Feelin' hot, hot, hot ..

We're heading for a rather worrying 'canicule' - or heatwave - here in France today. On the weather forecast, parts of the country have a bright red 42˚ over the top of them (Not us .. we're only due 40˚!!) ..

My thoughts drift back to the legendary 'Summer of '76' in England, when it was absolutely scorchio for weeks on end. At the time, having just left school, I was working part-time in a bakery and, believe it or not, it was so hot in there that we used to go outside to cool down. Speaking of which, here's an appropriate shot from my archive - little Lisa have an ice-lolly and a cool down in a kiddy's bath on her front doorstep. Can you imagine the outcry if I'd taken this photograph today?
We live in sad, sad times ..

Paris ..

Some shots from my weekend trip to Paris .. including tourists, traffic, touts, tat and my €11 beer at Notre Dame. Good God ..

The Paris Air No-Show

Regular readers of this blog - hello, both of you - will know I always try to make the annual pilgrimage to RIAT, the big RAF Air Show in Gloucestershire. This year - seeing as I now live in France - I decided I'd go to the Paris Air Show instead.
Big mistake! It was rubbish ..

I feel such a sense of anti-climax this morning, having returned home yesterday utterly disappointed with what would normally be a highlight of my year. The show, at Le Bourget airfield, is not a patch on RIAT and I can only console myself with the knowledge that I now never need bother with Paris ever again. I know it's mainly a trade show but I didn't realise just how much of it is actually given over to the business of selling aircraft and parts. Any actually flying displays are almost just chucked in as an after-thought. And that's if you can find a space to actually see the flying. It was a bit of a Paris Air No-Show, really. The crowds were horrendous and the space given over to viewing the displays was pathetically small. I think this shot sums it up. Having made their way to the outskirts of Paris, all these people could do was watch the aerobatics on a big screen. A bit pointless, really ..

Oh RIAT, I'm sorry. I'll be back next year, I promise ..        

Gardening ..

 At the corner of our street in the UK was the home of an elderly man and woman and I'd see them in front of it, practically every day, working hard on a garden that must have been about six feet square. It was tiny yet there they were, weeding and trimming and tidying. Don't get me wrong, I was a very keen gardener in the UK but even I thought 'God, how boring' .. and now I am that couple. I'm retired and I spend every waking moment in our garden, weeding and trimming and tidying .. and digging and planting and transplanting and sowing and dividing and .. photographing.

You'll be aware of my Florescence flower photography series of course, but this is 'real life' photography - in situ - with the ever-changing light that our wide open garden offers up to my lens. It's beautiful and constantly evolving and I realise now that the elderly couple in Warrington weren't gardening, they were pouring their love into something that gives so much in return. I'm sorry I ever thought you might be boring ..