A slice of life in France - Lautrec, Tarn

As the website Travel France Online says, the French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec never set foot in the village of Lautrec in the southwest of France even though it was the ancestral home of the artist's family.

Lautrec, Tarn

But plenty of visitors tread its streets each year thanks largely to its status as one of "Les Plus Beaux Villages de France" (The most beautiful villages of France), its proximity to the striking city of Albi, and yes...the garlic.

Rue de Lengouzy, Lautrec,

Now it's not often you can say you've been to one of the garlic capital's of the world - and it's not something you might want to admit to - but l'ail rose de Lautrec (or pink garlic to the rest of us) is apparently "recognised by gourmets as prince of seasonings, with a flavour that is particularly sought after" and its growth and harvesting are strictly certified and confined to the clay-chalky hillsides surrounding the village.

For those Garlicophiles among you (there must be some) try checking out these sites for more information (both in English); the first one is a tourist site for Tarn and the second is dedicated solely to Lautrec's pink garlic.

Oh yes, and if that isn't enough, you might want to give the recipe for pink garlic soup in the photo a bash.

Yum.

Pink garlic soup recipe

Anyway, moving on rapidly from garlic, Lautrec is one of three villages in the département of Tarn (along with Castelnau de Montmiral and Puycelsi) belonging to the independent association of "Les Plus Beaux Villages de France" whose aim is to "protect and promote" French villages (of fewer than 2,000 inhabitants) which it deems to have "outstanding heritage" and which have "not turned into soulless museums or 'theme parks'".

Lautrec fits the bill perfectly.

A 30-kilometre drive from the département's main city of Albi, a Unesco World Heritage site since August 2010, and just 15 kilometres away from the second city of Castres, Lautrec is a gem with bags of historical and architectural interest for a place that boasts barely 1,700 local Lautrécois or Lautrécoises.

17th century restored windmill, Lautrec


Steps to windmill

Make your way up to 17th century mill almost near the peak of la Colline de la Salette and take a moment to catch your breath and admire how well it has been restored before going further for a panoramic view of the village.

Lautrec, Tarn - panoramic view

Lane to windmill

Take the steps down the village lane - mind how you go - and pay a visit to L'église Saint-Rémy (Saint-Rémy church) dating back to the 14th century, listed as an Historic Monument in France since 1999 and one of the village landmarks. You can't miss it.

Throughout the village you can admire the beautifully maintained traditional half-timbered houses, the 15th century market place and visit the underground grain silos all of which, according to the village's official website, "make it a veritable living history book".

Half-timbered houses

Clog maker and nature walk sign

Place des Halles, Lautrec

Place des Halles, Lautrec

For more of a taste as to what Lautrec has to offer, take a look at the accompanying YouTube video which is a diaporama of one visitor's impressions.

La Terrasse de Lautrec

And finally if you do pay the place a visit and are looking for somewhere to stay, then check out the 17th century La Terrasse de Lautrec, a bed and breakfast on rue de l'Eglise in the heart of the village, a member of the French Chambres d'Hôtes de Charme and whose magnificent front door is just asking to be knocked...very loudly.

Bon voyage.

Paris hotel opens an anti-snoring room

The InterContinental-owned Crowne Plaza chain of hotels perhaps has the answer for travellers whose sleep is disturbed by their partners snorting and grunting their way through the night.

The chain is testing a "snore absorption room" in nine different hotels across Europe and the Middle East from June 27 to July 1.

Crowne Plaza Paris République (screenshot from YouTube video)

One of the hotels at which guests can book the snore absorption room - at the same price as any standard room - is the Crowne Plaza Paris République in the French capital.

And as Olivier Billard, the Rooms Division Manager of the hotel, told Europe 1, the idea is to allow both guests in the room to get a good night's sleep.

"The concept is being tested throughout the week at our hotel in just one room which has been specially converted to minimise the noise made by the person snoring," he told a rather perplexed and definitely ill-behaved team during Laurent Ruquier's afternoon round-table radio show on Monday.

"The walls and the headboard have been sound-proofed and there's also a special anti-snoring pillow which prevents the person from lying on his or her back," he continued.

"To help the person being kept awake by the snoring there's a white noise machine which emits a relaxing sound similar to the wind in the trees."

Sceptics might think that the idea nothing more than a publicity stunt especially as it's on a trial basis.

But as Business Traveller points out the Crowne Plaza chain has a reputation for "innovation".

In 2010 for example it came up with the idea of putting real grass in a number of its meeting rooms at two of its British and one of its Irish hotels to "unlock some long-forgotten childhood creativity."

And last year as part of an eco-friendly initiative the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers in Denmark installed electricity-producing bicycles and offered guests a free meal if they produced 10 watt hours of power.

Sweet dreams

"We like the world" round-the-world Facebook journey

If you're one of those people who casts doubts on whether Facebook "friends" can ever exist outside of the virtual world, then a French family is surely set to make you think again.

In July Frédéric and Estelle Colas, along with their eight-year-old daughter Héloïse, will leave Paris to set off on a round-the-world trip with a difference.

They'll be staying with Facebook friends in every country they visit.

The Colas family (screenshot from YouTube video)

Yes that's right; people they don't necessarily know and perhaps have never met but who have become "friends' in that Social Network definition of the word.



But this isn't just a gimmick or a publicity stunt and it's not a trip dedicated purely to pleasure - although there is obviously some of that involved too - as Frédéric Colas explained to journalist David Abiker on Europe 1 radio on Sunday.

There's also a purpose behind it.

"Every time one of our Facebook friends puts us up for the night, we'll donate the money we would otherwise have spent on a hotel to a fund aimed at building a girls' school in Burkina Faso together with the association La voix de l'enfant," he said.

The couple, both in their early forties and professionals in communications and advertising see the project as being a combination of making a dream come true, taking a break and allowing their daughter to discover the world.

And at the some time, they'll be doing something much more important, as Fréderic writes on We like the world's website.

"It is the time to ask myself important questions about what I want to do about my life while keeping my feet on the ground," he writes.

"It is a year when I want to 'be' but also to 'achieve' something. As in any project, I anticipate having constraints and some form of pressure, because I want to see the school built thanks to all the people who are interested in our project."

If you would like to become a friend of the project, offer the family accommodation overnight at some point during their trip o simply follow their progress, then check out the Facebook page for We like the world.

The Colas family (screenshot from YouTube video)

"The question is often asked what do Facebook 'friends' really mean in terms of proper friendship," says Colas.

"Our aim is to show that with the help of a Social Network we can do some good, something enjoyable and something that exists in the 'real life'."

We like the world - french

View more presentations from Frederic Colas

EasyJet treats Paris-Toulouse passengers to a 10-hour journey

Another tale of travel woes in France and one in which you pays your money and you takes your chances perhaps.

This time around though it's not the weather that's solely to blame and it doesn't involve Air France-KLM or the state-owned railway SNCF.

Instead it's the British-based lowcost airline easyJet and the 10 hours it took for passengers aboard one of its flights to make a trip that normally takes a maximum of one hour and 30 minutes.


It happened last Sunday as the 141 aboard the 'plane made the journey from the French capital to the southwestern city of Toulouse.

A two-hour delay in taking off because of maintenance problems certainly didn't put passengers in the best of moods, but worse was to come.

As the 'plane approached its destination the captain refused to land because apparently conditions were too windy and instead redirected 240 kilometres away to Montpellier, where passengers then boarded buses to complete their journey.

"Weather conditions" coupled with "technical problems that didn't affect flight safety", according to the airline were the reason for the diversion, but passengers aboard the flight weren't so sure they were being told the whole story.

"When we arrived at Montpellier I overheard one of the ground staff talking via two-way radio with a colleague saying that the 'plane wouldn't be taking off again," Luc Mousseaux, a passenger aboard the flight told BFM TV

"That makes me wonder if the weather really was the reason for not being able to land," he added.



That's a view backed up by an aviation expert who, according to the national daily Le Figaro, said the wind had not been particularly strong around the city on the afternoon in question but admitted that the decision about whether to land was entirely at the captain's discretion.

As is company policy, easyJet did offer any compensation apart from refreshment vouchers and passengers are not entitled to any reimbursement because, as far as the airline is concerned, it met its obligation of ensuring passengers arrived at their destination.

Toulouse or 'La Ville Rose" as it is nicknamed is one of France's largest cities. It's home to one of Europe's top rugby teams, and of course is the base of Airbus.

It's also a major destination for holidaymakers in summer as it's very much the gateway to the whole of the southwestern region of the country.

The Paris-Toulouse route is a busy one, and the city is one of the destinations for the Navette or shuttle service operated by Air France from both Orly and Roissy-Charles de Gaulle.

In total the company operates 30 scheduled flights from both Paris airports combined each day and during peak hours there's a 'plane leaving every 30 minutes.

Not surprisingly perhaps easyJet has also grabbed a piece of the action with five Toulouse-bound flights leaving Paris every day.

SNCF report on "Hell on wheels" delay but not everyone is happy

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet is not a happy bunny - at least not when it comes to France's state-owned railway company, SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français).

The French minister of transport (among other things) has threatened the company with sanctions and said that she had not been told the whole truth about the reasons behind that infamous 12-hour plus delay on the overnight train from Strasbourg to Nice and Port Bou just after Christmas.

The 4295 night train (screenshot from TF1 news report)

You might remember the so-called "Hell on wheels" trip on December 27 which saw the 600 passengers on board the 4295 night train endure a delay of 12 hours - the same length of time as the journey was supposed to take in the first place.

SNCF apologised (what else could it have done), offered all passengers a full refund and a free return ticket and announced that it would launch an internal inquiry and release a report on what exactly had caused the delay.

It has now published the 13-page "mea culpa", admitting that given the weather conditions and the number of personnel and logistical problems on the night in question, the train should never have left the platform at Strasbourg.

And at the top of a long list of reasons for the delay according to the report, which SNCF helpfully publishes in French on the English-language version of its site (grab a dictionary perhaps if you want to read all the details) is the time it took to find a replacement driver during a stop just 150 kilometres into its journey in the eastern French city of Belfort.

It was "a failure of planning" admits the report, a simple statement that has earned SNCF the wrath of Kosciusko-Morizet or NKM as she's commonly called here in France.

"That's not what I was told at the beginning," the minister for ecology, sustainable development, transport and housing (to give NKM her full title) said in a radio interview on Tuesday.

"When I was given the reason why it took so long for the replacement driver to arrive (he had to travel almost 350 kilometres from Lyon to Belfort) I was told he couldn't get there on time because of the weather."

As far as NKM was concerned she had been lied to (she used stronger words, but there might be children reading) and she was now going to "find out who was responsible for the error in planning and look into whether there would be sanctions to be imposed."

NKM wasn't the only person unhappy with the report.

Not surprisingly perhaps the unions were less than tender with SNCF's explanations with Sud-Rail saying in a statement that "The report is nothing more than hot air."

And a regional branch of the passengers association, Association des Usagers des Chemins de Fer de la Région Ouest (Avuc) has launched a petition "Fed up with SNCF".

So a bad PR end to 2010 for SNCF has hardly been helped by an equally miserable attempt to offer a mea culpa at the beginning of 2011.

Things can only get better - surely

SNCF 4295 - a French train journey (almost) "without end"

Snow and freezing temperatures throughout much of Europe have been taking their toll on those trying to travel and especially those choosing to take to the skies.

Cancelled flights, long delays, unscheduled overnight stays at airport concourses and the inevitable tales of luggage gone astray have been the stuff of headlines.

Rail travel has also been disrupted but, with some exceptions such as Eurostar, not quite to the same extent.

Until this past weekend that is, when passengers on the 4295 night train from Strasbourg to Portbou and Nice took a trip they're unlikely to forget in a hurry.

SNCF 4295 night train (screenshot TF1 news)

It was, as the national radio station RTL called it, a "journey without end". And even if that was perhaps a little bit of journalistic hyperbole at its best, it certainly must have seemed that way to those on board.

The train was supposed to leave the eastern French city of Strasbourg on Sunday for its 12-hour trip to Portbou, a town on (the Spanish side of) the French-Spanish border, and the city of Nice on the Côte d'Azur (obviously it was scheduled to split at some point).

Instead the 600 passengers arrived at their destinations with a slight delay of just 12 hours following what French national railways SNCF admitted had been "a succession of exceptional incidents".

In other words a series "cock-ups" with the weather playing a handsomely helping hand.

From the start the outlook wasn't particularly propitious as the train was late in setting off, but quickly what was to become something of a leitmotif for the whole trip clicked into motion (or rather lack thereof) as after just 150 kilometres the train stopped in Belfort to change drivers as the one who had been been aboard the train as it left Strasbourg had been working for three consecutive days (poor thing) and security regulations stipulated that he had to be replaced.

Except his stand-in was in Lyon - 342 kilometres away - and he only arrived at six o'clock in the morning.

When the 4295 eventually continued its journey, it wasn't long before it stopped for a second time as a regional train had broken down ahead of it just a few kilometres along the line at Montbéliard.

Another two hours were added to the trip in Tournus in Burgundy where the train was forced to come to a halt because of a problem with its own engine.

"We've done 300 kilometres in 17 hours," Ralph Lydi, one of those on board, told journalists by 'phone (the whole journey was followed by reporters from the comfort of the studio and of course covered in real time on Twitter).

"Some food was handed out but the drinks machines are no longer working and we have the impression that SNCF is just making fun of us," he added, saying that there had been little or no information provided as to what was happening.

Of course all good things - and bad - must come to an end, and the train eventually chugged in to Lyon at five o'clock on Monday evening, where those bound for Nice switched trains while those going south-west remained aboard.

SNCF apologised for what has been called the "hell on wheels journey" (BBC hyperbole this time) and (hurrah) as Didier Cazelles, a director of the company told TF1 news, offered all passengers a full refund and a free return ticket, which is probably exactly what they want!

While SNCF has put the whole sorry tale down to a combination of technical problems and weather conditions, the unions have a rather different interpretation of what happened.

"What the passengers have gone through is symptomatic of the cutbacks that SNCF has been making both in terms of rolling stock and personnel," Julien Trocaz of the Sud-Rail union told RTL radio, seeming to imply that the weather had not played any sort of role.

L'interminable voyage du train Strasbourg-Port-Bou

Hortefeux says heavy snowfall in Paris made travel "complicated"

Perhaps France's interior minister Brice Hortefeux was living on a different planet on Wednesday.

Or maybe he just hadn't seen a news report or stuck his nose out of the window.

Because at four o'clock in the afternoon, after snow had been falling in the French capital and its suburbs for a couple of hours, Hortefeux held a press conference.

Or should that be a "I haven't got a clue what I'm talking about but I'm going to say something because it's my job" session?

Using what can surely only be termed as political pussyfooting, and thereby denying any responsibility for the authorities having been ill-prepared, Hortefeux told the assembled hacks that getting in and around Paris and the surrounding region of Ile de France was "complicated" but not a "mess".

Brice Hortefeux "There isn't a mess" during press conference (screenshot TF1 news)

Just a slight error in the minister's description of the situation though as anyone in the French capital at the time could have told him.

It was indeed already a "mess", had been for many for several hours and would continue to be so for the rest of the afternoon, evening and through the night.

Just half an hour before Hortefeux made his statement, flights at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport had been suspended (they resumed a couple of hours later), heavy goods vehicles had been banned from the motorways in Ile de France, and only a handful of buses were running.

The snow was falling thick and fast (11 centimetres in total according to Météo France) and tailbacks were already beginning on each of the major axes in and out of Paris.

As television news reports in the evening showed, many motorists were well and truly stuck and would remain in their cars for most of the night.

Tailbacks measuring in total (a record) 394 kilometres were reported at one point, special reception areas were opened for those who were stranded, and even those who tried getting around on foot were having problems.

Extra police were deployed to help out but still the situation in Paris and its suburbs wasn't a "mess" because the interior minister had said so.

Interviewed later on Europe 1 radio, Hortefeux insisted that he hadn't been trying to deny that there had been problems but simply that the situation had worsened very quickly.

And he was backed up by the environment minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet who said (and here there's a bit of paraphrasing going on) that even though the region had been put on alert beforehand, the real problem had been the amount of snow that had fallen.

Ergo even though all the evidence at the time pointed to the contrary and Paris was indeed paralysed for several hours, as far as officialdom was concerned the situation was not a "mess".

Reflecting maybe on the reality of the situation, Hortefeux released a press statement on Thursday morning calling on motorists to avoid Paris and its suburbs.

Of course this isn't the first time recently that a government minister has managed to put a rather rose-tinted spin on what is actually happening.

When oil refinery workers went on strike in October, the then environment minister Jean-Louis Borloo urged French motorists to remain calm and reassured them that there was no risk of a fuel shortage.

A statement which unhappily proved to be far removed from what happened.

"Pagaille" : les autorités se défendent

Moscow-Nice express train back in service

Last weekend saw the arrival in the southern French city of Nice of the first direct train in almost a century linking Moscow with the Côte d'Azur.

Moscow-Nice express leaving the Russian capital (screenshot from YouTube clip)

Passengers disembarked after more than 50 hours aboard the Moscow-Nice express which left the Russian capital on Thursday, passed through five different countries and made 29 stops en route before reaching its destination just 30 minutes behind schedule.



Waiting for them was "a heroes welcome, a fanfare and official speeches" to mark the arrival of a service which, in the words of a BBC report, harked back "to the days of the tsars, when Russian nobility holidayed on the French Riviera."

http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2010/09/26/01016-20100926ARTFIG00229-un-train-de-luxe-relie-desormais-moscou-a-nice.php

The decision to relaunch the route was taken two years by Vladimir Yakunin, the president of the president of the state run Russian railways, as part of a plan to strengthen its continental lines.

Prices for the trip begin at €306 for an adult travelling one way in second class to €459 in first.

For those to whom money is no object, there's also the luxury tariff of €1,050 for a single ticket allowing passengers to travel in a compartment sleeping two people, complete with a shower and a flat screen TV.



For the moment the service operates once a week leaving Moscow on Thursday afternoon and arriving in Nice on Saturday evening and making the return journey on Sunday, arriving on Tuesday.

For those of you who don't like flying and have plenty of time on your hands, it's perhaps the perfect way to travel.

"Air Sarko One" due for delivery in Autumn

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is due to take delivery of a newly refitted Airbus later this year.

Nicknamed "Air Sarko One" by critics, the aircraft will be bigger, more expensive and will consume more fuel than the current presidential 'plane.

But it will also be able to fly further without refuelling and carry more passengers.

According to the national daily Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France the aeroplane is currently undergoing the finishing touches to its refitting before test flights scheduled for next month.

Although there has as yet been no confirmation from the ministry of defence, the future owners of the aircraft, the paper says its sources maintain that the test flight has been pushed back a couple of weeks to iron out "minor technical problems" discovered during recent ground trials.

Airbus A330-200 (from Wikipedia, photographer Adrian Pingstone)

The aircraft, an Airbus A330-200 is capable of making long haul flights without refuelling and will replace the existing A319.

The 11-year-old Airbus was formerly owned first by the now defunct Swissair and later by Air Caraïbes.

Refitting of the aircraft has been no mean feat according to the paper.

It reports that to meet the requirements of the French president, the 'plane has been entirely converted, a conference room designed and around 60 "VIP seats" installed, replacing the previous 324 when it was used as a commercial airline.

The French president will also have his own bedroom and shower, and both he and those travelling with him will be able to surf the Net at 10,000 metres. The cabin there will be a telephone.

The cabin has been reinforced fitted with a missile decoy system an encrypted communications system has been installed to allow the president to remain in private contact with his advisors.

When the announcement was made in June 2008 that a new 'plane would be ordered for the French president it received a lot of criticism in France, especially from the opposition Socialist party who maintained that the €176 million earmarked for buying and refitting the 'plane could be better used elsewhere and dubbed the project "Air Sarko One".

As the British daily The Times reported the news coincided with the plans to reduce public spending.

The decision was, in the words of the newspaper, seen as a "contradiction of recent efforts by Sarkozy to get away from his image as 'President Bling Bling'."

Although Sarkozy was rumoured to have wanted a brand new aircraft, the decision was made to buy a second hand one and upgrade it.

Le Parisien says a solution still has to be found to the problem of where the 'plane can take off and land in Paris.

The A330-200 is twice as long and four times as heavy as the A319 and will no longer be able to use the military base at Villacoublay, south-west of the French capital as the runway is too short.

The most likely answer, says the newspaper, will be to use the nearby international airport of Orly.

Raffles hotel - the tale of the overdone egg and the uncooked burger

Now you're probably thinking that as this is a travel piece it'll be a rapturous review of what is probably one of the most famous names in luxury hotels in the world - Raffles in Singapore.

Well it's not.

"Been there, done that" so to speak, and if you're interested in taking time out to join me in a quick visit I made last year to Number One Beach Road, then you're more than welcome.

Instead this is purely anecdotal in illustrating how some tourists (mis)behave when abroad, with the focus being on those from my adopted home - France - and the country from which I hail, Britain.

And "the action", as such, took place as I made a return visit to Raffles just last week and featured two exchanges between guests and staff that left me with eyes agog, ears a-flapping and a fair measure of embarrassment.

The setting: it's mid morning around the rooftop pool and I'm recovering from a 13-hour trip, slouched over a cool drink in 32 degrees Celsius.

First up the French, who after all have a reputation for being among the most unwelcome when on holiday abroad as a survey of hoteliers carried out on behalf of the Internet travel agency Expedia.fr illustrated last year.

"I want some eggs," said a woman in heavily accented and gutteral English to the barman.

"Certainly madam. How would you like them?" came the smiling response. "Poached, eggs benedict, as an omelette or scrambled perhaps?"

"No none of those," replied the woman. "Just simple...How you say?"

"Boiled?" came the helpful suggestion.

"Yes boiled - three my-newts (French pronunciation remember). One for me and one for my friend."

"Very good madam. And would you like anything else with your eggs?"

"Just toast and some tea," she replied. "Earl Grey for both of us."

"Certainly madam. Just to recap then that's two boiled eggs, toast and Earl Grey tea?"

"Yes. That takes how long?"

"About 10 minutes," came the reply.

"No longer than that," snapped the woman in response. "We're hungry".

Um. Do you notice anything missing?

You know, the simple words "please" and "thank you" that most of us are taught from an early age help jolly along a simple request and aren't exactly difficult to remember.

It was a point I made to my "Nearest and Dearest" (N 'n' D, who happens to be French) as I smugly maintained that what we had just overheard was evidence enough that the French abroad have appalling manners and that their reputation as "arrogant and rude" holidaymakers was more than deserved.

As if to add weight to my argument, when the eggs arrived and had been downed there came the complaint that they had "Obviously been boiled for more than three my-newts as they were almost hard."

There was clearly no pleasing the woman.

But I was to eat humble pie somewhat a few moments later when a fellow Brit proved that he could be even more obnoxious when it suited.

It happened when he requested that local speciality, burger and fries "With no trimmings such as onions, tomatoes, cheese or any other similar muck, just some meat and a roll please."

"Well at least the man had had the good grace, if not the taste, to round off the whole 'order' with a 'please'," I mouthed across the table to my N 'n' D.

But my sense of smugness quickly disappeared when the burger arrived, as it was far from being to the man's satisfaction because "It's raw," he insisted. "Inedible (he actually said uneatable but I'll let that one slide) and I wanted it medium to well done."

The manager was called for. The man repeated his complaint that his burger hadn't been cooked as he had requested, and he went to great (and noisy) lengths to demonstrate that - as far as he was concerned - it was not just under but completely uncooked.

"Look at that," he said to the manager.

"Does that look as though it has been medium to well done?" he continued.

"No it doesn't," he said emphatically, not pausing for breath and pointing at the barman.

"He clearly doesn't understand what 'medium to well done' means. This burger isn't cooked properly and I can't eat it."

Apologies were made by the manager on the barman's behalf and the irate Brit was told that the kitchen would be asked to cook another burger "exactly as requested."

Sadly when burger number two arrived, it didn't meet the demands of the guest either, and as his grievance levels rose a couple of decibels so his manners deteriorated accordingly before he swore at the staff, accused them of not being able to understand a simple request and stormed off in a huff - burgerless.

Within the space of half an hour the hotel staff had been subjected to some pretty appalling behaviour by my fellow Europeans.

Was it, I wondered, simply that some people didn't know how to behave and as it costs a pretty penny or two to stay at Raffles, did that mean some guests thought they could afford to be downright rude?

And did the hotel's principle of pampering visitors and responding to their every whim and caprice encourage guests to give free rein to the very worst sort of behaviour.

I didn't, and still don't, have the answer, but one thing is clear. That old adage "travel broadens the mind" certainly doesn't apply to everyone.

New Year in Bali - the sound of silence

Happy New Year!



Yes you've read correctly.

Even though Tuesday is just another working day for most of us, for the people of Bali it's Nyepi Day or the "Day of Silence" which this year falls on March 16.

While most countries around the world welcome in the beginning of a new year with celebrations (and all too often those regrettable hangovers) the folk on this Indonesian island take the whole affair much more sedately and, as the name suggests, mark it in silence.

It's proceeded by an evening which provides a stark contrast of the day that is to follow with Nyepi ushered in by a carnival-like atmosphere as the local people proudly parade giant effigies or Ogoh-ogoh figures made especially for the occasion.



They represent "evil spirits" and their purpose is to purify the "natural environment of any spiritual pollutants emitted from the activities of living beings" - including man.

And after being paraded around towns and villages they're burnt as a symbol of self purification.



But on the following day this normally bustling island of just over three-and-a-half million takes on a totally different character.

There are none of those haphazardly driven scooters or cars on the streets. There's no entertainment of any sort even though the Balinese are known for their love of gamelan music and processions.

Shops, markets, bars and restaurants are closed as is the airport in the capital Denpasar.



The traditional terraced rice paddies remain untended, televisions and radios are turned off and the only sound you're likely to hear is ...well...silence - and perhaps the barking of the island's large dog population.



In short, Bali closes down for the day as the mainly Hindu population remains at home for a period of self reflection and fasting.

All of which might all be a little disconcerting for unsuspecting holidaymakers expecting to be able to top up their tans but to no avail. The beaches are closed and tourists are more or less confined to their hotels for the day.

But in taking time out to reflect not only on themselves but also their place in the "wider scheme of things" for a whole day, the Balinese are surely setting an example from which we could perhaps all learn a little something.

So from the island of Bali, "Happy Nyepi".

Venice - a photoreportage

It's easy - oh so easy perhaps - to take glorious photos of Venice, even for the most talentless among us.

Simply point the camera in any direction, press, whirr and voilà.

And with digital technology you've got not just one but several (hundred?) snapshots of those canals, water, bridges, piazzas, more water, palaces, boats, gondoliers, even more water and so on and so forth.

Souvenirs of a city that is without question one of the most romantic in the world.

Well just for a change, here, mixed in with those typical tourist photos (well what did you expect?) is a selection of a few other images and clips taken by one galoshes-wearing happy snapper traipsing - or should that be sploshing - around the "Queen of the Adriatic" as the sun put in a brief appearance during acqua alta or "high water".

Braving the raised walkways at the Rialto bridge

equipped with wellies that have clearly never seen the countryside

After the rain, the sun

It might be chilly but some are determined to make the most out of the sun

Just to state the obvious, Venice of course means boats

...and canals, starting with the Grand Canal

...and continuing with the side canals

...gondoliers at work, waiting and taking a break

and gondolas - take one or make one

It's a city with the narrowest of streets

and where.daily exercise Venetian style entails lugging pushchairs over bridges

As it's Italy it's time to shop. Tat for sale - masks, tee shirts and "original" Murano

And then there are some extravagant loo brushes

Signs (galore) - where exactly are we? - posters, instructions and graffiti











Hung out to dry

Bells and doors

All right then, a couple of typical tourist shots to finish with.

St Mark's - in the rain and at dusk