A few hours ago Jenny and I returned from a long weekend in Paris where we went to celebrate my birthday. Among other things we were able join the crowds on the Champs d'Elyssee to see part of the final Tour de France race won for the first time by a British cyclist. What excitement, what cheering, what flag-waving - Well done, Bradley Wiggins and the British Team. It was not easy to get a photo of the riders speeding past at 40mph but Jenny managed to get this one over the heads of the massed crowds. You can see the 3000 year old Egyptian obelisk on the Place de Concorde in the background.
Being away for my birthday reminded me that four years ago Jenny and I were on holiday in Turkey on my birthday when I received an email from our son, Olly, saying that he had set up this blog(The Peets of Pippin Cottage) for me as a birthday present. At that time he and his family were living in a heavily guarded house in Monrovia, the war torn capital of Liberia in West Africa. They had no mains electricity, water, sewage or land line telephone, there was no postal service to or from Liberia and the best way for them to keep in touch with what we were doing was through a blog, with photos and narrative. And so it was, for three years as Olly and his family worked with the charity Mercy Ships (http://www.mercyships.org/) in the developing countries of West Africa we kept in touch via our blogs. But since they returned to the UK a year ago we don't have to rely on the blogs, and my entries have become spamodic and since February none at all. Despite that I see that people in places I do not recognise are regularly logging on. Sorry folks that there's not much to read at present. And I'd be fascinated to know who you are and what your interest is - just email me at peet.pippin@virgin.net.
