Three kilos of Apple

I'll start with a confession. I belong to the Apple geeks clan. I've got my share of Apple products at home: a phone, a pod (which never serves nowadays) and a laptop. My dear old white Macbook which, after nearly a decade of faithful service, is slowly but surely approaching the end of its active life. I bought some extra time by maxing its memory up a year ago, but there is only so much 2 Gt of RAM can do... The signs of age are inevitable. And let's face it, about three kilos of portable computer power in your luggage - especially for someone who travels quite a bit - is nowadays a LOT.

So for quite some time now I've been thinking about getting a new laptop, aka most likely a new Macbook. Ever since the retina Macbook Pro was released, there have been rumours about a new retina Macbook Air and so I've been waiting quite eagerly for Apple to launch their new laptop. Which finally happened a couple of weeks ago. Only it wasn't a Macbook Air, but a new Macbook.

An entirely new Macbook. A 12-inch fanless and extremely thin and light-weight computer, with 9 hours of battery life and a retina display. Sounds great, right? Perfect for travelling. 

However, I also soon discovered that the fashionable design comes with quite a few downsides, too. There is only one (!) port, the processor isn't actually that powerful and there's no way to upgrade the hardware later on. Not to mention the rather expensive price tag... even without counting the different adaptors one surely would need in the long run.

I'm sure the new Macbook will find its buyers, but since I'm looking for a powerful laptop that could last for a decade, I'm not sure this is the model for me. Which leaves me hoping that my faithful old Macbook will hold for a moment longer, while I try to figure out what the next best option could be... Since I've got no recent experience on the "enemy" side (aka PC world), I'd be happy to hear any suggestions!

Balades au bord de la mer

A three-hour walk by the seaside in the fresh air and a big cup of hot chocolate with a bunch of friends. The white clouds giving way to the blue sky and to the sun that came to greet us on our way back home. 

What more do you need on a Sunday afternoon.

Merville-Franceville-Plage

Sallenelles

 

 

My favourite places in Caen: Mémoranda

Time goes by so quickly! I've been living in Caen for nearly five years now and I've learnt to know this little town rather well. So I thought that I'd write a string of posts to share with you some of my favourite places here. 

The first place I want to mention is a book shop called Mémoranda. Besides being a second-hand book shop, it's also a lunch restaurant as well as a lovely tea salon in the afternoons. It was one of the first places I was introduced to after having freshly arrived in Calvados and it has ever since been one of my absolute  favourites - how else, for a bookworm like me!

It's an old-fashioned book shop in a beautiful old blue house, with high ceilings decorated with chandeliers. There are piles of books all around and you can find works on every possible subject. I especially like leafing through the shelf with travel guide books. Makes one dream... 

Besides being a very cosy place, the food and the desserts are delicious! Their apple and red fruit crumble is to die for and they've got a great selection of different kinds of teas. Also, during the Boréales festival, you can usually enjoy some Nordic dishes there - with a little French twist obviously!

Just a word of warning: don't forget to book ahead if you fancy a lunch there - the number of the tables is limited and they fill up quickly!

Yoogaia

A friend of mine (thanks Kati!) recently posted on her FB page a code for a free two-week trial on yoogaia.com. Since I haven't been able to find any ashtanga or bikram (aka hot) yoga classes here in Caen, I was quite happy to try out this new service.

I have to say that so far I haven't been disappointed. I started my trial period a week ago and now that I've tested a couple of yoga classes and and a barre tone and a stretch class (both live sessions and recordings), I'm quite tempted to take on a subscription. The Yoogaia instructors are nice and the classes pretty varied and very efficient. At first, the idea of web yoga may sound a bit weird, but it's amazing how easily you can forget that you're actually working out in your own living-room (well, at least when your cat isn't trying to invade your yoga mat) and - if you're brave enough - you can even use your own web cam to connect to the class. It really is like a live yoga class.

Now if only they could also propose bikram yoga classes on line, it'd be perfect - although I don't think I could heat up my apartment up to 40 degrees (or even 20 C for that matter...)!

Here's the code for anyone interested: YOOGAIATRIAL2015 

Hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

Tutu one more time

  

As usual, my dance school has already started preparing for their annual end-of-the year show (due in mid-June). This year they will be producing - ta ta ta taa -  La fille du pharaon!

The Pharaoh's Daughter was Marius Petipa's first grand ballet: an adaptation of Théophile Gautier's Le roman de la momie, created in 1862 to Cesare Pugni's music. The Pharaoh's Daughter has been very much overshadowed by Petipa's later works and it wasn't, in fact, until the early 2000's that the ballet was reproduced by the Bolshoï Theatre. Despite its relative lack of fame though, it's a beautiful piece of work, definitely worth watching (and dancing!). 

For the soon-to-be maître de ballet Petipa, La fille du pharaon was a turning point in his career for another reason, too, as it also marked the end of his dancing career. Petipa danced his last role as Ta-Hor, the lover of Aspicia, the pharaoh's daughter. 

As for the local ballet show, they are still looking for a few dancers more in the corps de ballet. Having now tried out some of the original choreography, I have to say I am tempted. Perhaps I should don on my pointe shoes and a tutu - just for one more (last) time?