A walk through the maze

I took this photo in the Isle of Wight, in Robin Hill. It had many attractions and fun games for children and grownups, including a maze. This is its plan. It seems so simple when you see it like this. I love mazes, big and small. This one wasn't the most difficult to get through, or the fanciest, but it was great fun.

Cow Express

 This picture was taken in the Isle of Wight, in Robin Hill. I was looking through the pictures of our time there and it made me want to share some of them. This was one of Wolfie's favourite ride, the Cow Express. Kind of fitting for a name: in real train journeys, you often see cows at some point, cows that watch the train going. It makes sense to have a train named after them. Even if it is a park ride. I found it very cute, in any case and I love all things trains and railway, so I had to share it.

Trouvez le paon

Photo prise dans l'Isle of Wight, dans le parc de Robin Hill.Je regardais mes pohotos de voyage, qui datent de 2022, et je me disais qu'il fallait bien en partager quelques unes. Il y a un paon qui se cache sur celle-ci. Le voyez-vous? Bon, il n'est pas si difficile à trouver, mais quand même.

Hovercraft

 I just read an article on the BBC about the potential return of the hovercraft. It never disappeared as a mean of transport, but let's face, it's far from the most popular. This apparently might change. It will make Wolfie very happy: he loves hovercrafts. He, like his mother and father, only used it twice: when we went to the Isle of Wight and then back from there. And it was a very short journey. But he loved it all the same, as if it was the coolest thing. Maybe hovercraft is the coolest vehicle ever, come to think of it. And I have to say, I was impressed by its speed. So I would love if it was a more widespread mean of transport. And you, ever been on an hovercraft? If so, what did you think of it?

Duck Down Village from above

You may remember from this post that when we visited Robin Hill, one of the theme parks on the Isle of Wight,one of our favourite place was in Duck Down Village. It was like a mansize, or at least childsize, playset, like a real timeless village, except run by kids. Wolfie really enjoyed it. I took quite a few pictures there, including this one from one of the building's attic rooms. You can see the village clock and the cute duckling on it. I just loved it.

Last day of school

This picture was taken in the Isle of Wight, in Robin Hill. A place Wolfie liked a lot. I might be wrong, but I believe it was taken in Duck Down Village. I share it because it goes well with today's topic. Today is Wolfie's last day at school in year one. The school he goes is not nearly as small as this one, but it is a fairly little school, with only a few pupils per year. I will not repeat what I said last year, except that the year does go too fast. I will add oe thing though: the school year is far too long here. I mean it ends in July, when the month is two thirds done. It is really too long and exhausting for the children and their parents. And it makes for far too short holidays, even though the year went too fast. Being a parent creates all sorts of paradoxes like this one.

Jardin chinois

Photo prise dans l'Isle of Wight, dans le parc de Robin Hill. Parmi toutes leurs attractions, ils ont un jardin chinois. Nous avions vraiment l'impression d'entrer dans un autre pays, même si je ne crois pas que ce soit vraiment authentique (je me trompe peut-être). Mais authentiques ou non, je trouve les jardins orientaux en général assez calmants et toujours très plaisants à voir. Ils ont le sens de l'esthétique.

Rifles and Revolvers

This picture was taken in the Isle of Wight, in one of the boutiques of Blackgang Chine, the oldest theme park in the UK. They sold very realistic looking rifles and revolvers. I did not buy a single one. Because we were already fully packed and I was worried we would have no room in our baggages. I also thought they looked a tad too real. Like the old toy guns from my childhood. But boy, I regret it to this day. I would just love to play cowboys and desperados with Wolfie and I think I really missed a good opportunity there. Sure they were costly, but they looked like really good quality toys. Oh well, maybe next time.

Le foyer dans le pub

J'ai pris cette photo dans un pub de Sandown à l'Isle of Wight.  Le même pub sur lequel j'ai blogué plus tôt. C'est peut-êtreun peu nono de ma part, mais j'ai toujours beaucoup aimé les foyers dans les pubs, surtout les vieux pubs comme celui-là. C'est une des nombreuses choses qui distingue les pubs des bars. Non seulement ça donne à l'endroit de l'atmosphère, mais les pubs sont vraiment à bien des égards des milieux de vie: on y boit, on y mange, on y dort parfois (certains sont des auberges, bien que ce soit plus rare maintenant). Et c'est ouvert aux familles.

Boxing Academy ("Defence Not Defiance")

I found this vintage publicity in a pub (sadly I cannot remember which one) in Sandown on the Isle of Wight. Now I love old pieces of vintage stuff on a normal day, but this one I found it particularly interesting. I love it for many. First, I love the motto at the bottom: "Defence not Defiance". I find it strong and quietly assertive. It reminds me of the bits of wisdom I received during my old Krav Maga training (which I need to get back into. Then I love the old fashioned, slightly ridiculous yet dignified look of the fighters here. I also find funny the now pathetic amount of money you could win to beat Bombardier Hughes, whoever he was. Oh and for the record I know who Gentleman Jim was. I don't know much about him, but I know the name. So, yeah. In sum, I love that picture.

Lézard (iguane?)

Je partage une autre photo prise à à Amazon World (dans l'Isle of Wight). Il y avait de nombreux lézards comme résidents, sans compter tout le reste, je ne me rappelle plus de tout ce qu'il y avait. Je crois que celui-ci était peut-être un iguane, mais je peux me tromper royalement. Quelqu'un peut me donner une confirmation là dessus? Dans tous les cas, c'était un très gros lézard, mais je ne crois pas que c'était un saurien. Quoique comme je l'ai dit, je peux me tromper royalement.

Saurien(s)

C'est une autre photo prise à à Amazon World lors de nos vacances à l'Isle of Wight que je partage aujourd'hui. C'est un caïman, enfin je crois. Je suis incapable de faire la différence (et toutes les nuances qui s'imposent) entre un alligator, un caïman et un crocodile, sans compter leurs autres cousins. Pour (re)commettre un calembour atroce, j'en saurien. J'imagine que, venant de l'Amazonie, ça doit être un caïman, peut-être un caïman à lunettes, selon mes notes. Dans tous les cas, ça m'impressionne toujours de les voir, même en captivité.

Fish and Chips for Good Friday

First I want to wish a happy Good Friday to my readers. Even though it is meant to be an austere day. It is not austere to me, in any case. As it is Good Friday, I am going to have fish and chips today. You know, because fasting and all that. I don't know where I will buy the fish and chips. I had the ones on that picture in a pub of Sandown on the Isle of Wight. Not sure if I can find a cod as good as the one we can find on an island, but there's plenty of decent chippy shops round here. And I haven't eaten fish and chips in months, so it is long overdue.

Raton laveur empaillé

Voici une autre photo prise à à Amazon World lors de nos vacances à l'Isle of Wight. J,ai été je l'avoue assez surpris de voir un raton laveur parmi les espèces natives empaillées. Les ratons laveurs, c'est bien entendu un animal nord américain. Que j'ai plus vu empaillé ou en captivité  en Europe que vivant et libre au Québec, ironiquement. En passant, y a-t-il une autre sorte de raton que le raton laveur? Cela dit, c'est une bien jolie tête, elle a même l'air vivante. J'en ai vu des plus maganés, des animaux empaillés.

Duck Down Village

I'm sharing another picture taken in the Isle of Wight, in Robin Hill. It is a theme park which Wolfie really enjoyed (although to be honest I cannot remember a theme park he didn't like). One of my favourite sections was the Duck Down Village, because it looked like a cute little timeless idyllic village. Not sure exactly what made it si endearing, but it felt like a place made for and run by children. It seemed like adults were intruders there. We pretty much followed Wolfie exploring and doing his make belief games, making friends with other kids he will never meet again. Oh and I love ducks, so I find the name cool as well.

Shanklin Train Station

I took this picture during one of our bus trips to or back from one of the attractions of the Isle of Wight. We went through Shanklin, but we did not stop there, to my wife's chagrin. She thought it looked like a nice seaside town. But I noticed its train station. I have a thing for quaint railway stations, I often find them full of charm and atmosphere. For me stopping at one of them, especially during a holiday, is an event in itself. Sadly we did not travel from this station, so I could not appreciate it. For all I know on the inside it might have been run down, ugly and dirty. Nevertheless, I thought its exterior was nice enough to be worth this snapshot.

Hermine

Je partage une photo prise à à Amazon World lors de notre séjour à l'Isle of Wight. Il y avait une section d'animaux empaillés que j'ai beaucoup aimée. Selon Google Translate, "stoat" se traduit par "hermine". Mon père avait une peau d'hermine quand j'étais enfant, une hermine toute blanche avec le bout de la queue noir, comme c'est le cas ici. C'est la première fois que j'en voie une rousse. Et ça me rappelle la peau d'hermine de mon enfance.

L'éléphant de Robin Hill

 Photo prise dans l'Isle of Wight, dans le parc de Robin Hill. C'est bien entendu un (faux) éléphant africain qui a l'air de la vraie affaire. Robin Hill, c'est comme un immense terrain de jeu pour un enfant comme Wolfie, où on a l'impression d'être dans un safari quelque part en Afrique plutôt que sur les côtes anglaises. Il faisait chaud comme en Afrique cette journée-là aussi,  ça ajoutait à l'illusion. Wolfie a un petit côté africain (son daddad vient de là), alors c'était parfois comme s'il découvrait ses racines.

Un gorille

Photo prise dans l'Isle of Wight, à Robin Hill pour être exact. Robin Hill est un parc pour enfants que petit loup a beaucoup aimé. On y trouvait notamment de faux et de vrais animaux, dont des faux gorilles qui avaient l'air très vrais. Celui-ci en tout cas nous a beaucoup impressionnés. Par une journée chaude (beaucoup trop chaude) d'été, nous avions l'impression d'être quelque part en Afrique. S'il avait bougé, je n'aurais pas été étonné.

Zebra plane over the Amazon

I took this picture on Amazon World in the Isle of Wight. It was one of Wolfie's favourite places. It was like stepping into a big Hollywood production or an adventure story, as they had put a lot of of rather dramatic stuff in their decor. Such as this plane, with the skeleton in it. It is just deliciously ominous. Whoever piloted this plane got more than he bargained for and met a gruesome end. For Wolfie, it was a gigantic playground that fueled his imagination. It is still a source of inspiration for his games.