Brittany

Seb and I spent 4 days in Brittany last week. Tuesday was a holiday so we took leave on Monday to enjoy a long weekend.

Our family has a summer house there and we tried to go to Ploumoguer at least once a year. Usually, we try to arrive before Saturday so that we can visit the saturday market in Saint Renan. It is really peaceful here and there are more farm animals than humans.

When I first stayed in the house in Ploumoguer, I did not dare to go to the toilet at night. The house faced the village church. On the first floor, we were on the same level as the cetemery. Walking to the toilet required passing through the windows looking out to these tombs. But now, I am used to the sight. The cemetery is always well kept and tidy.

Beginning from 7am in the morning, the church bells will ring. It tells the time with a 30 mins interval. That needs a bit of getting used to. In the old days, this must have been really helpful for the villagers.

During this trip, we visited Morlaix and Roscoff. They are two towns that are about 60km from Brest and we always try to visit new places when we are in Ploumoguer.

The photo on the left was taken at Morlaix.

As we were returning from Roscoff, we passed by a beach and there were a lot of activites going on. Kite surfing, kite boarding, kite landboarding , kite buggying, horse riding. This small town is pretty lively with kids.

Brittany is known for its pig farms, potatoes fields, califlower fields and artichokes fields. I love to eat artichoke. So I was really happy when I saw artichokes fields for the first time.

And this is how an artichoke looks like when it is cooked and ready to eat.

Before leaving, we dropped by Le Conquet to enjoy the view of this pretty town. We tried to spot Seb's father boat to let him know that his little boat was safe at port.

In France, there are three public holidays in May alone. The next one is on the 17 May which is on a thursday. We took leave on friday and this time we will spend 4 days in Chartres. It feels good to have such short holiday trips; especially when the weather is fine at this moment.

Please take Note

We are finally the proud owner of a new car. It is the Nissan Note. We planned to have a car around this time and had been changing our minds over which car to take. This car is our weekend car. As I wrote before in this blog, there is no point driving in Paris. Taking public transport is faster than driving provided there is no strike.

There are too many choices even in the category we wanted. Seb wanted the Roomster from Skoda but I really did not like the shape. I liked Honda Jazz but in the end, we took Note for its compact size and spacious interior.

We have an automatic gear as I am not used to driving on the right side of the road. I don't think that this car is available in Singapore.

Our real road test was last weekend when we drove all the way to Bretagny for a long weekend. That's a total of 1200++km there and back. I was glad cos' this is the first time I drove long distance in France. Seb and I shared driving.
Verdict: Stable car even at 130 km/h but the motor is a bit noisy. Loud music helps to overcome this.

Some cool features included:
- wipers start automatically when it detects rain;
- lights start automatically when the car is in a tunnel or when it is dark.

The rest of the features are pretty much the same as the others. One good thing, there is no beep while reversing. I just can't stand it in my mom's car which is a Nissan too. Each time I tried to park, I felt as though the car was going to explode with its increasing urgent 'beep' as the car neared the wall.

Le poisson bar

On Labour day, Anne-Sophie invited us for lunch. She is the queen of tarts. She makes great tarts and though I am not a tart person, I do look forward to lunch at Anne-Sophie's. I love her tarts.

The sun was shining and we had lunch in the garden. We did a lot of catching up as we had not met since a couple of months. On top of the good food and company, I had an incentive. Anne-Sophie's parents just returned from Normandy and her dad caught some fish that morning. She asked if I would like to bring one back as dinner.

So, I took one. It was a bar. I have no idea what is the name in English. Maybe someone can advise me on that. I had to remove the scales and the innards and boy was that hard work.

As I had no oven, I could only steam the fish. I had to chop off the head and the tail so that it could fit my plate and steaming pot.

I put in some slices ginger, garlic and tomatoes. Also some dried chillis and crepes. Basically, I put in anything available in my kitchen.

After 15 minutes of steaming, dinner was ready. It was tasty and thinking back, the disgusting task of cleaning the fish was worth it.

Mom, if you read this, tell me if they sell this fish in Singapore.

ps: got the name of the fish. It is a sea brass.

Headlines: They make you think what they want you to believe

Two reports with about the same information but presented in slightly different ways.
Even the headlines aim at different directions.

So I gathered that employment and unemployment rise at the same time. *scratch head* Can someone please explain to me if I understand that correctly? ;)

Singapore's Unemployment Rate Rises
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/29/ap3666144.html

Employment rises by 48,000 in January-March quarter: MOM
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/273326/1/.html

French presidential election

The title is a trick. French presidential election is indeed tomorrow. However, I am not writing anything about it. After my last blog, I started to search about Singapore politics. I invite you to check out two banned in Singapore movies about two people in Singapore. It is really interesting what we can find nowadays with these Google video and YouTube thingy.

Singapore Rebel (26 mins): http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8057768553173785296

Zahari's 17 Years (49 mins): http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2022589417781119779&hl=en-GB

Before ending, let me test you with a simple question. Who is the longest serving political prisoner after Nelson Mandela? No idea? Click here to find out the answer.

If you give peanuts, you get monkeys.

Read that Singapore government is going to have a big pay increment.










So, do they deserve it?

Extracts from CNN http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/05/singapore.salaries.reut/index.html
Finland, for instance, beat Singapore in the WEF and Transparency International polls -- as second-most competitive and most corruption-free country -- but its Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen earns about a sixth of Lee's estimated salary.

But Lee Kuan Yew -- modern Singapore's first prime minister, who is still the leading voice in his son's cabinet -- will have none of it.
"The cure to all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government," Lee senior told the Straits Times on Thursday, adding that it is "absurd" for Singaporeans to quarrel about ministerial pay and warned that Singapore would suffer it the government could not pay competitive salaries.
"Your security will be at risk and our women will become maids in other people's countries," he said.

600€ cash

Let me pick up where I left off from my last entry. So while I was writing on Saturday, Seb was at the airport waiting for his flight to Boston.

At 10.30am, he left for the airport and I started to do housework. After an hour and a half, he called and said that the plane was overbooked and he and his colleagues were encouraged to fly off a day later. As compensation, they were each given two options; 600€ cash or 800€ Air France voucher valid for a year. Well, he took the first option and while waiting for his return, my mind was going through the list of things that we could buy with this windfall. In the end, we decided to replace our digital camera that recently broke down. In the afternoon, we went on a shopping spree. It was great for me as I have my husband for an extra day and got a free digital camera among other things.

What a day to end off March 2007, isn't it?

US$75 KrisShop inflight voucher

On our trip to Singapore back in Feb, we took the new plane from Boeing 777-300 ER with Singapore Airlines. Once aboard, we could see and feel that this plane was new. The carpet was shiny and the seats were inviting. Instead of the dull purple in other SQ planes, this one was in calm and cosy shades of cream and beige.

There were many enhanced features that delighted me. I will just highlight a few. The video console is located just underneath the screen instead of being by the side of the armrest. The screen is bigger and there is a reading light underneath it. The intensity of the reading light can be adjusted and it lights just enough for you to read without disturbing your neighbours. As for the foldable table, there is a slide that reveals a vanity mirror. After meal or deep sleep, just take a look at the mirror to make sure that you are presentable.

The KrisWorld entertainment was to provide the usual movie-on demand and games. There were some online learning provided as well. I usually could not sleep in planes, even for long overnight flights. I started to watch one or two movies. I watched 'Singapore Dreaming'. I love it and encourage you to watch it. As we were reaching Singapore, I played with the online learning. I tried to learn Dutch, French and Spanish. Then, I saw that there was online learning for Excel. I tried that. While loading the content, my screen went blank. It hung and stayed like this for 10 minutes. I checked around and the screens of others were functionning.

I called for help and the air steward tried to reset my machine but without avail. He explained to me that this KrisWorld entertainment system was recently upgraded and there was a technician on board the plane during this trial run period. He assured me that we were not testers as the system had been well tested. I told him that I was able to reproduce the bug (that's part of my job) and showed how I managed to do that on Seb's system. Obviously, Seb was not too happy that I blocked his screen. Fortunately, the technician managed to reset Seb's system but not mine.

Before landing, the air steward came to me and offered me a US$75 KrisShop inflight voucher. He apologised for the inconvenience caused. I was surprised as I did not expect this kind gesture. Of course, I happily accepted it. As I did not have enough time to decide on what to buy, I used it on my return trip from Brisbane to Singapore. I must say, US$75 can't buy much for the things they sell at KrisShop.

I did not want to put this up earlier as I wanted to be fair to the system. To give it time to be fixed so that readers will not be able to profit the situation upon reading this.

While I was writing this, Seb was on his way to the airport to catch the flight to Boston for a week's training. He just called me from CDG airport. He is heading home now. I will write this later as to why he is not taking his flight today. So come back soon to read.

Soups

Big vegetables roasted meat soup. Yummy! I made a big pot for the second time on saturday. And I managed to finish all of it by sunday night.

Lotus root soup. Yummy! I made a pot for the first time on monday. And I managed to finish it as tuesday dinner.

I am sure most of singaporeans know about lotus root soup. In a pot of water, put in pork ribs, sliced cleaned lotus roots and dry red dates. After 30 mins of cooking, the soup is ready.

As for big vegetable (translation from Hokkien) also known as bitter vegetable, it goes so well with roasted meat, tamarind juice, sliced ginger, whole garlics, dried chillis and tomatoes. All in a pot of water and the soup will be ready in 30 mins time.

The last strain of winter is still here and it is really cold this week. So soups really warm me up.

MAO The Unknown Story

A few months ago, I read Jung Chang's book, the Wild Swans and was aroused by China's history during the reign of Mao Tse-tung. Recently, when I was in Singapore, I came across another book written by Jung Chang. It is titled MAO The Unknown Story. I had only reach one tenth of the book and am totally disgusted by Mao. I had seen documentary about chinese praising him as a great leader. But this is really not true at all.

I could not continue reading. I think I need a few days to cool myself down before I pick up this book again. It was reported that he caused the death of 70 million people in his 27 years of ruling China. I shall stop here. :(

Moreton Island

During our time in Australia, we went for the rustic, good old camping at Moreton Island. We joined the Blue Planet Tour for a two days one night Moreton Action Safari.

As Moreton Island has no concrete road, only 4WD cars are allowed on this island. At 7am, we waited at the Brisbane City train station to be picked up by the four wheel drive. Each 4WD could take up to 8 passengers.

We headed for the ferry terminal and took the miCat for the one hour ride to Moreton Island. Upon reaching the island, the ferry embarked directly on the beach. We sat in our 4WD and began our fun; being transported from the ferry directly onto the beach.

The beach on this part of the island was calm.

Our first stop was our camp site. As Blue Planet Tour organised regular trips, it had its own permanent camp site where tents were already set up. We chose the cleanest and driest tent and after that headed to the beer shop to get our drinks for the evening.

Right after our cold chicken sandwich lunch, we went to the only resort on the island for a snokelling trip. Wet suits, masks, snokels and fins were provided and we snokelled around the wrecks. We spotted some colorful fishes and lovely corals though I must admit that this was no Great Barrier Reef.

We drove around the island and as it had rained the day before, Melissa, our guide, could not stop commenting that the drive was smooth as the sand was compact and the 4WD did not bump too much.

We reached our next destination. The sand desert. Moreton Island is the third largest sand island. Her eldest sisters are Fraser Island and Stradbroke Island who are just nearby.

We tried out sand tobogganing and it was really not as easy as it looked. I tried once and ate sand. For the next 3 days, when I scratched my head, I found sand particles between my finger nails.

We used a plank and we rubbed wax from candle on one side to make it smoother and faster. After that we lied flat on the plank and held up the front of the plank with our hands. We had to lift up our elbows as high as possible in order to protect our face from the sand.

Tim and Seb tried out a few times. And once Tim even went really really far. Do you see the tiny speck in the left image? That was our Singapore Rocket Tim.

When we went down, we obviously had to come up. The climbing up part deterred most of us from going down.

It was really tiring to walk up the sand hill. Still, we had much fun at this desert.















For the rest of the evening, we went for a swim in the sea, tried to watch the sunset (but there were too many flies at the beach), had a good BBQ dinner and drank and chatted around the campfire.

The oldest couple was from England. The man was a retired fireman and it was cool to have them with us. There were many young people. A few from Germany, a few from Korea and the others from the rest of the world.

The next day, we visited the other side of the island where the waves were big and strong. We visited the oldest lighthouse in Queensland. We had lunch along the 33km long beach. We swam in the sea. We watched surfers surfing in the waves. We went inland and swam in the Blue Lagoon where the fresh water was supposed to be 7 times purer than Brisbane water.

Soon, it was time to leave this natural, undistubed island. Moreton Island, you will be missed.

Glasshouse Mountains Eco-Lodge

We spent a night at the Glasshouse Mountains Eco-Lodge and boy, were we excited to share about this little piece of heaven to everyone.

I found this place by internet and as part of our Sunshine Coast trip, I planned to spend a night at the Glasshouse Mountains and another night at Noosa Heads.

The Glasshouse Mountains Eco-Lodge is located at Barrs Road right beside Mt. Tibrogargan. Living up to its name, everything here is eco-friendly. The water here is collected from rain water and is fit for drinking. There is a coffee plantation (left photo shows some coffee beans) and fruit trees grow in the orchard in front of our room. Everything is recycled as mush as possible, even food scraps.

Once we had checked in, we started to explore the region of Glasshouse Mountains. We drove up to Montville, the Baroon Lake and also Mary Cairncross park where we had a magificent view of the glasshouse mountains.

Before heading back, we went to an alcohol drive-thru' shop and got a bottle of white wine. There were two lanes. A browse lane and an express lane. It was funny to us.

Over our glass of chilled wine and with the view of Mt. Tibrogargan, we chatted with Paul. He showed us his perserved chillies which were harvested from his chilli plants and even offered us some chilli sauce to go with dinner. Tim and I agreed that it tasted like chicken rice chilli.

Paul also showed us how to play with the aborignal instrument, the didjeridu. It looked easy but it was really difficult even to make an audible sound. It is amazing how one can make music with it. All of us had a go with it.

That's Seb concentrating hard to make a sound.

For dinner, we cooked in the train wagon that was converted to be a kitchen and dinning area. It was really a great concept and we appreciated the cleaniness of this place and the various recycle bins available.

After a good night rest, we walked along the 3.3 km trail starting from the foot of Mt. Tibrogargan. There were a few lookout points where we could see the other nearby Glasshouse Mountains.

We even spotted a big spider web with the owner at home. The only peace disturbance were the mosquitoes. Apply insect repellants and wear light color clothes. That helps to reduce the bites.

After our morning walk, we packed up and had to sadly leave this green place. Our next stop was the beach. We promised to stay longer here the next time we visit Brisbane. Also, we will definately promote this place to friends who will be visiting Brisbane.

This place is calm and tranquille and so relaxing. There are several relaxing corners and each of us found our niche. It is really a great corner to forget about all the stress of city living.

Brisbane

Seb and I are in Brisbane visiting Tim. It is hot and dry here. We had spent two days in Gold Coast, two days in Brisbane city and tomorrow, we will spent two days in Sunshine Coast.

Yesterday, on our way back from O'Reilly's, I drove to Sunnybank Hills, Grandchester Street. This is the place where I stayed when I was staying at Queensland University of Technology nine years ago. The estate looked the same. The trees were taller. As I was just walking outside the gate, I saw the old lady of house unit 23. She recongised me and opened the gate for me. She was Jo's neighbour as Jo stayed at unit 24. She invited us for tea and we had a good chat. We looked at old photos and chatted about old times while eating the home made cookies. Visiting Brisbane did not bring me much memory until I came to Sunnybank Hills. I stayed in a big estate where there are over 90 houses. I was at unit 2, Jo was at unit 24, Claire was at unit 27 and Moohan and Rachel were at unit 30+. Thinking back to my life nine years ago, I did spent such a great time here in Brisbane. These people that I met then are still the most cherished friends.

It is 8 pm and I am starting to feel sleepy. Due to the 9 hours difference with Paris, we really had a problem trying to sleep. On the first night, we slept at 9pm and Seb woke up at midnight. As the days went by, we adjusted better. We will be here for another week of sun, beach and fun. It is great to have a tan while back home in France, it is winter time and we can show off our tan. ;)

Thank God

At times when I was down and felt discouraged, it was so difficult to find words to thank God. As the new year starts, I reflected on my stay these three and a half years in France. Then I realised how much God has blessed me. I could never imagine my current situation three years back.

In the first few months, love sustained me and kept me in hope. Yet somehow, there were periods of real low as I was not working, not speaking french, not belonging to any social circle. Now, love still sustains me. Seb and I are very much in love. We even agreed that we love each other more than when we just got married. I work, integrate well into the French society, speak french and enjoy the leisure lifestyle in France.

My close friends will know the struggles I faced during the periods of uncertainity. Seb and I arrived in France both looking for a job. I took 6 months to find one and Seb much later. Being without a job means that we cannot have big projects planned. It was agonising for me. But God is good.

I thank God that Seb and I love each other and support each other during tough times.
I thank God for providing both of us good health.
I thank God for giving us stable jobs.
I thank God that economy is picking up.
I thank God that we have the means to go on vacations.
I thank God for our appartment which will be ready in June.
I thank God that I have a pet cat, Bao Bei (I always wanted a cat but my mom did not allow).
I thank God that I join a badminton club.
I thank God that we have enough friends to spend time with.
I thank God for my in-laws who treat me really well.
I thank God that I appreciate the french cuisine.
I thank God that I pick up knitting.
There are many other things to thank God for. I have learnt to set my priorities right.
Learning to live at peace with oneself and being contented with whatever God provides at this moment.
Amen.

Circus time

Seb and I received tickets to go to the circus. My friend went to watch it, loved it so much that she bought the tickets as Christmas presents for us.

Phenix circus presented the Jublié by the stars of the Moscou circus.

It was the first time in my living memory to go watch a circus. We arrived early in Parc Boulogne and there was an enormous top set up. We went into the reception area and there were vendors selling souvenirs of Russian masks, Russian dolls, Russian paintings, Russian brooches etc. There was a stall selling popcorns and candies for kids and a stall selling coffee and hot chocolate. When the time was near, we went to our seats and waited for the start of the show. The inside of the top was bigger than I thought and was surprising warm for a make shift tent considering that it was winter.

A Russian music started to play and at first I thought it was playing from a recorder. As I followed the eyes of the rest of the audiences, I saw that there was a stage set up just above the entrance of the ring and there were live musicians playing. A violinist was playing on her electric violin in the crowd. She was full of energy and walked and ran and shaked while playing music at the same time. She brought up a warm rapport as everyone clapped and our eyes followed her around the whole place. When the Russian music ended, the first performance began. It was a muscled man doing balancing acts mid-air with a metal globe. At one point, he was hanging in a contorted position with just his wrist holding his whole weight. The wrist was inverted in such a position that it was amazing how much strength and control he had. He had a V shaped body and Seb was totally in awe of this performance.

We continued to watch performances by clowns, jugglers, dangerous act on a solo trapeze etc. Each time, the music was played live and the co-ordination of the music and the act was perfect. Throughout the show, a man dressed in elastics frog costume showed up with silly acts. At the end of the show, he appeared this time with his female frog partner. He was a contortionist. He sat on a big turntable (rotating platform, such as a lazy Susan) and put his hands on a stand attached to the ground. As the music built up the suspense, his partner started to slowly rotate the turntable. Slowly, his lower body turned 15 degrees perpendicular to his upper body, then 45 degrees, then 60 degrees, then 90 degrees and she continued to turn the turntable until the contortionist could see his own butt when he looked down. That was a 180 degrees twist. It was scary to watch. How was it possible for anyone to be so flexible? He was really amazing.

But the highlight for me was the horse performance. The horses were just running round the ring and it was the riders who did the tricks. I find the horses magnificent and the co-ordination of animal and man impressive. At the end of the show, there were vendors selling balloons of horses. We did thoroughly enjoy ourselves. Thank you Anca for the tickets.

Happy New Year 2007

Year 2007 is finally here. It will be a better year for us this year. Each year is getting better and better. This year, we will be visiting my brother in Brisbane. We will be buying a kitchen and flooring for our new apartment which is due in June.

Resolutions? I do not usually make them. If I did, I forgot about them in no time. But while I was in the train last year, I had a relevation. I gave up my seat to a lady. I did a good deed. She thanked me. I felt good.

I made a resolution to do a good deed each day. It can be any small gesture. The deed is counted when the stranger says "Merci"; even if it is "Non, merci". The fact is that the person acknowledges that a deed is offered/done and he appreciates it. It can be the simple geste of giving up my seat to someone in need. This is rare as I often stand in crowded trains. It can be giving spare change or saying "Bonjour" to the one legged old man along the street whom I passed almost every morning to work. It can be helping out with Salvation Army in giving food to the needy. It can be serving in church as an usher. In this world of misery, I feel a need to justify my existance to myself. I justify to families and friends by being kind to them. I would like to warm up this cold society by being nicer to any random person. Is this resolution too noble to be true? I have no idea if I can really do it each day. I will try my best. I know that I need this to clear up my trouble thoughts each time I see people in need in the news.

To change to a lighter tone, I promised to write about the gifts I received for christmas.
1. Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. I read his other two books all in french and each book brought tears
2. A beautiful vase
3. A white blouse with a knitted black veste to match
4. 4 Cd Simply Français on french music
5. Badminton racket
6. A beautiful framed up of A to Z cross-sitched by my sister-in-law

Well, well, we are done with 2006 now. I hope 2007 will be a better year for everyone.

Grey Paris

The sky is grey and not a single sun ray manages to peep through the thick cloud. It is like the sun is turning its face away from this place and we are enveloped in a blanket of marshmallow. The whole Paris is grey. Without looking at the clock on the computer, I have no sense of time. From the moment I woke up until now in office and I’m knocking off in an hour's time, the sky remains unchanged. It is as though everything is in a standstill. Other than 4 of us in the office and some slow traffic along the road just outside the window, I can imagine myself in the plot of Stephen King’s The Langoliers. It is kinda eerie.

I can hardly wait to leave office and be at home to light up my Christmas tree. That will make my day a little brighter and warmer.

Year end festive season

We wish you a merry christmas,
We wish you a merry christmas,
We wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year.

Seb and I are in Chartres to spend our Christmas with our family. The images on the left are what I took today in the uptown of Chartres and in my parents-in-law's place. It is colder here than in Paris and there is a constant fire dancing in the fireplace. The big pumpkin on the garden table is still shining orange since October. There were birds feeding from the bird seeds that we supplied.
In the streets, vendors were selling their fresh oysters from number 0 to number 5 (size of oysters), smoked salmons and foie gras; the essential food for christmas. People were doing their last min shopping for gifts. The most crowded shops were perfume shops and bookstores. I was glad that we had already done our shopping so it was a stroll in the uptown for me today while Seb went swimming. The festive atmosphere was high and bright. There was even a mini carnival with marching band, clowns and pretty little girls on ponies. Everybody was in high spirits.

Tomorrow is christmas eve. We will roast some chestnuts over the fireplace after dinner like what we did today. Life is so peaceful here. It is so pleasant. We are away from the stress of Paris. Je vais profiter de mes journées ici.

I will write again after I receive my christmas gifts. Do click on the image to enlarge it for a better viewing.

Winter 2006

Winter is here. Technically speaking, winter starts on 21 December but it has been rainy and cold in Paris.

In my balcony, I replaced my summer flowers with winter ones (left and right). I have no idea what is their name. I am a novice in gardening and I do not bother to get to know the names of my plants. I do know that the one in the middle is a bruyère and it flowers in winter as you can see. Still, I must say that the greens are growing well under my loving care.

As Christmas is around the corner, we spent last Saturday and today looking for gifts. It was really easy for the kids as a quick stop at Toys 'R Us completed their wishes. For the other half of the family, we went to FNAC to get books and BD (french comic books).

There were so many people at Opera area that while crossing the road from Galleries Lafayette Maison to Printemps, Seb commented that it was like at Orchard Road. That was so true. I was not even able to appreciate the windows displays that Galleries Lafayette and Printemps put up each year for children with toys animations.

I have forgotten how winter is like. This is my fourth winter in France and yet each time, I have to relearn about the cold and get use to it. And with the train strike still going on, we have to walk 15 minutes in the cold to reach the nearest Metro station. I hope that the strike ends soon. I am glad that there is Christmas to warm up winter.

Afternote: the flowers are cyclamen.

Strike strike strike

Yesterday, SNCF went on strike. I depend on SNCF train to bring me from Becon to Saint Lazare. From Saint Lazare, I will take the Metro train to my work place. As notice was given a day in advance, I made arrangement with my manager to come pick me up. All was beautiful. The return home trip was a little bit unpleasant as I had to take the Metro line 3 until the end and walked 15 mins in the cold back to Becon. Still it was not as bad as 3 weeks ago when there was a similar strike and I had to walk in the rain and cold. With strong wind, umbrellas are not of much use here.

This morning, the radio announced that things were more or less back in normal. 3 out of 4 trains were in operations. My foot! I reached Becon train station at 8.15am. There was a train at Quai A at 8.18am. Following that, two trains were cancelled. And the next one would be at 8.53am. At Becon, I had a choice of taking the direct train that stopped at Saint Lazare or a train that stopped at 3 stations before reaching Saint Lazare. For the direct train at Quai C, two trains were cancelled and things were no better than at Quai A. I managed to squeeze my way up on the train of 8.18am. We were really packed sardines. Once reaching Saint Lazare, there were a lot of people. Just imagine the narrow streets in Chinatown on the eve of Chinese New Year. You really had to be patient and take one step forward at a time. But in this case, everyone was just in a hurry to get to their offices.

I would say that SNCF strike is not as bad as a Metro strike. If the Metro goes on strike, it would be impossible for me to reach office. We little people depend on the public transport. Buy a car and drive to work? With traffic jams everywhere, this is not a good solution as well. Car is meant for weekend getaways. Not for driving in Paris.

I can only hope that tomorrow, everything will be beautiful. Smooth journey, I pray.