CURRENT MISSION

Improve my Italian, my drawing skills, and travel to Japan !!

ABOUT ME
Born and raised in France, I've lived in different countries (USA, Canada, Israel, Russia, Spain), prior to moving to Budapest for work about 4 years ago. The first time I visited it about 8 years, I immediately was stricken by the charm of its classic European architecture, the beauty of the Danube river, and its vibrant life and culinary scene.
I like to wander around to discover cool hidden places, picture graffiti, eat at old fashioned eateries, write songs, play them sometimes, read, dance, talk and cook !
I recently took advantage of the lock down to read a lot about philosophy and classic literature, and I am always eager to share ideas, and lifestyle.
After having worked in different areas (live show production, raw material export, high tech consulting), I am now involved in a construction project.

PHILOSOPHY
- "Never forget to invent your own life",
(M. Foucault)
- "Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught" (Oscar Wild)
- "Beauty is the sign by which the Creation notifies us that Life is meaningful"
(F. Cheng)
- "The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible " (Oscar Wild)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I host and travel, attend CS events, and when I can, I give info and recommendations to surfers !

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I started surfing about 13 years ago, I was a guest and a host, and all were amazing experiences

Interests

Sailing, drawing, creative entrepreneurship projects, documentary movies, deep connections and discussions about human nature and life's purpose while drinking a nice glass of wine, street art photography, music from around the world, Internet design, go game, Chinese tea, litterature, history, architecture...

• arts
• literature
• theater
• architecture
• design
• street art
• photography
• documentaries
• beauty
• concerts
• dancing
• education
• cooking
• boating
• movies
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• surfing
• sailing
• teaching
• entrepreneurship
• history
• psychology

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Classic French novels (Flaubert, Stendhall, Zola), Mr. Vertigo (Paul Auster), Yesterday's world (Stephen Zweig), Narcis & Goldmund (Herman Hess), the Chosen (H.Potok), Memories of a disturbed young man (Beigbeder), Albert Cohen (Belle du Seigneur, les Valeureux), Jean-Francois Deniau (the sea is round, etc.), Dostoievsky (The idiot, Crime and Punishment), Lautreamont (Les chants de Maldoror), Werber, Houellebecq, Romain Gary (all !!), Amin Maalouf (Les jardins de lumieres, Tanios' Rock) , Irvin Yalom (And Nietszche cried, etc.),

Movies: "Biutiful" (Inaritu) - amazing ! "Requiem for a dream" (Aronofsky), "la vie rêvée des anges" (Zonca), "l'Enfant" (freres Dardennes), "American Beauty" (Mendes), "Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless mind" (Gondry), Mr. Nobody (Van Dormael), Into the wild, Independance day (!), Melanie Laurent (as actress and director !), The King's speech, Jacques Audiard, Spike Lee, Gus Van Sant, Clint Eastwood (the director !), The Coen Brothers, etc.

Music: the Strokes, the Beatles, The Bee Gees, The Servant, The Decemberists (and a few more "the"s bands), Little Richard, Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Primal Scream, Yodelice, Kean, Coldplay, The Postal Service, Souchon, Gainsbourg, Brassens, Soko, most of the Banai family members... Aviatar Banai, Ehud Banai, Mashina (Yuval Banai !) and a few cool Russian bands I discovered recently (Victor Tsoi, Duna, DDT, Kanietz Filma, etc.)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Seen: the breathtaking view of the Peruvian jungle from the Machu pichu; the mystical beauty of the Taj Mahal, the intertwined complexity of the three monotheisms in the old city of Jerusalem; the Medarsas of Samarkand, the antique center of the old silk road; the wonders of Angkor Vat, the majesty of the red square;

Done: spent 3 days at a meditation retreat in a beautiful small village in Normandy (France) with a famous Tibetan monk; fell in love with a giant Manta Ray (Rosa !) in the Carabian sea near the French island of Guadeloupe; played the guitar in front of a metro station in Saint Petersburg with the goal to earn enough money for a Borch...!! Got kidnapped by fake jewelries scamers in India (interesting memories :), participated in a 2 days hitch-hicking competition in Hungary (got my bag-pack stolen, but it was still great !)

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to cook great French 'Boeuf Bourguignon' or Moroccan 'lemon chicken tagine', to jungle with 3 balls, how to play the ancient Chinese go game; the basic principles of photography, especially with regards to picturing your hat; I can tell you about Budapest''s history and architecture, show the coolest hidden places around town, and share a few tricks about happiness theory and positive psychology

What I Can Share with Hosts

A comfortable place to rest, good vibe and interesting conversations

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bahamas, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, France, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Laos, Latvia, Mauritius, Montenegro, Morocco, Peru, Portugal, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France, Hungary, Morocco, Russian Federation, Spain, United States