Galanthus is the Latin name

Is that still snow on the ground? No - just a visual illusion created by thousands of snowdrops. We love to take a walk in the park of Versailles before the vernal equinox to admire the snowdrop carpets there.

With 'Schneeglöckchen' (German for 'little snow bell') and 'perce-neige' (French for 'piercing the snow') the qualities of this delicate wild flower are accurately described. Despite the freezing days they grow and unfold and delight and - smell surprisingly sweet.

Thought provoking

Instead of going to a movie, we planned ahead and got tickets for the theater.

What a difference: The mood of expectation, the immediate contact between actors and audience, the sound of the bell, the curtain raising.

We saw the play "Secret Thoughts" by David Lodge performed by two actors in monologs and dialogs.

While they were performing, they probably had their secret thoughts and everybody in the audience had their secret thoughts ..... Each different secret thoughts or some of them unknowingly the same......... Do we want to know them, would we want them to be known? I have my secret thoughts about that. Keep secret thoughts secret.

Why don't you tell me what you think about that?

The Chateau de la Muette and the OECD

The Chateau de la Muette in the 16th arrondissement in Paris became in 1949 the headquarters of the Organization of European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) which administered the Marshall Plan's funds provided by the United States to promote post-war recovery of a devastated Europe.

In 1961 the OEEC became the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the chateau is since then the main conference center for the many meetings for country delegates coming on a regular basis to the OECD.

Last year was the 50 year celebration and the colorful design and 'advertisement' is still

proudly displayed:

"The OECD measures, analyses and compares to give the basis for better policies for a better life" - This is my translation and it makes me proud that the husband is part of this think tank.

La vie en rose......

It is the 14th of February - HAPPY VALENTINE - to you all with both Raoul Dufy's painting and Edith Piaf's song:

And remember that every day should be Valentine's day!

Inside is better then outside

It starts to get boring to talk about the freezing temperatures. .... The fact is, that we in the last 15 years (!) never had such icy conditions for such a long time here in France.

The suitable picture above is from the Finnish artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931) whose retrospective is shown in the Musee d'Orsay in the new galleries on the 5th floor.

Inside it was warm and we took time to study his paintings change from a naturalistic to a symbolistic to a decorative style while keeping Finnish characteristics despite his studies in Paris.

Outside it is now possible to enter parks (they were closed for some days) and because of the 'special great freeze' the town of Paris hung up signs to have warned you. Be careful on the ice! You can not sue them when you fell and broke your bones.

Ghost garden

The cold air is still hovering over Paris and France. Perfect day to visit the Musee d'Orangerie where the huge paintings of the waterlily pond by Monet are installed. Meditation, contemplation, enjoyment. Lesser known but moving too are the small paintings by Chaim Soutine further down in the galleries.

No camera allowed in the museum and I took pictures of chairs perhaps under the influence of the art?

As soon as the sun is shining ......

and the temperatures are positive it will be difficult to find an empty chair.

Rhinoceroses

It is great that always on the first Sunday of the month all museums in Paris have free entrance. An opportunity for many to visit and then discover art objects and learn about the history of human creativity.

Despite freezing temperatures, the visitors waited yesterday patiently in the long line to enter the Museum d'Orsay.

I mentally compared this rhinoceros (a sculpture made by A. Jacquemart for the Paris World's Fair of 1878!) in front of the museum's entrance with the rhinos we saw in Tanzania:

not as much likeness with them but with the print by Albrecht Duerer of 1515.

Our daily electricity.....

In Africa, we got more conscious about our often thoughtless use of power.  When the electricity was only available between 6.30 - 9 AM and 6.30 - 11 PM we had a fast learning curve.  The loading station in the hotel was filled with all models of computers, phones and other  devices in the precious hours of working electricity.  Nice that WiFi was available all the time, but if the battery was empty.....

In France are 58 nuclear power plants producing ca 75 % of the country's electricity.  In Germany their 9 remaining nuclear power plants are scheduled to be closed by 2022.  The disaster in Japan last year had a strong impact on the awareness of nuclear reactors there.

The  question is open which country is doing the right thing. In the mean time we can rise our awareness of electricity as something impossible to do without. These days we have arctic air over Germany and France  and the surge in power use is testing the supplies.  Perhaps we should fill our torches with the solar panels, because sun we have on this clear blue winter sky.

http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/00442/homeelectricity.htm