mauritania, first hills of Adrar, just before Atar. In his legs, the memories of 53 countries crossed, thousands of kilometers swallowed at fifteen klicks an hour. Claude, forty years old, a crazy man, some kind of two-wheeled Forrest Gump. His bike is a bit like his home, his travel mate, a yak, like he nicknamed it, of 80 kg.
"Once in a while I... I talk to him, to my bike, however strange it may sound, but, that's true, you are very lonely in... in this kind of adventure."
In his bags, one hundred photographs of his odyssey. Shots from other worlds exchanged for a midday meal. In nomads' country, he's sure to be welcome. Even women, not always easy to approach, give in to curiosity. To dream too, perhaps.
"Seven years?"
"Nearly seven years, four more months."
"And you work not in the countries when you go?"
"Well, I write a bit for magazines in Europe, I tell a bit how people eat here, in Mauritania, how tea is served, how people are, the landscape too, what I can see."
"This is hell, this journey. Only real men can do that."
Eating, exchanging, then taking one's leave, without a regret. At twelve noon, Claude has grown used to never losing time. Some shopping, topping off canteens, it's time to think about going.
"Shall we go to Atar together? You got a bike?"
"No, no! If I got no bike, I tired!"
"A camel, then? No? Neither?"
"In a car, then?"
"In a car, yes."
"Aaaah, ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha!"
Seven years long, the globetrotter has learned to manage his time, his efforts, according to the countries he crossed. In Mauritanian Adrar, the road is straight down to infinity and the sun sets early. To ensure fifty kilometers a day he has to peddle, to peddle under the sun.
"Roads in Mauritania are good, they are monotonou... very very monotonous because they go straight away, so you keep on daydreaming, on thinking about something else. And well, they're excellent, but they're very very windy."
"It's considered a bit prehistoric, a bicycle, today, but it's really a communications means. It's a link. You arrive, you're a bit dirty, you're sweaty, you're hungry, you're thirsty, er, you greet people directly so er, you begin by sitting down, by drinking tea, then in the end you spend the night, sort of. And you spend a good night, in good company."
"Your tea is really good."
That's the end of an ordinary day for Claude. The heat of a campfire, the laughter of camelers surprised by his journey, a conversation helped by our guide. So many impressions that shall find their place in the book that tells his odyssey at the chapter "Mauritania".
"Mauritania, that's, that's atmosphere, that's... It's very climatologic, that is, a lot of wind, a mighty sky, it's a landscape bigger than... which makes us very small. That's it first, ... the landscape first. Then the people's warmth, simplicity, kindness, the people's natural side."
"When we lose our camel mares, we go after them for two nights. In the end, if we can't find them, we're fed up, we come back. Hm, what do you want to say? For seven years he's on his bicycle!"
"Choukrane!"
"Ah, thank you!"
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
"Thanks a lot!"
*the names' spelling couldn't be checked.
Translation of a five minute report about Claude on French TV, in a program called Sur la Piste du Dakar (On Dakar's Tracks) on national channel France 3.
