Artistic License

We break for a short lighthearted interlude.

Birmingham New Street is undergoing a much needed rebuild to make it lighter, aerier, and no longer the hell-hole of an interchange that everyone tried to avoid in their cross-country journeys. However in an article reporting the progress on the new-build it was revealed that an outer skin is being added to the structure in certain places (and I quote): "a mirror finish fascia that will reflect the cloud patterns and sky colour of the day".
Is it just me that feels the effect is not going to as great as the planners thought, given the habit of the British climate for dull and grey days... or maybe just artistic license on the part of the journalist writing the report.

And now back to your normal programmed schedule (i.e. no blog posts).

New jellies

In the interests of record keeping and keeping all my writing in one place, this little passage sprung from my fingertips this afternoon while sat in the office. What was one verse originally just multiplied.

As a background, we had had our first sighting for months of the jellyfish I study, Pelagia, in the sea today. So I had to go for a snorkel during the afternoon to search for some more if I could. The water was cold, 14oC, but in a full wetsuit it was bearable. I found some more jellies although not in good condition on the whole, and some other gelatinous species. Anyway with music on in the lab and some measurements to take I suddenly got rather animated, bouncy and smiley. I think I had missed working down there. I've been in virtually every day for months, but not had much to do, bar changing some water. Variety as they say is the Spice of Life. For me, having some new jellies spiced up mine.
Oh and I was planning to take a day off and go skiing tomorrow, working Saturday instead, but the presence of jellies means that I ought to work and do the skiing another time. At least I hadn't paid for much of it as yet..


Jellies in the lab, Jellies in the sea,
Martin's even happier, Who wanted to go and ski?!

Yes, Skiing tomorrow, thats the original plan,
Work comes first you see, 'tis only money, Man!

Auron the destination, weather wasn't great,
empty slopes appealed, The jellies better wait!

If i miss both ski and jelly, life will just depress,
writing that paper, no progress? Oops, I digress!

Time to get back to it, Poetry's not my thing,
I'd much prefer a rockface, with nut, friend and sling.

So FB is being distracting, "Quelle surprise" you say,
Another couple of paras, then I'll end the day.


Well I  used to think I only wrote when I was stressed, but this wasn't that, so those lines must have been a result of something else!
Bon nuit a tous.

Humour

Whenever I see this sign in Nice I find it funny. It isn't a pun in French, or in Italy where the company comes from. They don't even sell hair products, but it seems like such an insult! I think I'd wear a hat to go and buy my electrical goods if I was a little cropped in the hair department!

Maybe it is only All at Sea humour. Bonne soiree.

Random Marseille

A few random photos from around Marseille to give an added flavour of the place.

Campus de Luminy, dating from 1966. Marseille is in the background
and the sea is behind me. I am halfway up the 600m mountain that towers over campus. 

The rush to leave work......
but actually the start of a cycle race in September

And a pretty house nameplate that caught my eye
while hunting for geocaches in a posh district.

Gorge de Regalon, Petite Luberon

I have been in France for six months now, but hadn't really explored further afield than the local area. Public transport had served me well and there was a bit of a deep-breath required for the next stage. Last weekend I plucked up the determination and went and hired myself a car. Idiosyncratically, in Marseille, hire cars are cheaper from the airport than within the city. To the point that I paid just over half the price at the airport, oh and being a British 'resident' I got a cheaper rate than as a French resident(!!).

So Saturday morning saw me heading off into the wild driving a car on the right side of the road for the first time in 18 months and the first time outside of a little Greek island. My goal was the Foret du Luberon between Avignon and Pertuis in Provence. More specifically I had identified a nice region for walking and this was the second goal of the weekend after practising my driving. One hour or main and secondary roads, umpteen roundabouts and no near misses I arrived at the parking area.

The Gorge de Regalon (here) is quite a popular destination, but was previously unknown to me. I just picked somewhere nice looking from the map i had bought the evening before!

 
Maps:
Carte de Randonee IGN 3142OT - Cavaillon (1:25k)
or Carte de loisirs de plein air IGN 'Balades en Foret du Luberon' (1:20k)

Time: 3-3.5 hours

Moderate walking, rough underfoot and a need for boots and to use your hands. Don't go after heavy rain as the gorge is likely to be impassable!

Water flow

I can't find a good representation of the route I took online, so in brief I went North from the parking area following signs to Gorge du Regalon (ignore coloured marks, these are wooden signs). Once past the obligatory 'this is a hazardous place' sign and slightly more ominous depth of water indication I was into the gorge itself. The narrow file through the rock (limestone I think) is generally wooded with deciduous trees and ivy common. The path and floor of the gorge shows signs of considerable water movement in places and you come across various cave openings at intervals. Gradually the gorge narrowed and I was using my hands to balance along, including using stepping stones in places. At one point the path appears to go into a large cave entrance, which is actually a short tunnel.

This IS the path, with 5cm of water
on the ground, but stones to step on.

The path continues along a narrow passageway which isn't actually dark, but gloomy and open to the sky. Claustophobic people who can't cope with something just over shoulder width wouldn't be happy, but I didn't have to take off my bag or go sideways at all. Gradually the file opened up and went back to wide gorge, large caves and scrabbles up rocky steps.

Eventually the path splits at a sign post. I took the left side heading for Vallon de la Galerie (top of the google map). Ten minutes later a wide forest track is joined (turning left again) and the path is followed up the twists and turns of this valley to the Galerie.

From Vallon de la Galerie

Vallon de la Galerie climbs slowly from gorge level up to the foot of the higher peaks behind. The path climbs up and gives a wide view over the surrounding landscape. It does feel like a wilderness with few or no roads or buildings in sight.

At the northern tip of the Vallon the track doubles back on itself and climbs up to reveal the view. A signpost at the top for 'Le Mayorques' shows the southerly path back over the top of the plateau. The farm at La  Mayorques itself appears to be a centre for groups to come and learn about traditional farming, but also has a room for hikers to spend the night. There are several places like this within the Luberon, most marked on the map.

From the farm the path is marked across a rough scrubby area to the plateau edge. Here a view over the Durance valley and a steep winding path take your down through the forest on sandy paths and then back to the car.

Across the Durance Valley with a break in the clouds

It was a pleasant walk and good to stretch my legs. Back to Marseille is a 1.5-2 hour drive from here through scenic wine country. A young French lad benefited from a lift to Aix-en-Provence too.

Tartiflette

For some time now I have been lacking inspiration to take photographs. One of the reasons may be the backlog that has built up of photos I have taken but not actually done anything with - 900+ at this mornings count. Anyway I am spending part of today getting to grips with this and as a result decided to post some of them here.

Tartiflette after leaving the oven

First of all though, I made my first Tartiflette on Friday. Tartiflette is a French dish which was actually launched to promote the use of the Reblochon cheese!! It is now a firm favourite in the winter and cold conditions such as after a day in the Alps. I took three recipes from the internet and made my own version.

~ 750g of waxy potatoes.
2 good sized onions.
1 clove of garlic
100-150g of Lardons (chopped bacon with the fat still on)
Half a Reblochon cheese (although I used a little more than this)
Creme Fraiche
White wine - for drinking
Seasoning
Green salad

Serves 3-4

I boiled the potatoes whole until just soft enough. In the meantime I chopped and sweated the onions and finely chopped garlic down until close to soft but not brown. Add the lardons for five minutes or so to the hot pan and seasoning. Once the bacon /lardons are starting to look cooked too slosh in half a glass of white wine, but keep the rest of the bottle for drinking with the meal. Add seasoning, but no salt as there is plenty in the cheese and bacon.

In a large shallow pyrex dish most recipes tell you to start with the potatoes, but I placed some cheese slices on the bottom of the dish as an added touch. Then peel (if you want) the potatoes and cut about half into thick slices, creating a layer in the bottom of the dish. Then add the onion/garlic/bacon mixture, spreading evenly across the potato layer. Add another potato layer on top of this.

Finally I added several dollops of creme fraiche and smoothed that down before adding strips of Reblochon to cover the top. It is this top layer that will use about half a cheese.

My Tartiflette before cooking and with the remaining cheese

Cook for 20-30 minutes in a moderately hot oven (Gas 5, 190C) until the cheese has browned. Serve hot with a green salad and dry white wine. Bread is also good for mopping the plates. The remains, if there are any, are good either hot or cold over the next few days should you need any further insulation.

Habituation

Sat in the laboratory, petri dish under the microscope and another sample is now ready to count. The dish has a 1mm square grid on it. Music playing, counter in hand ready to record the essential details in the next five minutes. The only decisions to make are whether to go to the top or bottom first and to scan from  left to right and back again, or up and down likewise.

So why have I never scanned up and down? I always, as far as I am aware have gone horizontally. Is this a thought-out decision or just a habit?

The same situation faces us in many situations in our daily lives, but for the most part we probably aren't conscious of the decisions because they have become habits or we don't make a definite decision, but go with the flow. But at what point does something become a habituation? And was there ever a logical reason for the decision in the first place?

To give a few examples: Why do you shop in that supermarket, buy that brand of soap or tin of beans? In some situations such as going to the cinema on a particular day of the week this may be a matter of cost and owning a particular brand of telephone and the rest of the routine develops around this.

All I am driving at is the suggestion that maybe you should question some of your actions sometimes. Things change, one brand becomes cheaper or more ethical. For others you may not know why you do something but it is simply the way it has always been done. Make your life easier and figure out the most efficient way of doing things. Change your driving habits to save fuel rather than driving to the speed limit. The time difference is probably minimal, or maybe it is worth the extra cost and environmental pollution that the exponential fuel use causes.

The classic story is the family that always cut the end off of the ham bone before roasting it in the oven. Many years later someone thought to question why they always did this difficult task..... and discovered that it was simply to fit it in the oven that was available in grandmother's house and there was no advantage otherwise!

Question, question, keep your mind moving and enjoy your life.
To misquote: Take care of the seconds and the minutes of free time will add up by themselves. After a while there will be a nice half hour to enjoy a book chapter or a glass of wine (or both).

And so the scientific logical mind takes another turn to the obscure, back to my counting!