Who says you can’t’ go home…

I spent twenty years tryin' to get out of this place

I was lookin' for somethin' I couldn't replace
I was runnin' away from the only thing I've ever known

And like a blind dog without a bone
I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone
I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold

I've been there, done that, now I ain't lookin' back
And the seeds I've sown, savin' dimes
Spendin' too much time on the telephone
Who says you can't go home?

Who says you can't go home?
There's only one place that call me one of their own
Just a hometown boy, born a rollin' stone
Who says you can't go home?

Who says you can't go back?
Been all around the world and as a matter of fact
There's only one place left, I want to go
Who says you can't go home? It's alright
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright

I went as far as I could, I tried to find a new face
There isn't one of these lines that I would erase
I left a million mile of memories on that road

Every step I take, I know that I'm not alone
You take the home from the boy but not the boy from his home
These are my streets, the only life I've ever known
Who says you can't go home?

Who says you can't go home?
There's only one place that call me one of their own
Just a hometown boy, born a rollin' stone
Who says you can't go home?

I've been there, done that, now I ain't lookin' back
It's been a long, long road, feels like I've never left
That's how the story goes

It doesn't matter where you are, doesn't matter where you go
If it's a million miles away or just a mile up the road
Take it in, take it with you when you go
Who says you can't go home?

I was just listening to Bon Jovi’s ‘Have a nice day’ album and heard, ‘Who says you can’t go home’.  It suddenly took on a new significance to me as I am getting ready to go back home to Sri Lanka and settle down with Lakshi there from November 2011.

Looking back at the past four years I consider my time in Cambridge and Geneva my wonder years, where I spent my free time trying to find myself, in acting, writing, connecting with nature, discussions with friends… I think I really grew as a person in these few years… I think it also helped me find out who I am, especially as the initial years I was here alone and was able to explore my thoughts and feelings on my own… Of course we’re always changing trying to become better people, and no matter how hard you try it’s impossible to really understand yourself completely, but I think the last few years helped a lot in becoming who I am now.

While my time away from ‘home’ both here in Geneva and in Cambridge have been amazing, I’m now really looking forward to going home. I’m looking forward to spending time with family and old friends. I’m looking forward to living in a nice home with a garden instead of the tiny apartment that we live in here. Now that the war is over, I’m looking forward to being part of rebuilding the country. I dream of a developed Sri Lanka, and I think it is within our grasp if only everyone worked trying to develop the country instead of only focussing on personal benefits.

When I originally came to Geneva and told people that I will only be here for a few years, get some experience, learn about the world, travel and then go back, they all told me that I would never leave Geneva as they believed that I wouldn't be able to give up the life style here, or the salary. But I believe that there’s so much more to life than riches such as family, friends, knowing that this is your ‘home’ and not having to worry about permits and visas; knowing you belong.  So that’s why this song really came to my mind, cos I am coming home soon…

The Blind leading the sighted...

Last weekend Lakshi and I visited Lucerne and Zurich. While I found Lucerne to be one of the prettiest towns I’ve visited with ancient bridges and churches and the world famous ‘Lion Monument’, the highlight of the weekend was our dinner at the Blindekuh (literally meaning Blind Cow and the word is also used for the game ‘Blind man’s bluff’ in German) Restaurant. The tagline you see as you enter the restaurant says ‘We’ll give you a meal that nobody has seen!’

The concept of Blindekuh started around 10 years ago in Zurich with the aim of giving sighted people the experience of being blind, and to create jobs for visually impaired people. You can find out more about the origins of the restaurant here. Currently the restaurant in Zurich is self-financing and you can see the popularity by the fact that we had to reserve 3 months ahead to get places in the weekend.

We had an unforgettable experience with the reversal of ‘roles’ and heightened senses. Here we were the ones who were led into the pitch black ‘space’ by our attentive blind waitress Cornelia(I call it ‘space’ as we have no idea how large it was or anything about it). She told our friend to hold on to her shoulders and we formed a ‘train’ one behind the other and followed her. She knew where to go while we were all just holding tightly to each other as we tried not to stumble and fall on our way to the table. Cornelia tried to talk and ensure that we were all fine during our long walk (I think it just felt long since we couldn’t see the destination) from the lighted reception to our table where it was dark to the point where it didn’t matter if you had your eyes open or closed. We were to call her by name when we needed anything.

Before entering into the dark room we were shown the menus and asked to choose. I had a lovely shrimp and Chinese noodles starter, sea bass with passion fruit sauce and rice and picked the surprise for the desert. It was fun as the desert had 5 different types and we had to guess what they were just by tasting and feeling it. The food was delicious and I noticed that my sense of smell was heightened. Initially had opted not to have a starter, but when I ‘smelled’ the starter the others in our group were having I just called out to Cornelia and asked for one too! It was great to observe how she could say from where the voice came from but for us we were often confused whether she was talking to us or someone else nearby. Eating with fork and knife was another challenge when we couldn’t see what we were poking! So sometimes I stuck an empty fork in the mouth without realising it! In the end I just decided to use my hands.

While dining we noticed how much of our conversation is around sight, even when we were trying to tell each other what we ‘feel’, without thinking we would say ‘I see there’s …’ or ‘It looks like…’. I noticed that my sense of feeling seemed to have heightened too when I felt a tiny thing drop on my lap to see (again I used ‘see’ when what I meant was feel) it was one of my tiny earrings. I’m sure I wouldn’t have felt it ordinarily. Even the famous saying is ‘seeing is believing’ it’s almost as if we don’t trust our other senses. We have to ‘see’ to know something, so it was especially interesting for me to immerse myself in a world without sight.

I left the dinner with a much greater respect to all those who are blind or partially sighted. It would be so difficult if I had to live in that darkness forever with no colour, no sight… but then, maybe they can feel and hear colour… their other senses are so much more acute to compensate for the lack of sight. Maybe we’re the ones who are missing something in our smell, taste, hearing and touch since the sight always overpowers them all. We will never know what we do not know…

Midnight in Paris

It was more like 4 nights in Paris! and while we didn’t meet the great artists and writers during late night strolls through the lovely streets of Paris, we did manage to go back in time and also to enter a whole new magical world during our visit. La vie en rose  (French for "Life through rose-coloured glasses", literally "Life in pink") by Edith Piaf was playing in my head most of the time as we walked in Paris, just like in the movie, so that’s why I decided to call this post ‘Midnight in Paris’. The song really seems to suit the character of the city! I think Paris is the most romantic city in the world and its lovely to share it with my husband.

We arrived Thursday afternoon and after dumping our bags in the hotel, went straight to Arc de triumph. Then we strolled along that very prestigious lovely avenue Champs Elysees, dropping into all the designer stores and checking out lots of stuff which we could never afford to buy! We had dinner at one of the cute cafes on Champs Elysees and continued to walk up to the Eiffel Tower by which time it was almost 10pm. At the beginning of each hour the lights in the Eiffle tower start flickering like millions of little fireflies and it was soooo beautiful. The view from the top of the tower was breath taking seems as if you can see the whole city from up there all lit up.

The second day was my favourite when we entered the enchanted world of Disney!  With my usual crazy planning schedules we managed to be at the entrance even before the park opened with ticket in hand, and made a bee line to the big thrill rides as soon as we were let in! I'm a huge fan of the big exciting rollercoasters (especially the ones that turn you upside down) like Indiana Jones Temple of Peril, Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain… of course even the other kiddy rides were so cute like the Small World with little dolls from all over the world dancing to the song ‘It’s a small world’ while we floated by on the boat and Snow White, and Peter Pan.

Another reason why I loved it so much was as it has been a childhood dream of mine to visit Disneyland for as long as I can remember. One of those crazy things on my ‘bucket list’  (well to be honest I think I’ve already done a lot of things on my bucket list!) And ofcourse I loved the parades too. It literally was out of this world. I loved the last Parade when all the major Disney Characters float by including my personal favourite 'Pooh Bear!'. I felt like a little kid too!

What really struck me was how as soon as you enter in its like you've entered fairy land with the lovely pink and purple castle at the entrance and all the rainbow shaded buildings. Everything fitted into the fairy land fantasy, including shops and restaurants. Talking of shops another thing that struck me going in now as an adult is how much it has been commercialised. Everywhere you look there's toys, candy, clothes all to imitate Disney characters, and neatly arranged just outside each store to tempt the kids. So you can see so many kids who are really enjoying being in this fairyland but at the same time miserable cos their parents won't buy everything they asked for...

We went to a number of lovely restaurants where the food was delicious and even tried Snails! (they actually taste nice, like muselles i think). Another plan of mine was to practice my basic French while in Paris, but it was almost impossible! I kept trying to speak in French at Cafes and Restaurants and the waiters and waitresses kept replying in English!

On the third and fourth days we visited Louvre, Versailles Palace, Miraculous Medal Church in Rue du Bac, Sacre Coeur, Montmartre (Basilica of Sacred Heart), Notre Dame Cathedral. They were lovely but I guess since I had seen most of them, and seen so many museums and churches by now, they all seem almost similar to me. We also went to Nevers where St Bernadette's body is still intact without being decayed and in a glass cage. Even though it was the second time I was in Nevers St Bernedettes life made a huge impact on me, her simple life of humility and love and how God chose the simple over the rich and powerful…You can see more about it in my previous  Easter in Lourdes post.

All in all we had a lovely time in Paris, and here are some pictures we took there. More can be found on https://picasaweb.google.com/roshanthi.lucas/Paris2011#

Easter in Rome

This year I spent Easter in Rome with Lakshi and it was my second time in the city… surprisingly it wasn’t as exciting as it was the first time I was there. The first time I remember I was so excited and loved all the sculptures, paintings, historical buildings and ruins. I think it was also extra exciting as I had just read angels and demons and then experienced sites that were described in the book. This time too of course I enjoyed it, but it was really crowded and we spent so much time in queues and the cathedrals and sculptures and paintings started to merge into each other… maybe I’m jaded, after travelling like crazy around Europe in my first couple of years here, now the scenery, history, art seems to be similar. I must admit though that it was lovely travelling with a partner rather than alone for a change.


The main reason we chose to go to Rome during Easter was to attend the Papal masses at St Peters’ Basilica. It was amazing to observe the way people stood in queues (including us) for 3 to 4 hrs to attend the papal Good Friday mass and Easter vigil mass. We attended both of these masses, and stayed in queues ourselves, and it was funny to see how the cardinals and the pope were treated like rock stars! I guess maybe it has to do with the feeling that you are part of something greater than yourself, a great big family with so many others with the same faith and beliefs…

We met many people while waiting in queues for mass, from all over the world as far as South America and Australia especially in Rome to get a glimpse of the Pope and for the Papal Blessing held on Easter Sunday morning in St Peters Square, and as I watched the fanfare for the Royal wedding, it reminded me of our experience in Rome with people shouting and waving flags on Easter Sunday morning during the Papal Blessing! It was also very touchig when the Pope wished everyone in many languages, including Sinhala (my mother tongue)… We were told that if you attend the Easter Sunday papal blessing and confess and denounce sin, you would have to spend less time in purgatory. I don’t know exactly what happens after death, but we too went for confession. For me the confession was more about meditating on the wrong I’ve done and trying to become a better person. I think it’s the genuine rejection of sin and faith that saves you.

All the sculptures and the Vatican museums and fountains were as beautiful as ever. One of my favourite places was the Trevi Fountain, but was sad that it was squeezed between ugly new buildings which spoiled the effect. I was trying to imagine how ancient Rome would have looked like, with all these amazing architecture, fountains, paintings... Being in the Colosseum and imagining the Gladiators also horrified me… human beings murdering each other, or being murdered by animals was a form of entertainment. Maybe they just walked in with a snack to see who was going to get killed and how bloody the fight would be!

Overall though the trip was fun, though I was able to get more in touch with my spiritual side at Lourdes during Christmas, rather than in Rome this Easter in spite of attending the masses celebrated by the Pope. I think part of it was due to the crowd and queues where finally when I entered the church I just wanted to sit out of exhaustion rather than kneel and pray. I also think I have been spoilt by Geneva, cos after living here with the peace and quiet and very clean streets, with great public transport and mountains in the distance everywhere else seems dirty and crowded!

I’ll end this post with a few pictures of Lakshi and me in Rome…of course as everyone else we did put a coin in the Trevi Fountain so that we would be able to come back to Rome again! So until next time...

Merry Christmas to Everyone!

It’s that time of year again, with all the festivities and parties and decorations. The streets are beautiful in Geneva with all the lights, and snow. It’s easy to forget the real meaning of Christmas and get caught up in the festivities. We already attended around five Christmas parties organised by various friends! Television tells you that you have to give the most expensive gift you can find, to show that you care, and have the biggest Christmas tree and the prettiest decorations, but the real meaning of Christmas is lost in all this hustle and bustle… What is the meaning of Christmas? The humble birth of our saviour Jesus Christ, the beginning of Christianity, time to value friends and family and reflect on our own lives…


So this year hubby and I thought we will try to get closer to God during Christmas and spend it in Lourdes, France where mother Mary appeared to St Bernadette. It is such a lovely town and I remember when I went there last year I felt more in touch with my spiritual side (my previous visit is described here ). Also the humble life of St Bernadette reminds you of how humble Christmas really was all those years ago. So hopefully this year our stay in Lourdes will help us both become closer to God and each other and really understand the true meaning of Christmas.

This will be our first Christmas together and also my first Christmas without my parents and extended family. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I think this is specially so at Christmas… so I wrote this poem for my parents to wish them a Wonderful Christmas and New Year!

This card is sealed with lots of love
And coming from afar,
To let you know that at Christmas we’re with you in Spirit
Though physically in cold Geneva.

Although we’re now across the miles
It’s times like Christmas that reminds us…
To tell you that you’re always close in our hearts
And to appreciate all the wonderful things that a parent does

If we forgot to say Thank you
For every single thing you’ve done in past 30 years,
Or if we forgot to say I’m sorry
For the hurt we caused or for bringing tears.

This message is also to say Thank you for everything
And even if not mentioned, it is all carved in our hearts,
It is also to say we’re so sorry if we hurt you
Cos you are, of our lives a very important part.

We wish that God would bless you
With all his choicest blessings,
We wish that he would give you
Good health, happiness and days with sun shining

We are who we are, because of you
Every good thing we’ve done has been encouraged by you
So here’s wishing you both
A wonderful Christmas a happy year that’s new

I shall end this post wishing each of you and your families a Blessed Christmas and Wonderful New Year ahead.

Circle of Life

After over a year away, I decided to visit my second (now my third!) home Cambridge, to catch up my old friends last weekend. I found the experience very different when going back on a vacation while earning compared to the starving student experience! It was wonderful meeting my old friends who were still in Cambridge, some continuing their phds while others working. Just thought of including a few pics here.

I even managed to squeeze in a performance of the Lion King at the west end during very short visit of 4 days (next time it will be atleast a week!). The Lion King was simply amazing (or brilliant as the Brits say). I loved the costumes the music, the singing and the dancing! From a distance, you could barely see the people acting, but the animals, and their movement was so graceful and fluid it really felt like being in a jungle. This is a clip of one of my favorite songs, you can see the way they have depicted the animals, they look real! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utq8oft7btQ&NR=1

I also loved the theme of Circle of Life… How we are all part of the one circle of life, and how we have to take care of each other in order to take care of ourselves…King Mufasa, gives his son some really good advice “Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope.”

I guess if we humans respected and lived according to this advice from the beginning we wouldn’t be having Global Warming, or the fear of extinction of some animals, or fossil fuel shortages. I think that now it’s time to respect the nature and remember that we’re all part of a delicate balance. Of course we need to use energy and fuels, and water, and all other resources, but what’s important is to use them sustainably, and to avoid wastage, and hopefully our children will still have a world to live in… This reminded me of the famous letter by Chief Seattle and would like to finish this post with his words…

This we know: The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood which unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Easter at Lourdes

Thought of blogging again after a long period of silence, just don’t; seem to be in the mood to write much, maybe cos I’m just too happy these days(I’ve heard that you need some misery or sadness to be inspired!)…the reason, I think I’ll keep to my self for now

I thought of just writing about my lovely stay in Lourdes (it’s at the foot hills of the Pyrenees) France over Easter weekend, I guess it was more of a pilgrimage than tourism…

If you are not familiar with Lourdes and it’s significance, it is considered miraculous by many Catholics and is supposed to be one of the most highly visited pilgrim sights in the world. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a 14 year old girl (poor and illiterate), St Bernadette. She had seen many such appearances and at one instance a spring appeared, which later became famous for the miraculous powers of the water. There have been many instances where people with incurable diseases, have drunk or washed themselves in this water and have been cured with no medical explanation. You can find out more about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Lourdes.

I visited Lourdes with my parents who are staying with me for 2 months, my cousin, and aunty (who also stayed for a week, so for one week my single bed room apartment was turned to one big slumber party with ppl sleeping all over the place, in sleeping bags and sofas!).

I had visited Lourdes with my parents when I was 2 years old, but I don’t remember it at all…It was a dream of my moms to go there again, and so I thought this was the perfect opportunity since I stay so close to France and it is possible to go the Lourdes in the over night train.

We also went to take a bath in the Lourdes water well and the ladies and gents go in separately, basically you have to remove your clothes and wear a cloth and get into the water. It was freeeeeeeezing! Luckily they said to say the prayers and make the petitions before getting into the water, cos as soon as I got in I was so frozen my brain stopped working! We also collected a lot of water to give to friends and family who had asked for it.

I also lit candles to pray for many people who had asked for prayers. I don’t know why but there is something about candles, and the light that has always attracted me. The light it spreads and how the tiny candle can dispel darkness...

Since we were there during holy week we went on a rather spiritual way of the cross, what I liked about it was that it was related to our everyday lives rather than repeating a set of prayers.

Lourdes is also a very pretty calm town, as you can see from the pics, and I just wish we had more time there but then I;m saving my leave for a long Christmas vacation home. It was a very slow life style and it was nice to get away from work for a while. One of the things I loved about Lourdes was that though it is a famous pilgrim site, it still had not lost it’s spiritual feel no vendors near the church and where the water is, and they don’t charge for people to go into the church unlike in some churches like St Pauls Cathedral London, where they charge for entrance, and I was once told to leave simply cos I was not going to stay for mass and it was a Sunday and they did not allow tourists! I told them that I was just there to pray which they accepted, but I couldn’t believe that a church should charge an entrance fee while the museums in uk were free!

We also went Nevers to see the body of St Bernadette which is still preserved with no decay, it was amazing, and I believe that many tests have been done, and no one can find an explanation for it, except that it’s a miracle. This is a picture of how the body is, it looks so peaceful and young. (This was not taken by me as it is forbidden to take pictures, I just found this online)

In Nevers which was a the convent St Bernadette later went to, what struck me most was that she was such a humble person, and her contribution to the world was simple service, which was why she joined the sisters of charity… I thought I’ll end this post with one of her quotes which I especially found beautiful. It’s amazing how God chooses the humblest among us to be his instruments, I guess it’s sometimes good to visit places such as these and realize what should be important in our world, not wealth and material things as media would have us believe, but love and serving others…

From here on earth, Love cannot live without suffering. It is through loving the cross that we discover His Heart, for divine Love never lives without suffering. I want my whole life to be inspired by love. He who loves, does all things easily, or, if he suffers, he suffers bravely. Why is suffering necessary? Because on earth, pure love cannot exist without suffering. O Jesus, Jesus, I no longer feel my cross when I think of yours!"
- Saint Bernadette Soubirous

Starry Starry Night

Started writing this blog right after visiting the Van Gogh museum, Amsterdam, while sitting on a bench overlooking a canal watching a lone boat passing by... Saturday (7th March) morning just walking by the canals watching ducks on my way to the museum gave me a very tranquil feeling (picture below was taken on the way)... Could hardly believe that this was the same city I arrived in Friday(6th) night, which was so busy and crowded with people partying till the wee hours in the morning, and clubs and nyon signs at every turn. I came to Amsterdam just for the weekend (my new city for March). Visited the major museums like Van Gogh, and Rijksmuseum, walked around the city and of course checked out the red light district. I think Europe is turning me into a real Culture Vulture!

For a long time my favourite Van Gogh painting has been Starry Night (I don;t know whether i saw the painting or the heard the song first, have always loved the song Vincent by Don McLean too). I was really lucky when i visited the museum cos they were having the 'Van Gogh and the Colours of the Night' exhibition, and had got down the 'Starry Night' painting specially for this exhibition from the Museum of Modern Art, NY. They also had the 'Starry Night on the Rhone', which is another of my favourites... There is something about the deep rich blue sky and the bright stars... This exhibition was a celebration of his dusk and night time paintings and in Vincent Van Gogh's own words he had said "It often seems to me that night is much more alive and coloured than day having hues of the most intense violets, blues and greens."

Starry Night on the Rhone

Starry Night

I have always been fascinated by stars, what is it about night time that is so romantic? the stars and the moon? I guess when you stare into the night sky it all seems like a big mystery... what is out there, that feeling of anything is possible and feeling your insignificance in the grander scheme of things...

Weekend in Madrid

I started writing this post on the flight to Madrid from Geneva last weekend… A couple of years ago who would have thought I’ll be flying to Spain for the weekend! For that matter, who would have thought I’d be living and working in Switzerland…
Those days to me, Switzerland was that far away beautiful country which was the holiday destination for the rich and the famous not for me… flying off to another country just for the weekend was unheard of …
This was my first time in Spain and it was amazing! It was one of the best weekends ever. (I know I keep saying this after most of my weekends but its true…) I loved the atmosphere, the culture, the busy streets and never seem to sleep. (when my friend and I walked on the streets past 1am it was still crowded!) The Museums (I visited the Prado Museum and the Reina Sofia Museum) and the architechture of the city was wonderful, I guess I miss that kind of culture sometimes in Geneva, since it has become so international now, that you don’t really see the Swiss lifestyle and culture here.

Here are some of the lovely pics of my weekend in Madrid

I was rather surprised to find out that Don Quixote was from Madrid, cos I had heard about the crazy story of how he tried to fight a wind mill, and it was so cool to find out the origins of stories that you had heard about as kids. Templo de Debod - Egyptian Temple dedicated to Gods Amon and Isis. One of the most beautiful sites in Madrid in the night.

I was very lucky, this festival only happens once a year in Madrid when all the farmers bring their sheep and bulls and parade them on the streets and I was there to see it.

Next Stop Rome in November…

Wonderful weekend in the Swiss Mountains

Last Friday I left Geneva with some lovely new friends that I met here, to spend a dream weekend in the town of Zermatt where the famous Matterhorn is located. I've been wanting to see Matterhorn even before coming to Switzerland, cos this was one mountain I had heard about as it was on the Toblerone chocolates (being the chocoholic I am!).


Felt like we were in the midst of the wilderness. Nothing but mountains, and trees and lakes for miles and miles…it was a wonderful feeling to be so close to nature... I guess one way of worshipping God is to appreciate all the wonders of the work of his hand!

These are some of the pictures of the magnificent Matterhorn and the other mountains around...but my words or the pictures cannot do justice to the experience of being there...

Another thing that I really liked about Zermatt was there were no cars. You had to leave your car outside and arrive to the town by train and inside there were only electrically powered buses called "Electros". It was nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

This weekend I literally stopped to smell the roses! (or should I say Edelweiss) which reminded me of the movie ‘Sound of Music’ which has been an all time favourite movie since the time I was a little kid. I never knew that the Edelweiss looked like this, though I liked the song Edelweiss from the movie.

There were even a few people in the Zermatt town square yodeling which again reminded me of the Loanly Goatherd from Sound of Music . It’s so amazing to experience things that you had heard about or seen on movies in real life…

Even though there are so many mountains and nature reserves in Sri Lanka, never in my life have I really gone to explore them, never tried hiking... I guess after my undergrad degree I joined the 'Rat Race' and everyday was pretty much the same, work till late, come home, TV/Internet, eat, sleep and work again… Even meeting with friends was mainly for a dinner or something, not really to do much outdoor activities. Maybe once or twice a year I would take a break and go on a vacation with my family, but not much else...

It is so nice to just take a break away from everything, but I wonder if it also requires a certain frame of mind; peace with self. Maybe we actually hide behind the busyness when we don’t want to face our selves…After a long time I can honestly say that I feel complete peace of mind, with no worries, just taking life as it comes... Maybe that was another reason why I was able to really enjoy this weekend. I have also noticed that I don't need to be doing something all the time, just a long walk can be satisfying. So now I'm trying to change my life style to be more intuned with the outdoors.

I'd just like to finish this post with "Merci beaucoup pour un merveilleux week-end!" to my new friends, if you are reading this...And here's looking forward to many more marvelous trips!