French Riviera

Life is hard sometimes.

For example, this week I had to go visit a customer site on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea in the French Riviera.

I was forced to enjoy the perfect weather, drink wine, toast a Pastisse and eat gourmet French food in the harbour of Cassis at sunset.







After having to put up with a trip like that, it was comforting to return to my homebase at the foot of the French Alps.

I'm not sure I'll recover from this terrible imposition on my quality of life. Please, send gifts and cookies...



Side note: today I'm whizzing over the French countryside on the TGV high speed train from Lyon, bound for Paris. I made a mistake when boarding so I'm "stuck" in first class on my second class ticket!

Meandering through the countryside has its charms... but ripping along at 400km/hr, scaring stunned looking cows and leaving a veritable sonic boom in my wake is far more my style! Have to go, my chocolate mousse just arrived.


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Geneva, Switzerland

My weekend wasn't ALL "nerding it up" at CERN, I also "nerded up" by visiting the United Nations, the International Red Cross and strolling the shores of Lake Geneva.

Geneva is home to the headquarters of many UN agencies as well as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent. It is perhaps most famous for the signing of the Geneva Convention which outlined the treatment of prisoners of war.

That said, no one laughed when I said "I'm here for the Convention..." so it must not be very topical with the locals anymore!

Here's a summary of my weekend in photos:


Lion statue, Brunswick Monument, Geneva.


The United Nations, Geneva.


Broken chair, symbol of the UN campaign to rid the world of landmines and cluster bombs as per the Ottawa Treaty of 1997, in front of the UN.


The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum at the founding headquarters, Geneva.


Rhone river crossing, Geneva.


Near my hotel on the shore of Lake Geneva.


Panormic shot of the shores of Lake Geneva (click to enlarge).


The Rolex-friendly neighbourhood.


The Jet d'Eau (water jet), spewing water 135m in the air! (click to enlarge)


A village on the border of France and Switzerland on the train ride back.

CERN and the Big Bang

I had some free time this weekend which is a nice change of pace from the norm on these trips.

So where does a nerd like me go on vacation? The Large Hadron Collider at the particle physics research laboratory at CERN, in Geneva, Switzerland, of course!

CERN was founded by some of Europe's leading scientists shortly after the bomb was dropped in WWII as a Nuclear research laboratory with the aim of "doing some good" with the "terrible knowledge".

Over the years, CERN has written the book on particle physics with wide reaching applications for mankind. Everything from PET Scans (Positron Emission Tomography: used alongside CT scans to help doctors evaluate how well organs are functioning) to the creation of superconductors in ultra-high voltage motors, oil and gas production, etc.

CERN even made this blog post possible. When Tim Berners-Lee, a scientist at CERN, invented the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989 as a means of sharing information with other scientists around the world, his invention was called "vague.. but exciting". On April 30, 1993, CERN announced that the World Wide Web would be free to anyone, with no fees due, changing the way we learn about and see the world around us.

Their latest effort is called "the Grid": thousands upon thousands of computers working cooperatively in tandem to crunch about 10 Petabytes (1 petabyte=1000Tb) of data every year, instantly sharing the results with the international community. To put that in perspective, that's the equivalent of 15 million CD's worth of data, a line that would stretch 15 km long when stacked on their THIN side!

After admiring the computer that was used as the world's first "web" server, I was allowed to enter the "Atlas" particle detection unit of the Large Hadron Collider!

The LHC is a huge proton accelerator that stretches 26 kms around and is burried 100m below the surface of the earth. Particles are accelerated in opposite directions to near light-speed by huge magnets in the tubes. Once the particles reach the appropriate speed, they are put onto a collision course with one another.

The resulting catastrophe yields particles that haven't been created since the big bang itself, allowing scientists to observe Quarks, Gluons, Muons and Bozon particles (ie. the particles that make up atoms) via huge arrays of particle detectors in the collision chambers.

The LHC came online with some controversy as theories abounded that microscopic black holes could be produced during the collisions, instantly consuming the earth. Not to worry, if Einstein's theory of relativity is correct, we have nothing to worry about. If he forgot to "carry the one", well... so far, he appears to have been right!


This is the control room of the Atlas chamber of the LHC. The software they're using looks suspiciously familiar to what my company produces. Sure hope they had reeeeeeeally solid commissioning standards and UAT!


A section of the LHC outside the Atlas experiment.

Grenoble, France

I've arrived in Grenoble, France, home of the 1968 Winter Olympics.

Nestled at the base of the French Alps, Grenoble is probably the most "European" city I've ever been to. The winding little pedestrian streets draw you in and entice you deeper and deeper into the heart of the city, where people roam from cafe to shop with no fear of being run down by cars.

Even the "walk / don't walk" signs have a great nonchalance to them (as shown)!

Grenoble has the feel of a tiny village at the base of the snow-capped mountains and yet 158,552 people call it home. I honestly don't know where they put them all because I'd have estimated it at around 10,000 people.

One great thing is that it stays light until 9pm! After living in Australia where it's dark by 6pm year round, that's become a huge novelty to me. The shops and cafes all stay open and people mill about the streets with a great sense of community.

Here's a look (in classic low quality grainy phone photos):

Sweet Silver

I just landed in Singapore and I'm always blown away by the sheer number of ships in the bay.

I'm excited because I'm just a few kilometers away from being upgraded to a Silver card frequent flyer! I know many gold and platinum members but I've never been one myself. This last leg brought me to the crux, the next leg puts me over!

By my estimation, I should be passing over Dubai (in about 8 hours) when they'll have to pull the airplane over so the pilot can come back and issue me my new card. I expect they'll have dancers and a pyro-technics show, but I'm keeping my expectations in check.

From now on, it's a life of priority check-in lines, lounge access, premium seats and one extra item of carry-on luggage. I'll look all snooty and self important as I board before the other passengers while flight attendants call me by name, passing me wine and caviar in the boarding bridge.

Life is good! It's clearly the little things that keep me going.


-- Mobile post

Perth & Margaret River

After being in Australia for two and half years, it was high time to get across the country to Perth, in Western Australia!

Perth, in my opinion, is Australia's most beautiful city. The city skyline is classy, not cluttered and the whole city has that "new car" feel to it. It has miles of white sandy beaches without any of the rowdy drunken backpackers of the Gold Coast.

More importantly, Perth is home to two fellow Canadians, Kara and Lach. I won't dare tell you how good they are at hosting guests, lest they not be available the next time!

After having a night of fantastic wine and some of the best home-cooked food in the Southern hemisphere, we left Perth and toured down south to the Margaret River wine region taking in in all the sites. The area is absolutely gorgeous and the weather couldn't have been better!

Here's a small taste of what we saw:


Busselton Jetty, the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere at nearly 2km.


The beer sampler from the Colonial brewery near Margaret River.


The precise location where the Southern Ocean (or Antarctic Ocean) meets the Indian Ocean. They tasted the same to me...


A Blue Tongue lizard giving us attitude near Meelup Beach, WA.


This was so cool! This is NOT a bird sanctuary, this is a regular old city park in Perth. The birds will fly down and land all over you if you bring them some bird seed!


Kara and Lach, our Canuck counterparts to the West! Thanks guys and Happy Birthday Kara!

Lovin' Las Vegas!

I'm travelling again for work, this time doing a limited "tour" of North America.

Is there any better way of getting over your jet lag than stopping off in Las Vegas for a few sleepless nights of fun? I think NOT!

Since my itinerary doesn't include a stop-off in Ontario and only includes a limited amount of time in Vancouver, my Dad and Sister came along with their partners and my Uncle & Aunt!



New York, New York


Caesars Palace


Paris


The Venetian


The Bellagio


The Luxor


The winning smile!

South African Safari, Pilanesberg

After a seven hour drive back to Johannesburg yesterday (having also completed a very full eight hour day on site), today was a good day for some R&R. I went up to Pilanesberg to take a game drive!

Like the Ngorongoro crater, Pilanesberg was formed when a giant volcano expanded without exploding, building pressure and finally collapsing in on itself, creating perfect conditions for a large concentration of wildlife.

I had an excellent day spotting three white rhinos (but not getting a good enough shot off with the camera before they lumbered off), several elephants, a giraffe, impala, warthogs, zebras, wildebeests, a big male lion in the grass, monkeys, hippos and even a family of banded mongoose (related to the meerkat).

Here's a few of the better photos:


Mother Zebra with her little fella.


A family of three white rhinos!


A family of elephants going for a drink. There was five of them!


A herd of blue-gnus / wildebeests.


Musina, near the Botswana and Zimbabwe border, is where I was working this week. It's a fantastic little village on the edge of civilization and home to the diamond miners. Hundreds of people from Zimbabwe flood into Musina every day to purchase fuel and food which have become somewhat of a luxury in their country. Hundreds of donkeys and mules flood into Musina from Botswana because they have nothing else to do for fun.


I'm off to bed, thanks for reading!

South Africa

I am in South Africa today on the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from prison. That's not why I came, I just think it's a cool fact!

I came to Johannesburg for work and am currently doing the long trek north to a remote but well known diamond mine near the border of Zimbabwe, just outside the little town of Musina. Seven hours in the back of a 4WD might not be your idea of fun but at least I'm getting to see the rich diversity of the country.

Johannesburg is one the largest cities in the world that wad not built on either a river or a major port. It was founded during the gold rush of the late 1800's when a local land owner was climbing a ridge to survey his property and kicked a big 'ole shiny rock that turned out to be gold. The area exploded with prospectors. Once diamonds were found near Kimberley, the British decided it was time to colonize, by force.

Sadly, this lead to the invention of the world's first concentration camps during the Boer war. The Brits decided they needed a way to conquer the sparsely populated countryside and cut the supply of food to local militia resisting the colonization. As a result, they rounded up women and children from the farms and stuck them in camps to "concentrate" the population. Outbreaks of disease were largely ignored and millions died.

The history here runs deep and every group has their own story but years of economic isolation during apartheid has lead to significant technological advancement in this country. For example, SA guards the secret of turning coal into petroleum. Afterall, a country must have oil even if they can't pump for it and no one will sell it to them. The process is a heavily guarded secret.

They've also completely cornered the market on diamonds and platinum with a new patent being filed every single day in those industries for the extraction of the precious commodities.

All in all, I think this is a really interesting part of Africa!



Update: we have arrived at the lodge which is absolutely awesome. The food is great and we each have our own hut. On turning in for the night, I had to kill several large bugs who were mounting a counter attack on the giant spider who lives above my bed... At least the spider looks relatively friendly and keeps to his side of the room ( top corners of thatched roof ). I named him fluffy... he's hairy and the size of a small dog. Sure hope he doesn't get hungry.


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