Écoutez et Répétez

My trip to France is coming up soon. I don't really speak French, but I made an attempt to learn 7 years ago when we attended a wedding in the southern France town of Sanary-Sur-Mer. You can get by without knowing French in Paris and other popular tourist areas, but I thought it would be helpful to understand some French in this small seaside village. I used the Pimsleur method and completed a 30 minute French lesson on CD every day while driving to work. The method worked well, and while I couldn't carry on a conversation with a French native, I felt I could manage essential communication like asking for directions, how much something cost, and of course, hello, goodbye, and thank you.

Now I find that I've forgotten most of what I knew then. So in anticipation of my upcoming trip I've been repeating the lessons. This time they are mp3s on my phone, and I listen to them while I do my regular walks. I've probably caused a few puzzled looks as I pass other walkers with my earbuds in and saying out loud "Mettre du l'essence dans ma voiture."

Hey, I'm Walking Here

I've taken to regularly going for a walk either at work during lunch or at home after work. My objectives are to improve my overall health, get in shape for a lot of walking I expect to do during my upcoming travel, and promote continued weight loss in conjunction with the Isagenix program. I think I'm succeeding on all three counts. I started the end of June with just walking a mile, and gradually added more distance as my endurance improved. I'm up to 4 miles now at about a 14½ minute pace.

I installed an app on my phone called MapMyRun. It nicely tracks my time and distance, and draws the route on a map. It handles all the record keeping for me and uploads it to a website where I can check my stats. I really like it. Just today it sent me an email telling me I walked 53 miles in July and burned over 7000 calories.

Walking isn't completely risk free. Once your distance gets beyond a mile or two, you either have to zig-zag all over the neighborhood or cross a busy street or two, risking an incident similar to the one that inspired Ratso Rizzo's famous quote.

Aurora Timelapse

My family and Facebook friends have already seen this. However, if you don't fall into one of those categories or perhaps hit this page from a Google search for Aurora Borealis, here is a nice timelapse video of the auroral display we witnessed during our trip to Fairbanks AK this past February. I wish I could take credit for the video, but it was created by a fellow guest at the B&B where we stayed. Unfortunately I can't properly credit him since I only knew him as Yu.



We were only in Fairbanks for 2 nights. The first night was cloudy and no aurora was visible. The 2nd day was also cloudy, but the skies cleared as night fell. We stayed awake waiting (and hoping) for an aurora display to begin. About 2 am AKST (UTC-9) we noticed the beginnings of an aurora that continued for several hours. To the naked eye, the lights are a paler green than that captured by the camera. Also, the movement of the aurora structures is not as obvious as in the time lapse video.

Bonjour

In my Around the World post, I hinted at some of the upcoming trips I have planned. Savvy readers recognized that the hints were the names of rivers near my destinations. The first of those is the Seine which is the 2nd longest river in France and cuts right through the middle of Paris. I am indeed headed to France on my first trip, and Paris is part of the itinerary.

I've been to France before, but the last time was in 2007, and I'm looking forward to my return. As a graduation gift, we are bringing my granddaughter on this trip. She already has some world travel experience, but this is her first trip to Paris so we will be revisiting many of the major attractions there. In addition we will make a two day side trip to Mont Saint-Michel and the beaches of Normandy which I have not seen before. The trip is coming up soon so I think it's time to brush up my French.  Allons-y!

Happy Birthday

Best wishes to my lovely wife of 43 years. You are my biggest fan. Happy Birthday. I love you.

Petronas Towers

This is the street view wrap up picture for "Where's That Landmark"

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia were the tallest buildings in the world until 2004 when they were surpassed by Taipai 101.

The twin towers with their connecting skybridge would be an exciting landmark to see along with many other Malaysian wonders such as the Batu caves or the Putra Mosque.

Mack 105

Most everyone who reads this blog is probably already aware that today Danny sailed off in the 105th Chicago to Mackinac race. This will be his 6th time participating. It has become tradition to go down to the lake and cheer him on as Cyclone passes the end of Navy Pier in the official boat parade. Fourteen of us made it down to the pier today. The start of the Mac race has become quite a public event in recent years, and it has gotten a little difficult to get a good spot on the railing for all of us. But we make enough noise, and we are a big enough presence that the crew of the Cyclone definitely notices the attention. Some of the shore crew will head up to Mackinac Island to cheer their arrival as well. Best wishes to Cyclone and Crew for a safe swift journey.

Here are a few pictures from this morning's send off.

Coming up on the parade point

Cyclone and Crew

Danny photographing the Shore Crew

Headed out to the start

Emily showing support for Cyclone

Cyclone Supporters

Elliott Jennifer & Christian

The Shore Crew

What's That Landmark - Part 3

If you couldn't identify the landmark before, this bird's eye view leaves little doubt. It would have to be a pretty high flying bird though wouldn't it.

What's That Landmark Part 2

Hopefully you figured out the general location and now know what city this is. The landmark is visible in this airplane view if you know where to look. But there's at least one other significant landmark visible as well so make your best guess.

What's That Landmark

This is a satellite view of a distant landmark I'd like to see someday. If you can identify the location you'll probably have a good idea what the landmark is, although there's certainly more than just one possibility. If you need to see more of the surrounding area, you can click on the image for a zoomed out view.

Timelapse

Awsome timelapse video sunrise to sunset from a hi def webcam on the Sphinx observatory in the Swiss Alps. For a size perspective reference, notice the crowds of human visitors in the lower left corner starting around 9 am.


An hourly live pan/scan view can be found here.

Name That Landmark - Street View

Here is a picture of Rue du Petit Champlain in Quebec City, Canada.

Quebec city is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec. It is known for the winter carnival with its ice castle. The streets of the Old Quarter have a quaint European charm.

 

Name That Landmark - Birdseye View

Here's a bird's eye view of a small area in the city of interest. If you guessed the city, you might try to find the street. (FYI, North=↓)

Name That Landmark - Airplane View

Here's a closer look at the destination. Since there isn't a well known identifying landmark (that I know of) it will probably take some Google map browsing to identify this view. Zoom in view coming tomorrow.