During the summer months, the North Bay turns golden which accentuates the contrast between the dry grass, the sky and the dispersed trees. Mount Tamalpais is a recurring example of this beauty, in addition to the spectacular elevated ocean views.
Today, hiking the coastal trail, we enjoyed summery temperatures, beautiful sunshine and a mild breeze which ran through the dry grass creating a special hiss.
The title of this post is in French because these are French frogs croaking—and because grenouille is such a fun word to say: gren-OO-ee. Unfortunately it’s a really hard sound to photograph without stumbling upon an actual frog in the dark. So I’ve taken the liberty of pairing it with a lathyrus latifolius flower, also known as a perennial pea (or a gesse à larges feuilles in French).
The frogs were recorded at night in Le Cannet. The photo was taken in the hills above Èze-sur-Mer. I think they complement each other nicely.
This is a very familiar sound to me. The beach along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice was a soothing and invigorating place during my college years. The entire beach is made up of small polished stones, which are not only hard to walk on, but also sound like a rainstick when the wave washes back.
Bonus sound: With the airport pretty close to the beach, about halfway through the track, you’ll hear an airplane fly by. Typique!
MC Soleil and I are taking White Noise Lounge on the road—to France! So posting might be a bit irregular, depending on the good sounds we find along the way.
To get in the spirit of travel, I took a recording on BART between Daly City and South San Francisco, on the way to the airport. It’s not as “pure” as I’d like, you can hear people talking and the occasional cough, but I suppose it adds something to its vérité. For anyone who’s never ridden on BART before, it can be surprisingly screechy, especially at high speed underground. Gives me a newfound appreciation for the Paris metro’s tires.
After hours of shopping at the San Francisco Westfield Mall, we had pasta and a gigantic salad from the gourmet food court. The decor is pretty retro hip, but the tile floors emphasize every little sound, from people chatting to chairs sliding to silverware clinking to heels clomping… creating an interesting mélange.
