new world order worse than apartheid

I don't know about you. But the hype and panic that certain scientist and politicians are creating with the carbon dioxide emitted and/or create by man causing global warming is getting the better of me. For long I have been patient. Waiting. But enough is enough. So I am going to write my thoughts/views. Or should I say the questions that float around in my head. This is not a political or scientific post. It is merely someone asking questions and making some statements to stimulate you to think a bit outside your box and stop feeding on the propoganda of the new world order.

The debate has been going on for a long time and dates back even as far back as the 1970's when a Swedish scientist started this bizarre idea that its the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that causes gloabal warming. At that stage the earth was going through a cold period and peole were fearing a mimi ice age.

The earth is heating up allright. We all know that and we all see it too. But it is NOT caused by the carbon dioxide. I dont want to start a "scratch" about that. I have seen the facts and I have made up my mind. If you are still sitting between two fires, go and do some reading and speak to a real scientist.

My mind turns to the activities behind the scenes. The people putting the money into all the research. The politicians involved and pushing hidden agendas. If you look around the world it is usually the people "at the bottom" suffering. The people that are suffering enough already. My mind turns to the United Nations and G8 countries that do hand outs infront of television cameras, but steal with both hands behind the scenes. I think of the people in South America. The people in Africa. I ask why the western world is so afraid to see these continents develop. Why is Africa not allowed to use its coal and oil to produce its own energy? Why does Africa have to buy other more expensive sources of energy? Is Africa not allowed to have its own electricity? The western world knows very well that Africa can not afford these alternative sources of energy.

This to me is just another way of warfare. But the decete and the lies is what kills me. People fighting against a global warming scam thats killing the future of African kids. Musicians and artists speaking out against global warming and carbon dioxide. The fight they claim is to save the planet. But its all about coal, oil and energy. When is enough going to be enough.

There are many examples in Africa where the western world just sat back and did nothing. It is as if they are waiting for Africa to disappear or self destruct. Take Mozambique. Look at Angola. Or countries like Nigeria. Or lately Zimbabwe. Mozambique and Angola have some of the richest soils in Africa. The crops grown there will be able to sustain the local need. Plus these countries would be able to profit and grow economically if they could export. But is it a co-incidence that these two countries have some of the highest amount of landmines on earth? Why after 30 years of war in Angola are the streets of Luanda floaded with western business men? Does it have anything to do with the oil of the coast of Angola? Same story in Nigeria? I'll take my guess. I wonder why for so many years why nobody did something about the APARTHEID in South Africa. But the western world gets involved very fast when oil is at the centre of its attention. Eastern Europe, the mid-East. I find this all to much of a co-incidence. I can not stop thinking about their political games while the world is dying around them.

I ask myself the question: What are these guys up to? Which agenda are they pushing. It makes me sad to think that there are people/countries with pockets to deep to see that they are killing innocent people. Blinded by greed. For wealth and power. And what do they gain in the end? Really? I can not stop to wonder if "they" will change their minds and ways if they walk bare feet in the mud in Africa or pick up the children left as orphans because of the money THEY put up for wars to be faught. My guess? Probably not.

So don't fall for their propoganda on the global warming issue. Don't be sucked into the new world order. It is just another well dressed story to push their own hidden agendas. To cover their dark secret. I acknowledge that this is the words of a passionate/desperate person. But somewhere it has to stop. I have been too passive for too long. It time I get up and do something. You should too. Start by not listening to their lies...cos its worse than apartheid.

friend or foe

In the past when people would ask me what my opinion was on “trust” and how I would define it or prove it I would answer: Trust is not something you can prove. I can not prove to anyone that I trust them or that they can trust me. It is a leap of faith in a way. You can not quantify or quality - I believed and in some way I still do – that trust is only something that you can prove you DON’T have….thus by breaking trust is the only way of showing your worth in this department. (Hope I haven’t lost anybody yet)
Now I ask myself the question whether or not friendship can be measured with the same mindset or belief. Well at least that has been my experience. People these days, in the era of technology and science; have come up with new ways to claim things. Like friendship on Facebook is a good example that we are all aware of. I am not for or against Facebook. In fact it helps me to keep up with friends across Europe on a day to day basis. People that respond faster to FB than they do to e-mail or phone calls. It has become just another helpful tool if implemented as such. For others it’s a favourite past time. All of a sudden you have people in all shapes and sizes claiming to be your friend. Before I realised this I had “accumulated” over 700 so-called friends in less than 6 months. Then I asked myself: Where did all these people come from? And why are they my friends. Then I started with a clean-up act and removed over 550 people. The feeling was unreal and so liberating. I am actually considering shutting the whole thing down. Like I started to despise my mobile phone, I am starting to despise FB. Not for the reason that it is not helpful. But because others are ABUSING your friendship by it. They make claims that are not their to make. And then get offended when you don’t respond or reply. EXCUSE ME? How can that be right?
So I am asking myself the question: Who are the people that ARE my friends? My REAL friends. There are many people claiming they are, but they have disproved themselves by way of the introductory statement. So that’s what has brought me to this place of contemplation: When do you cut somebody loose?
I am not into burning bridges. In fact I think it’s wrong. But I also think it’s wrong that people want to catch the ride with you when its fun and all is going well. But when the head wind picks up or the distance grows wider and wider, they fade like mist before the sun - ghosts so to speak…or fair weather friends if you like. They like to watch you or listen to you speak, steal some inspiration and then run off to do their own thing until the inspiration runs out and they need some more of the same thing…in basic biology that is called a parasite. I am more into symbioses – meaning give an inch gain an inch and we all live happily ever after. Its understanding that in a fallen world like we live in today people find it harder and harder to uncover a true source of inspiration. Funny that the people I expect (and know have already found the Source) to have this inspiration thing covered are the ones constantly seeking for more. More of what? It’s also funny in a sad way to see how this phenomena spins around in a cycle. End of the year is a big peak in the graph. Everyone is searching that one thing that will inspire them through to the end of the year and into the new. Then the graph slows down as the first head winds pick up. Then it is Facebook-phone-a-happy-friend lifeline to find some more feel-good-esteem? How pathetic.
So – do I cut them loose or not? I don’t know the answer yet. I guess I will access every situation and individual on merit, based on history and circumstances. And because I am the one writing the program for my own matrix. Thus, I am the one who decides who gets to play and who doesn’t.
I don’t think I am a difficult person to be friends with. But I don’t like being taken for granted. I guess we all feel that way. We have all been taken for granted and the feeling sucks. Whether it was an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend, parents or work colleagues…it doesn’t matter. You know the feeling. I am not perfect either, but I don’t take people for granted. But when I sense I am being taken for granted I step back into the shadow to follow the situation with a hawk eye. I think, to be honest, the cutting loose for me happens on a deeper level. To define it better - you are pushing someone out of your close circle of comrades into the sea of familiar faces where he or she becomes just another buddy by the sea.
I am saddened by the lovelessness that I encounter these days. I never expect of people to out-do themselves. But there are some basics. And there’s a Good Book that says in the last days the hearts of many will grow cold and there will be lovelessness and lawlessness on the streets…the thought sends shivers down my spine.
I guess this spell of contemplation has something to do with growing up. Not necessarily age, but they have a way of walking hand in hand. You come to a stage in your life where you have seen things, you have experienced things; a place where you know what it feels like to hurt and to be hurt; and eventually things become crystal clear – you realise what you want? At least in some way for me it’s true. And I have come to the conclusion that I don’t need people around me that will waste my time, cos time is the only thing in life that I have that cant be replaced. Once it gone, it is lost forever. Thus I will surround myself with people that inspire naturally; that live life; that are positive despite the head winds and the odds stacked up against them; people that refuse to roll over and die; people that make the waves, not only ride them; people that want to LIVE - not because they have to but because they WANT TO. These guys and girls I want to call my friends.

see you on the other side

How do you write a summary about a whole year that’s gone by? I don’t think you can. Well I am not really going to try either. But the end of a fantastic year has indeed arrived. An action packed year that never seemed to disappoint me. I feel extremely privileged to have been able to live 2008 in my own shoes. There are so many great memories, stories and happenings. You just have to page down on the BLOG to see a glimpse into my life over the last year. It has been a blast - in all facets of life…academic, social and spiritual. Someone must be smiling over me?
It was a year where I rediscovered a lot about myself. I got the chance to find a piece of myself that felt lost for a long time. I learnt once again my own strengths and weaknesses. I had sufficient time to reflect and discover what I want to see, do and find in my own future. I got the opportunity to live my dreams. I got an even better opportunity to dream new dreams and write a new bucket list (only because EVERYTHING on “to-do-list” has been crossed out). I travelled to places near and far. I experienced different cultures, I tasted some of the best cuisine, and I drank some of the world’s best wines. There was the further awakening of my passion for the art of wine and the dying down of other misguided distractions. I travelled across countries to see friends. I made new friends and built new relationships. Unfortunately I lost some friends during this year - friends whose words and impacts will echo through my life. I journeyed into unknowns and came out stronger and enriched.
I can not be otherwise BUT encouraged about the time that awaits me. I love living passionately although it is not always sunshine and roses…let’s be honest about that. You bump your head and/or take a wrong turn. You end up down the wrong alley and it has consequences. But it’s about your attitude and then which way you run after your mis-hap.
I guess as before, I love to look into the small and simple things in life, to make all of it less complicated. The rising or the setting of the sun, the noise outside my window, the wrinkles on the woman’s face that I cross in the street, the mysteries in every wine, and all the stories that life communicates to us in everyday life. But how much of it do we miss? I am afraid – too much! I have made it my purpose to stop, to reflect, to listen, to absorb, to taste and to put it in my bag to take it with me wherever the road leads me.
And where will that be I ask myself? I don’t know. And that’s great. I am glad that I don’t know what the future holds. I am certain that if we knew beforehand we will just screw it up cos our heads will get in the way, instead of following your own heart. I am glad that there lays a mystery ahead to unravel, a story to live and to write afterwards, a wine to drink and friend to meet, a life to live.
See you on the other side…

global warming hocus pocus

please see the videos i have posted.

no disguise

I tell the story of a man who would not listen
Looking inside for the pain that he preferred
Time and time again he pushed against the system
Never looking for the lesson to be learnt

One day soon love will offer its solution - if I close my eyes
Someday soon there will be a resolution - no disguise

Now he sits inside the walls he created
In a space that has no reason
A space that has no time
Anger burns inside him
It is never on his face
He is serving sentence for his crime

One day soon love will offer its solution - if I close my eyes
Someday soon there will be a resolution - no disguise
Love will offer its solution - if I close my eyes
One day soon there will be a resolution – with no disguise

If I close my eyes

Someday soon love will offer its solution – if I close my eyes
Someday soon there will be a resolution – with no disguise

the way it happened

Last weekend, Jean-Paul and I set of by TGV for Champagne for a weekend of absolute BLISS. It is a strenuous journey seeing that you take the fast train to Paris where you have to change stations between Gare de Lyon and Gare d’Est. It’s a fun adventure in itself, cutting across the city to make the slow train that takes you from Paris to Epernay.
We arrived in a gloomy Epernay with light drizzle and grey skies. But seeing that most of the weekend’s activities would take place indoors, the gloominess did not faze us one bit. After all, following the long journey from the south to the north we were more excited about the bubbles and seeing the FAMILY of Champagne Jean Vesselle.
The weekend was a festival of wine tasting hosted by Champagne JV and their distribution partners from all the corners of France – Alsace, Loire, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone and Chablis. So our journey was not only for pleasure, but also to give a helping hand to who-so-ever that would need some muscle to carry a box or open a bottle. And opening bottles we did. However, we got assigned to manning the beer stand. What a shocker! Who sells beer in CHAMPAGNE???? In my defence – I did NOTHING! As a matter of principle – for one: I despise beer in any form shape or size. And two: this was CHAMPAGNE!!! Hahahaha. Jean-Paul, being Dutch and smelling the money, saw the opportunity to distract visitors from the wine milieu and patronised them with “his” flavoured beers from Burgundy (who makes beer in Burgundy????) He managed to sell most of the stock while I wrapped boxes and packed orders.
But after each day, we got together around the big tables of Champagne Jean Vesselle where there NEVER seems to be a shortage of good food, good friends and the best bubbles in town! We FEASTED on the best foods of the region and we must have opened 10 or 12 Jeroboams (equivalent to 3L) plus an endless number of Magnums. Magnums are known to be the best volume to sell and consume Champagne. I don’t recall seeing or opening a “normal” size 750mL bottle the WHOLE weekend. This just epitomises the HOSPITAILTY of Champagne Jean Vesselle. Never a shortage but everything in ABUNDANCE and always putting out the best! These people have become like family and I like to call CJV my “home” in France. Not only because of the bubbles and my passion for the product, BUT MORE SO because of the PEOPLE. Their warm and open hearts makes even the biggest stranger feel at home. After every visit I leave with fond memories and an expectation for my next visit – hopefully a speedy return.
Needless to say – it was hard for Jean-Paul and me to get on the train in Epernay late Sunday afternoon after another unforgettable weekend in Bouzy. We must have looked like people with “a problem” as we were carrying three boxes of bubbly (the generosity of “mon chef” and “ ma patronnne” – David and Delphine) with us across platforms and in between Metro stations in Paris. Me clutching my CJV 1991 Magnum as if my life depended on it!

We arrived in Montpellier just before 23H00 Sunday night – just enough time for a quick “rinse” under the shower and jumping in bed. Cos our next journey kicked off at 05H00 the next morning – direction Rhone - a region that is about 350km north-east of MP. But this was a school field trip of two days….
Luckily there was time to catch up on some lost sleep on the bus. Travelling by bus is my least favourite mode of transport for the simple reason that even if I occupy three seats there are still not enough space for my legs. Also I always manage to sleep my neck into a spasm. Don’t ask me how I manage that.
We arrived in Hermitage shortly before 09h30. For the following three hours we visited the vineyards, the cellar and ended off with a tasting. The steep slopes of this region are famous around the world of wine and were majestic to see and experience. From there we went to different regions, followed by more tastings and more treacherous travelling by bus.
The highlight of the short two day stop in the Rhone was, without surprise, the heartfelt return to Chateauneuf du Pape – a small village nestled in the heart of my favourite part of France. You have the valleys of Vaucluse and the Luberon lurking around the corner and the towering Mont Ventoux (Lance Armstrong territory) as an imposing backdrop. The simplicity of the earth around this region is mystifying. I have been there four times already and every time it takes my breath away. For multiple reasons: One – the wines from Chateauneuf are world-renown; two – the wines/quality are overwhelming; three – there is a solitude that hangs in the air; four – the small round stones called “gallet” that cover the face of this coveted piece of earth stirs a “romance” between earth and vine that is impossible to explain. I will keep on returning to this place time and time again.

chateauneuf du pape

the simplicity of the earth

a vine doing well

someone has been brave enough to try and work the soil

this is the "soil" of chateauneuf

pure beauty with Mont Ventoux lurking in the background

hermitage

the great vines of Jaboulet

the village of Tain d'Hermitage

spot the chef in yellow

panoramic view form the top of Hermitage

panoramic view form the top of Hermitage

weekend in Bouzy (encore)

bruno and david struggling with another Jero 1995

my partner in crime...jp

serious business...all this bubbly

on the way home

weekend in Bouzy

en route to Bouzy

the Best of Bouzy

my family in Champagne

the BOSS lady and me

opening a Jeroboam (3L) - Vintage 1995

champagne and rhone

i have pasted the last couple of days in Champagne (the weekend) and the Rhone valley (study trip). what a blast.

Champagne was as always pure pleasure in the highest form. there was a big event the whole weekend in Bouzy and we got the call up to go and support the locals. something which is never hard to do. especially if they continue to open some of their best nectar...in all forms shapes and sizes. i have to say that champagne from a magnum (i.5liter) is simply the best. and the hospitality of the champenoise never seem to amaze me. they always bring out the best. i always gain some kilo's there. even in two or three days. i did not think it possible. but it is when you eat like that. and washing it down with the bubbly nectars....sweet heaven on earth.

then the magic of the Rhone valley. pure mystery. the rolling hills. the steep slopes on the river bank. the mystifying round gallet (stones) of the plateau of Chateauneuf du Pape. the sun beating down in the summer and the chilly Mistral (a wind) that blows down the valley to the south and into the sea. you get a sense of destiny when you stand on those funny round stones in Chateauneuf with the winds blowing through your hair and on your face. you think of man and woman who have toiled in this hard part of the earth with its simplicity and beauty. with the Vaucluse and the Luberon just around the corner, Mont Ventoux to the east and the Med futher south - it must be one of my favourite places in the world...

the sites in barca

gaudi (i dont like it much)

dali - the mad man

gaudi

a view from the top

another view from the top

more pics from barca

portugese prick

tapas

all the kids together: jp, clara, nuno and madame coralie

vega "freaking" sicilia man!!!!

pretty couple in pink

pics from barca

nuno and i enjoy the fruit of the vine

a lighter moment shared between friends

VEGA SICILIA 1995

at work (always at my post!)

preparing the feast

have i come full circle?

This was the question that got stuck in my head yesterday as I made the train journey back from Barcelona to Montpellier. Have I come full circle? The last time I went to Barcelona I got robbed of everything that was precious to me. But as the train rolled on slowly there where many more thoughts that passed through my mind. I was not just the fact that I laid the ghost to rest. There was something else. Other things.

The first thing was the fear of not seeing my friends as often as I would like when I eventually return to wherever it is I am going next. Seeing Nuno and Clara in Barcelona, plus the conversation with Joe and seeing Maria, Angelique and Marco made me realise how fast things change. All the people that have played a role in one way or another in the past year. Seeing them again felt like completing a full circle. Watching the small towns go by took me back to some of my early days in France, before I meet all the people mentioned above - when I was still seeing the south with friends from the language school. People like Sanna and Nathalie. It was like returning to all the happy memories. The faces and places of people of the last year - perhaps another glimpse of a reflection.
Perhaps this is not the place to write down all that happened in the past year. The highlights of Montpellier. The endless summer. Champagne. Weekends away in London and Paris. But for a moment on the train yesterday the last 18 months flashed by and I could not help to sit and wonder about it all. It scares me to think that I have spent more time here compared to the time that is left of this incredible journey. People ask me if I don’t miss home. But I think to myself – where is home? Because the world has become my playground. From the hills of Tuscany to the plains in Champagne; the corner cafes of France and the waiting in transit on my way somewhere or returning from some place; From hotels and guest houses to the simplicity of my apartment in Montpellier.
I guess that way I love trains and the solitude of travelling on them. It feels as if time stands still for a while and you are given the opportunity to reflect on days and months gone by. All your sins and mistakes surface. You reflect on missed and fumbled chances. You ponder about broken hearts and misunderstandings. You consider the diagnosis of good fortune and lesser chance. You analyse and interrogate. You try to connect the dots and blot out the sun. Trying to make sense of it all. Smiling about weekends in Paris; smiling about that day in the sun in Collioure; the scooter and sunsets in San Torini. It all has come full circle indeed.
I feel as if I am coming closer to the end of an important chapter. And the prospects of the next chapter look peachy. Somewhere inside of me there is an echo of significance. A pushing; a pulling forward; a drive to pursue and investigate; to leave no stone unturned. I struggle to hide the excitement in me. As if the Fountain within has reached maximum pressure and the waters are about the spring forth. All I can do now is to turn back unto the Highway and follow the signs pointing North. The time of reflection has passed…and the time to write another chapter as come.
So the answer must be yes. I have come full circle. But in so many more ways than one…still loving life; still following the call that is my Heart; still answering to the Name that is mine and now reaching out towards the Desire. There is no substitute for living passionately.

mat kearney

do yourself a favour and get your hands on this album.

give barca another chance

they say the only way to overcome your fears is to do the very thing you fear most. if your are afraid of hights you have to climb or jump for somewhere high up. if you are afraid of narrow spaces spend a couple of days in a submarine. or in my case if you have been robbed in barcelona a year ago go back and faces the music. so thats what i am going to do this weekend. me and some of my best friends are having a reunion in barcelona. nuno is flying in from italy. clara is coming from madrid while jp, coralie and myself will make the journey down to barca by train. i have to say i am excited for more than the obvious reason of re-writing my barcelona history. i havent seen nuno and clara in a long time...well since the endless summer. it will be like meeting up with family. and so many things have change since and will be looking forward to hear all the news and stories. as for the barca ghost....well, we will have to wait and see. but this time i am not taking anything of value with me except myself! everybody always says how great city it is and due to my bad experience last year i really want to put the ghost to bed. bad things happen to good people and i can not blame the city for that. it would not be fair. so i have an expectation to go and see the real barca...eating crazy food, drinking good wine and dancing with friends till early morning. bring it on!

a touch a reality

after lots of serious posts i have decided to just give you a run down of what has been happening down here in the south of france. well for one the climate has changed and it has been cold and stormy for the last two weeks or so. crazy as it may seem but it was even colder here than in london seeing that i spent a couple of days there last week with my family. it was good to see my parents for the first time in a year. it took my mother about five or six second to recognise her youngest. i think she was more surprised than anything else. they did not know i was coming. nothing like the element of surprise. my parents are on the back of their european tour for this year and after spending time in portugal italy germany france and england i think they are looking forward to going back home on wednesday. none the less it was special catching up with them. many things change and the year has been long. for all of us i guess. back in france the classes are slowly squeezing the originality and spontaneity out of me. too much of the same and for too long. perhaps my brain is not use to this sort of long hours anymore. or perhaps i should blame the endless summer. i have always been someone that needs to be stimulated intellectually. perhaps the monotonous lecturing is getting the better of me. or perhaps because i see my subject and passion of wine and vineyard as more than just rigorous information. however it is still a blast down south and i am already starting to feel the sadness creeping in of having to leave this wonderful oasis in less than six months. time has gone by way to fast and i struggle to think what the future holds. so many oppotunities that await me. so many things still uncertain. tomorrow i will have a meeting with my tutor to decide on my fate for a big part of next year. i have to do research and then write a thesis. so again the options are endless and so are the destinations. america has come up as a good option but then again...then there is spain and italy. or even the southern hemisphere. but i would perfer to stay in europe. dont really know why. i guess i have become accustomed to the lifestyle here. i enjoy the european lifestyle. but i know its not to everybodys liking. perhaps being in europe does not limit your options to explore as much as it would being somewhere else. i dont know. there are a lot of things unclear and only time will tell. thats the fun of life. not knowing it all. so watch this space for further developments....all i can do is set my sails and follow my true North. It the only Way that makes sense and just look how well it has served me thus far.

NEW!!!!!! video section

check out the new video clips i have added on the left hand side.....just click on the image and wait to see some of my favourite clips.
chef

this is your life

Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you’ve broken
Don’t close your eyes
Don’t close your eyes

This is your life

And today is all you’ve got now
And today is all you’ll ever have
Don’t close your eyes
Don’t close your eyes

This is your life
Are you who you are to be?
This is your life
Is it everything you dreamed that it would be?
When the world was younger
And you had everything to loose

Yesterday is cat in the corner
Yesterday is dead and over

And this is your life
Are you who you are to be?
This is your life
Is it everything you dreamed it would be?
When the world was younger
And you had everything to loose…

Don’t close your eyes
Don’t close your eyes

This is your life
Are you who you are to be?

everything

Find me here
And speak to me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light
That’s leading me
To the place
Where I find peace again

You are the stick
That keeps me walking
You are the hope
That keeps me trusting
You are the light
To my soul
You are my purpose
You are everything

And how can I stand here with you
And not be moved by you
And you tell me how could it be
Any better than this

You calm the storms
And you give me rest
You held me in your hands
You are every fall
You still my heart
And you take breath away
Would you take me in
Take me deeper now

And how can I stand here with you
And not be moved by you
Would you tell me how could it be?
Any better that this

Cos you are all I want
You are all I need
You are everything
Everything

paris

"if you are lucky enough to have lived in paris as a young man then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you for paris is a movebale feast. "

these words were spoken by a "friend" of mine a very long time ago. in fact before i was born he spoke these words. and with this phrase playing in my soul as i headed off to paris. ah, paris. what a place.

i went to find a piece of myself. a piece of what i felt i have lost over the last few weeks with so many things happening around me. but i guess things never happen the way you plan them in fact it turned out to be more of a giving weekend. but i reckon i found also what i was looking for.

i left the south with the notion just to go switch off and enjoy the beauty and atmosphere of paris. it was perfect. this time of the year the colours and climate is close to perfection. autumn is after all my favourite season. so to wander down the streets and allowing the inside of the city to swallow me with its passion, its art, its people and just the buzz that hangs around in st. germain and other similar cartiers was the perfect medicine for a heavy spirit.

the gardens around the chateau de versailles was my first place of interest. i knew the garden had a reputation of transforming during the autumn and the spectcle of colours was awe inspiring. every colour you can imagine. shades of yellow, orange, red, browns. the enormity of the gardens are vast and you can not possibily see all of it. none the less. sitting there and watching the world walk by was a welcome relaxing experience in itself.

the rest of the time i spent walking all the funny and small backstreets that is called "the real paris." away from all the touristy traps and vendors crowding you. i spent a good deal of time in small galleries which are like boutique shopping malls filled with haute couture food, fashion and anything fabulously expensive. it was a treat to sit there sipping espresso and absorbing the heart of what makes a true parisienne. the walks down the river and between the different quaters was interesting to notice the changes between the various places. or stopping at shakespear and co to imagine papa hem hanging around and walking there where the books are stacked all the way to the roof. i had to buy a hem book. i just had too. no surprise that i bought another copy of "a moveable feast". this time signed and stamped. call it nostalgic. i call it adventure and respect for a place that has more to it than just what meets the eye.

but the most stricking thing was the atmosphere i felt walking the streets of paris. it was as if the city was sucking me in. showing me what makes its heart beat. away from all the usual cites. away from the everyday noise and pointing me in the direction of where the "real paris" happens.

and with this it makes perfect sense what papa hem said....it is a moveable feast indeed.