Contrasts : Brisbane (Australia) / Annecy (France)

I grew up in France, in Annecy, the town where I was born, near the swiss border. In 1998, my husband and I decided to live in his country, Morocco, in Marrakech for 8 years. I have spent more time in Annecy than in Marrakech. Although I know Marrakech well enough, I don't want to make a comparison between these two cities which are so different. So, I prefer to compare Annecy with the place where I've been living actually for 6 weeks : Brisbane in Australia. A new continent and a new life for me.

Annecy is less populated than Brisbane, a population of less than 60 000 against 1.8 million.
Compared to Annecy, Brisbane is bigger and hotter, but according to me, not nicer ;-) but certainly more modern. In the city centre of my town, there is the old town and in another area some old or recent buildings but not higher than those in Brisbane. I think the highest have only 15 floors.

The first time I took the train in Australia, from Murarrie (in the suburbs) to the city centre, when I left the station at 8.00 am, I was surprised by the flow of people in the streets, walking quickly or running, some with big coffees in their hands. In France, I always took my own car to go to my job and most of the people do the same, except those who lived and worked in the centre who usually took the bus or walked. There is a railway station but trains are just to go out of the city.

If I compare Brisbane with Annecy, I can see here in Australia more overweight people than in my city. Nevertheless, in France, our eating habits are changing for the worst and may be we will see more obesity in the next ten years.

Brisbane and Annecy have both an area of water near the city : a river and the Pacific Ocean for Brisbane and a lake and a canal for my city. Although Brisbane is near beaches, I never go swimming.

In terms of activities, Brisbane and Annecy are quite similar because both allow you to do a lot of sports like swimming, biking, walking... and for Annecy skiing.

"Heroes" by David Bowie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQFuNHCMF2Y

I, I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim
Though nothing,
Nothing will keep us together,
We can beat them, for ever and ever
Oh we can be heroes, just for one day

I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can be heroes, just for one day
We can be us, just for one day

I, I can remember (I remember)
Standing, by the wall (by the wall)
And the guns shot above our heads (over our heads)
And we kissed,
as though nothing could fall (nothing could fall)
And the shame was on the other side
Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever
Then we could be heroes, just for one day

We can be heroes
We can be heroes
We can be heroes
Just for one day
We can be heroes

My hero... not really, just somebody I like...

When I was 14 years old in 1978, I watched television when I saw a singer with hirsute blond hair, jumping on the stage, singing with a raspy voice. His voice gave me shudders. The singer was Rod Stewart.
He was born in London in 1945, a misfortune for him because he wishes he had been born in Scotland like his father, his two brothers and his two sisters. He considers himself Scottish.

He launched his solo career in 1969. Before then, he was in two groups : "The Jeff Beck Group" and "The Faces". He wrote some of his songs like "Maggie May".

He was a professional soccer player before becoming a musician.

He's keen on football and women, especially women with blond hair !

I bought his album "Da ya think I'm sexy ?" in 1978 and since then, I have bought regularly his albums until the age of 30.
Since then, I've been listening to his music as often as possible.

I've seen him live in concert in Annecy, my town, and I had never expected to see him there. What a wonderful show !

I've never read any biography of him but when I was young, I kept all pictures or newspaper' articles on him or his family.

I like Rod Stewart for his beautiful ballads like "Maggy May", "Sailing", "I don't want to talk about it"or "The first cut is the deepest" but I also like him for his more rock'n'roll' songs.
If you want to listen to some ballads :
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=h9dlG-iq3F8

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpbuqh12oj4

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZYAaQoks8

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=7RkWs6P2IwE

Rod Stewart is not my hero, just somebody I like for his melody, his good music.

Strange travel !

A few years ago, I was travelling in Morocco. I stayed more than three months in this country and the day I had taken the road to return to France, I passed the border in the afternoon to take the boat to Spain. The customs officer asked me for my passport, looked at it and told me to follow him into his office. Then, he called the police. I was surprised and he told me my stay had been three days too long and I would be judged for that. The police came to take me to the police station for an interrogation. In the evening, after some negotiations, the policeman allowed me to sleep at the hotel near the police station but he said I had to be in his office at 8.00 a.m.

The next day, I was on time and had been waiting for two hours before a policeman took me to the Tribunal. It was 10.00 a.m. I waited for many long hours without information, drink or food, until 6.00 p.m. when a policeman called my name. I followed him down a dark corridor to arrive in a large room : the Tribunal. A judge asked me some questions, reminded me of the law and imposed on me a line of fifty Euros. I paid and was free to continue my travel !