Life's a Journey, Aye!: Paris!!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Paris!!

Ah, am up to early this morning (0600) and it looks like it will be a nice day here! Temperature already 5 degc, and a forecast of up to 9!! That's the same temperature as the South coast of England today!! I sae my first motorcycle of the season on the road last night coming home from work, and the snow appears to be, well, disappearing some! Another Canadian victory - another winter into the books. Hopefully the old saying about March coming in like a lamb.... and going out like a lion will prove not to be true this year!!! Cross your fingers!!

The 2010 Olympics, now in the history books as the best one ever, especially for Canada as well. Hopefully the hangover pain won't be too brutal, not just from yesterday, but from the entire games themselves. So many people working for such a long time to make it happen. Thank you from all of us, and we hope transition back to 'normal life' will go well.

I entitled this post "Paris" and so it shall be...... what made me think to do more on Paris this morning was reading the world new blurbs that come on my Yahoo mail..... while we have been partying it up here in BC, Europe has received a beating by a very bad winter storm. Many folk dead in France, and some in Spain and Portugal as well. And millions without power. Hoping for a speedy recovery of power for all those affected!! Sad end to a bad winter for that part of the world.

Paris is such a neat place..... it really should be on everyone's "Bucket List" of things to do - you just have to go - so save up your pop cans, and scrape together the "Air Miles" and GO.

I have posted quite a few pics of Paris, and will see if there are a few more which you haven't yet seen..... but in the meantime, I will share with you two websites written about France, and one specifically about Paris. Brilliant reading, beautiful photography, and even recipes!

This one is called "Stuff Parisiens Like" and is written by someone connected with the O Chateau Wine Tasting group - and its not just about wine - it is about everything, and there are recipes on here as well. Worth adding to your daily reading!!

http://www.parisiensalon.com/2009/12/stuff-parisians-like-baguettes-tradition/

And this one, called "Letters from a French Village" is a blog written by autho Zalin Grant, an American journalist living in a 15th century farmhouse in a small village in France. Brilliantly written of course, funny, and also has recipes!!

http://pythiapress.com/letters/letters.htm

Enjoy!!!!

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone! And as we let our light shine, we give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Get out there, and let your light shine! (and yup, that last bit added by me!)

A quote often attributed to Nelson Mandela, but written by Marianne Williamson. Shared with me by my sister Noelle.

Change in Direction

Have been watching with more and more horror the images which reach us here in our nice, warm, safe home of Haiti, post-earthquake.

Many calls have gone out for help, and many have responded in ways they are able - donations, time, with prayer, and deeds.

The thought of all they are suffering has been niggling at my conscience. So. I asked my sister if she knew of aid agencies taking volunteers She did, and put me in touch with a very large and well known one. One with resources and 'pull' - one which is respected and known around the globe. Seemed snesible to me to volunteer with one which is well known, and has resources to support its activities and its volunteers.

So. Tuesday I sent in my application to go as a paramedic to serve in the field hospitals/clinics of Haiti.

If accepted I will go.

So from you dear readers, I will need a continuous supply of positive thoughts, and encouragement. My stint will be for only 2 weeks but I fully expect it will be a life changing experience.

So this will be a different sort of blog that I usually write. No night shots of the Eiffel Tower, no cathedrals, no castles, no Scottish countryside scenes, no flower gardens. I expect the only monuments I will see are those of human spirit - struggling to make themselves and their country right.

I will start by posting some facts about Haiti, and you shall learn about this country right along with me as I do.

I have always known a certain saying, and have always felt it applies to me, in that I have been quite blessed in life. The way I remembered it is:

"To whom much is given, much is expected".

-Michelle, to whom much has been given - and who is staring into the near future, hoping to be more than adequate to the job ahead.

The History of the Scottish flag - The saltire

From http://www.scotlandsource.com/ -

It has been believed by generations of Scotsmen that the national flag, the white saltire on a blue background, the oldest flag in Europe, originated in a battle fought here in Athelstaneford (and I am going there, wahoo!!) in the Dark Ages between the Picts and Scots on the one side and the Angles of Northumbria on the other. (around 832 AD).

There are many versions of the story but they generally agree that an army of the Picts under their King Angus (or Hungus) aided by a contingent of the Scots was invading Lothian (then and for long afterwards Northumbrian territory), and found themselves surrounded by a massive force of the Angles under their leader Athelstan. King Angus and his host prayed earnestly for deliverance to God and the saints.

That night St. Andrew (the Patron Saint of Scotland) appeared to the king and promised him victory.

On the next day when battle was joined, the vision of a white saltire (the diagonal cross on which the Apostle had been martyred) was seen by all against the blue sky. This so encouraged the Picts and Scots and frightened their adversaries that the former won a signal victory.

In the pursuit, so the tradition goes on, the Northumhbrian leader Athelstan was slain at the crossing of the Peffer or Cogtail Burn, the site of which is marked by Athelstaneford Mains Farm, about half a mile south-east of the village.

The probable site of the battle is at nearby Prora Farm,where there is a field called "The Bloody Field, close by the Peffer Burn, (this burn runs into Aberlady Bay, to the west, whereas the first mentioned Peffer Burn runs east to the sea).

The Saltire is also known as the Saint Andrew' s Cross.

Robbie Burns

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) (also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, Robden of Solway Firth, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply The Bard) was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a "light" Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these pieces, his political or civil commentary is often at its most blunt.
He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. A cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world, celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was voted by the Scottish public as being the Greatest Scot.

Life's a Journey, Aye!

In the words of Ewan MacGregor, "The Long Way Down"

Monday, March 1, 2010

Paris!!

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Lands end in Dorset....... next stop... FRANCE