Argentina was Holy Patte's last stop on their epic four-month journey through South America, discovering the magical terrain along the way; all the while keeping true to their mission to find craftspeople who are still making things by hand. It is also here that we say goodbye to Holy Patte - until they share with Autre another one of their magical adventures.
Bolivia is the second to last stop for Holy Patte, who last week took us on a tour of Peru and the week before that Ecuador. On their four-month journey through South America, no country would take them higher than Bolivia. It's staggering elevations have encouraged a seemingly extraterrestrial landscape to emerge over the millennia. Bolivia is also landlocked, which means there is no shore to infringe upon its remoteness. Amaury and Chloé, or Holy Patte, perfectly capture the eeriness of this landscape that could just as easily be Mars or Neptune - if only these planets had pink flamingoes that exist in the well below freezing environment of Laguna Colorada and wooly alpaca that roam the surrounding Andean plateau.
Holy Patte, who took us on a tour of Ecuador last week, present one of their most exciting journeys yet with an action packed, 30 day adventure through Peru. Just another long stop on their 4 month long excursion of South America, which has also taken them to Costa Rica and Colombia. On their exciting adventure through Peru, they first took a journey through the Amazon where they slept in wooden huts on stilts, eating piranhas for breakfast and holding wild sloths right from the trees. After trekking through the muggy jungles, it was off to the Huascaran National Park where the pair hiked through the freezing, snowy mountain peaks - camping all along the way. The it was off to a romantic motorbike excursion to the Incan capital of Peru, Cuzco and all the surrounding villages. Stay tuned until next week when we feature highlights from Holy Patte's journey through Bolivia.
The story of Parisian couple Amaury and Chloé is a real life choose-your-own adventure story. At the end of 2014 they graduated from university. At that moment, the realization that they had to get a real job began to sink in, deeper and deeper, like quicksand. That’s when they decided to drop everything and travel to South America, to discover “…The beautiful, the weird and the funny in this world.” Both extremely appreciative of handicrafts and anyone that who works with his or her hands, Amaury Laparra and Chloé Chausson decided to not only travel, but also to seek out those craftspeople in the deep jungles and mountain climes – “to discover their ‘savoir-faire’ and philosophy of life.” To document the trip, they created a blog – called Holy Patte, which is a combination of “patte de l’artiste” (a French expression that translates to ‘the artist’s hand’) and “holy moly.” Holly Patte a hybridization of cultural colloquialisms that would perfectly sum up their entire four-month trip – yes, four months! Fortunately, Autre discovered their blog and decided to collaborate with Holy Patte to reach a broader audience for their incredible and rare photographic journey that started in Costa Rica and ended in Chile. It should be noted that Amaury is the firestarter, driver and photographer and Chloé is in charge of getting lost, translation and writing. Their documentation is an astounding record of some of the rarest and strangest landscapes in the world. Click here to see the first leg of their trip in Costa Rica.
Take a magical, strange and exotic journey to Costa Rica, Holy Patte's first stop in their four month long journey through South America, where they spent a total of 22 days. 22 days of lush tropical landscapes, volcanoes, thorny trees, camping on the beach, smiling cows and more. Near their outpost in Huacas, which is not far from Tamarindo, they witness the nightly controlled burns that light up the night sky. People set their gardens on fire as a method of cleansing: "The rainy season here is so strong that every tree once destroyed by the fire grows back." 48 hours was also spent deep in the Northern National Parks with "white-throated monkeys, huge dramatic trees, burning sun, some shade and very little drinkable water." Another two days was spent amongst the volcanoes in Arenal where they crashed in a tent and awoke to a number of curious cows on a farm that produces fresh milk (click here to see Holy Patte's in depth tour of the fresh milk farm deep in the Costa Rican mountains). Holy Patte's second handicraft discovery was made at the studio and home of ceramicist and artist Pefi (click here to see an in-depth tour of her home and studio). Their last stop was the Osa Peninsula where they hiked and camped among the snakes, spiders and dolphins and the extreme biodiversity that exists in the area's thick jungles. Click here to see more from their journey the Osa Peninsula and learn more about their tour guide Tico who is currently photographing the last of the area's rare jaguars. Follow Holy Patte on Instagram (@HolyPatte) to stay up to date with their adventures and incredible handicrafts discoveries. Every week, Autre will be presenting highlights from their incredible journey.
