A social network of my very own!

I have created a social network of my very own on Ning. How cool is that?

The Network Manifesto should sort you out just in case you were thinking of joining.

A Week in Provence

Just back from a great week in Provence with the extended family - all 15 of us including 9 adults and 6 children. We flew to Marseille with Ryanair and then spent a night in Avignon before heading about 60kms east to the hamlet of Gargas near Apt and the beautiful l'Oustau des Vanels set in the Luberon region.

Avignon was a very good stopover - it is a charming city with plenty to do and see. We stayed in the Grand Hotel where we were able to book 4 family rooms (aka Superior Rooms) for the excellent price of €149 per night for 4 people w/o breakfast. The hotel was excellent for the price and was ideally situated since a number of our party were arriving by train and the Grand is next door to the train station. In Avignon we saw the Palais des Papes and had a look at the famous Pont (I never realised it did not go all the way across!) - but the highlight for me was the Wall Garden (as opposed to a walled garden) or perhaps they call it a Vertical Garden at one of the theatres? check it out...

Wall Garden

The girls claim to have seen a bridge planted in the same way on their shopping trip to Aix but we have no photographic evidence to present. Incidentally - how do you thing they keep the building in trim - doesn't look like a job for a petrol mower...

sur la pont D'Avignon

In any case before picking up our keys we spent a couple of hours up in Chateau Neuf de Pape which was about 15 mins north of Avignon where we tasted some of the local produce - none of which I found really compelling.

During the week we did some touring, journeying as far north as Sault (with a great ice cream parlour/choclatier straight out of the movie Chocolat), as far west as the very beautiful town of Isle de la Sorgue and east to the truly stupendous Grand Canyon de Verdon. The latter was a highlight for me of the whole trip. Although our drive to get there was long (about 2 hours of twisty roads) and the circuit of the gorge is approx 75km (of even twistier roads) I thought the scenery was incredible and well worth the journey. There are a range of activities available in the area such as hiking, cycling (NOT to be recommended) and kayaking. Unfortunately we had a couple of 5-year olds for whom hiking in 32C is not too much fun so we were more passive observers rather than active participants in the place although we did go for a swim in the lake.

The Grand Canyon de Verdon

Lac de St Croix

My pictures, pretty though they are, do not do justice to the scale of this place. The gorge is up to 700 metres (2100Ft) deep and the drive puts you right on the edge, especially since many of my fellow road users seemed to prefer my side of the road when they were cornering. I have never been to the real Grand Canyon but I have been to Yosemite and I would be equally as enthusiastic about the Gorge of Verdon. What is amazing to me is that this place is not better known. I would definitely go back and spend some more time in this area in the future.

This is a pretty long post - so here are my top recommendations:

1. The Grand Canyon de Verdon
2. Kayak down the Sorgue river from the Fontaine to Isle de la Sorgue (€18 per adult, suitable for children ~€12 from 6 up).
3. The Abbaye de Senanques
4. The town of Isle de la Sorgue
5. The villages of Gordes and Rousillon
6. The Colorado Provencal (near Saturnin)

My top things to avoid would be:

1. Cars on your side of the road
2. Going on a hike without a proper map
3. Getting lost in Marseille
4. Going to the coast - it was too crowded even in late June

You can see more pics on my Flickr

Technorati Tags: Provence, France, Luberon, Grand Canyon de VerdonAvignon

World Street Performance Championships, Dublin

IMG_1483
Originally uploaded by John Maughan

Major Kudos to the organisers of the street performance championships in Merrion Square this weekend - it was truly an excellent day out - full of exotica and humour. From a Swede smuggling cans of coke in his shoe to the excellent Japanese balancing teapots. From the hilarious mime artist who must have scarred a 5 year-old for life and the incredibly flexible and strong acrobatic act from West Africa. We saw only 4 acts - but felt it was well worth the trip. We did not see to winners of the competition or the runner up - but if what we saw was inferior then they must have been awesome - definitely one for the diary next year!

Technorati Tags: Ireland, Dublin,

Lisbon - crying over spilt milk

As far as I can see there were 3 reasons promoted for voting no to Lisbon

1. We could not understand the treaty
Our statutes are full of legislation which joe citizen would not understand. Legal documents are, because of the requirement to be unambiguous, quite complex to read. We pay our negotiators to ensure that they understand the detail and that it is not contrary to our national interest. We clearly dont trust them...

2. There is a better deal to be done (a.k.a the government and mainstream politicians cannot be trusted)
Over 90% of the representatives which we, the Irish electorate, voted into the Dail last year favoured a Yes vote in the referendum. However, when they said that this was the best available deal - we chose to believe Sinn Fein and other fringe organisations who took diametrically opposed views and interpretations of the treaty. Somebody was undoubtedly lying and misinforming the public during the debates on this treaty - the electorate seem to have decided that the same people we elected just a year ago were no longer to be trusted, a profoundly depressing conclusion.

3. We can't let foreigners run our country (a.k.a Europe can't be trusted)
They were all out to get us - those EU "Bullies". I mean what have they ever done for us? ....apart from the roads and infrastructure investment? ....access to a huge common market? Sustained peace in Europe for nearly 70 years? While I do not subscribe to the view that we should be brow-beaten to accept any deal because we have benefited from Europe in the past I do believe that Ireland will benefit from a more efficient European executive in the future.

So where do we go from here? - it is clear that the EU is perceived as a remote bureaucracy without a strong identity. It will certainly remain an inefficient bureaucracy in the absence of the reform package in the Lisbon Treaty. The challenge for the EU is to connect with it's citizens. It must reach out to it's regions and deliver strong leadership so that we can share and subscribe to a vision for Europe and so that we can compete with China, Russia and the US. I hope that M. Sarkhozy, and his like, who have arrogantly dismissed the democratic decision of the Irish people will put their efforts into promoting the credibility of the EU rather than undermining the democratic principles that are supposed to underpin it.

Technorati Tags: Ireland, Irish Politics, Lisbon Treaty, European Union

Munster march to greatness

What an occasion... what a result... what a team...

Munster have confirmed themselves as the best team in Europe and they did with patience, guile and guts. As O'Connell said there seems to be something about the Munster setup and the Munster jersey which makes every individual do special things. The whole is so much greater than the sum of it's parts.

Hats off to Kidney who took a winning team in 2006, rebuilt it and won again 2 years on - with a new back 5; a new 8/9 combination; and without Axle Foley.

One of Munster's most admirable qualities is their ability to have true self-belief without ever appearing cocky or arrogant. I think the team is a reflection of their coach - I look forward to a repeat performance for ireland!

Technorati Tags: Rugby, Heineken Cup, Munster, Ireland

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I was filling out an online form for motor insurance recently and was asked for my occupation. There were some very interesting options to choose from:

Chicken Sexer - surely they could spare people the ignomony of having to do this maually. Perhaps they could get the chickens to walk down Grafton St. The girls will all end up in the shoe shops, the boys in the pub (patent pending)....
Complementary Therapist - I presume this is somebody who tells you how well you are looking for a fee?
Fish Filleter - But no fish sexers? Thats non-discimination that is...
Fruiterer - I never heard this word before, but it is pretty obvious - someone who sells fruit apparently
Junk Shop Proprieter - Clearly there is a lot of junk out there - there was no such thing as a sandwich shop proprietor, electrical shop proprietor or any other type of shop proprietor - only junk - curious that...
Artificial Inseminator - Luckily no natural inseminators...

My favourite occupation was Independent Means. Where do I apply for that job?

National Aquatic Center, Dublin

We brought the kids to the National Aquatic Center in Blanchardstown yesterday to celebrate Daragh's birthday. First of all it should be said that the place is great, we spent about 2.5 hours there and all had a good time with the flumes, pools, lazy river etc.

However I cannot help but to feel ripped-off. It cost €58 for the family...2 adults and 3 children aged 10, 7 and 5. The "standard" family apparently consists of 2 adults and 2 children and costs €46 so with my deviant crew we had to dish out an additional €12.I think that this is an entirely unreasonable amount to pay for a leisure activities like this so I decided to compare with other water parks.

A 90 minute session in the Lagan Valley LeisurePlex in Lisburn would have cost my family £18. They have sessions - which means that they do not assume that families will not opt to spend an entire day in the pool. We were all hungry and tired after 2.5 hours at the NAC. Even if we wanted to the operator does not allow people to go out to the cafe area and then re-enter so you go hungry or eat mars bars if you want to spend the whole day at the NAC. Even if you assume we need to pay for 2 sessions in Lisburn it would cost £36 (€45).

At the Olympic facility in Homebush, Sydney - a fantastic facility which I have visited - a family pass costs $20 AUD (€12) and allows for 2 adults and 3 children.

At WaterWorld2000 in the UK our session would have cost £39 (€49) but we would have gotten a lot more variety for our money as they have many more rides.

Even Dublin zoo which is a place where you could easily spend 4-5 hours costs €47.

Anyway I think they have their pricing all wrong. Clearly it is 20% more expensive than the next most expensive option. It does not have a product which is 20% better. They could go with a system which allows people to stay for a limited time. This would easily be enforced by the pool attendants, particularly those who control access to the slides. If it was costing me €30 a visit - I may go 2-3 times a year. As it is I will not go back for at least 12 months or until the sticker-shock fades - whichever comes first.

Technorati Tags: Dublin, Awuatic Center, Dublin Tourism, Dublin Family