About the bona fide naturist lifestyle.

About the bona fide naturist lifestyle.

It’s very clear that people the whole world over   ( and throughout the Western world in particular ) , irrespective of age , gender or status are desperate to find some kind of relief from the stresses and strains of modern living.  So much so that they will clutch at almost any opportunity that arises , however daft it might at first seem. Cults and therapies , agony aunts and astrology , strange sounding diets and gurus galore , to name but a few - and there is also NATURISM.  But in spite of the way in which it is almost always portrayed by the media , the modern – day  bona fide naturist lifestyle is not as silly as it may at first sound.

There are already millions of practising naturists around the world and the numbers are growing at an enormous rate every year, as more and more people discover this unusual kind of lifestyle , but in most instances this remarkable discovery is made completely by accident as the rest of society know almost nothing about the true facts of naturist living.   It is now a enormous multi billion pound financial international enterprise , now increasing out of all proportion each year on year.

 The reason for this is quite simple.  The bona fide naturist community have no desire whatsoever to expose their naturist lifestyle to public gaze,  nor to encourage others to do so other than by a natural process. Neither do its followers have any compelling urge to convert others to their way of thinking.  

The success of our writing over the years is that we have continually provided a balance that contains just the right amount of interesting information, art , sex , erotica and stimulation without  it containing crude pornography and more importantly without it intruding upon the privacy of the millions of people that make up the bona fide naturist community .

As useful as it might be to plump up TV viewing figures or increase magazine and newspaper circulation , the bona fide naturist lifestyle naturism is not about  getting arrested for taking all your kit off in some major city centre , neither is it about walking the public pathways of (say) Britain from one end  to the other wearing just your boots and socks , upsetting all sorts of people along the way.  These people are the eccentrics and nutters and exhibitionists  of the world at large and only show about 1 % of the iceberg that best describes the real naturist lifestyle.   The truth is that naturism is not just about taking your clothes off at all and a proper naturist lifestyle is as much an attitude of mind as it is a practical activity.

 As old as humanity itself , naturism has wonderful powers of healing .  It benefits society as a whole but asks for nothing in return. The modern day version is healthy , relaxing and most certainly helps to relieve the stresses and strains of modern life , but its also exciting , its fun – and dare we say it – it can be pretty sexy too ,  leading to better and improved relationships within family life.

 

About us:

What started as a kind of therapeutic hobby for me after a traumatic divorce very quickly became a pleasant source of income and amusement.  It is I believe , now a pretty unique package of varying content, but which all comes together in the final part of my autobiography.

Sometimes writing under our own names and also other pseudonyms including  Mark Golding and Belinda Mosse  for past magazine work , we have together over the past twenty five  years or so created a genre like nothing else in the publishing world, with about 800 photographically illustrated articles linking the subjects of sex, erotica, leisure, health and the arts as seen through the eyes of a naturist lifestyle, appearing in specialised magazines throughout the world.  For seventeen years I (we) have written and edited the worlds only naturist agony column and produced an interactive C.D – rom ( The Naked Truth).  We are probably the most published writers of illustrated naturist material ever and we still own all copyright on our work.  

Naturism and erotica are admittedly a niche market , however 90% of the worlds population have a consuming interest in sex and nudity, the naturist lifestyle has both in abundance and our work is completely different from the naturist norm. We also have a slight advantage in that unlike the vast majority of writers of erotica we are real people writing about real life. We also have a full real life outside naturism .

The Whirlpool of the Eye of Sweet Water

The Whirlpool of the Eye of Sweet Water -  A naturist lifestyle/travel feature.

The wild rugged lands of the Languedoc area of Southern France stretch all the way from the Rhone Valley to the mountain foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees.  Its long golden coastline is washed constantly by the warm waters of the Mediterranean sea under an almost perfect sun, but until about 60 years ago this magnificent landscape was virtually unknown .   Over the passing years the coastal regions have been developed and now boast some of the most popular naturist sites in the whole of Europe , but as for the rest of this area apart from not much more than a handful of major cities the remainder of this vast wilderness remains a place of myth and mystery , much as it has for thousands of years.  

Regular visitors to Cap d’Agde will know that Agde itself is the second oldest town in the whole of France and was colonised by the Greeks in the 6^th century.   A couple of hundred years later the Romans arrived and made Narbonne the capital of Roman Gaul.    The emperor Hadrian took his army complete with elephants on his march from Moorish Spain right through the Langudoc on his way to lay siege to Rome and many relics of his historic journey remain en route.  

A bit later on the Cathars , a strange breakaway religion were driven into the region from other parts of France where they remained for many years, building the most incredible remote mountain strongholds before eventually being wiped out by a bunch of equally religious fanatics.   

We were fortunate to be able to spend most of our summers in the early 1990’s in the Aude and were often around when some new ancient site was discovered, frequently in the process of attaining national protective status. Not only were these places of prime historic interest, but because of their  isolation made an almost perfect backdrop for our naturist photography

Until it was developed, principally as a small holiday resort for the French residents of Narbonne to escape the hot summer months, St Pierre sur Mer was not much more than a tiny fishing port and a few odd houses.   We found it almost by accident by following a signpost on the main road to ‘Naturist Beach’ and soon became regular visitors .  On the way home from the beach one day we saw a new sign directing visitors to a place called le Goffre de la Oeil douce and decided to take a look.   About the best translation I can make of this is ‘The whirlpool of the eye of sweet water’  – a spectacular geological curiosity  and probably something to do with the quality of the water.  

Just on the outskirts of the Massive de la Clape, a small mountain range which separates the City of Narbonne from the coast it is within a spectacular limestone chasm at the very heart of which is an almost perfectly circular lake.  We arrived at about 3 pm one weekday to find a neat and tidy carpark,  open gates and absolutely no one at all around.  The information boards told us that myths and mystery –and even fear - surround this place , although we found it gave off a feeling of absolute peace and tranquillity.  It’s source is still unknown , it’s pure clear waters never ever drop or rise  and no one knows how deep it is although it is said that some years ago Jaques Cousteau took one of his submersibles there but failed to reach the bottom- and none has tried since. Swimming is not recommended but neither it is banned. 

After taking lots of pictures of the impressive surroundings , as we were alone off came our clothes for a nice long  session of naturist photography.  It was an incredibly peaceful place with that wonderful natural aroma of plant life where the fresh air from the sea and mountain came together

Following the signs we eventually came to another part of  the site,  a small farm which  was now obviously too small to be profitable and had now become a part  of this unusual protected site.

A number of pieces of old agricultural implements stood around the beautifully restored 18^th century farmhouse – but still no sign of any other human life except our own.    Wandering around we came upon a well maintained paddock where a couple of fine looking horses came over to take a look at us and where we also almost stumbled over a some wild looking black pigs wandering around like a couple of pet dogs . We had got dressed by now but as we still appeared to be alone,  got undressed for a few more pictures before leaving.  

Over the years we discovered many more of these interesting historical or geological wonders and recorded our visits for posterity.  There were so many that I could write a book about them – and maybe one day I will.

PARIS FRANCE - MONTMARTRE

PARIS FRANCE - MONTMARTRE

This is an extract from what will eventually (hopefully) be a posh Photobook

The historic Parisian quartier  of MONTMARTRE,  a relatively small area which was not even a part of the city until 1850,  has everything the discerning  visitor could possibly need .

 

Toulouse Lautrec  lived there for fifteen  years and it is said that he rarely ever left the place - and why should he, as there was no reason for him to go anywhere else.   For in Montmartre you can find  love and romance , history and art, culture galore and the finest food and drink - and all of this within easy walking distance from one of the small but comfortable hotels  located in it’s narrow picturesque streets. 

You won’t see a chain store of any sort here either , as all the  commercial outlets , shops , bars and cafes are still privately owned , many of them by the same families after 100 years or more.   There has been practically no new building here for 150 years or so and apart from a lick of paint here and there and a few new restaurant signs it’s just the same as it was when Lautrec and his boozy womanising chums strolled the tiny cobbled lanes. 

There are chocolate shops to die for , designer boutiques - but not with designer prices -  and the freshest of fresh foods of every description put out on display every morning.  Artisans-  not just artists but craftsmen too - still exist here where tailors , cobblers and repairers of all sorts promote their skills in tiny windows displays and some like jobbing upholsterers for instance right there on the pavement. 

Art & Culture

 When Lautrec first came to Paris he lived right opposite the Moulin Rouge in an apartment at number 21 rue Fontaine.  Degas had his studio on the ground floor next door at number 19 and above him lived Lautrec’s friend Rene Grenier and his wife.  Erotic drawings made by Lautrec at the time cataloguing their adventurous threesomes have only come to light a few years ago and were  on show at an  exhibition in London’s Barbican Centre a few years ago.

   

Right by the side of the Moulin Rouge is rue Lepic, a long crescent shaped street lined with strange artists galleries , bars and cafes that will take you right through the centre of this amazing little district, the whole of which is steeped in artistic history.    We called in to his studio at no 3 rue Tourlaque to say hello to Henri Landier,  an artist friend of ours who has lived in Montmartre all his life.

    

Next door but one at no 7 is the studio where Lautrec  designed all his posters and paintings of brothel scenes , lesbian and low life and where he later held his notorious orgies.    Susan Valadon the love of his life, lived right next door – very conveniently for Lautrec  as his little legs didn’t have to carry him very far to fulfil his personal desires.      This short road leads down to the old Cemetery of Montmartre, hidden away just below street level in an old tree lined quarry where dozens of the illustrious dead including Zola , Degas, Berlioz and Offenbach are buried. 

 

A bit further on down rue Lepic is the only remaining original windmill in Montmartre, le Moulin de Gallette  the notorious  can-can club immortalised by Renoir in his paintings and where it is said that some of the girls occasionally forgot to put on their underwear before a show.   What a marvellous piece of early marketing that must have been ,  guaranteed to bring the punters back time and time again , just in case it was true.

      

The Place du Tertre is a bit touristy,  but still an exciting place to be , full of artists and bohemians of one kind or another .   La Bonne Franquette  the absinthe bar where Lautrec , Van Gogh and their arty crowd would regularly get legless on a potentially lethal green cocktail called the earthquake  is still there , now a popular restaurant with freshly painted facade .   This smart little square leads on up to the very top of the hill ( le Butte ) and the white domes of the  Sacre Coeur , the highest point in Paris with breathtaking  views over the whole city.  

The Musee de Montmartre ,  only a couple of streets away was once a private house and lived in at various times by Renoir , Dufy , Suzanne Valladon and her mad son Utrillo .  It looks  like a tiny place from the outside but once through the little side gate reveals a superb garden and an immaculately  restored building that still retains that  lived in feeling .  From the upstairs windows you can look down upon the posh side of the area where many of the rich and famous – Jean Paul Gaultier still has a house in rue Frochot – and as far as I know he still lives there.

The Forever Loop at The Barbican Centre:

The artist EDDIE PEAKE is – even amongst artists - without doubt a most unusual man, the single item on his website a rather impressive photograph of his erect penis.  Not that extraordinary but reasonably impressive I suppose in the circumstances.  Just before Xmas 2015 I reviewed his latest exhibition, held at the Barbican Centre in London and you can see below as a part of this blog a resume of my subsequently published feature. 

 

Unfortunately there was no opportunity to take any photographs during the event and the ones here were either supplied by the Barbican Press Office or I have taken them from Eddies own internet images. There were no images at all available of the female dancers, which was a great pity as in my opinion they formed the most inspiring and exciting part of the entire show. 

The Barbican Centre in central London has been one of my favourite places to hang out for the last twenty odd years. The brutalist structure of this unusual building ( a deliberate decision by the architects for a site left devastated by the heavy bombing raids during the second world war ) is not in any way reflected in the interior of this incredible place , the largest multi-arts and conference venue in Europe, presenting a year-round programme of art, music, film and theatre.     

The Forever Loop at The Barbican Centre:

 

The vast reception areas, warm in winter and cool in summer and luxuriously appointed are freely available to anyone , where also under one roof are a concert hall, two theatres, three cinemas, a library , various bars and eating places and a number of other function rooms and suites , including two art galleries .

The smaller of these, a 90-metre curved structure stretching from one side of the main building to the other aptly named The Curve, was my destination on an unusually warm autumn morning to review The Forever Loop, a multi media installation event designed and curated by the London based artist Eddie Peake.

 

Now I have heard of Eddie Peake but must confess that until recently have never actually seen any of his work, but it wasn’t very difficult to discover a little more about him before my visit.

From an artistic family, his mother the well known sculptor and artist Phyllida Barlow was a descendant of Charles Darwin and his father Fabian Peake is also an artist and writer of some repute. Barlow was also a professor of art and taught at the Slade School of Fine Art for many years, from where son Eddie graduated in 2006.

Now thirty five years old , he spent his early youth living in exotic places while working and continuing his studies before returning to his North London roots to take up an artistic lifestyle.

 

His large scale multi-media carefully choreographed events are unusual to say the least , the naked five-a-side football match at the Royal Academy where the two teams were differentiated only by their socks and trainers for example, creating small waves of media hype. 

 

Reading between the lines of his own comments - “ How can an image be gay or straight, male or female “ he asks ? , it seems to me that Mr Peake may be having some kind of gender identity crisis - something that appears to be not uncommon in this day and age- however this does not appear to detract from the value of his work. 

 

Sexuality, desire and nudity are constant themes in his large scale installation works , which as well as examples of his abstract artworks usually include elements of film , music, photography, and dance with a little drama thrown in for effect and this current exhibition - perhaps the finest of them all so far – is a perfect illustration.

 

The entire length of one wall of the gallery had been structured, plastered and decorated with various texts and illustrations, with walkways that pass through individual spaces and sets furnished with large numbers of surreal objects in various artistic modes. Visitors can wander from one end to the other– and back again if they wish – stopping to view past performances on the TV screens located along the way which are in half hour loops – hence the title of the exhibition.

No doubt impressive in its own right, the surreal is not really my cup of tea and although no doubt a great deal of skill goes into the production I don’t really understand it. Perhaps there is nothing to understand ? and so for me the most important part of this pretty unique show were the live performances

 

Here a team of eight totally naked male and female dancers take turns to perform two at a time in half hour sessions during the daily ten hour opening, while one of three naked roller skaters clad only in a completely see through onesie glides elegantly from one end of the structure, between them and the visitors.

 

As time was of the essence we were only able to see the female dancers, although some naked male dancers did appear in the video background scenes. Two naturally beautiful girls totally naked , their curvaceous athletic bodies displaying nicely trimmed pubic hair danced in concert as they passed from one section to another in a series of beautifully choreographed sequences. During each short set they might stop to pose for a while or perhaps lay down together in a sleeping position laughing pleasurably to themselves, seemingly totally oblivious to their public surroundings.

 

Visitors and dancers were just about as close up as you can get without actually touching and in fact as I turned to go back to another part of the exhibition I found them pirouetting only inches away from me. Afraid to spoil the moment I stood stock still until they had passed me by.

It was all incredibly and quite deliberately sensual and sexual without being at all crude - a truly exhilarating performance and for me personally an uplifting experience.

 

In conclusion, I have to say that over many years I have seen nakedness in its every form – and I do mean every– some of it in one or another regular ground breaking events held previously at The Barbican Centre, but this one came from a very different perspective and was in some ways very relevant to my own naturist lifestyle.

In spite of modern education there is still a deep seated attitude in the UK and many other places that exposure to the naked body is at best upsetting, harmful especially to children and young people and at worst likely to deprave and corrupt in some way.

In this excellent presentation where completely naked men and women performed sensual and erotic dance routines in close up proximity to the public and most importantly with no visitor restrictions even including children ( provided they were accompanied by an adult if under the age of 14 ) may hopefully serve to dispel this antiquated viewpoint.