Category: Travels

Discovering the world through my travels.

15 décembre : Paris ? [en]

Comme le dit Christophe, je suis « salement tentée » de faire un petit saut à  Paris pour être présente au souper des webloggueurs. Et toi, ami lecteur, y seras-tu ?

Une des certitudes que j’ai peut-être (!) au sujet de moi-même, c’est que j’ai du plaisir à  voir des gens. J’avais au départ renoncé à  cette expédition pour travailler sur mon mémoire. L’état des choses étant ce qu’il est, (je ne vous ennuierai pas avec les détails) je pourrais tout aussi bien m’offrir ce petit plaisir. J’en ai bien besoin. Et qui sait, maintenant qu’il n’y a aucun risque de terminer mon mémoire à  temps, peut-être que je vais commencer à  pouvoir l’écrire ?

Miroir, mon beau miroir… [en]

Tristan en pleine action lors de la clôture du premier meetup parisien sur les standards web. Qui sera présent à  celui de septembre?

Paris, standards, rencontres, péniches et photos [en]

Pour les impatients qui ont du patienter jusqu’à  maintenant, voici les chroniques parisiennes d’une suissesse en vadrouille.

J’ai quitté Paris avec l’envie d’y retourner une fois avec un peu plus de temps – cela ne m’était encore jamais arrivé. Une ballade le long de la Seine jeudi matin, les péniches qui m’ont fait rêver un vague projet de nomadisme, la Tour Eiffel et les parcs avoisinants, le Palais du Louvre – immense! – et des gens, ma foi, fort sympathiques.

Outre Tristan et sa charmante épouse, j’ai eu le plaisir de rencontrer enfin Pascale, que je n’avais pas réussi à  voir lors de ma dernière visite à  Paris. Deux autres noms surgis du passé ont aussi pris un visage: Mat et Daniel, que j’ai cotoyé sur usenet il y a un an et demi.

Le meetup lui-même fut un succès: 10 personnes présentes! Ce fut très “meeting” et orienté productivité – ce qui est un peu normal vu le thème du meetup, et vu aussi que c’était le premier. J’ai retrouvé du coup la motivation nécessaire pour remettre pompage sur pied – je vous donnerai les détails en temps voulu, une fois que j’aurai un peu fignolé mon project plan…

En attendant la publication du compte-rendu officiel du meetup (Tristan, le monde entier a les yeux braqués sur le StandBlog!), allez regarder les photos (il y en a aussi chez Pascale, d’ailleurs).

Paris Web Standards Meetup: j'arrive! [en]

Le meetup sur les standards web à  Paris aura bien lieu! De toute facon, on fera un truc meme si on est trois ! , nous promet Tristan. A ce propos, si vous n’avez pas encore vu son standblog, courez-y vite!

Bref, Paris, me voici. Aller en voiture, retour en avion. A jeudi!

Meetup Webstandards à  Paris [en]

Ce jeudi, meetup sur les standards web à  Paris. Je suis presque décidée à  prendre l’avion. Le verdict tombera demain. En attendant, inscrivez-vous nombreux!

Swiss Culture Shock [en]

We sometimes feel like the German-speaking part of Switzerland is almost another country. Indeed, we often feel culturally closer to France, which is within eyes reach on the other side of the lake, than to our fellow countrymen who live behind the Röstigraben”.

Maybe “culture shock” is a bit strong to describe what happened to me in Zürich University library – but I was told “welcome to Zürich!” when I told the story back in Lausanne.

First shock: no bags or jackets allowed in the library, compulsory lockers, and a guard in front of the entrance. I used to like guarded entrances in India, because they usually guaranteed “safe space” where I could relax. But in Switzerland, it gave me an uneasy feeling. What is there to guard against here? In Lausanne, the only “entrance guards” I’ve seen are in front of night-clubs or bars in evenings (and preferably in the—relatively—worst areas of town).

Second: no Internet connection at all in the library building (apart from very limited access to the library research site). How do these people do any research? Anyway. It was very bad news for me, because I had forgotten the carefully written-down list of articles I had to photocopy at home, and was hoping it could be quickly scanned and emailed to me. No luck.

(Actually, I had the list dictated to me on the phone, and it was a lot simpler. That shows how web-dependant my thinking is becoming.)

Third: I was allowed to go into the library storeroom myself to retrieve the volumes I needed. (They’d never let you do that in Lausanne, no way!)

Fourth: I was actually allowed to borrow these publication back issues and take them home with me! (I’m almost positive you can’t borrow publication back issues here… I’d have to check. I wasn’t expecting to be able to, anyway.)

Fifth: after having signed up for an account (online!) I asked how many books I was allowed to borrow at the same time: fifty! In Lausanne, I can take 16 (which is really not enough, honestly, especially when you’re doing your dissertation). You get to borrow fifty if you are doing your PhD or teaching.

So, in summary, what seemed to be starting out as a very unpleasant experience indeed ended up being pretty positive. Maybe this strange mixture of “worse than at home” and “better than at home” is characteristic of cultural variations…

English Culture Shock [en]

I don’t often get culture shocks in England. I did get one this time, though.

At the end of a live performance like a concert or a play in Switzerland, the audience applauds the artists until their hands ache too much to continue. The quality of the show usually determines how keen everybody will be to continue clapping despite the pain.

Curtain call follows curtain call until the audience wears out.

So, after the excellent performance that Danielle and I had travelled down to London to see, I was prepared to keep on clapping my hands until my skin went on strike.

I remained in mid-clap with my mouth wide open when after the second curtain call, everybody went silent and started getting out of their seats. They all knew that the artists had left for good.

It took me a couple of minutes to come back to my senses, close my mouth, put my hands on my lap and pick up my jacket. Obviously, two curtain calls was the rule in the country of dreary winter days.

Voyages [en]

A lire absolument (pour ceux qui aiment les gens qui savent écrire): Voyages.

Très joli texte de Romain qui, je l’espère, nous en réserve encore bien d’autres du genre!

Cold [en]

In India, I have often been asked how we survive the cold in winter. Having cold winters is the norm for us over here, and that makes it hard to find the words to explain it.

The answer I usually give amounts to “well, we heat our houses, have windows and doors that don’t let the cold in (well, not too much of it), and have coats and boots which protect us from the cold when we go outside.

Having just come home from the cinema on a chilly night, I can tell you the statement above is a little idealistic. Here is what a cold winter in Switzerland is like.

First of all, sitting at my computer I can feel cold air around my hands when I type. It gets outright chilly when I reach for the mouse on my right, nearer to the window. Yes, I have double-glazing. No, the building isn’t very old – thirty years or so. Yes, the windows could do with some sticky foam around them to keep the draught out. Or I could at least fit curtains on my windows. Or pull the blinds down everywhere as soon as it gets dark enough.

But apart from that, I’m just normally dressed inside: trousers and a blouse or pullover. I tend to snuggle up in blankets more often than in summer, though.

Outside is a different story. People don’t stay outside unless they have to. If they do plan to stay outside (for work, walking, or any other good reason), they’ll make sure to put a few layers on, warm shoes and a serious coat. If they are skiing that’s another matter – we have ski-gear for the occasion.

But if you’re just going to work, you don’t want to turn up there with three pullovers or your ski-gear. It’s warm inside. It’s warm in busses and trains. It’s warm in cars too, if the trip is long enough for them to heat up (which isn’t the case with the 10 minutes or so it takes me to get to work or university).

So either you pile on layers for the journey, run the risk of finding yourself caught in a warm place and sweating, and having to peel everything off on arrival – or you just dress for work, put a big coat on and walk quickly.

That’s what I do, of course. Shiver my way to the car. Turn motor on, start driving (with gloves, the steering-wheel slips in cold hands). Wait for the temperature in the car to become bearable (a human body in a small closed space does heat it up a bit – especially when the motor is running), get out of the car, and shiver off from the car to the destination.

Repeat for return journey.

The point being: if the aim of your expedition is not to stay outside, you’re bound to be pretty cold outside. Shivers, nasty draughts where the coat lets them in, numb fingers, runny nose…

If I have a choice, I’d rather be too warm than too cold. That being said after having lived one year in a tropical country where I was too warm.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. As we heat our houses, we need our fridges the whole year around.

Paris… [en]

…Il faudra repasser.

Pour apprivoiser une ville, j’aime flâner dans ses rues, me poser dans ses cafés, manger dans ses bistrots et baver devant les vitrines de ses magasins. Activités qui sont loin d’être compatibles avec mon état actuel.

Enfer et frustration, comme dirait quelqu’un de ma connaissance.