Tuesday, July 8, 2008

08072200 Beijing compared to Paris

Carolyn had a visit from one of her teacher friends from Hong Kong. She is also on holiday in Paris and so Carolyn went off with Hugo on the bike tour of Paris.

I took a break from our usual routine and stayed home and had a relaxing nap until three in the afternoon. This strange sleep patern is caused by the combined effects of jet-lag, time zone disruption, holiday sleep-in, daylight saving and the northern hemisphere summer where the sun does not set until ten o'clock. The result of being effected by these numerous phenomenons is that we are all askew with our internal clocks. We have kids up at midnight having breakfast and we have lunch together at four PM. On some mornings I get up before everyone, at about ten o'clock, and go to the local bakery. When they wake up there are fresh baguettes, so fresh that sometimes they are still warm, that we all have with our breakfast. I have been for a few long walks around the Paris suburbs to get familiar with the place and look at scooters. I have decided to get a Vespa.

I have noticed a few things about a few places that I have been: Here is an over-generalised comparison between Beijing and Paris.


Traffic in Beijing vs traffic in Paris





Monuments to great people in history in Beijing vs monuments to great people on history in Paris.











Kids playing in the park in Beijing vs kids playing in the park in Paris.











Bicycles parked on the street in Beijing compared to bicycles parked on the street in Paris.



A couple out for a bike ride together in Beijing compared to a couple out for a bike ride in Paris.


Here is a small section of court-yard in the Forbidden City in Beijing. The Chinese designed the surface to have a rough texture to provide traction for the horses.
Here is a small section of court-yard in the Castle Amboise in France.The French designed the surface to have a rough texture to provide traction for the horses..










Police in Beijing compared to Police in Paris. The police in Beijing use modern vans capable of transporting eight troops to the scene in a swift and efficient manner.
The police in Paris use modern vans capable of transporting eight troops to the scene in a swift and efficient manner.

Here is picture of Hugo standing in the political center of China - all distances to other places are taken from this point - it is in their spiritual centre called the Temple of Heaven.
Here is a picture of Hugo standing in the political centre of Paris - all distances to other places are taken from this point - it is in their spiritual centre, a church called Notre Dame.

If I was in charge of a country, and when you hear this it will be obvious why I'm not, I would make it a rule that before a candidate could be the Prime Minister, he or she would have to go on world trip and work for a month in at least six different countries, any six will do, and see for themselves that the only real difference between people is the sound they make when they speak.

Here are few of the TED talks that I watched today.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/michael_moschen_juggles_rhythm_and_motion.html
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html

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