A trip in Avignon

A week ago we visited some friends who live in Avignon and experimented one of the coldest day of the year!
We were brave enough however to go to La Fontaine de Vaucluse (empty of the many tourists you can have in summer) and ended up having tea in l'Isle sur la Sorgue...




So cold the water mill was frozen!

La France en relief - Nave of the Grand Palais

Paris has been very cloudy and misty lately.
I decided to go to the Grand Palais for the exhibition of relief maps of fortified towns  that were created for military purposes from the reign of Louis XIV to the end of the 19th century

When you entered, there was a huge map of France on the ground, and people were trying to find where their city was

The models were HUGE, it was very impressive

It took a lot of time to prepare the exhibition because the models were very fragile and hadn't been moved in a very long time

You can visit the website here and see amazing 3D maps

PS : pictures taken with my phone, sorry

Back to Bach please !

Let's get back to some more classical stuff, Haendel, Bach & Pergolesi...
For those of you who missed the Musica Angelica concert in LA with Dame Emma Kirkby and Daniel Taylor.


Haendel Theodora Duet : To thee, thou glorious son of worth
the "encore" of our concert, with Daniel Taylor and Sophie Daneman

 And the "Stabat Mater" by Pergolesi,Emma Kirkby sings with James Bowman, this is probably one of the best recordings ever.

 As for the transcription in German "Tilge Höchster, meine Sünden"  from JS Bach that we listened to, I have found a recent video with Emma Kirkby and Robin Blaze, another counter tenor, but he really does not match Daniel Taylor, too bad.

This is only part 1 (2 more on YouTube)

Sophia Grace and Rosie

Not sure if this video has made it to France yet, but it's extremely popular here... And here's their interview on Ellen. You can see more of their videos on the Ellen website, they've been there several times! They're just too cute.

Pigs!

Michel - I've found the spot for our next vacation. We must go to the Bahamas to feed the swimming pigs!

The scariest and veganest picnic ever

Here are a few more pics of this amazing adventure on the beaches of Malibu !

 Of course we first had to stop at some market

 Where they had strange flowers

 And all kinds of fruits

 Then we met some of Boule's friends, talked a bit about supreme motorcycles

And we drove to the pier looking for strong beverages (coffee I mean)

But no one would rescue or baywatch us

 Not a soul there, except for a few outlaws fishing

So we had to share our picnic (what picnic ?) with the locals

Not that I mind giving them my share actually !

 

 Then on Sunday we went to the Getty Center, quite a place ! Impressive architecture, art exhibitions and amazing views of Los Angeles, all for free. Definitely a place to go ! 

As a matter of fact, the architect (Richard Meier) has worked for the City of  Montpellier and you can easily recognize his style !

The Gentle Barn

While in LA, Michel said we had to visit a nearby animal sanctuary. We didn't really want to go, but he insisted ;)

There were sheep...this one's name was Stanely.

A very large pig,

A peacock,

More pigs and chickens,

Even more pigs and chickens,

A turkey,

Same pig, but this time from the front,

And this cute little goat was playing with his ball, so cute.

Then, Buddha the cow.

Michel does love animals!

This one is Buttercup.

All these animals were rescued from very bad situations. It was really nice to see them all playing together in the sunshine, happy and content.

Picnic in LA

A day in LA... 

Long walks on the beach

Seaweed

No Fishing

And vegetarian picnics (Michel's favorite kind!!!!) Carrots, snap peas, bread, fresh orange juice, almond butter + vegan chocolate truffles.

And a family member we haven't seen in years!