Paris

 

Paris! Paris! I'm finally here! God knows, how long I've been yearning to set my foot on Europe grounds and Yes! I am finally here!

 

So, here are the typical questions that I've received so far:

 

Q: How have you been?

A: Good! Good! But initially, I think I was a little miserable... I wonder why... maybe just shocked by the size of the school.. And then I got to talking and mingling with people and realized that this school is very reputable and it is not easy to get in! Hmmm.. ok.. Jean, focus focus! Remember your objective! Don't deviate! .

 

Q: How's study life?

A: Amazingly wonderful! I love studying! There's no pressure from anybody! Studying is what I do best! I might even pursue Ph.D after this! I love it!

 

Ahh... and so, here are the pictures that I've captured on my first few weeks in Paris!

 



 

Grapes! It's my first time seeing grapes on trees!

Check out this unique car! There are so many kinds of cars here in France! And most of them are small, really small! Unlike M'sia where we have big cars from Germany and other countries, but here, most cars are small! They even have cars for only one person! Woah!

Taken from Musée de Lourve (with Mona Lisa's picture)

See the people picniking at 3pm in the afternoon...

Wow!

Eiffel Tower in the Night

Glittering, Shimmering,

Spectacular Sight.

Versailles

Versailles is about 15km from the small town where I'm living in - Rueil Malmaison. It belonged to King Louis XIV and his queen, Marie-Antoinette. Did you know that she was Austrian? Mm... I just found out!  

 

I visited Versailles on my second week in Paris. A friend suggested it, citing that since I love outdoors, I will definitely love this place.

 

True enough, the moment I walked into the musical gardens, my heart started skipping to its beat and began singing aloud!

 

This garden is just too magnificent. Lots of statues with depiction of real life and legends, a very organized garden with lots of trees, lakes and walking paths, and flower gardens too!



 

Water spewing statues!

 

Depiction of a loving father!

 

The Gardens of Marie Antoinette

Rueil Malmaison

Ahah! This is where I live - Rueil Malmaison.

It's a pretty friendly place with lots of smiley faces everywhere!

 People playing in the gardens of queen Josephine (Napoleon Bonaparte's wife).. lots of statues in the  park!

Leaves covered houses - I love it!

Touristique train to go around the town!

Jogging along the River Seine

 

 My meaty cous cous and green peas!

My Books for 10 months!!

Yes! Not too heavy! Just nice! I can finish all in a month if there was ACD.

Haha!

Toy Soldier Museum

One of the soldiers on display

Fresh tomatoes attached to their stalks!

Fresh scallops!

 

Scallops in shells!

Autumn trees... Winter is approaching! yes!

 

 

 

Baie de Somme

So, in our third week in Paris, I am finally going to the outskirts! Bay of Somme is an estuary, about 3-4 hours from Paris.

 

I just love being here! Carefree, no stress... Ahhh.... I am cherishing every moment...

 

French houses

Wind turbines

DUtch Lady cows

Sheeps! Sheeps! Sheeps everywhere!

Flint!

Red fruits??? (looks poisonous!)

Blueberries and redberries?

Church on the mountains made from flints

Bay with penguins!

Dinner: Seaweed dessert

Leaves covered houses!

Vercors

Vercors! I am visiting the West Side of the Alps! It's so cool! Witnessing a series of thrusts and folds in the making! And many other interesting formations! Ahh! I just wish I could stay in this place forever!

 

Drinking camomile tea in the midst of the lush, green forest; inhaling all the cool, fresh air; walking up the mountains to pick mushrooms; milking cows and walking along the rivers, chasing after crazy ducks; managing a museum on water...having a small hotel which survives on less than ten clients per month.. That would be perfect!

 

 

This, is life!

 

 

Now, I need to think... how can I live like this? ... Any ideas? 

 

Climbing up the mountain to see sheat fold geometry

Dam! It's the first time I've seen a dam!

Looking at the river flowing in the plains... feels like watching a national geographic movie. It's tranquil, it's calm.. it's soothing.. Right now, everything is worth it! So So, worth it!

 

A road leading to nowhere...

Kind of like my life right now...

Where will it lead to?

 

My future house! haha!

Valleys and plains... It's the first time I've seen valleys and plains too!

Houses built on Rocks!

(Reminds me of the parable of the wise and foolish builders...

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”- Matthew 7: 24-27)

Walking on travertines

 

Horses! My favourite!

 

Oh my god! I'm so in love with the houses here!

 

Church from afar - ringing bells every hour...

Looks like legendary Mountain of Sun Wu Kong

I can just imagine the fairies and deities flying over these mountains!

Oh my oh my! Valleys! I am finally in one of the valleys!

Check this out! Prograding Carbonates!

First snow of the year! And soon, it will turn all white! and we can start skiing!

Vercors! Vercors!  I will be back!

Wessex Basin, UK

I can't believe it! When my professor said that we would be visiting the Wessex Basin, I never thought that it'd be classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site! Who would have thought!

 

Then I found out why. It's because in the Wessex Basin, it contains a series of formations from the Basement Rocks in the Pre-Cambrian age to up to Holocene! Wow wow wow! It's amazing!! A series of successive strata outcropping along the beach, one after another! We even saw source rocks, oil seeps, nodding donkeys and castles!

 

Wah!!! I will study so, so hard and do my best here! 

 

Dawlish - Aeolian Sandstones - Poorly consolidated.

When we take a chip of the rock, and crush it with our hands, it turns into sand immediately!

Just like magic!

A rock covered in green algae... Lovely! Mystic!

Cows on top of the hill!

A retirement town! Many people come golfing here, and walk their dogs along the beach!

Lulworth Cove

So, this is how a cove looks like!

Check out the folds and erosions!

Oil Seeps!

Ooids!!!!! Good reservoir potential!

Castle

Nodding Donkey! Yes yes yes! I've finally seen one real, nodding donkey in operation!

Fractured reservoir! In the direction perpendicular to the maximum stress (I think).. multiple directions here because of the presence of multiple stress.

 

Parallelisms: Here is what I see ahead of me: My infinite life-while my vision is limited, the journey ahead is long, bumpy, wet and slippery.

Regardless, God is with me... I will survive!

: )