What amazes me about the car in this picture is how little of it is left after being burnt out, and how Continue reading Burnt Out
Tag Archives: Paris
The Perfect Spring Day
Paris is gloriously sunny this weekend so I updated a few websites this morning, then headed up Continue reading The Perfect Spring Day
Springtime in Paris
When I found my seat on the Eurostar I found a family of four were occupying all of the four seats in a cluster including mine. What happens is that one kid goes free so the train company just doesn’t give them a seat, no wonder people stop breeding. I felt so guilty about turfing a kid out of my seat that I went and sat in one of the corridor seats near the luggage. This inspired people to come and visit their baggage at regular intervals as a loitering fellow in the luggage bays is a sure sign of mischief.
And don’t get me started on the name ‘Eurostar’.  Due to ego’s that cannot put up with anything that sounds vaguely English or French we have to name everything  ‘Euro’ around here, like the Eurofighter or even more off the cuff the ‘Euro’. How about the ‘florin’ or for the train the ‘flyer’ in a multiple of languages depending on the day of the week. Or let’s choose another language and name everything in that, that’d make the Vulcans happy now wouldn’t it.
So I arrive and take a saunter in the sun from Le Gare Du Nord up to Stalingrad (now there is an example of naming things in a foreign language) and sat down at the end of Le Basin de Villette to dine on Steak and chips – french style of course with loads of sauce and artichoke salad. Opposite me some North Africans had made a home out of cardboard boxes and looked quite happy milling about dealing drugs and sipping on coffee in the afternoon sun.
So this is springtime in Paris, it’s getting to be a yearly event (coming here in Springtime not springtime itself of course) and so my days on the planet will now be measured in Springtimes as a birds life is measured in migrations with winter spent ambling to Australia and back through S.E.Asia and summer in old blighty. I’m bored already – I might have to try interstellar travel – or did I do that one in my teens, I can’t remember.
Paris In The Rain
I managed to get most of my daily chores out of the way as the rain pours down outside the Paris flat. I post to a few message boards about SEO and web design issues, and I am trying to get into the rythm of updating this blog daily. So here we are.
My train home is at 14.43 from the Gare De Nord so I want to get some work done before I go. I have an ecommerce store to quote for, which is for an American religious group. I seem to be getting a lot of requests from god fearing folk, which must reflect on my good Kharma so watch this space ;0)
I have also been reading up (Wikipedia etc) on people like the spiral tribe as they came up in conversation with a friend recently.
I worked with one of the founder members (Mark) just before the whole free dance scene kicked off. We worked on a small building site together, only for a short while, but he did make quite an impression because he came across as genuinely lovely.
Mark also seemed to exude an inner confidence that was infectious. I found myself quite jealous of it at the time because I was insecure and not ready to fight the system in the way he did. I spread my wings by travelling the globe for five years, and found my own way of coming to terms with existence later on.
I remember bumping into Mark at a later date when asked for me to donate a flotation tank, which I had bought to set up a business at the time, to one of the spiral tribes indoor events. I said no because I had invested £3000 in it and didn’t want it to be towed off by the police, which in hindsight had probably saved me a few quid, but had I done it it might have led to some great experiences. Having said that I wasn’t really too attracted to the scene chasing free parties through muddy fields, and never really believed that techno would unite us all.
Ecstasy, however, was a revolution in itself, causing people regard each other in an altogether loving way that was so different to the alcohol and whiz fueled punk generation. The kindness it fostered might have been drug fueled, but it changed a generation for the better, and now there is an undercurrent of love that will not go away. Having said that, changing the world comes in larger doses of self awareness. The disillusion caused when the party is over can be as harmful as it was good, so as in all things balance is needed.
I got the feeling that Mark was strong enough to ride the storms. If you get to read this mate (Network23 seem to have a Paris location), let’s meet up for a croissant and a chin wag.
It all is unfolding just as it should.
Right, back to cyber blogs.
I am going to pack up here and head off onto the streets for some 3d contact. The net does have its limitations, and I have done this gypsy’s work for the day.
Paris
It’s deserted here.
The French all go away on holiday for the month of August leaving a skeleton staff in Paris. It’s like some post apocalyptic movie where the streets are ours, tinned goods can be fetched at will from empty supermarkets. I was here only two weeks ago in the blistering heat, when the banks of the Canal St Martin were thick with people. Today we even managed to get into Antoine & Lili’s shop without a fight.
In between trips out I managed to get a little of my redesign done for my website templates store. I am making it a lot more web 2.0, but you’ll see. But all in all I am staying away from my vaio.
So that’s all for now…
Hereford to Paris

It’s my last day in Hereford and I have just gotten used to the quiet. It is no longer a roar, but sooths now.
This morning I woke early and popped on top of a hill by the house. A local farmer was collecting what looked like mushrooms. The contrasting light of the morning, the clear air, so different from the London I inhabit right now.
Continue reading Hereford to Paris