At Lac Pavin

Pictures from the Patinoire

Saturday evening we went to see William at skating practice at the little rink at Super-Besse. He's quite good at spinning!

I work long days myself, but it's hard to imagine having the energy for an hour's workout on the ice after a long, long day running the tubing run on the slopes.

I hope this means that the fad for stuffing the local wildlife and putting it on display is finally on its way out. This badger, in spite of being the mascot of the local hockey team, is tucked away on top of the showcase, way down the hall, facing the corner. Dusty and sad, nobody thinks much of it. And perhaps they will not ever think to replace it with a new unfortunate soul.

Marrakech 09 preview

I just love bureaucracy. I love it.

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I'm going to Marrakech on business next month. From Clermont there are no regular direct flights, but there are charters, and it's about a 2-hour flight.

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Instead, it will take me 10. Because we have to start out by going exactly the wrong direction, to Paris. Wait around there. Then to Casablanca to wait again, and finally to Marrakech. And this is the good itinerary - the first one had us changing airports in Paris, at rush hour.

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The wait in Paris is just the usual boring irritation, but the wait in Casablanca is really mean. At about 3 hours each way, it's long enough to be noticably long, but not long enough to take a day trip into a fascinating city I've never been to. Arrrr!

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And I'm sure I'll have happy company, too. My boss is bringing his wife along, only, her tickets had to be arranged separately (the government agency sending us is buying our tickets for us - no choice there): she couldn't get our flight, we couldn't change to hers. No way am I trading tickets and crossing Paris on a bus at rush hour (not that you can do that these secure-flying days)! So my boss will have me for company and not her.

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I just hope this whole thing comes off smoothly.

Winter Tree Portraits

I want to quit my job and become a tree portraitist.

Sunday morning walk