We visited another unesco world heritage site near krakow, auschwitz. the camp is a vast complex, sited on lands annexed by the nazis after the invasion of poland. there are a number of sub-camps. poland has established a state museum in the oldest, auschwitz i. this is an old polish barracks that was used as the first component of the sinister ope

There is a strong wind that blows from the cevannes in the north down over the plains and on to the mediterranean. it makes wind power a very viable option. in this case, a grape grower has a small turbine for use at his farmhouse. wind power is harvested on a much larger scale in this region. in this case, an array of a dozen huge turbines are lin

Yes, they have garbage here. they recycle paper, pet plastic, aluminun and other metal, and glass. they also encourage backyard composting. this is a windrow composting facility that is very similar to those we use in toronto for yard waste. the windrow material here also appears to be primarily yard waste. i have not had any indication that they c

Not an insult! that is the way one says krakow in polish. and your little dog too... we hired an electric ecobus to haul us around the city. there are a million such polish-made golf carts on steroids available for city tours. the tour ended at the schindler factory, and we had a bit of time. the kids are here photographed on "the staircase from th

Timed lights are commonly used in france, particularly in common areas. i, having three forgetful boys, would love to have more of them, in every common space in our house. as it is, we have a timer (which can be adjusted) on the switch that controls the lighting for the halls and staircases in our apartment. this model is a little bulky. less cumb

I went for a bike ride today from meze east along the n113 to bouzigues. as i was leaving meze, i ran into a convoy of super-jumbo trucks bearing the blades for wind turbines. they were coming off of the autoroute at the sete exit, and travelling west to the villeveyrac area via the n113. they were quite a sight, as each blade is probably 25 m long

I don't mean the office, of course, where i will soon be happily bickering with belligerents about boodle. rather, i mean the wieliczka salt mine, near krakow. it's a world heritage site, and a popular tourist attraction. we had already seen the giant salinary at aigues mortes, where the salt is evaporated from mediterranean water. we thought it wo

This is the tramway in montpellier, running alongside a busy roadway. the tram surface is grassed, and separated from the traffic by a low concrete barrier. here is a tramway stop next to the corum, the modern opera house constructed at the opposite end of the place de la comedie from the old opera house. again the tramway is grassed over. the narr

Here in meze we have a two bin system. the brown bin is for garbage, which is collected twice a week. the blue bin is for recyclables, which are collected once a week. recyclables include paper, cans and certain plastics, but not glass. glass must be carried to large plastic containers that are found at strategic locations around town. periodically

The shopping centres are vast, here in the land of the carrefour chain. but you have to bring your own shopping bags, or pay for reusable ones at the checkout. we thought of this in advance, and so brought a number of good old ontario "rco" bags that have been put to good use. shopping cart theft is minimized by requiring the insertion of a one eur