Oh no, tomorrow is friday

Yesss, tomorrow is the D Day... come back to work. Will regret the beach of Hua Hin ( Thailand) where i spent some hot days in July. Hau hin is south of Bangkok, it is a very quiet place....but millions of HUGE jellyfishes.
Nobody swims in the sea, everyone in the pool...

Beach of Hua Hin Thailand

Hot and wet today

Very hot today indeed, so i went to the river and i found this palm tree...Boring, palm trees everywhere, i need to change a little bit.

So i photoshoped it, it underlines the shapes, although the fancy tones are not really what i like. I should focus more on photoshop technique but i am so lazy....

Worked again some photos of Angkor today

I spent only one day in Angkor. Not enough and the light was very harsh. But there is a catch : you see the whole thing running from 9 to 6 or.. you stay one week and take picture from 4 to 6.

Get these 3, but i really regret to have rushed that day with a hellish sun...will come back witout doubt but by plane this time. Bus is OK for my budget but definitely the roads are so bad...

Talked to my son Dani

My son is actually in Santo Domingo. Before he left to see his mother i bought him this t-shirt. He was very proud of the french team and i must confess i had some hard time to find a french one. We were not favorites at that time and only brazil and england t-shirts were on sale in singapore....

Every time i talk to him i see this picture. I miss him a lot.

Vallon des Auffes, a jewel in the heart of Marseilles

Before coming back to Singapore, i went with my mom to the Vallon des Auffes, an small port on the corniche . As usual, we went to eat a pizza there and enjoy the talking of the locals.
Very windy also, the wind there is known as the "Mistral". Better for pushing away the pollution !

Istres, a small town in southern France

Went to see my sister who lives in Istres. My brother in law showed me the old city. Very nice indeed. I think that the past of a country is what makes it shining. Old is viewd as something depreciative usually. Remeber Bush remark about "old Europe".
As a matter of fact, all these centuries build something and the "new" countries lack this backbone.

Magic of the old port

I went to the frioul islands with an 80 year old friend. This guy was a culturist in the 50's and is still here, going alone to the islands, strong and alive.
I took this picture of the old port of Marseilles 5 minutes before going.
Love the light of this city...Would like to see the same thing in singapore.
But you cannot compare a city founded by the greeks and a brand-new industrial port..

Do you know Pierre Puget ?

Pierre Puget was a brillant sculptor from Marseilles who lived in the 17 century . I love him. If you land in Paris and visit the Louvres Museum have a look at his "Milon de Crotone" sculpture. This is powerful and vibrating work. I dropped at the "vieille charité", an old hospice of the Marseilles city, and Puget erected a beautiful building with a clear inspiration of italian monuments.

However, it is full of fancy and inspiration. Look at this picture and notice how he mixes the rectangular pillars ans classical greek columns.

Marseilles gain... beautiful city

I am so happy to go back every year to my fabulous city of Marseilles.
The weather was sonderful this time and i had some time to make pictures of the cathedral Notre-Dame-de-la Garde.
All the citizens go there for a prayer... or two in order to get some protection from the virgin ( la bonne mere ). The sailors also go often there before their 2 months fishing period.

To Angkor or not angkor ?

I spent my july month in Angkor. I imagined a romantic temple lost in a jungle. Reality was diferent...
After 15 hours of bus from bangkok i arrived in Siem Reap. The crowd of tuktuk drivers was here to remind me that i definitely belong to the world of international tourists. After the nightmare of extremely poor farmer villages, luxury hotels and all the pride.

I was surprised to see that nobody was speaking french. Polpot killed almost all the intellectiuals who were french speakers, suspected to belong to the counter -revolutionary bourgeoisie. But the english spoken is quite good - not like mine..



I really had a hard time avoiding the tourists and taking pictures of the ruins. I had to wait 15 or 20 minutes in order to get this sliced one...