Échappées belles S05E29 Le Pérou
Beginning of the journey in Lima (town founded by the Spanish in 1535): Sophie meets Lotty Cordova and they visit the historical center of Lima (Unesco world heritage site): at the Plaza San Francisco they see the church if San Francisco and visit the catacombs of this church.Later they go to Miraflores where they see the seaside and they drink a pisco sour at the bar "Rosa Mujica".Then Sophie goes to a "peña" where she listens to Luz Katharine singing a typical creole song: Luz presents her Felix Casaverde, a great guitarist and they speak about the creole music of Peru (Spanish, Indian and African influences).Later they go to Barrio Alto, where musicians used to play in private houses and to the neighborhood of Barranco, in a park they meet again Felix Casaverde and speak about the great singer Chabuca Granda who was inspired by this neighborhood. Then Sophie travels to Cuzco: she meets there Marco Allan Chevaria: in a cafe they drink a coca leaves beverage (against the altitude sickness because Cuzco is at .400 meters above sea level) and visit the old town of Cuzco, the Incas walls, the Plaza de Armas with the cathedral build over an Inca monument.They meet a shaman who is receiving an offering of coca leaves to the Pachamama the goddess of the earth.Then Allan and Sophie go to the Valley of Cuzco, they ride horseback, see a Roman church with native painting and a cave with an Inca altar.Then they go the archaeological site of Ollantaytambo where a woman sings a song in Quechua language. Later Sophie meets Nicole de Cartagena in the countryside, indigenous women are picking some flowers: they go to the village of Chinchero where the women are weaving fabrics, they use always natural products (plants) to dye the wool. Then Sophie travels to Andahuaylillas, a town with a famous baroque church: there Kelly Menzana, leader of the local youth and Sophie meet in the church Walter Loayza who is in charge of the restoration of the church: with a lot of care they clean the statues and the paintings, they will cover some pieces with new gold leaves.Later Kelly and Sophie go to the house of Kelly's mother and and they eat guinea pig meat. On the next day Sophie and his guide, Raul take the train to Aguas Calientes and climb to Machu Picchu (Unesco world heritage site); Raul explains that there are still mysteries about this Inca citadel (center of agricultural and astronomic research, fortress to prepare attacks against the Amazonian plains or secondary residences for the Inca Kings). Besides we see the stories about the Villa El Salvador (a slum where Ana Sophia, director of the association "Arena y esteras" encourages the young men and women to learn acrobatics and to practice theater), about the different cultural influences in Peru (French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese immigrants), about the Peruvian horses ("the marinera" as a choreographic ballet for horses) ,about the agriculture in the Highlands (the offerings to the Pachamama made by a farmer, the growing of wheat,beans and maize, the terraced parcels), about the village of Maras with its salt evaporation pounds and the cultural activities in Quechua language), about the Peruvian gastronomy (the traditional ceviche, the seafood and the "anticuchos", skewers of beef and chicken) and about the village of Aguas Calientes with its economical growth and about Machu Picchu, build in the year 1.440 ; about 2.000 or 3.000 persons were working in the construction of this Inca citadel.
