more stuff from france

just had to get some pictures up from france last week, and the week before. seems so long ago and the cornish weather is making me forget just how hot it was. just a few pictures. from narbone plage, the ardeche river, and travel. wouldn't mind being there now!

to france again

well it is that time of year again I am off to france tomorrow. every year I do this trip, I think it is the 6th or 7th year in a row now, I always feel slightly unprepared. even though I know what the trip entails, perhaps a few nerves are a good think.

any way all being well I will be back form a bit of sailing, climbing, canoeing, water sports and stuff. but in a leadership role so it is not all fun!

sleeping under the stars

it seems amazing that only two weeks ago today I was half way down the ardeche just about to spent a night by the side of the river sleeping under the stars. I make no apologies for going on about this part of france as the ardeche river valley is a special place even though I have been there many times now, l am increasingly impressed each time I visit. before I left this year I wanted to return with some man made images from the area, rather than the obvious natural beauty.

to be honest I sort of forgot while I was actually there but did remember to take this picture as we entered the bivi site.

perhaps I can relax a little now

well with the end of the teaching term today. I am now thinking about trying to relax a little before I have to start planning for a new challenge moving into the next academic year and a new/additional role. I will be taking a day or so to do nothing much before I can start to hopefully have some days at the beach.

with my head still a bit stuck last week (in france) here is another picture from the ardeche. the picture above was actually taken from the bivi-site where we spent the night. 

it has been a bit of a rush

you may not be at all surprised to find a picture of somewhere french here (picture above, ardeche river shallows). I got back at the weekend and haven't had time to post anything. I am not sure whether it is because I am still too tired or becuase I have just been very busy. still I had a great time in the ardeche, enjoying the best things about french culture and their country. more to come in the next days.

off to france tomorrow

I am off to france tomorrow, so while there I will not be writing any posts. no doubt I will have even more things french (and some not) to tell you about. right this moment I have still to finish things here before I even think about going away. hopefully by the time I reach the ardeche region. the challenge of another river descent will be more than enough to rid my worries about the things I haven't finish this week. I am even going to turn the email function off on my blackberry and just use it as a phone. all being well my next post here should be on monday the 21st of july, have a good week.

toothache >>

toothache well more like gum-ache (I won't go in to detail), and I am of to france again on friday afternoon this time for my (now seemingly) annual trip to the ardeche. the trouble with my mouth that I seem to have tonight (well for the last couple of days) needs to get dealt with as soon as possible. luckily I managed to get a  visit to the dentist sorted for the morning. I am not feeling to bright still trying to get things done. so just a short post today.

france again soon >>

I have been busier (as far as travelling) today well only my comparison to a usual working day. meeting in bodmin then back home before another meeting this evening. the second meeting was about taking another set of students to france and the ardeche again, I don't mean that in a bad way as I do enjoy the trip which seems to come round faster each year. simply that I find it amazing that it is the 6th year running I have made the trip with students. tomorrow and more meetings, well a day in west cornwall that could be very insightful if potentially uncomfortable.
picture courtesy carto.net

just had to >> more french stuff

promise this will be the last picture from france. I had to include this one, taken on the second day of the ardeche descent while stopped for lunch. I have never enjoyed stale bread with tomatoes and plain crisps as much. washed down with a large amount of water as we had to drink at least three litres a day.

france >> ardeche

I have been to the ardeche region of france many times but each time it is a wonderful surprise. this year the day before our two day descent we had the most amazing thunderstorms I have seen there.
lasting for over three hours whipping around the gorge emptying rain into the river and across the mountains. it almost meant we had to postpone the start for another day. we didn't and were treated to a fast roller coaster, rapid filled (canoe) paddle for the first day. the second day the river got less furious so the water became clear and the sunshine came out.


we had two great days on the river with a night under the stars on the river side, I can't say enough it was, and always has been a treat; no mobile telephone coverage, no wi-fi so no blogging and of course no email. in some areas you are more than 60km from the nearest house.
hope to be back again next year. (and yes it was work! as I was part of a team looking after 41 students).

millau bridge >> montpellier >> architecture

I know always bore people with stuff whenever I go off on my visits work or otherwise. this time I hopefully be short enough with the words to not be so boring.
just have a look at these pictures (not fantastic quality they were taken on a mobile phone). I was travelling up to calais from narbonne plage, having spent a short time in montpellier.

my thinking is that the mad dog english often get things a wrong. It was about 2 in the afternoon and the place was empty (having a sleep probably) good for me just pasing through looking at the archictecture. the first is taken in montpellier walking along the river, (when I got home and showed ben. he said that looked nothing like gotham city of batman) I thought it did, no matter I liked it.

as to the millau bridge well I already new it was the highest in the world designed by norman foster one of my heroes. though I had never actually seen it. I think it is something very special indeed when you cross it and look back. well worth finding if you are in the south of france.


sorry there will be more about france as I am off back there for a holiday (rather than work which the ardeche/narbonne one was) in about 3 weeks!

back from france >>

just a very quick one to say I will be back adding stuff from tomorrow, sorry but I am just too tired.
france was really good, no doubt I will be mentioning it in future posts.

week away >> france

I am off to france (the ardeche & nimes area) on saturday the 7th july, for the first of hopefully two visits over the coming summer. I will not be back until sunday 15th of july, so the next blog will be on monday 16th of july 2007.
hope you all have a good week.

dijon mustard >> toilets

my earliest memory of dijon was as an eight old child driving with my family through france on the way to a wedding in switzerland in a white vw camper (left) it was 1969.

dijon was the place that for the first time I saw squating toilets, (or turkish toilets as the french call them) still popular in many areas of france, indeed across the world just not on the UK. you needed to squat on two foot shaped raised areas and complete your toilet functions into a hole. at eight in a different country I was bemused I thought I had walked in to a strange sort of shower, my mother explained and I had no trouble with the idea or their use ever since.
the experience has always made me think well of dijon as it was also that I had some what was loosely called french mustard perhaps a strange thing for an eight year old to be trying I don't think so.
I will search out dijon mustard where ever I am. luckily for me my father in law lives just south of dijon so if I can't get my favourite mustard he will bring me some on his regular visits to us. this year I will be able to buy it from the makers as we plan to visit in the summer holidays.

every year for the past five I have been part of a group of teachers who take forty, year nine students to the ardeche river and the mediterranean for a nine day water sports trip as part of their activity week within term time.
every year so far at some point I have had to explain to a handful of students what the 'strange holes' in the toilet block floor are. I think it is odd that the current generation are still as surprised by them as I was in 1969.

I still love dijon mustard though, so perhaps things don't change!