Bisoux From Brittany . . .

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Twenty six years ago I set out on a bicycle from Saint Brieuc in Brittany, and rode along the coast from there for ten days heading north and west through Paimpol to Perros Guirrec. On the second day out I discovered by chance near the village of Plougrescant a house wedged between two much larger rocks. With the camera I was using at the time, shooting black and white film, I took a picture of the place which you can see here, posted in the very early days of this blog. Yesterday, again more or less by chance, I returned to that magical place, and made a new photograph from nearly the exact spot as the one from 26 years ago. As you can see, not much has changed.
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A few moments later it started to rain, speckling the water with drops, as visible below. Within a minute or so, the sky broke open, unleashing a torrential downpour that had me running for the car under an umbrella to protect the camera. Was drenched from the waist down by the time we were able to get back into the haven of the automobile.
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Just before getting up to the house between the rocks on the seashore, we stopped in a small church in Plougrescant, where there were lions waiting to greet us under the tomb of an early religious figure from centuries ago. And there was a pile of wood chairs in a corner in case they might be needed to keep the lions at bay.
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Not much later in the afternoon the wind from the west had driven the rain away, giving place to fluffy clouds and sunshine when we went to visit the nearby Chateau de Keralio, with its portraits of ancestors on the walls and cherubs in the chapel.
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Oh, PS, in the title of this post, the word "Bisoux", in case you were wondering, is French for "hugs and kisses"...
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Sadness for Syria . . .

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It is hard for me to imagine that just a few short years ago we traveled to Lebanon, and then from there set out to discover some of Syria, visiting the Krak des Chevaliers, Hama, Homs, Aleppo, Palmyra, and Damascus, before returning to Beirut. We had an unforgettable time in Syria. The hospitality was honest, the people we met in shops, restaurants, hotels, and museums seemed sincerely pleased to see tourists like ourselves, as there rather obviously were not a lot. We had entire museums to ourselves, which was a treat.
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So it is with considerable horror these days that I read the stories of current events in Syria. One of the highlights of our trip was the time spent in Aleppo, which is now the site of a major battle between government and rebel forces. When we were there the only aggressive behavior observed was on the part of certain taxi drivers vying for position. Today these streets are raked with machine gun fire, rocket propelled grenades, artillery and tank shells raining down. The horror, the horror.
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Why is it that humans still cannot settle their differences after all these thousands of years of civilization without resorting to bestial brutality ?
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Taxis abounded in Aleppo; and on the heights farther up the street here stands the ancient Citadel, where some parts of the ruins date back to the third millennium BC.
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The Citadel walls...
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Main entrance to the Citadel... (our daughters have grown a bit since then !)
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Even five years ago I was photographing lions...
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Ruins within the Citadel walls...
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If anyone out there has the skills to translate the Arabic text here, I'd love to know what it says.
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Am wondering how many of the buildings visible from the Citadel heights are already in ruins today ?
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Another regal lion...
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A magic lantern ? Make a wish for the end of madness...
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The souk in Aleppo was well worth a visit, it goes on and on, with an amazing array of goods for sale.
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Syrian soap is famous the world over...
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Would love to know what the note on the windshield said...
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This was the view from our hotel window in the morning, before we left Aleppo and took the road across the desert to Palmyra. Satellite dishes everywhere! Guess they were hungry for news from outside the borders. May they one day soon live in peace again.
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PS Am adding this post so soon after the last one (for a change) as am going to be on vacation for the next three weeks, and will probably be blogging even less than usual, and wanted to publish these photos from Aleppo before I left. Best wishes to all...
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Lionizing Lions . . .

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While we wandered in Italy in June, from Asti to Florence, Siena to Perugia, Assisi to Genoa, and points in between, everywhere we went I was ever more conscious of the crowds, the hardy hordes, the proud prides of lions stalking us, trailing us, stealthily prowling after us, growling even in my dreams at night. They were royal, commanding, dignified even in the advanced state of decay that some had succumbed to over the centuries since their various sculptors patiently carved them from blocks of stone or marble. Some seemed to smile benevolently while others scowled and frowned with haughty scorn at a mere human who would dare to approach to photograph them. They adorned all manner of public buildings, churches, monasteries, and fountains, even the interior of cathedrals. One would think that Italy was once teeming with these regal beasts, though the only live ones there today are in zoos or a travelling circus or two. I would venture to bet that there are far more stone lions than live ones there today. Even in Africa their population is dwindling. One day we may have only these stone beasts to remind us of what once was. While you consider these photographs and the future fate of these tawny beasts, there is a piece of music which could accompany this visual memorial to the Panthera Leo, to quote the Latin name. And believe it or not, this is not by any means all the lions we saw on our travels.
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