Polynesia – Day 1

Landed in Papeete extremely early and earlier than scheduled at 5:30 am. By the time we are through immigration and collect the rented car (quite a small one for 4 adult passengers and 2 pieces of luggage each) an hour has gone by.

We decide to drive to our booked guest house but of course it is far too early to check in and the rooms will not be available before 3 pm. We can however offload our luggage and change into something more appropriate for the heat.

We decide to drive all around the island of Tahiti on a discovery tour but before that a hot drink is needed. We stop at a very pleasant boulangerie on the way to the town centre and it is also an opportunity to get local cash from the ATM next door.

It is not difficult to find the coastal road, there is only one and we are off on a clockwise direction.

Venus point and the black sand beach

We make a couple more stops en route

Even find a beach to go swimming. The sun is extremely powerful so we do not stay too long unprotected.

And eventually arrive at the excellent Guest House by 3 pm

Here we have time to relax, make use of the jacuzzi, shower before going out for dinner at the Blue Banana restaurant.

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Victory

What can I say?

What a game that was…

Allez Les Bleus

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Whisky

By then I should be past my abstinence period…

It certainly looks interesting and is taking place next to the train station in Toulouse. Could be done as a day trip or with an overnight but in all cases by train from Carcassonne.

https://toulousewhiskyfestival.com/

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FFFA

Fédération Française de Football Américain

I was a little disappointed last weekend when the Philadelphia Eagles failed to win Super Bowl LVII

On the other hand, I thought it was a good game which I watched till 4am

I was discussing the above mentioned game with a Tennessean friend during lunch earlier today and we both agreed that it would be fine if we could watch a game here in Europe.

But where?

I have surfed around and was astonished to find that there is a French Federation of American Football (FFFA) with a league of its own. Even more surprising, we have a home team.

This needs to be seriously investigated further

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My kind of town

On the early fast train on the way back home in the South. I just spent 3 full days in the town I left so many years ago. It was a full 3 days too, walked miles and miles. In fact my phone registered 40km+ which is not bad.

One of the highlights was the show at the Moulin Rouge. A first for me in fact.

I did not bother going up the Eiffel Tower, I have done it so many times in the pasts. My German friends did though and as it happens the access to the top (3rd floor) was closed due to technical reasons.

The Catacombes are still an attraction and I am glad I walked down and through them or at least part of them. Again not my first time but I was being the host & guide to my friends.

And of course there was food & restaurants which is a must in Paris

All photos here

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AI (Artificial Intelligence)

One keeps hearing about Artificial Intelligence and all the forthcoming applications one can expect in the near future and how life might change as a result.

So far I have not come across any application which I would consider as artificial intelligence until I played around with ChatGPT…

and it is quite impressive. So what is ChatGPT? Well I asked it that question and the answer came back as such: ChatGPT is a language model developed by OpenAI. It uses deep learning techniques to generate human-like text based on a prompt given to it. It can answer questions, generate creative writing, translate text, summarize long articles, and perform various other language tasks.

So I asked another question: What are the advantages of an electric car which is something I have been asking myself a lot.

Answer

Electric cars have several ecological advantages over traditional gasoline-powered vehicles, including:

1. Lower emissions: Electric cars produce significantly lower emissions compared to gasoline cars, which can help reduce air pollution and improve public health.

2. Energy efficiency: Electric cars are more energy efficient than gasoline cars, meaning that they use less energy to travel the same distance. This results in reduced carbon emissions and lower fuel costs.

3. Renewable energy: Electric cars can be powered by renewable energy sources such as wind or solar power, reducing the dependency on fossil fuels.

4. Reduced greenhouse gas emissions: By using electricity to power vehicles, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, which helps to mitigate climate change.

5. Improved public health: By reducing air pollution, electric cars can improve public health, particularly in urban areas where air pollution levels are high.

I am beginning to like this

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Go Pink Floyd

Not the real stuff but the Aussie version which is excellent. I have watched and listened to them online on many occasions. I have just purchased 2 tickets for next week‘s performance in Narbonne:

I never think to check events and shows in Narbonne and came across this one by chance. It is only a 45 minutes drive from home and usually no traffic jams (Stau for my German friends). That was quite rare growing up in the Paris area or even when living in suburbs of London. Getting to a show in town was always quite an adventure.

A quality of life I should make more of…

🎶 🎶 🎶

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Catamaran

I have just received more details from the charter company in Polynesia. This is where we have to pick-up our Catamaran.

In the meantime we have to send them our shopping list for food and drinks so that everything awaits us on board.

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Happy New Year

To all my friends who follow the Lunar Calendar

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9X8

There is no doubt, this car is a beauty

And unfortunately I shall not be able to see run in the year‘s Le Mans 24h unless a miracle happens as far as tribune tickets are suddenly available as well as reasonable accommodation.

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