Cliff using canon 400D

colour is certainly more rich.

rear window

No title

My friend's favorite...

My friend loved these photos in my album and encouraged me to upload these for sharing.

It reminded me of a song

Love letter

Edith Piaf's love letters to Louis G have been found and worth a fortune. In future, if all letters are in the form of emails (presumably people still write 'love emails' instead of just sms). There will be no exhibit of love letters like this one on the news. So this kind of showing hand written love letters tradition will soon disappear and becomes history itself i.e. Without a trace. You could not use IP to identify whether emails are actually sent by those celebrities. There are no handwriting that we could base on to imagine beyond the text.
(newspaper clip from Paris metro journal ce matin 24 June 2009)

Outside the camera

Paris is indeed a romantic city. I saw at least 4 couples kissing deeply in the middle of the street in less than 4 days. They were so indulged in their world. Only their beloved one matters. They were so focused. The departing kiss was very intense, slow in motion and no lust. No matter what their appearances were, the whole scenes were beautiful by themselves (almost like watching movies). As an outsider, you can feel love by looking at them. I wanted to photograph them but restrained myself from doing so. I captured the moments with my eyes and feel that love is everywhere. Thanks to the 'to see, to be seen' culture. We can appreciate beauty in love.

all begin with 'not'

Here at the customs, I was being asked whether I travelled alone.
Yes, of course.
Where are you going to?
Nottingham
For what?
For bookstores.
Where will you stay?
A hotel in South Kensington.
That would be very far away.
Take the tube then.
Do you live in Paris?
No, I travelled to Paris and took chance to visit london as well
Nottingham is not near to London.
Oh I mean nottinghill...so early (in the morning)
It won't be far away?
If compared to Nottingham

p.s. hahaha I must have listened to too much football news, what a stupid me.

All that jazz

Watched Chicago musical in London, Live band, the music was great. Just want to sing with them 'and all that Jazz..."
The courtroom scene is better presented as compared to the movie. Stage allows multiple actions taking place at the same time that creates a dramatic effect and allows more point of views. Love it!

London images

Pretending to be local

Near city hall, a guy asked me for direction in French.
I answered in French that I am not French
And he said that 'you are not French?'
I replied 'sorry, I am not French' in French
I am so happy as people think that I am local now. At least pretend to be.

Interestingly, many people talked to me asking whether the bus has come or why that train did not depart. I tried to answer as much as I can.

It is really a good way to polish the language you learnt by visiting that place. I could now read and translate instantly. People gave me French menu anyway. Even I proposed to have an English one, the captain of the restaurant asked me to try to read the French one. Speaking French is still a bit difficult for me. Will try.

Declaration of a bookstore owner

Marseille at night

TV signal problem comes with me to France

Why I would access email internet during the day time? It is because my hotel room TV had signal problem and sb just came to fix it. My TV at home has problem. same here.Strange. First time that hotel TV has signal problem hahaha.

Frioul with music

Frioul is similar to the outlying islands HK has e.g.Lantau Island but more rocky. People go there for swimming. It is also a place fo hiking. And they play good music.

C'est la vie

1. No convenience shops in France, apart from the reason that high pay to people work over time, it is also a way of life, no convenience pardon, live the moment.

2. Sense of humor
Two French guys (long hair style) tried to take away my cap while getting off from the ferry. They said sth in french which I did not pay attention to. And he said 'It's a French joke'. I do feel that French people have sense of humor. French people like non verbal signs, plenty of body lanaguages. Amusements everywhere as easily idenitied as Mery go around presents in every city.

3. Colour sensitive
From the time I watched Roulin Rouge, I know that French know how to use colour. They use colour of national flag to create seductive costumes, just right balance between red, white, blue. The colours they use in hotels and restaaurants are truly beautiful.

People to People

In my last entry about people, you can see what they meant to me. However, what did I mean to them, the people that I encountered during the voyage:

1.The lady in the bakery of Gordes never heard about Hong Kong. She had no idea of what Asia is. And now she heard about it and met a person from that place.

2. In the villeneuve maket, the guy who sold sausage has been to HK. After meeting me, it may rekinder his passion for travel or he may suddenly recall episodes that are related to Hong Kong. Hope those are good memories.

3. The person who worked in the farmhouse was once again happy as he told me that there were people complaining the prices of their meals and I did them a fair judgement. THe food was superb and was even under priced.

Would that be interesting if looking from another angle - person to person encounter is such a marvelous thing. Computer is good. I have facebook, blog... But meeting a person in person is a completely different matter. Agree?

Protecting the rights to have outdoor dining

In Arles, it rained. People still can choose to sit outside and dine.
In Marseille, it is hot and windy. People still could choose to sit outside and dine. It is to me a 'freedom to'. In HK, some have suggested to stop people doing business outdoor in central district, soho area in the name of 'potential danger or hygiene problems'. I think it absurd. Outdoor dining is an anti depressant act. Do not push people to madness, pls.
Btw, if you love veggie, go to provence
But for seafood, Marseille is the place. I love the sea and the sunshine. If Van Gogh moved to Marseille, he may not be that depressed. There are too many others things to be worried about when you have to fight with nature. If you go to Notre Dame de la Garde in Marseille, you will see how strong the wind can be.

In Arles

I stayed in is a farmhouse and I heard Mistral. Not starry night as Van Gogh painted. It was quite cloudy but I did see one star, one star was good enough to me.
As the hotel envirnoment was so good, I spent some time in hotel. Afterall, I have visited all major tourist site in town, a town that is very small.

GX200 testing 2

Many of friends are amazed by the power of my new camera GX200 (based on facebook repsonses). Show 2 more photos using GX 200. I think that it is good to capture landscape. I almost that it is like colour printing hahah Ricoh ma...

Dining option in Avignon

Flunch (11 BD RASPALL) is a self serving fast food shop and offers semi buffet too. If you choose a set, it is around 6-7 euro (steak/chicken/fish plus a drink and vegetable/rice/spagetti/fries bar). It is certainly an option for student travellers and family. You can be sure to have enough food with less than 10 Euro. Most of the course in restuarant costs 10 or up. So it is like a YMCA canteen. Customers are mostly students. I remembered the time I first travelled to Paris. Everyday baguette, sandwichesu.....It is good to have more affordable option for people to choose from.

After this quick dinner, I planned to go to the nearby garden for a walk. But a guy on the street suddenly stretched his arms and sang loudly when I passed by him. To avoid further trouble, I returned back to hotel and there I was updating my blog.

Pope's palace

The Pope had palace, an idea that is strange to me. For architecture's sake, I can understand its importance.

Provencal apple

Unlock picasso

Today I saw another exhibition in Avignon. A private museum showcased Picasso's photos. From the photographer pt of view, he is an actor. He knew how to pose. I like the one that his fingers were replaced by breads. Funny. This one is interesting. Love the sense of humor. In the exhibition, I also learnt about Degas. He also indulged in photography.

When you travel and want to eat sth good...

Check out toptable.com, very useful in searching restaurants and made reservations. They even send you reminders in case you lose track of the date and time.

God's voice

Sometimes you could not miss God's voice.
Say for example yesterday I took the TGV from Aix en provence to Avignon. I was day dreaming as usual and the TGV ride was too comfortable. I did not notice that it has arrived at the station. At that particular moment, a kid sitting in front of me turned his head and 'have we arrived Paris? (in French}. The lady at next to me replied 'C'est une gare de Avignon'. I smiled back to the lady and suddenly realised that I had to get off. I grapped my luggage and got off just before it departed again. Thank God. And the kid is an angel to me!!!

Mise-en-scene

Second hand CD and bookstore in Avignon

Love second hand CD & Bookstore, bought a CD of Alizee(no need to search, right in front of me, so must buy la).

People

I encountered many nice people in this trip.
Before I forgot, I wrote about them and shared with you these wonderful people that I have met in my voyage.

In Paris - a lady with a black dog, not a cat. She introduced me to her dog and talked about the working environment in Paris. She was so funny as she was not very good with directions. I had to tell her turning the right direction back to my hotel.

In Aix en provence - a charming guy (i know that you may be reading this,hahaha)who taught me the diff. between Boulangerie and whatever looks similar in spelling. To respect tradition and culture, Paris govt hands out certificate only to real Boulangerie. And I also learnt form him that people in Provence are by law paint the wall in ocre (yellow to orange colour). For the sake of beauty, People who live in Provence are willing to give up certain freedom. Hooray for that!

In Avignon - the hotel I stayed in was run by a family. The wife discussed with me about Cezanne. She is a fans of Cezanne. Really enjoyed the discussion.

May be very soon that I will not remember their faces but they are once very important in my life - a single traveller who only speaks little French.

Static photo

Why do I still keep the nikon low end camera?
Many of my friends asked me.
Sometimes I think that too much close to reality is away from the truth if you know what I mean. I saw the abandoned toy on the street and felt sad.
I assocaited it with 'death', though the toy itself is a object, no life anyay. there is a certain sadness.
But if I use a high mega pixel photo camera, that will probably take away the sadness it deserves.

'Millionaire' programme

I watched this programme in France. It is easier for me to pick up again French bit by bit that I learnt long long time ago. I was surpised to see that people have no clues about a question asking how many years Israel people had been in exile in Moses time. I now know things that are obvious to me may not mean the same to others. Never be fooled by presupposition.

Dinner

I had a very nice tour to Luberon, Fountaine-de-Vaucluse,Gordes, Roussillon, Bonnieux, Lourmarin today. I booked the tour at 8.40 a.m., just right before the tour started at 9:00. How lucky I could make it.

Met a French and 3 Japanese. Then we travelled together for a day.
We were once strangers but we are no longer complete stangers to each other when departed.

I got a Japanese snack as a goodbye gift. How nice!
When the car went to a city, it passed by Casino supermarket.
So my dinner tonight is as pictured.

Want to paint?

I now understand why artists love France. The people like the one I posted earlier in the garden and the houses in Aix en provence. I want to paint too but it is beyond my ability.

Picasso as a collector

He collected Cezanne's works.
He collected the inspirations others gave him.
He collected the castle of Cezanne in Vauvenargues. Tickets to this place are all sold out. From the photo of him taken by his friend, he appeared to me more like a businessman. He was so contented in a photo that he and Jacqueline looked out from the castle the beautiful landscape.
From the experiences I had these 2 days, my impressions of them would be:
Cezanne is a very easy going person. Dali is a magician. Picasso is a collector.
In Aix en provence, there is a exhibition going on comparing picasso and cezanne.
Cezanne to me = diffuse, merge, overlap, circular, still lifes, landscape, force,physics
Picasso to me = imitation, exploration, back to basic, primitive beauty, innocence, angles, creating pts of view, like a puzzle
Picasso once said that he used his life to go back learning to draw like a child.
And Picasso in his 50's became a writer, a poet.
Both of them pursue beauty, 'a three dimensonal beauty' is what I would say. Models to them are humans. The objects to them represent presence and life. The above are my new interpretations of their works. I almost wanted to cry when I was so close to that beauty.

Arc de Triomphe Etoile

Activities of people under the Arc

What is in your mind?

Dali - the emperor of Montmartre

I visited espace Dali. Many of his works including illustrations and scuptures. I was surpised to see the variety of the works he involved. He was so beyond the time he was in. He was a genius if not considered as a manic. He drew about old testament, new testament. Those are the works we are not so familiar with. There was a movie clip showing how he used an octopus to draw. Amusing and crazy! I did not know him well before. After visiting this museum, I appreciated his philosophy - reason and God; work and play; image and reality...
He would have done well in this era if he borns today.

Green Space

There are many green areas for Parisien to play, to talk, to read...

Morning has broken

I woke up in the morning and I heard the birds singing - my first morning in Paris

To start - a cup of expresso in cafe de flore

To read - in Paris

There was a couple of bookstores near my hotel in Paris. I love librairie La Procure in particular www.laprocure.com. I walked in, a whole counter of simone weil's works were in front of me. It is near 'St Sulpice church', where the movie Davinci code refers to. Parisiens seem to be more inclined to read serious books (observations by personal visits to bookstores and based on their book catalogue).

what one would call 'books for thoughts'.

GX200試機

無加工,出入冷氣地方,鏡頭好似眼鏡片沾上霞氣,此乃缺點,可能要買accessories改善情況



無加工夜景,no flash ok

邊緣行為

最近多左反社會行為,無論動機係咩,傷及無辜就不可容忍
人可以對社會不滿,但街坊大細受傷,冇少少難受咩?
罪惡是一種惡性循環,小心!

Cd送mv

謝安琪CD yelling加推送mv,好抵睇,特別喜歡鍾無艶個段,祝英台mv太主力sell產品,好古怪.

Canon鏡變左Ricoh GX200?

本來想買支鏡影wide shot,點知canon 10-22 mm賣到五千幾,唔捨得,而且我冇品牌忠誠,用PC又用Mac,用Canon又用Nikon,把心一橫,upgrade細機,由coolpix升左ricoh GX200 hahaha

仍舊40蚊有找

中環新cafe,日式,有電腦供上網,蘋果tart比咖啡好,用包裝咖啡沖調,感覺怪怪.