Talking on Skype on perhaps her last night of freedom (though, at the time of writing, this remains to be seen), Jenna can at least enjoy the few perks of carrying a baby: a free stand to rest the microphone on (that’s what the big thing in the picture is), or the TV remote, or even a bowl of cereal.
We found this gnarly old willow on the banks of the Thames River in London. London, Ontario, that is. There were several other old willows in the park striking grotesque postures.
Middlesex College at the University of Western Ontario.
As documented previously, Jenna and I made a short trip to Paris (from our base in Norway) last September. One way to characterize our two days in the French capital could be as a mad dash to see as many sights as possible, slavishly following a list of must-see attractions (and appropriately ticking them off our list (the Louvre — check)); a typical tourist sojourn, if you will. Short stays in big locations have a tendency to degenerate in this way, when you want to be able to say that you have elevated to the top of the Eiffel Tower, strolled down the Champs-Elysées and beheld, with your very own eyes, the spectacular Notre Dame and the rather diminutive Mona Lisa (Jenna, sadly, was deprived of this pleasure).
Seeing the sights is not a bad thing; that is one of the reasons why Paris is worth visiting. I like to see evidence of history; grand monuments and reminders of great events both good and bad from bygone eras. What matters is whether you enjoy the experience: I’ve done hectic tours with a high return on investment (in terms attractions seen per hour or number of attractions seen divided by total cost of trip) as well, and the company of other travellers can make this a quite enjoyable experience too.
But another legitimate goal of travelling is to experience and enmesh yourself in foreign culture, and food is one of the best kinds of culture (it can be quite yummy). So while the bankers were feasting their way through the anemic (or non-existing) economic recovery following the 2008 recession, we decided to join the feast and eat ourselves through some French culture. France is famous for good food. Paris is the capital of France; therefore Paris must have some good food (this can be confirmed). Cheese, wine, pastries and confectionary — we made our trek through this city into a flight of culinary excess. Our wanderings could very well be described in terms of what restaurants we visited, interspersed by short interludes of calorie burning (sightseeing).
Armed with a couple of reservations and otherwise trusting blind luck to guide us to gastronomic heaven, we arrived in the city in the evening one day in mid-September. We set out right away after we had deposited our suit cases in our rather Spartan (but completely adequate) hotel room to have a late dinner (when on the continent, do as the…ah, well, do it the continental way, and that means late). Soon, we found ourselves in a small and chic restaurant eating a croque-monsieur (Jenna) and pasta with salmon (me) while watching French locals cheer on as their football (soccer) team gave their rival a bruising (can’t remember who they beat). It created a nice atmosphere to eat; fortunately the French boys won, or it might have been different. The moral of this story, of course, is that random events can really heighten your eating experience. Don’t plan, trust in blind luck.
In the rest of the post are some other food experiences, with pictures, but not all (you would lose interest).
We all had some pretty good days in Montreal, when the Norwegians, Jenna and I went there in July. In just a few days we crammed in quite a lot, including old Montreal (stopping for ice cream on Place Jacques Cartier and exploring alleyways with cute little boutiques selling an equal mixture of tourists trinkets and one-of-a-kind artistic creations), the Latin Quarter, Rue St Catherine, Little Italy, the Mont Royal plateau, St Viateur bagels (mmmm…) and Montreal smoked meat at Schwartz’s (double mmm!).
Here’s me and my parents/brother on top of Mont Royal,which is a green, undeveloped hill in the middle of the city. The downtown core is in the background. Below is a picture where Jenna is substituted for me.
Couldn’t this be a postcard? I know, a million other people have the same shot (or a close equivalent of it). This year, when my family visited from Norway, I took them on the trip “behind the falls” rather than on the Maid of the Mist. Perhaps a bit of a tourist trap, but I contend that it was still a nifty experience (the second time for me). What else is one to do as a tourist but touristy things? Plus, I really don’t mind having another excuse to take pictures (and try out my new, hand-me-down Nikon D80). The falls really do look quite impressive from underneath, on the viewing platform. As for seeing the falls from behind? Well, the tunnel itself was the interesting bit; the falls themselves just became a white veil of water, without much contrast. At least it was refreshing
Sunrise over Lake Vermillion, with Mount Rundle in the background. Scarcely four hours after being down by the water to gaze at the universe, a few of us from the workshop went back to observe the sunrise. It was crystal clear and hardly a cloud in the sky, leading to less colour and beauty in a more subtle dimension.
Stargazing in the Rockies…see the Milky Way in all its splendour. This picture was taken at 2am on a jetty on Lake Vermillion, close to Banff.
I have only brightened this picture and done some noise removal — the colours are all original, reflecting the wavelenghts that were present but too subtle to be seen with the naked eye. The orange light that floods Mount Rundle is light pollution from Banff; in this instance, it created an otherworldly effect. The stars appears as streaks because of the movement of the Earth. The bright dot reflected in the water is Venus. I didn’t have a tripod, so I rested the camera on the edge of the jetty. As people moved around, the jetty started rocking slightly, hence the stars didn’t move in a straight line.
Technical details: f/3.5 at 18mm, 146 seconds, ISO 25o
Here’s Echo Creek, a tributary that joins the Bow River in Banff. You can hire canoes and kayaks here (for a price), or if you’re lucky, other people will do the hiring and then line up for you on the river while a train is passing in front of them, with rugged mountains in the background, all beautifully framed by trees.
I was in Banff for a week on a summer school in climate engineering with a crew of graduate students, faculty and other experts in social, political and scientific issues around geoengineering (or climate engineering). We gathered to ask (answering is more difficult), with great humility and no small amount of trepidation, difficult questions and challenges around if, when and how this such technologies should be used, and to ruminate over the possible need for them as mitigation of climate gases does not proceed nearly fast enough to steer us away from a host of dangerous climatic consequences.
Even the considerable weight of these issues, however, could not dampen the delight of staying for a week in Banff National Park. Fortunately I did have some time for sightseeing. You could scarcely imagine a more beautiful setting for a town, along the Bow River, among tall and imposing peaks. Here’s a view of downtown Banff with Cascade Mountain in the background.
Jenna and I took my family to see Montreal, Quebec’s own Paris, complete with it’s own Latin quarter. Montreal is indeed special in North America, a major metropolis with a French flair (though English is accepted most places). We had five lovely days here, exploring the city and its food traditions at a leisurely (Latin) pace. Our hotel was in the heart of the Latin quarter. More to follow. Underneath you see the flock just after we arrived.
