The Ardeche Region
My parents and I took a bullet train from the Gare Du Lyon station in Paris to the city of Lyon. It was a very nice experience especially when you are sitting in the opposite direction that the train is going. After the bullet train we took a slower, more local train to the town of Montelimar ( in the area of France called the Ardeche). While waiting for the local train to start I noticed the huge number of cigarette butts littering the sides of the track and that got me thinking, what is the percent of people who die in France due to smoking related lung disease.
From Montelimar we were driven to our B&B out in the countryside, which is close to where my mother and father will be participating in a conference on Mountain Amenity Migration -- people moving to beautiful and interesting places and not mainly for economic reasons. It is considerably warmer here because it is closer to the equator and is on a plains. It is even warm enough to wear a T-Shirt. Altough on the second day being here the bad weather of rain and cold seemed to follow us from Paris. This area of the Ardeche is known for is chesnut recipies, such as cakes, spreads, preserves, etc. I think the food here generaily is a little less in quality here than in Paris, but still quite good.
More Comparative Architecture
Architecture around here is Mediterranean in character. I find it similar to that of SantaFe, New Mexico's architecture; same adobe finishing, bright colours and warm coloured tiles. Yesterday we visited Balazuc, a nearby town of Roman origin perched above a cliff. There, it was mostly stone walled houses and small cobble stone streets winding in and out of the town.*
Next Destination
Tommorow my parents and I will travel Back to Lyon and fly to Venice, Itaily -- if we can get a ride to lyon because there is a general strike in France which includes the trains.
Venice, Italy
Science & the Enviroment
Venice is known as the floating city, although it may be quickly becoming the sinking city. On spending a day with two architects and city planners who live and work there, I learned the city has a long history of finding ways to deal with water. It's water problems is mainly governed by tides from the surrounding Adriatic Sea. Some areas of the town are lower than others and usuaily have water, there are higher parts that are affected by the tides. These water issues are increasing due to the rising sea level which is resulting from Global Warming.* I learned that the people of Venice keep an eye on the tide reports day by day so they can decided how to avoid the water. For example, they check the internet and see what the tide is going to be (its going to be some inches high), then they will plan there route to where they want to go by avoiding places (like streets and plazas), they know will have water on them, and/or put on different styes of shoes for were there going. If the water is coming into theire house they can't do much about it, and just have to wait it out and clean up afterwards. At the same time the arcitects showed us buildings with drainage and pumping systems to combat this water problem. However it seems to deal more with historical times. However can they sole the rising water issue coming from Global Warming?
Footnote: *pictures can be found at http://www.frozenmiceblogpics.wikispaces.com/
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