What i love about urbex (or Urban Exploration) is how the nature took advantage of an abandoned place. There is a city where i spend a lot of time with my girlfriend, in France (She loves photography and even studied it, so we knew that merging my love for Urbex with her for Photography was a good idea!) There, we used to walk in the woods and be alone, just the two of us and no one came. We liked to eat and sleep in the woods on a blanket we had and in front of us was this old and abandoned building. We always wanted to know what it was and if there was a way to enter. Just by looking at it, we had long moments of talk, trying to figure it out.
To get there, we had to walk on railroads, which was also beautiful to see. These railroads went from this place to another building, and to some kind of old train repair building which is now a museum. We were in northern France, where the industry first came to be and there were mines all around. Trains coming here transported coal and the building we saw was where trains were managed.
One day, we decided to go closer to it and see if it was possible to enter. We saw some kids playing around so we walked around it and waited until there was no one there. From the outside, we could perfectly see where there used to be parts of the building. A concrete staircase going to the first floor had nothing to do outside and this day, it was even removed. The inside was too dark to be seen but all we had in front of us was a glimpse of the first floor which seemed to be huge. Like a hall with no room.
The kids leaved the place. It was time for us to enter and discover what was inside. There was a big hole on one side which lead to a corridor with a lot of rooms and at the end of it was light. At first it looked dangerous.. what if there was still someone there? It was dark and no one could find us inside if something happened.
We finally decided to go in, walking slowly through the corridor and looked at those empty rooms. There was nothing left, everything disappeared. What's funny is that it looked like the building was under construction but it was actually abandoned. Nothing remained here, there was not even any plant, windows were condemned with huge metal plates so not even nature could enter this place.
Slowly but surely, we reached the end of the corridor. There was another hole in the wall, smaller this time. But upon crossing it, i finally found what i came for! Nature had found its way in and the view was beautiful. The light, the plants, there was no way to see inside from the outside and this view was unique!
Even my girlfriend tried to take a photo of me but i was too happy to stay still :
There was that big stair, going to the first floor and we immediately tried to go up. All we saw was a massive pile of stone, showing how everything was destroyed. We decided to avoid going there because it was dangerous enough here.
Finally, we wanted to see what was behind that door, what was downstairs. Upon approaching, we heard voices, people talking, and kids coming from outside. It was time to leave, time to go out.
It was an awesome experience. But if you want to do the same, keep in mind that it's not always legal and extremely dangerous. If you don't think before any move, it may result in serious injuries. You may find dangerous people or worse. So remember that Urbex is only recommended for people able to limit themselves. Also, don't do like we did, next time we will bring proper equipment! A phone is not enough for photos ;)
Well.. after going out, we walked on the railroad again. It was a good day, and we saw beautiful things. We know we will do it again later. There are plenty of things to see in Northern France. Things about mines and industry, World War happened here, a lot of abandoned factories.
To end it all, here are photos we took outside for fun :
