quotes column

visit my new quotes column on the right...

london splendor

me......

london stranger

stranger...

pics from london again

london. places. people. me

pics from london

london its places and people

london

it used to be one of my least favourite places in the world. when i lived in england more than ten years ago i think i visited the city twice in that year. it just did not appeal to me at all back then. i might have been too young to understand the city. perhaps i was intimidated by its magnitude. but after the last couple of visits the city has wooed me into believing otherwise. these are my thoughts about the city. those who follow the blog know that i am a bit of a black and white lover. that is probably why i find the silhouette of the city so attractive. the darkness and then sudden surprises of brightness. the big parks in central london and the fun of hopping on and off buses. watching the ants marching up and down the streets from the top of a big red bus. finding a bargain in lillywhites. getting off and buying yet another hot chocolate to numb the cold that might have crept into your bones by now. to see the odd model or two stroll by in sloane street with the weekly shopping under the arm. the flashing cameras at piccadilly circus. the mysterious gloom of carnaby street and soho. the ice rink in hyde park. the cyberine with its swans. the crazy old lady on her rollerblades flying by as if see is sixteen years old. there are endless memories of yet another london stop over. i think i enjoy the mood and atmosphere of the city. it calms my senses and frees my spirit. i am always here on my way somewhere. north or south. it has become a three of four day holiday stop. i always get time to just blow off some steam and relax. perhaps the reason our relationship has shown such remarkable improvement. i love london.

beautiful or pretty

i often wonder as i walk the streets of montpellier or any other place in france. where does the french paradox have its origin. it surely seems to have proved itself. all the woman are beautiful. well tended. it seems so effortless. where you travel to other countries and city you see pretty people too but it is not the same. the french women seem to be the clothes and fashion where others are simply wearing the clothes. they look comfortable and relaxed. not pretending. just being. i guess there is a hint of subjectivity involved in my opinion. but that is for me the difference between beauty and pretty. some just have it. others have to wear it to try to be it.

snow in the med

sometimes in life things happen that you never expect. like snow in montpellier. have a look...

half empty or half full

a question i keep on asking myself over and over the last couple of months. why do i love wine so much. what is it about this perfected essence of life that prickles my senses in so many ways that it makes the hair on my back stand up. to many people unfortunately only a way to escape the troubles of everyday reality by over-indulgence for which this art work has never been destined for. a shame really. a notion i strongly and openly oppose. what a waste and a bad show window for future purists. so why wine. well i like to think of wine as a living being. that has a beginning and an end. a life of puberty. adolescences. difficult student life perhaps. then growing up and maturing till you reach a stage where it goes downhill very quickly from there. i like to think of its upbringing in the vineyards and about the people that cared for the grapes. the circumstances it had to face ranging from extreme heat to cold windy and even icy conditions. fighting and beating all the odds to produces perfect grapes for yet another grand millesime. and afterwards how it evolves into excellence. whether you keep it for two years or twenty it has its peek. to follow the development is like watching a child grow up. until that day when you finally pull the cork and the harmony of nature is revealed. the imagination of winemaker meets consumer. appreciation of consumer rewards the collective efforts of viticulturist and oenologist together with what nature has given them that year regarding soil and climate. how they shaped and moulded those grapes into perfection. a job well done. next time you take a sip keep in mind the slog and toil. i guess that is the answer. wine releases a sense of belonging in me. it brings about a sense of contentment just thinking or speaking about it. i like the way wine makes me think about things. about life. always half full please.

mind games

how does one give something away that was not yours in the first place. how does one erase a thought or memory if your mind keeps on clinging to it. how do you say no or call stop to an over active mind that never knows when enough is enough. does anyone know how to deal with the sub-conscience. who decides what gets screened. who decides what is shown on the big screen of your imagination. am i the only one that dreams of what could have been. am i the only one that does not want to let go. the only one that still has hope in things that can never be. that refuses to take no for an answer. that keeps on fighting till the bitter end. the one that has to pick up the broken pieces in the end and does not feel hard done by the whole ordeal. i guess it is either a case of stupidity or stupidity. not entirely. perhaps most of us give up to easily and the minority clutch to that last sense of immortality. a feeling that makes you go tick inside and the answer as to why will be a search that will last for ever. like a cat chasing its own tail. mind games that keep us alive on a certain level of emotional well being. hope. indeed a dangerous substance. but if applied properly i would hope to think can change your daily existence.

a good year - part 2

.............sunday was probably one of the best days of my life. why you may ask. simple. because i found a part of my life. what does this mean. i dont know yet. but something just makes sense after sunday. i will tell you what happened and then you might understand.....so we drove to avignon and from there to gordes. this is the little town form the movie. it is even more breathtaking in real life than on the film. we stopped as we entered the town and just stood there looking at the city in its full fortified glory. we stared at the backdrop which comprised of most of the luberon and vaucluse regions of provence. you could see all the way to apt in the east and with the overlooking mont ventoux over our shoulders. we tried to find all the locations of the movie. it was so much fun and it was a great laugh. we drove around the same fountain like madmen. we found the little cafe. everything. then as fate would have it we bumped into wome locals and they explained that the chateau real name in chateau la canorgues. but that finding it would be difficult and that the owner is not to friendly. that did not phase us the least. but with time in hand and it not being to far away we sat down at a table and drank some of the sweet nectar of the valley. we sat there in the sun. laughing. discusing the surreal day we were experiencing. so off we went. trying to find the hidden treasure of chateau la canorgues. but the day with all its surprises and finds added another. we ran out of gas. and the only place we could find open was a local bakery. we trusted the stars and begged for some olive oil which believe it or not took us to where we needed to be. and as the sun went down over the luberon we found our hidden treasure. there it was. even more beautiful and spectacular than we thought. it was a day of pleasure and euphoria. of unimaginable feelings and thoughts. all compacted into the simplest things of life. and that was perhaps the turning point that i can not find the words for. it seems indeed as if it will be a good year. ce la vie........

a good year -part 1

wow. what a weekend. after some intense weeks of studying and classes we finally finished a very tough module. so it promised to be a good weekend of relaxing and forgetting the hard weeks behind us. so as a class of aspiring euromasters students we set out to town on friday night. we decided to have some moules & frites at a belgium restaurant. it was a good evening and ended in no real drama or disater. the next morning the group set out to the west in direction carcassonne and minervois to experience the ancient roman era in its full glory. with the winter and the rain now nestling in in the south we walked the cobbled stone streets of the old city of carcassonne before ducking into a inn-like restaurant for some hot onion soup. followed by lasagne and some lemon pie. perfect. we visited some of the local galleries in search of a picture for my wall which we eventually found. we took a detour around the northern areas of minervois and visited the naturally fortfified town of minerve. spectacular. the perfect setting to drink a cup of hot chocolate before heading back home. it was a spectacular drive. criss crossing throught the largest area planted under vines in france and being directed by the canal de midi. a channel connecting the atlantic ocean with the med. the mysterious setting of the campange was the perfect way to relax. the evening we rented a dvd. a good year. set in france. a story about wine. and the good life in the south. afterwards we felt so inspired that plans were made immediately to go and search for the mysterious chateau la siroque. but in real life it does not exist so the hunt was on...................