There won't be a summertime this year!

This is just a hallucination.
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Midnight in Griset: Last 2013 Snowfall?

          


Despite what is happening currently in Europe - and in my Parisien fief - our planet has 
reached during the last decade the hottest peaks in the course of more than 11,300 years.

Take a glimpse to the Global Temperature [Earth Policy Institute]

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Bahrain 5 - The Fort near Karranah

The Fort - Qal'at - of Bahrain [قلعة البحرين], is located by the sea in the northern coast
of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

[Slideshow by G@ttogiallo]
It is one of the Kingdom's most important historical and archaeological sites where
excavations carried out since 1954 have unearthed antiquaries from an artificial mound
of 12 m height containing seven stratified layers, created by various occupants from
2300 BC up to the 18th century, including Kassites, Portuguese and Persians.
It was once the capital of the Dilmun civilization and was inscribed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site in 2005.
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Bahrain 4 - A 400 years-old tree

It can be seen from a distance on a small rise of the ground, as you drive 2 km south-
ward from Jabel Al Dukhan into the Bahraini white desert.
As impressive on the map as in real view, - a green spot lost in a blinding light, this 400
years-old mesquite, stands in absolute loneliness, defying the centuries.


[Click to see more pics].
The mesquite tree (Prosopis velutina) belongs to the large family of the 'Fabaceae' and fits
to extreme weather conditions, however this one has become a legend and truly deserves
the name 'Tree of Life', Shajarat-al-Hayat in Arabic.
Despite sand storms, grazing animals, high heat... and disrespectful behavior of visitors,
the tree is alive and well thanks to its strong roots that sink deep into the ground, only...
... there is no known source in the vicinity.

One natural wonder, one lonely tree
Life is powerful, and sometimes magic.
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LINKS:
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Fabaceae/Fabaceae.html
http://www.gisp.org/casestudies/showcasestudy.asp?id=64&MyMenuItem=casestudies&worldmap=&country=
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_Life,_Bahrain
http://bahraindiscovery.com/tree_of_life.html
http://www.asiarooms.com/en/travel-guide/bahrain/sightseeing-in-bahrain/tree-of-life-in-bahrain.html

Bahrain 3 - Absolute Oil

Bahrain was the first Persian Gulf country to explore and discover oil.

Click to see the Bahrain petroleum fields slideshow.
[Nov. 18/2011].

The Sakhir Oil Museum, built and officially opened in 1992, houses old drilling equipment,
samples of rocks found underground, topographical maps and some information about the
first concessions and the companies that have operated in the since 1931.

[The Bahrain Petroleum Field].



[G@ttoGiallo]

A Tabby Yellow on a new mission...

I know at least one and that one is to fly...

... here.


[No more info available for now, but stay tuned].
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September 2011 - Straight from Granny's in Sardinia...

Mostly organized from Paris through Twitter and Facebook - but also locally advertised,
the 5-day old items' sale at Granny's has been a village attraction and a success story...

Here's a slideshow of a 2-day sale that I had, in fact, to extend to five days: quite
simply, people kept coming driven by word of mouth and curiosity.
[Except for the granite building, sold a few days ago, the property is still for sale].
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A Sunday like any other in Belleville...

I wanted to test a Sony H55, so I made a ride in Belleville...

[rue Dénoyez, aka 'Graffiti street']
For once during this rotten summer, there was the sun ... although it kept me from seeing
through the screen what I was shooting, never mind! The atmosphere of the neighborhood
is there and if I can make you feel it, my goal will be achieved.


[the 'Chinatown' area].



[Boulevard de Belleville].

[Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud - a curious look exchange]

The 'Cannibale Café', on my way back to Oberkampf.
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Get ready, we go to La Goutte d'Or !

Bordered by the rue Ordener to the north, the boulevard de la Chapelle to the south,
the boulevard Barbès to the west and the rue Stephenson to the east, La Goutte d'Or,
or Little Africa, is a continent within a Paris' neighborhood.

The rue Polonceau and the Al Fath mosque and Koranic school.









* Saint Bernard de la Chapelle - "In 1996 a group of workers occupied the church
and engaged in a long hunger strike, supported by the media and by a substantial
portion of the public and humanitarian organizations until the police stormed the
church and rounded up the workers".

* "Despite desperate struggles by local associations to rescue it from the hands of
technocrats determined to "clean up" the area, demolition has already begun and
the usual characterless buildings of our times are cropping up".


Rue des Islettes/rue de la Goutte d'Or corner.


* "At the intersection of the rues de la Goutte-d'Or and Polonceau, is a pleasantly
tree-shaded triangle where the local men meet socially on a sunny day, recreating
the atmosphere of their North African homeland".



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To take the most of your visit, print the Thirza Vallois' article and let it be your guide
throughout this amazing Paris' neighborhood.
* [La Goutte d'Or/ParisVoice magazine]
... or follow these suggestions from the Paris City Hall site [fr]...
"Dans les 18e et 10e arrondissements, l’Afrique de la Goutte d’Or et l’Inde du faubourg
Saint-Denis, vous invitent à une balade dans le Paris d’ailleurs".

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