yummy...

It seems like we have had our week of summer, and returned to the grey that is summer in Paris. It was actually quite pleasant to get some sunshine in the Jura recently. Even this little hoverfly was out and about. He was quite cooperative, as far as bugs go... must be the fame he was after.

Lunchtime in the Jura.

yummy...

Kruger

This entry jumps a little back in time. A change of scenery, to one of my favourite spots in the world; the South African Lowveld. If you have never been there then you may not understand what could be special about a seemingly flat, dry expanse of not much. If you have been there then you will understand just how good it is for the soul.

Just two quick pictures from what was a special trip to the Kruger Park. The Park is one of the real success stories of South Africa, larger than some European countries, it is home to most the animals to be found in the African wild. These photos from a little compact camera; gives you a feel for the amazing things that can happen in the bush.

Wishing your soul a little Kruger.

The Doors at Pere Lachaise

It all seems a little weird that a cemetery could be a tourist attraction. Not sure why I think that though, I too have toured the graveyards of New Orleans, Santiago de Chile and now Pere Lachaise in Paris. All three evoke the same kind of 'wow', their above ground vaults are quite something. Little towns with their 'chic' neighbourhoods and the high density spots on the other side of the railway lines. The extents people go to for the dead are quite amazing. Some tombs are probably more spacious that the average Parisian studio. OK, they do house the whole family I guess. Another 'wow', is one of complete disbelief; what low down scum the human is! Evolution may have resulted in this bipedal wonder of creation, but our morals are still that of pond algae. How could you trash a tomb to steal the marble plaque???

As Calvin says, "True genius is never understood in its own lifetime". So, if you weren't around, or didn't understand them, you have the chance to visit some fairly famous bones in Pere Lachaise cemetery. Not sure you will leave with more understanding though, answers are few and far between. Amongst many others, some names you may recognise: Chopin, Grappelli, Haussmann, Ingres, Lalique, Piaf, Proust, Wilde and someone definitely ahead of his time and little understood, Jim Morrison. Hence the title of this entry...

Above, some more of the doors at Pere Lachaise. So a fair amount of talent, the music, art and literature that could come out of this little cemetery is quite something. The 'city' planning, leaves a bit to be desired, some spots have quite a 'just happened' feel about them, whilst others seem to have their own 'boulevards' within the cemetery, hopefully Haussmann found his resting spot on one of them.





















The little alleys.

















The disorganised.





















The tree'ed quartier.















Wide avenues.





















Someone got it right, they decided beautiful women should adorn their tomb. One of three such lovely sculptures.





















Weird or not, it makes for an interesting stroll.

14 juillet - Bastille day

Just a little fireworks for 600 000 of my closest friends... fantastic!

Another one or two at my flickr page.

Stroumpf Union

"Ooh what have you done with your lighting? It looks faaaabulous!"

The famous scaffolding has been lit in stroumpf (aka smurf for the non French amongst us) blue to celebrate France's presidency of the European Union. Funny that the there is only one woman leader in the Union countries too... hmm never though of her a stoumpfette Merkel before ;) Although, it isn't difficult picturing Sarko thinking of himself as papa smurf.

All lit up in preparation for the 14 July fireworks, with the 11pm white twinkles as well. Quite a sight.

The Trocadero side; the stars.

Stroumpf or not, the Eiffel Tower looks great in blue!

druggies, vertigo and cinq baies

Quite interesting to see who pops into this blog; a lot of to-be dissapointed folk it seems. One can see the directing links to this page, and many a druggy lands up here after searching for "up my nose" and "white stuff". I guess they didn't ever imagine that such a search would reveal a Calvin & Hobbes fan that has written a couple of posts on skiing and snow. I am also pleased to report that a lot of vertigo sufferers now know a little bit more about U2's concert in Santiago.

A while back I splurged on a pretty cool SB-600 speedlight for the D80. Night portraits will never be the same again, and maybe now taming the dof with enough light for that macro shot will be a little easier. Inspired by the Strobist way of thinking, I decided to toss some pepper into my home made macro studio (read: "white paper bag"); and I thought only cats were entertained by empty bags ;) I kind of like the effect.

All those wrinkly coriander seeds make me think 'biltong' hmmmm...