Funked out in Barca!

Hola! If Paris is Chic then Barcelona is FUNKY!! Pity its grey and rainy but its a wicked, relaxed colourful city with castles, catherdrals and funky architectural feats in nooks and cranny's all over. Of course GAUDI gets his own post!

5 Countries in 3 wks!?!

A defibrillator on every corner!

I think this may be a comment about how long it takes to earn enough money to visit or live in Monaco!
Got some spare time this afternoon? Why not visit another country? Why not visit the smallest country in the world (apart form the Vatican - the Vatican is a country?!?)? Yes, Monaco is 1.97 miles square. A lovely slice of glamorous casino royalty American screen goddess Monaco. Most famous from my childhood is the story of actress Grace Kelly marrying Prince Ranier. Oh and the gossip about Princess Caroline. Actually it was quite lovely. I strolled the Palace gardens on top of a very high hill overlooking a grand harbor with multimillion-dollar yachts parked next to Monte Carlo Casino.
Best jag so far yet - Cost? 2 Euro for the local bus!!

Bonjour to the beautiful French!

The woman next to me has had considerable ‘adjustment’. I can’t tell her age… however, I can see the influence of botox in her pouting mouth, the simulated tan from the lines on her hands and the desire to reverse her aging through the drawn-on eyebrows. She has very large breasts for a little elderly lady too.
She would benefit from the blur tool in photoshop just to smudge the edges.
She is reading various fashion magazines in depth. She has a large leather handbag and is wearing a lot of lovely silver jewellery. She is blonde which I saw very little of in France. No wondered our Aussie blondes get so much attention.
The people of France are tres bien. Very attractive.
Last night on the bus back from Monaco I sat amongst about 5 young French women all with long dark hair and thick eyelashes and slim builds. They were all well dressed and gregarious and full of life. The men too are beautiful with great taste in clothing and jewellery. Lovely shoes and leather coats. A simplistic view of colour with a majority of greys, black and slashes of bold red. It is still winter though.
In general a subdued culture but a comfortableness with short outbursts of impatience or malcontent. I loved watching two young men on scooters being ‘told off’ by another scooter driver. They were stopped in the middle of the road yelling at each other. The two rode off with smiles on their faces. It is acceptable and occurs without much drama.
The American’s I met living in Paris told me it is important to greet everyone. It was a tip actually and I have found a lively Bonjour Madam/Monsieur is well received despite how disastrous my following attempt at French is.

Le Ordinateur Portable

Expectations come from past experiences.
Expectations being, premeditated disappointments....
I thought I would write and craft on these long train rides but they are going so fast I have to watch the horizon(scenery) or I get nauseous. Watching the scenery wiz past with Xavier Rudd blasting in my ear is very cool.
Like Stefan – the Parisian Sound Engineer I met in Nice, I find a great deal of creativity in being out-of-my-comfort zone. Being able to work/craft/draw/write while on the road is very pleasurable and fulfilling for me.
The American Amtrak and Chinese trains were slower and enabled much spreading out and creating.
Free me from the influence of expectations.
Equipt me with le ordinateur portable – the laptop. Could it be like the little Acer I saw the French woman had at Nice – pocket size and very light? Could it be a Mac though?
I don’t ask for much….

Cote d'Azur

Blue sea's, blue skies, blue chairs - The Southern coast of France - The French Riviera. I've put away my thermals and taken local time. I walked with a french pace and crossed the road when I liked (forget the pedestrian lights!), I stopped to listen to the boy playing the grand piano on the promonade and even joined in on the applause. C'est La Vie, Viva L'France!

Nice Train

I am traveling very fast through the Champagne and Burgundy French country side. I’m feeling the on-the-road excitement again being on a wonderfully comfortable fast train across a country. It’s a great way to see a lot of country in a short time. Just now the Paris to Monarco Train is wizzing through some gorgeous French towns. It’s a lot hillier than for our trip to the Loire Valley. It seems very agricultural too with sheds, tractors, pink blooming vines and wind turbines. But the buildings are a very similar old stone style with very peaked roofs. There is a lot of water like in Ireland and many rivers and lakes. The soil is rich brown and the rolling hills - bright green, dotted with goats , pigs & horses.
Ahh we get closer to Lyon I see a snow capped peak out my right hand window and notice it has got even hillier and rockier. Closer to the French Alps or is it Switzerland? Geneva is on my left somewhere close (my seat is facing backwards) apparently you can walk to Italy from Nice if you are country collecting….
Wow the countryside has changed now – craggy rocky outcrops with churches perched on the top, rows and rows of vineyards running alongside shallow rivers. I’m so tired from walking along over Paris and Blois but I don’t want to miss this.
Through a tunnel and out pops the Mediterranean sea! We must be passing through Avignon & Aix-en-Provence. Seems more crowded and hillier, lots of grafitti & car parks but still rocky cliff tops with churches and pink and yellow stone apartment blocks. People playing basketball and boules..
Meiwee(of course), the French Riviera appears. A well documented coastline. I am reminded of Miami - palm trees, expensive sports cars, crowded hillsides crammed with apartment buildings and the azure horizon with the beautiful Mediteranian sea. I am here.

The Loire Valley guided by Nicole & Paris (Yes, Paris in Paris!)

Taste local cuisine, explore ancient churches, castles and the medieval towns of Beaugency and Blois . Discover more about extravagant French history and royalty. Visit boutique lined medieval streets and climb up to Gothic Churches with sweeping views of chimney stacked stone houses.

Your 2 day 110 Euro’s includes:

Return train ticket to Paris
2 nights in a warm and clean hostel in Beaugency
Return train tickets to Blois
French Pizza, Pelforth & desert in popular Brasserie
Admission fee to Grand Chateau Royale Du Blois
French Patisserie breakfast
Beer at the local bar in Blois watching the locals pass by
Ham, tomato & camembert croissant & red wine dinner
Basic French lessons!

Art.

Why study Art?
Because it is the centre of everything!
Because it is from the heart which is also the above!
Because it is history, it is the future, it is culture which is also the two things above!

How joyous it is to be in a culture that places their art in the centre of their capital city. Musee Du Louvre is on an Island in the centre of Paris housed in a massive and extravagant 13th Centrury Palace. While searching for the ‘Mona Lisa’ I was hoping for the same feeling I got when I saw Picasso’s weeping woman up close but came away disappointed as it’s completely enclosed by glass and a three metre barrier. Also the hoards of tourist’s lining up to have it behind them was off putting. Trop de touristes!
However the vast colletion of French, Italian 13th to 19th Century masterpieces was profound. I was engulfed by Art and it’s purpose. I saw the significance of an artwork before computers, camera’s and print ‘reproduction’. I felt the importance of changes of style and art movements. I was changed by Art.
I reflected that another culture, much closer to home, places such significance on Art – our Aboriginal culture. In fact this has been recognized in the Musee du Quai Branly commissioned by the last PM of France who has filled this celebration of indigenous art with Australian Aboriginal artists.
Is there something modern & Western in dismissing the significance of Art?


An assignment came to mind:

In photoshop and/or illustrator create an artwork (you could scan drawings/paintings) that references early 13th to 16th Century French and Italian Painting artworks such as portraiture and formal group poses. Note the stylized placement and concentration on form. You could choose a historical moment; modern and/or current history that would be as significant as those chosen in this period of history. You may need to ask your friends to pose.. How can you represent the oil painting technique and colours?
Consider the impact your painting will have – there is no TV, ipod’s, internet. How can you make it significant?
Aim for a larger than A4 size. Think BIG. Some of the artworks from this time were 2/3 metres square with heavy gold frames.
Due: when I return...

Hostel living and life on the road.

Now not all hostels are the same but many of the popular and central ones are. I have noticed some of the following similarities during my stay at the HI in The Republique here in Paris;
Tiny locker storage (20cm square)(Luckily my macbook is tiny).
Dirty shower cubicles. Yesterday morning in the toilet my foot got wet while someone had a great shower in the next cubicle. The shower’s are hot though and ALWAYS make one feel better!
Breakfast, which they excitedly told me was included, was 2 dinner rolls and some peach puree. Oh there was coffee and juice.
I suppose its like camping. I have to take my purse to the toilet with me because the room’s don’t lock.
You have someone crawling into the bed above you (which by rights should not be a bunk with it’s flimsy steel poles) at 2am in the morning only to have them snore for the rest of the night because they’re so drunk.
It’s a youthful venture as I survey my scars. I find when I’m on the road – carrying bags etc I get more scratches and bumps. It’s a more physical environment. Once my body gets used to it again I love it because I feel stronger. Stronger to haul that 15 kilo bag up on the overhang, stronger to take up a challenge or more forgiving of myself (and in turn, others) when my attempt at a new language/new venture flop/s.
Last night someone got locked out down the hall and banged the door for a good hour. This morning I can hear someone coughing up his guts and gargling. Note* he’s in the girls dorm area doing it!
I shouldn’t complain – I paid 65 Euro for three nights ($150ish) which is quite good in Central Paris. I’m sure there are better but it’s impossible to research.

J'ai trouve Paris absolument magnifique!

What can I say except that Paris is an amazing city. It reminds me of New York as far as never sleeping and safe to be out late because there is always people around. But I would go as far as to say it is THE CITY. Still to see London yet but it has got to be the most beautiful, cultured and interesting city in the world. It is a city. I don’t think I knew what a city was until my weekend in Paris. I want to speak French, I want to be French!
Tres interessante!

Dangling on the Dingle Peninsula.

Stunning coastline, Atlantic ocean views for miles and miles, great gulls and white houses - this is Ireland's beautiful Dingle Peninsula! Everyone needs to do the Slea Head drive once in their lifetime. I'm lost for words! Fortunately Paris drove, as I wanted to swivel my head around at every corner.

Paris & Niccy do Dingle

Join us on the Conner Pass for a Irish journey of adventure and Guinness! No doubt some of you heard what we experienced last night as I think Paris rang everyone in her contacts book. Did you get a call?
Dingle is gorgeous. We're not off to do the Peninsular and Ring of Beara. More buffeting wild south western Irish coastline!