Promenons nous dans les bois...

(Hiking around St Laurent des Arbres, Decembre 2008)

Provence: Black and white

Les gorges de l'Herault

St Guilhem

rive de l'Herault

Toits d'Avignon

Bois de St Laurent des Arbres

St Laurent des Arbres: Le chateau

Rue de ST Guihlem

Le Pont du Diable

les bois de St Laurent

Villeneuve-les-Avignon

St Laurent des Arbres: Le moulin neuf

Le pont d'Avignon (Pont St Benezet)

Rue de St Guilhem

Avignon: Place devant le Palais des Papes

Avignon: Le Palais des Papes

(Avignon, Baux de Provence, St Guilhem, St Laurent des Arbres:Decembre 2008)

Avignon

Noel in Montpellier

(Illuminations in front of Opera)

(Street lights)

(The carousel place de la Comedie)

Feeling the Christmas spirit

HO HO HO!!! Can you feel the spirit of Christmas? I can't remember ever being this excited at Christmas time. It's going to be the first family Xmas after many years and I just want everything to be perfect. Despite it being oh so commercial, Christmas to me remains a period of sharing, giving, a time for family reunions and big festivities, a time of togetherness, Umoja (as we say back home).
Walking the streets of Montpellier and basking in the street lights, feeling the cold and walking from stand to stand at the traditional marché de Noel (Xmas market), I realised that I do love this country and truly enjoy being here. Experiencing the French lifestyle, the French cuisine and traditions is simply awesome and I am continuously amazed and the wonders of La France!

(Christmas market)

(Xmas stand)

(Santa's sleigh)

(oh Tannenbaum)

(Xmas tree sale)

The Union Buldings

The Union Buildings, home to the South African government and the president's office. It overlooks the city of Pretoria with it's canon and terraced gardens.

Traffic

"Rush hour", "Congestion", "Bumper to bumper", "Traffic jams", "Standstills"... all these terms used to describe high traffic at a certain time of the day. Terms that go hand in hand with "Frustration", "Anger", "Pressure", "Road rage", "Fatigue", "Headache" and so many more. Looking out my window at peak time, I saw none of that, none of the irritation all I could see was beauty, a certain urban beauty. Lights dancing about, illuminating the trees, I could hear the hooting, I could feel the tension and the frustration but still I saw none of it. All I could focus on was the lights in the trees and that certain urban beauty.

More autumn

(Landscape of Haute Saone)