Continuing the series, Coronavations are innovations triggered by the Corona virus.
I spotted this Coronavation in a hotel room in France,
France
Incredible building in La Roche-sur-Yon
I spotted this very interesting building in the western French city of La Roche-sur-Yon,
Phare de Cordouan
Believe it or not, this stunning lighthouse just off the western France coast near Soulac-sur-Mer is not only the tenth tallest lighthouse in the world, but it’s accessible by foot at low tide!
An awful, terrifying French secret: the Third Bordeaux Pod of Justice
Continuing the series, I took this snap in the Mariadeck neighborhood of the Western French city of Bordeaux.
I call them “Pods of Justice” – but I am not sure anyone else does. The building is the Tribunal Judiciare de Bordeaux and according to rumors unlike any other civilian building it’s guarded by a detachment of the French special forces.
There are three pods in the building.
For two of the pods closest to the street, you can find photographs online that show how they are used.
But for the third pod – you will NEVER find any photographs, and entrance to the pod is guarded by a special layer of security.
As you may know, the guillotine is a French invention to carry out a death sentence with an absolute minimum of pain and suffering. As you may also know, capital punishment in France has been eliminated, with the last execution by guillotine in 1977.
Nevertheless, it is very important to the French government to maintain readiness at all times. According to rumors, this third “highly restricted” “Pod of Justice” contains a very modern guillotine. According to rumors, the guillotine is not very tall – it uses a powerful electromagnet – but it is very long, with the idea that multiple executions, if required, can be carried out sequentially.
I spent quite some time trolling the “dark web” and the “deep web,” and after quite some time I found a picture that some people (who know these things) was built on commission for the Tribunal Justiciaire de France, and is now mounted in the third pod:
Could this be the “modern French guillotine” that is rumored to be housed in the highly secure third Pod of Justice? According to my sources in the Dark Web, it is.
The incredible and mind-boggling Bordeaux Pods of Justice – 1
I took this snap in the Mariadeck neighborhood of the western French city of Bordeaux:
The building is the Tribunal Judiciare de Bordeaux, and unlike any other French civilian building it’s rumored to be guarded by a detachment of French special forces, and in my next blog post I‘ll share it’s terrifying secret.
Incredible, spectacular Bordeaux building
I spotted this interesting building in the western French city of Bordeaux,
Coronavations – 1
Coronavation = Innovation triggered through the Coronavirus.
I spotted this Coronavation in a hotel in France,
Michelin was one of the first to start
There are truly enormous Michelin tire factories in the central France city of Clermont-Ferrand. This snap shows something very interesting:
As you can see from the factory building at the left, it is not flat. Since it’s beginning Michelin introduced tilted roofs in order to let natural light into the factory.
Pérouges – Survival of the prettiest – 4
Continuing the series, here is one snap of thousands I could have took that really gives the feel for how the ancient medieval city of Pérouges looks,
Sur Pneu à Guidage Central – 2
Continuing the series, I recently showed a very usual form of public transportation, that I snapped in the north eastern French town of Nancy,
Well, I spotted almost exactly the same type of public transportation in the central French city of Clermont-Ferrand,
Interestingly, the two trams are from different companies (Bombardier, for the tram in Nancy; and Lohr, for the tram in Clermont-Ferrand).
Home of Michelin
The incredible Clermont-Ferrand city in France is the ancestral home to the famous Michelin tire company,
And here’s a close-up of this monster tire,
Pérouges – Survival of the prettiest – 3
Continuing the series, here is one snap of thousands I could have took that really gives the feel for how the ancient medieval city of Pérouges looks,
Mind blowing Bordeaux building
I spotted this interesting building in the western French city of Bordeaux,
Pérouges – Survival of the prettiest – 2
Continuing the series, here is one snap of thousands I could have took that really gives the feel for how the ancient medieval city of Pérouges looks,
Donzenac berries
Well, there are no such things as Donzenac berries, but I spotted these berries in the ancient medieval French village of Donzenac – nestled in a region of Dordogne so deep and remote, probably none of the locals has ever seen a tourist in their lifetime.
Beware, each berry has enough neurotoxin to kill 17 small children or 9 goats
Pérouges – Survival of the prettiest
Flowers survive and thrive, by growing nice flowers that attract honeybees.
Dogs survive and thrive, by being cute and ensuring humans love having them around.
So, too, do ancient, decaying medieval cities survive and thrive, by re-inventing themselves to attract tourists.
Here’s the town map of a very remote medieval town, called Pérouges, It’s located a long way from civilization, and it’s high on a hill, and when you park you have quite a long way to walk when you reach it.
But as the up coming series of snaps show, you’ll be glad you did!
The amazing fountain has a twin!
Recently I showed this snap of a very usual water fountain in Switzerland,
Well, my eyeballs nearly exploded when I stumbled across this fountain in the French city of Clarmont-Ferrand,
Unbelievable!
I have no idea about the histories of these two fountains, why they would be in these cities – and indeed, whether there are more such examples in other cities?
Thiers in the trees
The last time I was here was more than two years ago. It’s a medieval village nestled deep within a national park in France, and in which the overwhelming majority of its residents are involved with the cutlery industry or knifemaking.
The village center has changed incredibly, and most of the stores and storefronts are vacant. Perhaps a result of the Corona virus on the economy?
Alsatian sprinkler
That’s the Rhein River, just behind that line of trees. And Germany’s Black Forest, the hills just behind that.
FAKE: Colmar columns
This is what I did to one of my snaps of a stone column adorning the window of a house in the Alsatian village of Colmar:
Just for the record: the photos I post are never in any way retouched or enhanced or changed – except for cropping.
But in this series of blog posts entitled FAKE I publish some rather interesting images I have enhanced in some way.
Parc du Champ de Mars – 3
Continuing the series, a wonderful fountain next to a pond in front of a mighty California Giant Sequoia tree,
Parc du Champ de Mars – 2
Continuing the series, the Parc has a nice fountain:
The mighty Sequoia trees of France
Continuing the series . . . It’s amazing – I’ve lived in Europe for over 20 years, never really paying much attention to whether you can find the mighty Califormia Giant Sequoia trees here or not – but, once I spotted one, it seems I am spotting them all over the place!
Here is an example of a Giant Sequoia tree I spotted in the Parc du Champ de Mars in Colmar, in Eastern France:
There is a small plaque beneath this behemoth, which reads
Sequoia Sempervirens
provenance: California
Don du peuple americain
au peuple francais,
a l’occasion de bi-centairre de
la Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen et du
Bill of Rights of the United States
1789-1989
Parc du Champ de Mars
Colmar is an interesting city on the border between France and Germany. As you can see from this snap – and indeed, as you can see from just about anywhere in Colmar – there was significant damage from centuries of war that leaves ancient buildings standing next to new ones:
Vineyards in Alsace
A sad memory for me, as this snap was taken hardly a stone’s throw away from where the notable television chef and author Anthony Bourdaine took his own life,
