African Scatterling

Autumn ladder...

2008-11-14T07:50:00.006Z

No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace
as I have seen in one autumnal face
~{John Donne}~

Art?

2008-10-21T17:53:00.002+01:00

To wait 2½ hours for a train can become boring...

So while waiting for the train in Bergerac, France,

our arty middle daughter, Vici (8) decided that
she won't let boredom take over.

With her little helper, WildChild (4), in tow,
she collected material for her art-work.

And voilà!

Her Art-work.

Puppets...

2008-10-17T11:15:00.005+01:00

We went to an International puppet festival a couple of week-ends ago. The girls were amazed by the puppets and even ICE and I enjoyed seeing it.

Acts ranged from traditional Punch and Judy to
Titan, a 7ft tall singing robot;

Two "colonials" on a camel;

and the Yangzhou puppets from China.

The ones we thought were the best were, Saurus, the Poles Apart Insect Band and the Creatures.The Creatures, wonderful, 3 metres tall, walk-about Gothic animals that needed a keeper to ensure that they don’t misbehave.

Saurus were these enormous dinosaurs that puffed smoke, reminding you of those creatures that wandered the planet at the dawn of time.We really enjoyed the music of the amazing insect band.

A great day out.

Visages de pierre...

2008-10-16T08:08:00.003+01:00

Stone faces in the gardens of Marqueyssac in Perigord, France.
The sculptures of the stone faces was sculpted by Gérard Chabert.

Gardens of Marqueyssac (1)

2008-10-15T10:15:00.000+01:00

Gardens of Marqueyssac.

Built in the 17th century by Bertrand Vernet, Counsel to the King. The original garden featured gardens, terraces, and a kitchen garden surrounding the chateau.

A grand promenade one hundred meters long was added at the end of the 18th century. Beginning in 1866, the new owner, Julien de Cerval, who was inspired by Italian gardens, built rustic structures, redesigned the parterres, laid out five kilometers of walks, and planted pines and cypress trees.

The park of the Château de Marqueyssac is one of the finest achievements in the history of French gardens.
Designed for walks, the park overlooks the valley of the Dordogne from its high limestone cliffs. It offers the most splendid panorama in the Périgord. With its southern exposition, protected from the prevailing winds and warmed by every little ray of sunshine on the rock, the Walk along the Cliffs at the Marqueyssac Gardens can be enjoyed until the end of the winter.A listed site, the romantic and picturesque gardens of Marqueyssac offer more than 6 kilometers of shaded walking paths, bordered by 150 000 hundred-year-old hand-pruned box trees, and dotted with belvederes, rocks, a trail along the water and shrines of greenery. The Belvedere of the Dordogne, 130 meters above the river, unveils an exceptional view on the entire valley, its châteaux and its villages listed as France's most beautiful.

http://www.marqueyssac.com/index1.html

Papillon

2008-09-24T09:40:00.007+01:00

The philosopher Zhuangzi once had a dream of being a butterfly flying without care about humanity, however when he woke up and realised it was just a dream, he thought to himself "Was I before a man who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being a man?"

In some old cultures, butterflies also symbolize rebirth into a new life after being inside a cocoon for a period of time.

Some people say that when a butterfly lands on you it means good luck.

However, in Devonshire, England, people would traditionally rush around to kill the first butterfly of the year that they see, or else face a year of bad luck.

Sunflowers

2008-09-18T09:30:00.000+01:00

We saw many Sunflower-fields in France during August.

I took these photos close to LaBorie, Perigueux, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France.

I just love the way their faces turn with the sun.

Go and look at the sunflower seeds ripening on Nathalie's site - Avignon in Photos: Turning to seed .

Sarlat,

2008-09-16T18:00:00.005+01:00

During our holiday in France (August 2008), we went to Sarlat the capital of Black Perigord (Dordogne, France). Sarlat is one of the most fascinating and beautifully restored towns in France, giving the atmosphere and appearance of another age, with narrow steep alleys flanked by medieval and Renaissance houses in honey-coloured stone.

It has more historic, listed buildings than any other place of its size in France. Sarlat is pronounced sar LAH, with the final T silent.

It consists of a central old city and a surrounding modern town. Not knowing what to expect or where to go, we got a map of the town.Look through the wall... Behind it awaits Sarlat, memory of the ages, standing in defiance of time itself. The honey-coloured stones of the thousand-year-old buildings of Sarlat drink in the daylight, to return it at twilight. Sarlat has withstood the rigours of a long history. Restored these last few decades, the paved streets and squares were among the first to have gas-lighting, so there are no overhead wires to detract from the pleasure of the age-old architecture, or to get in the way of the photographer's lens!The twice-weekly market, is classified as one of the most beautiful in France.
As for the music at the market... Tres Magnifique ! There were loads of food stalls at the market to enjoy the gastronomic delights on offer in the region.
And we tried everything, even the different kinds of sausages.

Although Sarlat was nice, it had loads of tourists, which is understandable seeing that it was Summer holiday.

Will we return?

Yeah....

In years to come, to show it to friends and family.

It's a big world out there....

2008-02-21T08:10:00.006Z

As most of you know, we went to Europe last week. Although a few friends on mainland Europe asked me if I don't consider UK part of Europe...

Britain is an island, Europe is big...

Two weeks before our planned trip to the mainland, I bought a ferry crossing ticket for £45-00 (±R676-00) to Dunkirk. It was quite cheap compared to other thickets to Calais which is about 80Km away from Dunkirk. Dunkerque is in France and close to the Belgian border.

We left our house in the early hours of Saturday morning and drove the 100+ miles (160Km) to Dover.

We got to the Ferry Port about ½ an hour before we were suppose to. Quite nervous, because it was our first time, and loads of people gave us different advice. We drove onto the ferry. Got out, locked our car and went upstairs.

Seeing that it was in the early hours of the morning, there was enough open spaces. We got a table and comfy chairs, next to a kids play area/table thingy. Most people slept, but we were too exited to sleep. I should have caught a shut-eye as well...

2 hours later we got back in our cars and drove of at Dunkirk. Armed with my SatNav, I was ready for the road-trip!

In Europe they drive on the right hand side of the road. It was funny at first and for the first few kilo's I had to remind myself to keep right... But it became second nature. If every1 else does it, it is easy. On some highways they don't have a speed limit, and I just stuck to the right hand lane, as if I'm driving in SA. The only problem I had was linking with another road, because seeing that I sit on the right side of my car, I had to look over my left shoulder, to see if there was a gap, etc. But it got easier the more I drove. In the end we drove ±1250miles (2000Km.)

In Belgium, I tried to put in petrol, but the pump where I stopped, number 7, didn't want to start. In Europe, like in the Ukay, you have to put in your own petrol, no petrol joggies around. I heard a voice saying something in, what I assumed, French, but I just ignored him. Trying to swipe my card and swapping the different kinds of fuel, but nada... Then I heard the voice over the sound system again saying something about 'trois' and 'non sept'. I decided that the guy was speaking, or trying to speak to me, so I moved to number 'trois' instead. And can you believe it, the petrol pump at number 3 worked!

After driving along, and consuming liters of Soda water, I needed to take a leak... Desperately! Every place we stopped we needed to pay 0.30 €uro cents. Al we had on us were pounds and pence. At a village shop, I asked, or rather tried to ask in my limited French, where the bank was. It took forever...

The conversation went as follows:

Me : Morning. Pardon, Mademoiselle.
Sales lady : Bonjour, Monsieur.
Me : A cash machine?
SL : Excusez-moi?
Me : Autobank? (And showing her my bank card)
SL : Si, si. (indicating the cash register)
Me : 50 Euros, Please?
SL : Non, Banque! Direction something, something bon and somemore somethings. Comprendre?
Me : Si! Merci! (And clueless, I left...)

We carried on towards the next small town, further away from the highway, with the SatNav girl going hoarse, trying to get me to turn around, or make a left at the next junction and then immediately a right. Got to the town square, and there was a wedding going on. It looked like fun, but by now I was reaching bursting zone, and the kids also needed to go. Maneuvered through the wedding guests with my car, searching for the bank, we saw a butchery/delicatessen and I went in. Now, before we left, people were telling us not to speak English, because then the French would be rude to you. As I went in I tried my best Bonjour. I was greeted friendly, and then I tried to ask for a bank, but the elderly gent that was in the shop before me, gave me a sharp look and kept on giving his orders to the lady behind the counter.

This took for ever, but eventually he finished and I asked for a bank. The lady smiled sweetly at me and pointed across the road. I thanked her in Afrikaans and English and ran to the building she indicated. I went in , but every card I tried in the machine, just told me 'ERROR'!! A older gent with the world's patience said something about EU and showed me a sign on his card. Yip, mine didn't have it.

I rushed out and decided to drive to Luxembourg, which according to my SatNav girl was just 7 miles away. In Luxembourg we past a big shopping center, with loads of parking. Inside I saw a Cash-Machine, and praying I popped in my card. No problem, it worked!

We saw the toilet sign , just next to us and rushed in. And guess what? It was free, gratis, verniet!

We walked around in the mall for a while, and buying snacks, so that we would have change if we needed it again. Most people spoke Flemish, and we could understand them. I felt relieved that I can understand people again. It is hard not knowing what people is saying...