The distinctive feature of a the historical thermal town such is that the larger part of their heritage is no longer visible. How can we envisage the arrival of Alexandre Dumas, come to see Princess Mathilde in ERnghien; the arrival of Napoléon IIIrd in Vichy or Verdi in Montecatini  other than in the stories, the engravings or the photographs initiated by Nadar and his contemporaries photographers?  How do we imagine the path of the springs if not as a magical journey directed by some goddess of the water? To make understood is to first of all make imagined, and this is why the theme chosen for the first Café of Europe in the Centre des arts aimed to reflect upon the current methods available to make the invisible heritage of the thermal towns shine through digital tools. “To a man, riding on horseback through wild terrains, comes the desire for a town”, wrote Italo Calvino. One might today add that to him also comes the desire to see an invisible town. To quote Norbert Hillaire: “The thermal towns were European ‘meccas’, and though they may have now in some instances become “invisible towns”, they are still not “non-places”. It is perhaps that today, one no longer knows well what is a “place” and what taking place means exactly”.  And additionally: “One does not stop water, we channel it, we direct it, we treat it as a network. We make it an ally, for water is within us (our bodies) and in the ground. It is inside and out.