Paris is admittedly a bit beyond Beyond, but we love the place, get in long hours of walking there, and find wonderful things to photograph.
Some samples here from our trip there last week include chairs stacked in the early morning, and some “faces” on the Pont Neuf at night.

The “faces” are just a few of the Pont Neuf's 385 mascarons (masques) sculpted by Germain Pilon in the 16th century. They're apparently all imaginary, and don't represent any particular notabl

By Russ Collins

Science Daily : The ice is melting, the sea level is rising and species are conquering new habitats. The warming of the world climate has many consequences. Researchers now report that climate change influences the size of aquatic organisms. For a long time scientists have observed the biological consequences of global climate change. One of the most famous symptoms is the shift of habitats from the equator further north or further south. More recent studies show that not only the habitats but
By carbon-based-ghg.blogspot.com

We did a nice day hike yesterday in theMercantour, with 10 hours hiking and nearly 1600 m vertical, and obtained a handful of delicious wild rasberries. There were fields of wild rasberries on the mountain sides, but there's always too much trail and not enough time.
Starting at the Salese Parking area, northwest ofSaint-Martin-Vésubie, the trail is barely light at 7 AM, and at 9-degrees C, much fresher than the coast. It's an hour's hike up to the Col de Salese on the GR52, where th

By Russ Collins

The South of France has the enviable fusion of miles of coastline and fertile rustic landscapes and has been the foundation for artists, composers and writers as well as the new visitor. Where is it? The term’South of France’ is generally used to explain the southern stretch of the state’s coastline that runs between Spain and Italy, and the rustic inland areas that include Provence and the Lubron. With its warm climate, fertile landscape and developed shore, it is one of the most regul
By coastalvacationclubblog.com

We've just added a link on ourVillefrance-sur-Mer pageto a new, high-definition webcam that looks out across the Rade of Villefrance-sur-Mer towards the Mediterranean.
The webcam, installed on the roof of a villa in Pont St.Jean, was established by Shin. Shin, based in Japan and a Friend of Beyond for many, many years now, is passionate about Provence and visits regularly.
The direct link to the Villefranche-sur-Mer webcam is:http://vsm.shinshu-a.com/.

By Russ Collins

I’ve had a gurgly stomach and painful abdominal cramps since Monday. Since my stomach is generally able to withstand pretty much anything I throw at it (the only exceptions being gluten and casein), I figured it would get better, but instead it’s worsened gradually. I could barely sleep last night for the pain, and was unable to move due to cramping after eating breakfast.

So, this morning I emailed our offices to let them know I was ill, then called my general practitioner at 9:20 am. My regular doctor wasn’t available until tomorrow morning, so I asked if another was. (I’m grateful to have found an office with three doctors, all of whom are good, upon my arrival in Nice nine years ago.) Another was indeed able to take me at 10 am — 40 minutes later. I took a quick shower, then walked to the doctors’ office, which takes 10 minutes.

I waited a half an hour, reading a couple issues ofL’Observateur. Then the doctor examined me, diagnosing a bad cas

By fraise

As I mentioned earlier, the Conservatives are allegedly trying to portray Michael Ignatieff as an elitist because he has a home in France . Conservative strategists, seeking to exploit Canada’s populist political culture, have tried to portray their top rival as a privileged, Upper Canada College-educated elitist out of touch with ordinary Canadians. “It’s no big deal” to have a home in Les Martins, she said. “I wish it was!” The realtor, who recognized Ignatieff because of his BBC docu
By jordoncooper.com

We read an article a few months ago about city dwellers installing bee hives on their balconies. It apparently worked fairly well, and we never heard anything negative from the neighbors on the same floor with undesired visitors to their balcony barbecues.
    Now (beginning Sept 2009) we learned that the head of the department of Finestère (in Brittany) installed six bee hives (ruches) at their headquarters in Quimper [map], in sympathy with the protection of honey bees in the

By Russ Collins

For a long time we have used the video store as one of our main ways to access movies. You can now save a trip to the video store and download movies right off the internet. Below is a sample of some of the movies you can find using movie download sites. A Good Year: Cruel London tangible goods dealer comprehends that a cherished uncle has died and left him his asset in Provence; while he goes back to this scene of cheerful adolescence remembering he gradually experiences a change in his outl
By electronics-council.com