Naked girls in the left and right banners on the SFW version of NN. Very discreet when surfing NN on the bus or subway...

4 days at Evian with a friend (and her husband and two young boys): let's just say life with children still doesn't appeal to me and I was happy that they chose to put me up in a hotel instead of their spare bedroom but it was nice to get away from work nevertheless. I always feel awkward with kids around, but even more so when the parent in question knows I don't like kids and don't want them: implicitly it means I don't like THEIR kids either, which is awkward with friends.

After that, two days alone in Geneva, pleasant enough, but not a must-see. Unless you want to spend a fortune on a fancy watch

It's a funny feeling, traveling alone: I'm not used to it at all. Aside from travels with my parents when I was a kid, I've always traveled with BF. To know that I'm the only one to rely on to catch my flight, find my way around town, decide what to do, haggle for a good price... A bit daunting, but at the same a confidence booster to know that I can. I was actually surprised by my assertiveness, usually I "hide" behind BF every chance I can get.

But it was good to come home

At what age do people turn into those little old folks who spy on every passerby through the window?

Context: in our organisation, we would like a communication agency, with a professional photographer, to make a brochure for one of our facilities. Since we won't be able to start work on this brochure before October and since this facility has lovely gardens, we thought it would be a good idea if I take pictures this summer of the gardens. The inside pictures, where the season doesn't matter, would be taken by the professional photographer. The manager of the facility proposed that I wait for the gardening crew to have cleaned things up.

Today, several weeks later: still no news, so I send her an e-mail to ask her for an update. Answer: no gardening crew before half September, she'll keep me posted on the exact date.

Summer pictures in autumn, really? And I leave on holiday half September. Which is what I tell her and her colleague in my reply.

so why am I slightly ashamed? 10 minutes later the phone rings and I don't pick it up, knowing that it'll be one of them. All I could think was: I'm in overtime already and they're just going to get my blood pressure up and make me miss my bus home. I'm usually very accommodating and willing to lend an ear at work, but today I said "screw it". So screw it, I went home

So before moving on to pictures of my trip to Paris, here's the last batch from Norway.

At the end of our trip, we spent a few days with BF's brother's family who live in Norway. I'm a bit of a loner, so I have trouble sharing a house with others and not being able to be alone. But I managed to get through it... More pleasant was the walk we did with the two of us, very close to the city but it still felt like a nice getaway.

The coastline:



A little lighthouse along the coast:



The sun shining through the trees:



And finally, some 'random' pics...

The family cat having a nice lazy moment:



A photogenic scene in the mountains with a tree, fog and a frozen lake:



Ferries are pretty much unavoidable in Norway...
Some of them had quotes painted on them:



The views from ferries can be lovely:



And if you miscalculate your route and find yourself having to wait a long time for the next ferry, you can explore little harbors like these:

34°C, hottest day of the year. I feel like I'm melting... Even my eyelids are sweaty... Which is why I haven't been posting pictures, the study is waaaaay to warm. Soon though

The good news, in the meantime, is that I've ordered a new camera. My bank account has been plundered, but I'm looking forward to testing the new camera, it'll be quite different from my current one. So impatient for it to arrive!

Whoever invented picture IDs is evil... Getting ID photos taken makes me instantly grumpy.
Two ways of seeing the misfit pictures:
- a permanent record of my ugliness
- a permanent record of how photos do not do my beauty justice
Or somewhere in between...
I think I'd rather go to a dentist than have my picture taken... I much prefer being behind the camera

As expected, visiting Paris during a heat wave (30 to 35 °C) bordered on masochism I took loads of pictures, most of them quite boring (objects in museums). I'm glad to be back in Belgium with marginally cooler temperatures and (more importantly) the possibility to stay at home and relax instead of running from one place to the next. Bad news is: back to work Monday

Leaving for Paris in an hour and the weather forecast says 36 degrees today and 34 tomorrow. Have I ever told you how much I don't like heat? My favorite temperature is 20 degrees. Such bad timing to do a city trip...

I think my mantra for this week will be: it is not hot, you are not sweating.

... from this heat...

So I'm going fishing this weekend (yay, cooling effect of the water) and then to Paris for 5 days (boo, heat waves and cities do not mix well).

On the bright side, I can forget about my job for a week