Dakar dust; Paris snow

Oh, it's now Monday and Monkey and I have been sharing a lovely virus ... snotsville!
We have managed to see three terrible movies; go to D'Orsay; eat at three restaurants and; pack our bikes for homeward bound flight on Wednesday. We are thinking we'll be home on Friday! Um. I think we are going to miss our lovely holiday! What will tomorrow bring?

Monkey and I listen to music in our hotel room.

Just 'be'. We've certainly learned how to just 'be' on this lovely holiday. One more day. Will consciousness 'be'?

Weeks go by

Now only one day until we leave Senegal. So sad to separate again.  The last few days have been a real treat! A weekend at Saly and a day safari exposes Senegal at its most divergent extremes.
Arrived at swanky 5*****star hotel Lamantin for two days of luxury. Oh yes! Champagne with that beach towel madam? Beach beds; pool beds; beds with mossies; bed heads with masks.  Tres chic African 5*****star huts a'basket weave and sweet sweet space.

Kate and I indulged in spa, hammam, gommage and massage so very enjoyable. Steam steam hot hot drip sweat hammam cold cold skin tingling spa and again and again.  Thanks Kate for your beautiful generous spirit and lovely love.

Swimming laps of pool with Ana surfing on my back. How absolutely glorious!

Visit a safari Bandia to lunch with monkeys and 4 wheel drive to meet graceful and elegant animals. Very exciting - especially seeing Kai and Ana's appreciation of their world.

Tom's Birthday realisation OMG phone message, sms, FB, everything. Finally got through the day after and it was sweet talking to him!  Happy Birthday Tom!

The bleat of a mutton

Tabaski. Cultural respect. Try not to come stomping with our western cultural myopia into the flowers of traditional ritual and Islamic symbolism.  How to see through eyes not western superior but open to the world of difference?

Kate and Bech invited us to attend a Tabaski festive lunch with Bech's Malian friends and work colleagues, We all dressed up [sort of] and shared the meal and the day with friends.

All the mutton have left the room.

A prick of a sea urchin

Monkey and I hired a tour driver to take us to Desert camp Lompouil.

We stopped at Lac Rose on the way and had a mad 4 wheel drive ride around the lac and on to the beach racing along free as birds on a beach that stretched all the way to Saint Louis.

Lunchtime serenade to Silla Silla Silla was so wonderfully uplifting! Swimming in the salt lake was healing! Bought mandarins by the side of the road and drove on to Lompouil.

Gabril N'daw was driving us and being a guide. He was quiet kind and lovely.  Another 4wheeler to the camp on the edge of the desert and wow ... sand dunes like mountains; tents like arabian fantasies; camels! Yes. I rode a camel.

Days turn into weeks

Monday Monday was a day at the beach arrived at by boat boarded from Dakar. Isle N'gor is a sublime Senegalese luxury hard to beat. All day relaxing by the plage and eating Italian food at La Maison D'Italia.

We watched some men build stairs for the jetty, after laboriously shovelling and mixing a big pile of concrete ... in the hotness of the day. It made us quite thirsty!

What a beautiful spot in the world and a sublime moment in time and place, floating in the water and looking up at sea eagles soaring. Couldn't get much better than this.

How wonderful to spend time with Kai and Ana. Ana and I made art while kai learned how to play scrabble with Monkey and Bechir.




What can I say about Terou-Bi?  Fake faux and overly attentive. The tourist machine playing out our roles didn't fit very well. We did get wet and have too much pizza for lunch. We lazed and read and watched other tourists being lazy and reading too.

Spin spin with Katy and Amadi then read read with Ana at school. How wonderful! Shop shop, market and market.

Friday dinner Ethiopian avec Kate and Bechir tres delicieuse in rooftop garden artistic and rustic. Thanks Kate and Bech!

Circling Sea Eagles!!
Earlyish walk up Mamelles lighthouse past streetside plant nurseries in dust with honking taxis. Boulangerie bun on the way home with pain au chocolat. Decadence? Yes.

Boat ride to N'gor and Atlantic swims, and the best Italian pasta in the world! We love Maison d'Italia! Plotting our course.

Moment spur

Amazing spur of the moment journey thanks to the universe and Kate the nightingale! Went out for coffee at 10am and stayed for lunch; caught the ferry to an island; stayed for dinner; concert; hôtel and; ferry home next morning! Seemed like a good thing to do at the time! And, it was expectationally surpassingly wonderful!

Senegal showed it's sad history to us in the form of the old slave house museum. It literally made me feel sick. Hidden stories. The island of Goree's dark past.
Transport port for men women and children from the heart of Africa to lands they had never even dreamed of. Awful. Awful. Awful.

Um. The concert was fun ... Great Senegalese drumming and music spectacle.
The universe came to say hello and the angels of travel found us an astonishingly grand hotel close to the night long musical feast!

And dance? We had a bit of a wiggle.

Into Africa

It is too exciting for words. Plane Air France ... sit in airport ... never order hindi vegetarian on a plane trip. Note to self ... change veg status to ordianary veggo. Great short two movie and you're there plane trip with lots of babies, colours, noise ... oolala!

Arrive in Dakar's long queue to freedom's long queue to family. Hot Paris coat over one hand and big lump of cheese in the other. The 'old cheese' arrives in style as usual.

Kate and Bechir wave from the mob outside the terminal. I'm home! How wonderful!

I am lying on our bed in the long lazy afternoon African sleepy time reading a book to Ana. Kate has gone to fetch Kai from school. Life in the family is sweet.

This afternoon we went to a gallery restaurant filled to the brim on three levels with African art. Masques, massive Dogon doors, pots of clay ... such abundant cramming.

I drank gingembre drink at a large wooded sculptured table on a large comfortable sculptured chair.  The sea breeze was cool in the hot afternoon and the smells from the kitchen were inticingly interesting ... although perhaps on the meaty side I suspect.

Paris birthday song

Saturday [30 october] is a fine and rainy day. Today is Jimmeh's birthday. 24 today ...  I called and left a song on his phone. Monkey did the washing this morning while I shopped for something for Bech; something for Monkey; and something for me! Tie; shirt & pants; handbag. Metro ride to SanPaul and visited the Maison European Photographie. Wonderful pics! Walked along Rue de Rivoli and discovered a great cafe ... L'Elephant du Nil [tomato pasta, bread, wine, amazing salad and lush fromage blanc. Oo. La. La!!!!

Walked to Bastille and metro'd home for a delightful afternoon.

Mono Prix dinner and perhaps a little walk around about after dinns.

Sunday 31 ... Halloween
Musee d'Art Moderne. wonderful exhibition of Basquiat Beuatifully composed paintings with fantastic vibrancy and life and colour. Amazingly short lived artist. He was only 27 when he died. We bought the catalogue to remember. Monkey reckoned Andy Powell would love this collection. And Clive!

On the way home we had ice creams. Mmmmmmm.

We started packing for Dakar. Bikes in bags, lots of other stuff squashed in with bikes. Bought the cheese - oooo what a lump! And wine and chocolat. We also went to Rue de Clichy in Montmartre to check out the Musee d'Erotica. Seven levels of penises and vaginas and some wonderfully querky arty bits too! A fantasy series of book illustrations cleverly wrought and very Parisienne.

Home to local pizzas and beer ... the last supper in Paris before heading into Africa.