Since Paris we’ve moved into the back country of France and it is wonderful. It makes us work on our French skills more and when driving through the towns that are shut down for the Summer I don’t feel like a spectator among throngs that are all stopping to take photos. Yes, I realize that I’m not the first to find these places but I feel less creepy taking pictures when no one is around. The level of activity in Villages is very random and it’s amazing how many places you might see a few cars but no people. The castles are cool to view from a distance. Basically the country side is beautiful to the point that I feel like if I take a picture it just wouldn't do the view any justice.
We also had a tornado sighting (from a distance of course). With all the crazy raining you get used to the ominous clouds overhead threatening doom at any moment but all of a sudden while driving North on the highway towards Dijon we saw a twister shape form. By the time we were around the clump of trees blocking the view it was definitely touching down, very large and menacing, and probably creating destruction in its path. That is at least how it appeared from our angle.
JC
Friday, July 13, 2007
Paris
Oh, the city of love just wasn’t lovely…the weather that is. Rainy and cold, even colder than the clothes I have packed with me could sustain. I’m going to consider adding one more item to carry; a wool long sleeve might do the trick of keeping enough heat in. Lets face it, I get cold very easily and will probably even get cold in Africa. But back in Paris, the back streets of the city were very calm and peacefully residential. I preferred these over the crowded tourist routes. It gave us a chance to find little fromageries, boulangeries, etc. The Eiffel Tower was a cool landmark to see from a distance and even better lit up at night. The whole experience of climbing to the 2nd platform was soured by the weather (cold, rainy, and windy…my three favorites!) and all of the rude pushy people. It’s not like the tower is going anywhere soon, oui? There was no push in the toilette line though as I waited 25 minutes, that will try your patience any day. But the best part of it all was wandering around with Hannah and James eating Crepes, staring at the old buildings, ticking off the front desk lady at their hotel, searching for public toilettes, buying picnic dinners, and soaking in each others company. Absolutely fabulous!
Little Diesel Cars
Little diesel cars! What a change, a pleasant change for me. The Spanish especially love the BMW 1-series making them cool in my book. The driving rules are very relaxed but Valencians respect and brake for pedestrians. Even though the fuel is expensive everyone seems to drive around a lot actually everything is expensive plus for the Americans the exchange rate makes it frightfully expensive. I watched everyone though and consumption was on par with what I would expect at any mall but was absurd at the Americas Cup fan stores. People were wearing at least $300 worth of Alinghi gear or whatever team they were rooting for. The disparity in the view of purchases is most likely from my viewpoint of needing to make ends meet for one year with an income. Alas, all of the fan gear will just have to wait!
JC
JC
Monday, July 2, 2007
America's Cup Races 4 through 6 - Alinghi Wins 3 in a row...
So after the Kiwi's triumph in race 3, taking a lead in the series 2-1, the Swiss have won the last 3 and now lead 4-2. Since it's a best of 9 series, they only need one more to successfully defend the cup.
The NZ boat had it's bouts of bad luck (wind shifts, exploding spinnakers) but has also been out sailed by the Swiss when everything's gone right.
Yesterday, Sunday, they were supposed to race, but the race was abandoned because the wind was too light and shifty.
New Zealand has to win 3 in a row now to win the cup, so I'm sure they'll be sailing like they've got nothing to loose tomorrow when racing resumes.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
America's Cup Race 3 - The Kiwis triumph in the end!
So I got the privilege (maybe) of watching this race from a spectator boat up close and personal on the water next to the race course.
Our boat left the dock at 12:30pm, was going to go out, sail around a bit, serve us lunch and then allow us a front row seat at the start, the 3rd mark and the finish of the race. This is all in theory of course...
We boarded the boat and it left shortly after 12:30. Dad and I found a spot near the back of the boat and we enjoyed the views of the harbor as we motored out into the Mediterranean, where the racing was to be held. As soon as we cleared the harbor, we were treated with 6-10 foot swells. At this point, I began to feel a little motion sick so I had a coke. After about 5 minutes, I didn't feel any better so I took some medicine to stop my stomach from arguing with my inner ear. When the chop didn't subside any and I kept feeling worse, I put on a seasick band that sent a pulse of electricity through my middle two fingers on my right hand. I also took a spot in the exact middle of the Catamaran so that the rocking would be minimized.
There I sat for the next 6 hours while the race was postponed from 3pm to 5pm. What I did see was some good racing though...
New Zealand got the early lead, stretching it out to over 400m at one point over Alinghi on the first leg. They then rounded the first mark and again smoked Alinghi on the downwind leg. Rounding the second mark, NZ botched their sail change, getting their spinnaker caught in the jib clue while taking it down. This cost them some valuable time, allowing Alinghi to catch and pass them on the upwind leg 3. The last leg was a shootout between TNZ and Alinghi to see who could get to the finish first, both teams taking a different path. Due to wind shifts and other factors (NZ Rules!) they were able to pass Alinghi at the last moment. It was as an exciting race as I could muster from my one spot near the center of the boat, but I was glad that I was able to see a race from the water.
One of the other cool things was the jockeying for position that the spectator boats did to get a front row seat at the start/finish. With multi billions of dollars of boats lined up, all trying for a front spot, it's amazing there was no carnage. Occasionally, one boat would be spit out formation to avoid colliding with other boats and the first mate on our boat did have a heated exchange with the crew of a multi-million dollar yacht, but for the most part, it was uneventful.
Our boat left the dock at 12:30pm, was going to go out, sail around a bit, serve us lunch and then allow us a front row seat at the start, the 3rd mark and the finish of the race. This is all in theory of course...
We boarded the boat and it left shortly after 12:30. Dad and I found a spot near the back of the boat and we enjoyed the views of the harbor as we motored out into the Mediterranean, where the racing was to be held. As soon as we cleared the harbor, we were treated with 6-10 foot swells. At this point, I began to feel a little motion sick so I had a coke. After about 5 minutes, I didn't feel any better so I took some medicine to stop my stomach from arguing with my inner ear. When the chop didn't subside any and I kept feeling worse, I put on a seasick band that sent a pulse of electricity through my middle two fingers on my right hand. I also took a spot in the exact middle of the Catamaran so that the rocking would be minimized.
There I sat for the next 6 hours while the race was postponed from 3pm to 5pm. What I did see was some good racing though...
New Zealand got the early lead, stretching it out to over 400m at one point over Alinghi on the first leg. They then rounded the first mark and again smoked Alinghi on the downwind leg. Rounding the second mark, NZ botched their sail change, getting their spinnaker caught in the jib clue while taking it down. This cost them some valuable time, allowing Alinghi to catch and pass them on the upwind leg 3. The last leg was a shootout between TNZ and Alinghi to see who could get to the finish first, both teams taking a different path. Due to wind shifts and other factors (NZ Rules!) they were able to pass Alinghi at the last moment. It was as an exciting race as I could muster from my one spot near the center of the boat, but I was glad that I was able to see a race from the water.
One of the other cool things was the jockeying for position that the spectator boats did to get a front row seat at the start/finish. With multi billions of dollars of boats lined up, all trying for a front spot, it's amazing there was no carnage. Occasionally, one boat would be spit out formation to avoid colliding with other boats and the first mate on our boat did have a heated exchange with the crew of a multi-million dollar yacht, but for the most part, it was uneventful.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Pics
Check the link list in the right hand column where you will find our personal blogs and now introducing the photo gallery. Woohoo.
In general
On the off day of racing we explored the inner city which is lovely; beautiful building fronts, clean small streets, and of course the Holy Grail. The only damper on going for a walking tour was that the high of the day was 41 degrees C. It was also a Monday which means not all of the stores were open. It seems like Sundays are completely shutdown and Monday is about half and half (they say don’t eat the fish on Monday because no one fishes on Sunday…we tried it…no deaths yet).
The Valencians themselves you probably wouldn’t be able to pick out from anyone else walking the streets in the US. There is more fashion but nothing over the top. The one thing that might be brought to your attention is that they are all slender, the young and old. Maybe this is because they all smoke all of the time? This feels to me as a soft introduction to traveling the world. I have warm running water, bathrooms to be found when I need (especially since they are catering to the American Cup visitors), a bed, washer, etc. The enormity of what lies ahead though hits me when I ride on the coattails of my compadres who are fluent in Spanish. I imagine soon we will truly learn the meaning of “a picture is worth a thousands words”.
The Valencians themselves you probably wouldn’t be able to pick out from anyone else walking the streets in the US. There is more fashion but nothing over the top. The one thing that might be brought to your attention is that they are all slender, the young and old. Maybe this is because they all smoke all of the time? This feels to me as a soft introduction to traveling the world. I have warm running water, bathrooms to be found when I need (especially since they are catering to the American Cup visitors), a bed, washer, etc. The enormity of what lies ahead though hits me when I ride on the coattails of my compadres who are fluent in Spanish. I imagine soon we will truly learn the meaning of “a picture is worth a thousands words”.
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