GO TO HELL !

check 4th sign from the top

HELL,… I’ve been there, and believe me,… it’s not bad at all.

It’s a helluva place!

Don’t get the wrong idea now. Hell,… Grand Cayman (Cayman Islands) that is… a very small town surrounded by jagged black rock made up of spiky, porous dolomite and limestone worn away by millions of small tropical algae. Hell's intriguing weathered rock formation is over 1.5 million years old and resembles the charred remains of a hell fire.

An abundance of satanic memorabilia at the gift shop was tempting. Hell's own post office was opened in 1962 for tourists who wanted to send postcards from Hell.
And that’s exactly all I did in Hell,.. take a couple pictures of the rocks and send a few funny postcards home postmarked “Hell, Grand Cayman”.

Not many people can literally say “I’ve been to HELL, and back!”

If you get a chance to visit the Cayman Islands,.. I’d say: GO TO HELL !!

Delicieux,... de Fauchon !

Gateau Fauchon,... a few bites for € 33

For some reason I keep getting back to Paris in this photoblog…. Don’t worry,.. I will soon switch continents!

But whenever I visit Paris I simply HAVE TO stop at some of the fine Parisian Patisseries.

One of my favourite places to buy gâteaux is absolutely Stroher at 51, Rue Montorgueil. Not only is this little street a unique place to be, but it somehow still has the atmosphere of Les Halles.

Les Halles was once the heart of Paris, named after the market founded 1183, when King Philippe II Auguste enlarged the previous marketplace in Paris and covered it, making a series of halls. It functioned as the main source of foodstuffs for Parisians for almost 700 years.

The gateau in the picture above was on display (for only € 33) in the shop window of another great delicatessen store: Fauchon, at their magnificent store on Place de la Madeleine.

Vélo volé

Vélo volé - Centre Pompidou, Paris - juin 2005

Tongue twister:

C'est l'évadé du Nevada qui dévalait dans la vallée,

dans la vallée du Nevada, qu'il dévalait pour s'évader,

sur un vilain vélo volé, qu'il a volé dans une villa,

et le valet qui fut volé vit l'évadé du Nevada qui dévalait dans la vallée,

dans la vallée du Nevada,

qu'il dévalait pour s'évader sur un vilain vélo volé.

I live in a country where a bike is a must-have! One of the most popular means of transportation. One of the curious facts of the Netherlands is that nearly 90 percent of the population own at least one bicycle, and we all use it regularly.

Bicycles are a very familiar part of everyday life in the Netherlands. In fact, the 16 million Dutch people own about 14.5 million bicycles; that's nearly as many bicycles as people, and twice as many bikes as cars! Bikes are a great and easy way of getting around because the Netherlands is so flat. Dutch people don't just use their bikes for fun - cycling is an important way of travelling, from doing the daily shopping to going to work or school.

Opéra National de Paris

Opéra Garnier

And the winner is…. Charles Garnier!

In 1860 an architectural competition was organized for the new opera house in Paris. Charles Garnier's design was the unanimous choice. He was one of the 171 participating architects.

Garnier created an Opera House and stage in the traditional Italian style, and in a grandiose setting. He found his inspiration in the Grand Theatre in Bordeaux and by the Italian and French villas of the 17th and 18th centuries.

A night at the opera should be a pleasant excuse for meeting people and renewing acquaintances for the Parisian moneyed and social elite. All parts of the building (passages, halls, foyers, staircases, and rotundas) occupy a far larger area than the theatre itself. The theatre proper “only” seats 2200. Total surface of the Paris Opéra is 11,000 square meters!


It took Garnier’s team 14 years to build this masterpiece. The works were slowed down by the discovery of an underground lake and spring. This had to be drained before they could start building. A concrete well was designed to carry the enormous stage and was filled with water. Gaston Laroux popularised the legend of this underground lake in his Phantom of the Opera.

One of the highlights in the opera auditorium is definitely the great chandelier (six tons!) hangs from and illuminates the ceiling by Marc Chagall. This colourful paintng dates from 1964 and covers Jules-Eugène Lenepveu’s original decoration of the ceiling.

La Grande Arche de La Défense

La Défense,... a paradise of futuristic architecture

Speaking of modern architecture... A visit to La Défense, the modern high-rise and office-tower district of Paris is an absolute must! This paradise of futuristic architecture is located beyond the arrondissements of central Paris at the start of the western outskirts of the city, beyond the last Parisian loop of the river Seine.

The main axis of La Défense lines up with the Pyramid in the Louvre, the Obelisk at Concorde, the Champs-Elysées and the Arc de Triomphe at Etoile. The Grande Arche de La Défense was built at La Defense’s western end.

The Danish architect Otto Von Spreckelsen designed the Grande Arche de La Defense. He died in 1987, two years before the Arch was completed for the 200th anniversary of the 1789 French revolution.

This huge white arche is a 106-meter high cube. Its pre-stressed concrete frame is covered with glass and Carrara marble from Italy. A glass elevator takes visitors up through the Arche’s interior space to the huge roof for a spectacular view of Paris’ center.

The middle part of the Arche is left open and the sides of the cube contain offices. The Arche is slightly asymmetrical, rotated six-degrees off center of the axis, which was not part of the original design but done so that the piles supporting the structure could avoid the network of tunnels under the site.

What makes La Défense unique is the fact that the whole concrete slab on which this mini city is built is a car-free zone! Finally a spot in Paris where one can stroll without taking the risk to be run over and without the continous sound of honking horns in your ear. All roads, parking and subway links are underground!

Definitely one of my favourite places to visit while in Paris!

La Fontaine Stravinsky

Left: L’Amour (les lèvres)
Right : L’Oiseau de Feu

The Stravinsky Fountain is a charming work of art among the numerous traditional fountains in Paris. It was created in 1982-1983 by Catharine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle (better known as Niki Saint Phalle) (1930-2002) and Jean Tinguely (1925-1991) in homage to Igor Stravinsky's ballet "Le Sacre du Printemps."

This magical ensemble of 16 mobile gargoyle is on the Place Stravinsky next to the famous Centre Pompidou. Inspired by the composer's music, its quirky, kinetic, and colourful sculptures playfully squirt water in various directions.

Dimensions : 1650 cm x 35 cm x 3600 cm
Material : Aluminum, Steel, Engine, Reinforced with fiberglass polyester