Grand Est

 I carried with me a certain criticism of France—especially regarding the banlieues, a phenomenon largely absent in countries such as the Netherlands, Luxembourg, or also Germany. 

It was also noted that, after Czechia, France has the most widespread free tekno scene in terms of population. Unlike in neighboring countries, where refusal to shut down a sound system often leads to arrests and confiscations, the “party” there is expected to last through the night.

 Yet France is also a land of extraordinary beauty. The Ossuaire de Douaumont stands unforgettable in its majesty, singular in its gravity, not far from Toul. Not far from Ossuaire de Douaumont is Fort de Vaux. A flowering spring there was amazing. Across the whole Grand Est region, one encounters countless places of interest—monuments, historically charged landscapes, and cities that quietly carry meaning.

At the edge of Grand Est lies Luxembourg, Belgium and also Strasbourg, a city balanced on the border with Germany. From there, a tram crosses effortlessly into the nearby German town of Kehl. Few places in Europe allow one to pass between nations with such ordinary ease.

To me, Strasbourg bears the imprint of Germany through its closeness, yet it remains unmistakably French. For me, it is also place of an interesting meeting. 

 I wanted to write about Strasbourg because the city is beautiful—and genuinely safe. Compared to many others, it is also cleaner. Certain areas, especially around the historic center, resemble the carefully constructed sets of historical films.

Last year, this drew me to Strasbourg on the night of Christmas Eve. The city was empty, wrapped in silence, and revealed itself through a distinctly Christmas atmosphere. These streets are usually well kept, and at night—particularly at Christmas, without people—the nocturnal life in French cities like Strasbourg feels calmer. With its architecture and immaculate streets, the city appeared to me like a stage set, a quiet theater awaiting its actors. In its own way, this may also reflect the distinctly French sensibility for art and culture. 

In France, one is also struck by how close nuclear power plants can be to residential areas. The Grand Est region is no exception. It is here that the important Cattenom nuclear power plant is located, situated just a few kilometers from cities and inhabited areas. The plant is embedded in the landscape along the Moselle River, in close proximity to forests and settlements, which clearly illustrates the French approach to nuclear energy. France has built its nuclear network (the parc nucléaire) since the 1970s as a strategic infrastructure to ensure energy self-sufficiency.

Discotheque (Sidney SN DNB Mix) 2025

 Released 12/12/2025

 Lately I’ve been kind of productive. I recently recorded a progressive house mix. And now I’m back with DNB. It’s an energy I don’t want to keep inside for no reason. 

Yeah, Discotheque. This is the latest DNB mix from Sidney SN — a slightly lively liquid or disco DNB mix...

 

 Tracklist:

 Nichenka Zoryana & Amigosu – Voise

 Midnight – Quiet Earth

 1991 – You May Find Yourself

 Flava D – Reesey Thing

 Hoax & Zitah – What You Came Here For

 Dynamic Stab – Contrast Shower

 Hillsdom – Say What’s On Your Mind

 Rueben & SOLAH & Klinical – Your Move

 Dawn Wall – Holding On

 Sonic Art & Maykors – Keep Running

 Linx – Trying To Hold

 Ownglow & Elle Vee & Disco’s Over – Breathe

 Duskee & Deadline & Slay - CHICA

Integration

 Part 1.

 For instance, I cannot avoid Germany when I want to reach the West coast. I enjoy the journey. I try to also change the places where I stop along the way. Sometimes it leads to Dortmund, sometimes Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Cologne, or Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, or Munich. Or sometimes the days in Berlin areas. 

But it’s not just about traveling through Germany. I have the sense that the country has a strong integration system. Germany is often cited as a place where migrant integration works better than in much of Europe.

What is visible in Germany is that the system is set up so that it is worthwhile for people to be part of it, while also preventing the formation of spatially segregated, marginalized areas. People in Germany are also more open, and origin or ethnicity does not play as strong a role in integration into society and the system.

I mean that in Germany there are no clearly separated marginalized areas, unlike in certain parts of France for example. In other words, Germany lacks the visibly segregated, marginalized neighborhoods or marginalization.

In certain parts of France or in the Czech Republic, ghettos itself emerge: in the banlieues or in Czechia, or in Slovakia, people sometimes live outside the system due to limited economic opportunities, housing constraints, identity-based segregation, or structural racism. 

 Part 2.

 Not to leave the Benelux out, I have already written an article about Luxembourg economy, and I would also include the Western coasts. In the Netherlands, the natural coexistence is visible in the local communities. South Holland is very naturally diverse. The presence of “black culture” is also unmistakable. It is part of the character of the Western regions of Europe. In France, communities are also diverse, but there are areas of exclusion.

The West system encourages integration through economic opportunities and accessible social services, while urban planning avoids large, concentrated areas of poverty. People are generally open to migrants, and the emphasis is on participation and functioning within the system rather than background or origin. 

This helps prevent the formation of ghettos and allows migrants to take part in society across multiple neighborhoods.

The Days of Thunder

Insel Schütt

 About eighteen years ago, I used to enjoy reading blogs where bloggers described their experiences and adventures while traveling around Europe. In a way, I still do something similar today. 

My topics are also economic, cultural, and overall environmental experiences.

I also wrote about experiences with train stations. In Czechia, I often see articles about incidents around German train stations. I wrote that this says more about stations elsewhere than about Germany. 

Now I started a journey at one bus station and preferred to leave quickly… 

Someone resembling a homeless person, a drug addict, and apparently a former prisoner was threatening to stab homeless people with a knife—and then to stab me as well.

Maashaven

I told myself that I was already looking forward to Germany, and further on to the Benelux. And it really was like that. Elsewhere, of course, this reality does not exist. There was apparently one immigrant on a bus in Germany under the influence of some opiate like fentanyl, but nowhere was there anything like what I experienced at the beginning of the journey.

Christmas-time Amsterdam was great again. Amsterdam is beautiful in itself thanks to its architecture, and with the ever-present Christmas decorations it has the charm of real Christmas. 

Nieuwe Werk

In my opinion, Amsterdam is one of the most decorated and certainly one of the most beautiful Christmas cities in Europe. I like the whole Benelux at Christmas, as well as cities in Germany.

In the core Dutch city for this music genre, there was some Thunderdome event—it amused me 😄 that during my days in the Netherlands, over Christmas, I was also confronted with this modern Dutch history in the form of gabber—with the typical logo on bomber jackets and other clothing featuring this logo. 

I’m little amazed at how gabbers influenced the world. For example, Dutch Christmas (1999) by Scooter. Or One (remix of Always Hardcore Bodylotion). I’ve already mentioned that in my childhood I listened to happy hardcore along with other “dance” music, without even realizing it was happy hardcore. However, I tend to laugh at gabbers more for their dystopian history. In my view, there’s a certain sense of awkwardness in their utopia of drug use.

Just yesterday, Sunday, there was a sunny day to be had in the South. Amsterdam was typical, with a bit of wet weather. There was frost at the beginning of the journey, and also snow at its end in Germany… It was all kinds of weather during the Christmas trip.

Betraying Reality: Shattered Dreams

 Reality Above One

 Because I deal with strong topics, I sometimes think about—and ask myself—whom I actually want to address. I write quite a lot of “complaints” about things that statistics themselves sometimes contradict. At times I don’t even know why those statistics are misguided, even though they are refutable. 

I’m forced to think about who or what my writing is also for comes from something I wouldn’t have thought would happen a few years ago.

Sometimes I also put something into ChatGPT, and the AI responds based on general statistics. After a while of chatting, the AI starts to shift its position, because I begin to counter those general statistics with my deeper investigations, arising from experiences and more in-depth data’s. Sometimes the debates with ChatGPT are intense: I describe my experiences, then I start to confirm them myself with deeper statistics. 

In my view, I address people who are already being addressed—people who showed interest themselves when they didn’t understand the conflict. And it keeps being that way: they are interested…

I also started writing because there was something to respond to, due to that interest. This in itself says something about different environments. For it, there are so many reasons that they are hard to put into words.

I also address the other side…

In my own way, I see different kinds of understanding: on one side, knowledge of reality—ultimately, it is knowledge of one’s own reality. Yeah, knowledge of one’s own reality 😄. In the more or in the Western one, no one is surprised by their own reality. On the other side, someone is surprised, doesn’t understand, or even cannot believe that such a reality exists… One asks oneself: why?

I have had more real conflicts as well when defending the more Western part, purely because of personal experience—because of interest itself that arises from these communities. Sometimes someone also used this as their reason for why I should leave… One is then surprised that some people are unwilling to accept a reality that exists, simply because it is shaped by different communities of people. In the core, someone does not align with their idea of how the world works elsewhere, and by trying to eliminate one, these societies or the one cannot be destroyed… The world is not about the one. 

It’s like when I say that at certain genre events, ordinary people go, and that makes it mainstream, while something can be underground for ordinary people. There are different perspectives on the matter itself—how things are understood in different contexts, why, and who these “normal” people are, what normality means elsewhere. I don’t even want to reveal my own idea of what is considered ordinary somewhere. Maybe I’d have to blush.  

From what I’ve written, another of my experiences also follows. I encounter someone’s who try to deny reality. For instance, someone don’t have to know it in its entirety, because they don’t know the environment I’m talking about; nevertheless, this reality exists…

By denying reality, nothing can be changed. 

The reality will continue, because it is unchangeable due to the values of the given societies. Ironic is that this reality exists and will have to be faced, even if someone tries to deny it. Denial is useless. And denial actually reinforces doubts even more—it deepens it… 

Yeah, there are contradictions in the perception how the world ought to work 👐