Maquis

A streneous hike in the maquis shrubland uphill of our village brought me to locations that offered new vistas of the Pyrénées and the valley. It's been a warm and cloudless day but with a strong westerly wind down the valley.

Lunch was enjoyed on our roof terrace while the heavy wind raised a huge snow plume off the Canigou peak, 14 km away from Marquixanes.

Eus

One of the most beautiful towns in France is, supposedly, our neighbouring village: Eus.

Anyway, the spot where Eus is located is the most sunny in France. Accordingly, in brilliantly sunny weather we visited Eus to check out its sunshine and beauty indeces.

The top of Eus is the church from where there is a tremendous view.

Next to the church was an old Almond tree with an absolutely amazing load of mistletoes.

Organs

Beautiful and warm spring weather today – and a perfect time to visit the local organs.

Les Orgues d'Ille form a miniature local version of Utah's Bryce Canyon.

A wonderful 4-million-year old example of eroding calciferous rocks.

Enjoyed a great and well-deserved pique-nique under fragrant poplars. The first real and sunny spring day for us on this trip. More of that kind should be in the pipeline. :-)

Speleo-day

As the weather in the valley is still not quite up to par, we decided to spend some time underground. But first on the agenda was a brisk morning walk along the river to check on the apricot trees.

The cloudy and cool conditions are hampering the grand and extensive blooming but the individual trees do have some very beautiful flowers out and a few insects are also around.

Late in the morning we engaged in a wonderful speleological experience with stalagmites and stalactites. Luckily, a large cave system is only 12 km farther up the valley adjacent to the ancient fortified village of Villefranche de Conflent.

Unveiling

This morning Canigou briefly unveiled its torso.

We're looking forward to seeing the whole mountain in daylight.

Aurora

Our village seen towards the north.

Marquixanes

Arrived yesterday evening in the French village of Marquixanes in Pyrénées Catalanes at the foothills of Mount Canigou. Weather was wet and low clouds prevented any views towards the mountain. Today, conditions have improved a lot and we are blessed with sunshine and fairly warm temps.

We live on the church hill and to the right.

Our "street" is very narrow indeed.

In our valley (along the river Têt) the multitudes of apricot trees have begun unfolding their pink flowers. After a few more sunny days, the pink will take over and cover the fruit plantations. Stay tuned for apricot photos.

Têt is a clean and fast-flowing river with good fishing and a healthy number of White-throated Dippers.

Spring flowers are appearing everywhere.

Euphorbia.

Fumaria.

Ipheion uniflorum (Spring Starflower)

Mimosa.

That reminds me of ...

In May 2015, I retired after many years of faithful service as a researcher, entrepreneur, fundraiser, and manager

in Greenland and other parts of the Arctic.

I spent some of my newfound free time writing down some selected memories from my long professional life in the Arctic. 

It has become a richly illustrated, 240-page book.

The stories are brief, hopefully entertaining – and largely truthful.

If you want to acquire the book in its exquisite, original format

it can be purchased on-line as a print-on-demand book.

Clicking on the image above or on the link below, 

Preview "That reminds me of ..." in the webshop

will take you to the webshop where you can preview the book in its entirety before you may decide to place an order.

Please note, that the price tag for the book covers only the cost of printing and postage.

If you would rather read the book on a screen,

you are welcome to download a free PDF copy (128 Mb).

Just click on this link:

A FREE PDF VERSION OF THE BOOK

SE DEN DANSKE UDGAVE I DET FOREGÅENDE BLOG-OPSLAG

Det minder mig om ...

I maj 2015 gik jeg på pension efter mange års tro tjeneste som forsker, iværksætter, fundraiser, manager og bagmand. Jeg har brugt noget af min nyvundne fritid til at nedskrive en del udvalgte erindringer fra mit lange arbejdsliv i Arktis. Det er blevet til en 240 siders bog, som er meget rigt illustreret. Fortællingerne er korte og stort set sandfærdige – og så måske lidt skrøneagtige.

Hvis du vil erhverve dig bogen i det lækre originale format, 

kan den købes on-line som en print-on-demand bog

ved at klikke på billedet ovenfor

eller ved at klikke på linket nedenfor.

KIG BOGEN IGENNEM, INDEN DU EVT. KØBER DEN

Du kan selv vælge indbindingstype, og inden du evt. køber, 

kan du også se alle 240 sider i preview format.

Prisen for bogen dækker udelukkende

trykning og forsendelse.

Hvis du har lyst til at downloade bogen

i en gratis PDF-version, 

så er du også velkommen til at gøre det.

Hvis du blot klikker på dette link

EN GRATIS PDF-VERSION AF BOGEN

vil du komme til min lille sky, hvor PDF-bogen

(trods sine 162 Mb) svæver vægtløs omkring.

Hvis du oplever fejl med de to links ovenfor, så kontakt hthing@gmail.com

Au revoir, Paris!

Friday was our last day in Paris, for now. Musée Marmottan Monet is hosting the world's largest collection of Monet paintings (130 pieces) as well as other impressionists and earlier golden age artists. No photos, though, – and the camera ban was strictly enforced.
The rain poured down all morning and all afternoon so it was a wet, wet Paris. We decided to end the museum week at the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle because it was easily accessible and dry. The interior and the exhibits were much more classical than we expected.

Took the Metro and the airport train up north to Charles de Gaulle (Didn't stop at the Stade-de-France station), and ...

... after a couple of hours in the not-so-busy airport, we kissed Paris au revoir !

Orangerie and MOMA-Paris

This grey day began for us in the Musée de l'Orangerie with Claude Monet's water lilies en masse and a lot of other great paintings.

Claude Monet, 1916-1919: Water lilies.

Claude Monet, 1916-1919: Water lilies.

Claude Monet, 1916-1919: Water lilies.

Chaïm Soutine, 1924: Houses.

Marie Laurencin, 1924: Women with dog.

Pierre-August Renoir, 1870-75: Landscape in snow.

After lunch we travelled to Iéna along the Seine and paid a visit to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), a potpourri of various contemporary and recent art.

Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.

Raoul Dufy

Robert Delauney

Again, we enjoyed a slow walk home along la rive droite to take in the very Parisian evening.

Pont d'Alexandre III.

Picasso, Rodin and rememberance

A very long day out and around in Paris.
First stop was Sacré-Coeur Basilica to enjoy the view over the city on this sunny day. Meanwhile, the St. Denis police raid was going on not too far away from Mont-Martre.

Then the Metro to the Musée de Picasso à Paris where we got Pablo Picasso in all versions and varieties.

 

Lunch in a nearby park and then we walked to Place de la Republique in the 10th arrondissement to pay homage to the victims of Friday's attacks. Overwhelming and moving to see all the quiet people assembled and the mountain of flowers, notes, candles etc. A few policemen in the perimeter.

Place de la Republique memorial location.

Paris does not succumb to the fear !

Then off to the newly opened Musée Auguste Rodin for France's world famous sculpturer.

The gate of Hell

The Thinker

Rodin Museum, Les Invalides church and Eiffel Tower.

After that I walked briskly to Basilica of the Invalides and the Eiffel Tower to enjoy both structures illuminated.

Les Invalides

The Latin text reads: Tossed but not sinking.

At the end we walked slowly back home along the Seine. A 12-hour day but a beautiful and full one.

France's National Assembly in Bleu, Blanc, Rouge.