Geo: 53.9577, -1.08229I met with Andrew at York train station and we spent the afternoon in York. York is a medieval city crossed by two rivers. The city walls are still standing and you can walk on them. The city center is a maze of small pedestrian streets and the landscape is dominate by an imposing cathedral. Andrew's cousin picked us up from York in a Mercedes Benz AMG (for the geek, 6.3L V12). So, we powered through the Yorkshire countryside with the roof down. Pretty cool! We stayed in a cottage in Hemsley. It's a lovely small village with a beck running through it. The next day we stopped at Ampleforth Abbey where we bought some cider to take to Manchester. (note: Ampleforth is one of the most prestigious private school in UK).J'ai retrouvé Andrew ... read more

Geo: 55.8656, -4.25722My stay in Glasgow started with a roast dinner cooked by Ben and Forbes. Well, it was pointed to me that it technically was not a roast dinner as there were no roast potatoes, and only a roast chicken. Anyways, it was really good. We had cupcakes from Bibi's (St Andrews) for dinner as I figured they might miss them.I went to see Richard and his new lab. Things haven't changed too much: the people are the same, only the place is different. I guess I have only been gone for a year... Glasgow though is much different form St Andrews. When it comes to picking a pub or a place for food there is a multitude of choices. And I don't know anywhere. But they know a few.The pub next to the botanical ... read more

Geo: 56.3389, -2.79892You know you are in Scotland when....- from the plane you can feel you are going done, but the only thing you can see through the window are clouds, until.....you touch ground. Welcome to Scotland.- in the train, the girl in front of you (early 20's, wearing a cocktail dress and lots of make-up) pick up the phone and says "I'm completely smashed, we have been drinking since 10am and I am now on the train to Dundee.....cocktails and posh Champagne". All that in a very Scottish accent. Priceless.- the train get stuck in a station for 20min because 'someone behavior required police action'. Oh dear!- alighting from the train a freezing breeze welcome you to a dark, wet and empty train station, no taxi, next bus in 25min. Tu sais que tu es ... read more

It's amazing how different 30 min can be. If you are on a long haul across the Atlantic then 30 min can feel like they just go on and on and on. But when you have to connect at London Heathrow with only 30 min to change terminal, go through custom, suffer another security check and power walk to your gate at the other end of the terminal, then 30 min just fly (héhé see the pun there). I just felt like 'what the f**k, this is too intense for so early in the morning'. Anyways, my luggages and I made it home all together. PS: the new BA plane look amazing in their golden bird-like paint. C'est hallucinant comme 30 min peuvent paraître différentes en fonction de la situation. Pendant un long vol transatlantique, 30 ... read more

5pointz (according to Wikipedia) "is an outdoor art exhibit space in Long Island City, New York, considered to be the world's premiere "graffiti Mecca," where aerosol artists from around the globe paint colourful pieces on the walls of a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) factory building. (....) It was announced in March 2011 that Wolkoff (the owner) plans to redevelop the property to build high-rise residential towers, putting the future of 5 Pointz in jeopardy." Well, apparently they will be putting it down in September. So here are some pix for you to get a feel. It's a pretty cool place. I'm glad I got to go there before leaving. 5 Pointz (selon Wikipedia) est considérée comme la "la Mecque du graffiti", où les artistes de toutes origines réalisent des œuvres colorées sur les murs d'un bâtiment d'une ... read more