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Excerpts from the autobiography :
« 209 meters below sea...
a forgotten lake »
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"... I feel no anxiety, no need
to breathe, the concept of breathing as a means
to exist
is now foreign
to me.
The rest of the journey is
mine,
all mine. What ever the outcome,
all I have
to do is
allow the pressure of the water to play with my organism and
to
completely enjoy the ride. The clinking has stopped, I’m finally free, my
soul is free.
I
have entered the most
beautiful
part of the journey.
I’m
over-whelmed with joy as I know I
am alone, completely alone.
I smile inwardly thinking of those who have made this moment so difficult
to achieve. Whilst they
wait to see if I surface, so as to
pass judgment on
my success,
they don’t realise…. They don’t realise
and probably never will
that for
me, I’ve already won."
"... At 160 m, I open
yet
another door and I enter a whole new dimension. My body
has
ceased to
exist. The separation
of mind and flesh is finally complete. I no longer
feel my hands, nor
sense my body.
I am now a spiritual entity. I feel
blessed by the gods
to be living this magical moment.
For the fourth time,
I experience selfish bliss."
" I say to myself : “Incredible….so beautiful.
You’re so lucky!” You,
being
the underwater mammals, that dwell daily at these incredible depths.
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"As
the
60 kilo weight drags
me like
an arrow towards abyss
like depths,
I
feel
them to my right escorting me as I
am caught
in the wake of their
power. Like a painter inspired, my mind continues to fill the canvas : two majestic
humpback whales.
A Freudian interpretation of
this vision would probably
see the image before me as
a subconscious repositioning
of the dive in the
larger scale of things. Why to my right, am I not completely left handed ?
I
do not have the keys
to unlock the hidden meanings,
for now. Maybe at the
bottom, further down
I’ll discover them. I am but a drop dissolved in
this
great blue expanse."
Train of thought
"... We are all meant to die
one
day. We are born to better die.
Human beings are equipped with the faculty of thought, which
they say,
raises him above all other
living
creatures. Better than anyone
we
know the inevitable exit of
our existence and yet, should one amongst us act in
a manner that may
risk drawing it closer,
it is an entire system, which is shaken
in
its certainties. In this respect, even the men of the blue have
a lot to learn from the men of the clouds. “Himalayists”
climb their peaks and do not look back.
Formerly, sailors traveled the world
in search of new lands at the risk
of their lives. Many did not return. Were these actions, often justified and warranted
by
the hope of profit, power or even by science
or religion, that more noble than those based on an intrinsic and
visceral need for pure discovery, exploration of the human potential
and ones personal quest?”
"... The sea and its depths remain
a mystery for Man. For many it
still symbolizes darkness, a
world populated with evil
and languid creatures. For others, since she remains misunderstood, she has
kept her ancient and divine nature. To venture there, then
becomes a perjury against the gift
of life that was bequeathed to us.”
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" Our action, although unconven-
tional
will have had the merit of
underlining
and reminding people
that we all have
the ability to shape
our dreams and
make them reality.
The barriers are in
our minds. To
accept one's
limits
or
those set for
us, amounts
to failing in
our duty
as human
beings. Then, destiny
no longer
appears to be a mere
forced order.
It is given to us to
make choices
and hear the
voice
which speaks
to us
about
this destiny."
" These dives, from the outside,
might seem stained by conflict,
a power struggle between a
few
men
in search of futile supremacy.
But if
for the length of a lifetime,
which
is ours, you could take the
time to stop
and listen without
trying to understand, you too
could decipher this fabulous
destiny, which is ours."
"... Be it thanks to Jacques Mayol,
Enzo Maiorca, Francisco Ferreras, Gianluca Genoni, Umberto Pelizzari,
Loïc Leferme, Patrick Musimu or other actors of the Big Blue, all these dives have a common factor, to have
spoken to, touched and inspired an entire society in search of
inspiration and references. The quarrels past, often kept alive
voluntarily by certain media, at the end of the day stem from the
domain of human nature.
But aren’t the sirens of the Big Blue human after all, and in that
case capable of the best as of the worst? Otherwise, all that would
be left
would
be for the world of common mortals
to deify and
erect statues
in our image."
"... When you’re able to hear your
soul release its last sigh,
like a dying
man would his last breath, yet your
body,
which hasn’t been yours
for
the last tens
of
meters, tens of
seconds lived as an
eternity, continues
to outlive you ; at that moment you
are
no longer, you are everything.”
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