The Shifting Sands

Steel grass. Reinforcement from destroyed bunkers at Pointe du Hoc I had a series of meetings planned in Paris which would keep me France over the weekend and Loic, a friend from Dubai who was from a partner organisation, was also attending the meeting. He is French but had lived outside France for a long time and he invited me to visit one of the family houses in either Brittany or Normandy. As I didn’t have a lot of time and Normandy was closer, I suggest that this would be the better option. Vierville Castle about 400 metres inland from Dog Green. The foundations were laid at the time of William the Conquer. There was a complete castle wall but all that is left is the tower in the trees on the left which was partially destroyed by  naval gunfire Loic’s family own what is commonly known as Vierville castle just 300m above the Dog section of Omaha beach where the Allies encountered the most significant resistance from the Germans during the D-Day landings

Often in the Middle east you get to share the cabin with falcons.  I assume that these guys were off for a long weekend of hunting in Azerbaijan Lucy was back in Dubai after her trip to visit her friend in Vancouver and, after recovering from her wisdom teeth removal, we were able to schedule a quick ski trip to Azerbaijan. This was part of my mission to, within reason, ski what is available in Central Asia.   Add that to a list of regional risks. Attacked by a falcon at the baggage carousel There are some places that are too risky or too hard but Azerbaijan didn’t fit in either of those two categories. The good thing about the skiing is that it takes me to some places that would not otherwise be a priority for travel. Looking to the eastern edge of the Caucasus from the plain on the western side of the Caspian Sea  Azerbaijan’s largest skiing area is in Shahdag on the eastern end of the Caucus range.  It is a new

Katie enjoying the pool at 123 Christmas and New Year were in Sri Lanka.  Our friends Nicola and Ewan had completed their big house just west of Tangalle on a beach called Unakurua. Nicola and Ewan were joining us after Christmas and we were in the house for 10 days with nothing to do but eat, swim and surf. Chris's mum, Doreen was also joining us for the break - to relax, and the enjoy the beach and the Sri Lankan food Bandula's truck meant riding in style. Doreen loved the open sides which gave us a good breeze, and bucket seats to take the bumps from the road! On our previous visit Kate and I had some surfing lessons with Bandula, who runs a small bespoke surf school and who is the Number 1 Attraction in Tangalle according to Trip Advisor. Trust me, his reputation has been well earned. This visit we had booked in with Bandula for five lessons for Kate, Lucy, Ada and I. Most days the lesson was at 10am when Bandula and his team wou