Articles populaires – Notre Tour du Monde en 80 jours

12 septembre 2013

11/09 : Tarbes - Paris (800 km en avion)

Départ du 21 rue Monteil, sacs au dos Voilà,... c'est le jour J ! Bon c'est vrai que Tarbes-Paris en avion ce n'est pas la grande aventure, mais, enfin, Confucius ne disait-il pas avec sagesse : "Le plus grand voyage commence par le premier pas"... Et...

Posté par blocbp à 14:29 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

18 novembre 2013

17/11 : New Delhi - Agra (200 km en train)

A la gare à pied (20'), sacs au dos, ce qui est la meilleure façon de marcher dans l'anarchie des rues indiennes. Train à l'heure. Grosses bousculades dans les wagons non réservés (3ème classe sans vitres), mais rien de ça dans notre 3ème classe AC (Air...

Posté par blocbp à 05:16 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

22 septembre 2013

20/09 : St Jacobs - Manitou Beach (480 km)

Tiens, il pleut ce matin... En fait, nous aurons la pluie intermittente jusqu'à l'arrivée chez nos amis Rawson. Encore une grosse étape aujourd'hui, mais pas de traversée urbaine notable puisque nous avons fait le choix de contourner largement la ville...

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20 septembre 2013

18/09 : Montréal - Ottawa (200 km)

Le temps est exceptionnel : depuis la petite pluie matinale de lundi matin (16/09) nous nageons en plein 'été indien'. Prenant l'autoroute urbaine souterraine A720 à 500m de l'auberge en direction d'Ottawa, nous arrivons à la petite ville de L'orignal...

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15 octobre 2013

15/10 : Kyoto (1er jour)

Alors, cette petite maison à Kyoto ? Et bien elle est formidable ! Toute petite (20m2 au sol), elle est sur deux niveaux, avec pièce à vivre + cuisinette + sdb en bas et chambre + petit 'grenier' en haut. Elle est totalement japonaise (tatamis, futons,...

Posté par blocbp à 14:56 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

22 septembre 2013

Go West !

For all you non-French speakers, or for those too tired to activate their school French, here's an update: Our cheap(ish) flights (via Rekjavik) offered a unique spectacle: the sky upside down ! Looking down through the clouds I could see bright constellations...

Posté par blocbp à 05:06 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

23 septembre 2013

Pan sur le bec...

Comme le paragraphe du message précédent qui décrivait la ferme Rawson comportait plusieurs inexactitudes, voici la version approuvée : La grande maison est toujours là (plus une extension au delà de la cuisine), avec toutes ses dépendances : grange,...

Posté par blocbp à 04:50 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

26 septembre 2013

Just blew in from the windy city...

...the windy city is mighty purrdy but they ain't got what we got, no siree ! (I think Calamity Jane may be back later...) And why is Chicago called the windy city? Nothing to do with the weather - they were known for bragging... best this, biggest that....

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16 novembre 2013

From Calcutta to Darjeeling... !

This may ring some musical bells ? (Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren, but they started in New Delhi). Calcutta ! We thought it would be a hard introduction to India but it was wonderful. The first evening I was wandering about our part of town with a permanent...

Posté par blocbp à 06:50 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

27 novembre 2013

Love and marriage

It's wedding season in India ! Brass bands, bright lights, dancing and fireworks accompany the bridegroom as, in flashy traditional attire he rides his golden wreathed horse to his bride's house, with a little nephew seated in front of him, no doubt evoking...

Posté par blocbp à 05:45 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

27 octobre 2013

Chinese portraits

- People's Square, Saturday morning. Dozens of Shanghaiese and out-of-towners admire the funny sculpture exhibition and take each others' photos. Sam and Lucy, smiling 20 year olds, pretty good English, ask us to take theirs. We get into conversation...

Posté par blocbp à 15:25 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

27 novembre 2013

On leaving India

We left two days ago, and the contradictions and paradoxes are finally damping (slightly) my love of this place and its people. Mumbai (Bombay) has shown us more street poverty than Delhi or even Calcutta. Or perhaps I'm just seeing it more clearly. Here...

Posté par blocbp à 18:45 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

26 septembre 2013

The other Canadians

Our whistle stop visit to Montreal and through other French speaking areas was interesting (NB : French is the first language of one third of the Canadian population). The city is, as the brochures say, vibrant and multi-cultural, bustling with students...

Posté par blocbp à 01:50 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

26 septembre 2013

Amazing Grace

In the past few days we have crossed paths with shy Mennonites, shared the meal of a Catholic student committed to human rights and were welcomed into the home of Quaker friends. Other friends, with less evident beliefs, have also proved to us the power...

Posté par blocbp à 01:50 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

28 septembre 2013

It's a long way...

... to Seattle, it's a long way to drive ! It's a long way to Seattle, across mountains, hills and plains. Goodbye to Chicago, Ottawa and Maine ! It's a long, long way to Seattle, where we get on that plane ! Yes, but it's not as slow as we thought -...

Posté par blocbp à 06:35 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

21 septembre 2013

Message technique !

L'ORDRE DE PRESENTATION DES MESSAGES A ETE MODIFIE DANS CE BLOG : DORENAVANT C'EST LE DERNIER MESSAGE QUI APPARAITRA EN PREMIER. Quant à l'utilisation des catégories disposées en haut de l'écran - Amérique du Nord, Japon, etc. - elle ne sera activée qu'à...

Posté par blocbp à 13:50 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

2 octobre 2013

Where the buffalo roam...

... or used to. Montana ! What a wonderful state ! Most of the country we went through looks like a (painted ?) cinema backdrop. Quite incredible, especially with the dark clouds and sun we had. I hope B's photos show something of the drama of what they...

Posté par blocbp à 06:10 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

8 octobre 2013

The non-French Canadians

So who are they ? Although I knew things had changed I suppose I was still expecting English-speaking Canadians to be fairly distinct from their American neighbours (accent, origin etc). But the Scottish connection has pretty much disappeared apart from...

Posté par blocbp à 14:20 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

8 octobre 2013

Oh boy ...

Just to get your mouths watering: Iceland: Herring crisps... New England : Moose tracks ice cream, frozen yogurt Corn on the cob we'd picked 1hr before. Banana bread, zucchini (courgette) bread with walnuts, raisins Montreal: Maple syrup lolly Poutine...

Posté par blocbp à 14:40 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

13 octobre 2013

Japan !!

So exciting to be here ! The clichés are all there... but a few things have been surprising. First of all I expected Tokyo to be very America-oriented. It isn't ! Big surprise, hardly anyone speaks any English, hotel reception desks can often not really...

Posté par blocbp à 02:05 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

15 octobre 2013

Etiquette !

Just as using the loo dashboard requires some training, there are a number of other areas where we feel right out of our depth. And there's no point in asking anyone, they don't understand our question or we have no idea what they are replying. Of course...

Posté par blocbp à 12:40 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

18 octobre 2013

Japanese portraits

- Mr 'So-so' sat down at the next table in the quiet Paperback Cafe section of one of the 160 bookshops in the Kanda district of Tokyo. Keen to practice his English he broke into the silence of the lunch hour readers to show us pictures of the three musicals...

Posté par blocbp à 02:00 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

2 novembre 2013

Vietnam dress code

What should the provincial girl-about-town be wearing ? On the bus: The question doesn't really arise as there are so few buses. On long distance trains: Jumpers and scarves are de rigueur in the icy soft-seat carriages. As few clothes as possible in...

Posté par blocbp à 01:50 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

2 novembre 2013

A couple of francophone Vietnamese

Joseph Mong Phu, 45km west of Hanoi, a designated ancient village, was a little underwhelming compared to the enthusiastic paragraphs in the guidebook. Trying to find our way we discovered the gate of the concrete 1930s church. The 30 something caretaker...

Posté par blocbp à 02:05 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

8 novembre 2013

In sickness and in health

After all, this trip was for our 40th wedding anniversary! "Coughs and sneezes spread diseases, trap them in your handkerchief" Obviously Tony Hancock's ditty didn't reach many parts of Asia where a good clear out of the throat and nasal passages is shared...

Posté par blocbp à 08:30 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]