Why the Panda is black and white? :-)

This is a superbly created piece of animation which captures our imagination.
The world is monochrome until an invisible hand starts to color it in.
Unfortunately, one animal is asleep and misses the chance to be painted...


Surprisingly, this is in fact an advert for French kid's channel TiJi.

Quote of the Week

Celebrating the Green Parks of London

London may have a reputation as a massive metropolis, but it is also populated with some of the most beautiful city parks in the country.

The largest of the royal parks in the capital city, Hyde Park is situated close to Kensington Gardens, separated by the Serpentine Lake. Situated close to the main shopping districts of London, it makes for a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

Hyde Park

Famed for its beautiful flower displays and well-maintained lawns, Kensington Garden is also home to Kensington Palace. The park provides an ideal place for people to walk and enjoy the beauty of nature on their weekends. 

Kesington Garden

London’s oldest park, St. James Park is found in the heart of London, close to Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace and the Mall. As it is so close to London’s most popular tourist attractions, it is often frequented by tourists and visitors and beloved for its beauty.

St James Park

Found close to Buckingham Palace, Green Park is also found in the centre of London, close to St. James Park and bordered by Constitution Hill. The park is renowned for its old trees and expansive grass areas.

Green Park

One of London’s most famous Royal Parks, due to the fact that Henry VIII use to go hunting here while staying at Greenwich Palace. It is also popular with visitors as it is the place where Sir Walter Raleigh draped his coat over a puddle, so that Queen Elizabeth I would not muddy her feet.

Greenwich Park

A beautiful Trip to London

London Town Poem by Jor Leou

London is a busy town, A capital with a queen and crown, With a huge glass wheel called the London Eyes, And a big brick clock called the Big Ben by, A stone made statue of Napolean, Brave and stern, And a football stadium with tickets to earn. A shopaholic high street With a huge bargain signs, And a big choice of businesses of all the kinds, An angry and serious prime minister called Gordon Brown, Who lives on downing street in London town, A huge range of schools for children here, And restaurants or cafes or pubs if you want beer, An oriental place with shops to buy and things to eat called Chinese centre in China town, So come on down to the busy place know as the capital London town. There are so many magnificient sights I love in London...Enjoy!

To See A World In A Grain of Sand – William Blake

10 Islands to Explore Before I Die

The holidays I always look forward to the most are tropical island vacations.

For me, these are the ten top islands in the world where people can relax, enjoy the sun, and wonder if they really should board that flight home. Breathtaking by moonlight and stunning under the all-embracing sun...

The Seychelles

The Maldives

Ko Lipe Island 

Bali - Island of the Gods

Fiji Islands

Tahiti

Big Island of Hawaii

The Cook Islands

Curacao

Perhentian Islands

Normandy Map

Travel in Normandy: Sweet Home

Normandy is world famous for its historical and cultural heritage.

Normandy Countryside

It holds its own legends and it, and its peoples have had a continuing, and profound influence on English history and its design and style. It has intriguing contrasts in both textures and moods and a leisurely walk through some of the villages of Normandy can be a lesson on English history.

The magnificent island of Mont-St-Michel is one of the most popular attractions in France. This miracle of man and nature inspired writers for centuries. On the island its townspeople constructed their homes of Normandy timber built to traditional, local designs within the walls of the incomparable Saint Michel Abbey. It was built on this granite rock in the sea off the coast as a monument to God, although ultimately it became a monument to man’s ingenuity and brilliant craftsmanship. Normandy's  role in world history draws millions of visitors from around the world year after year.

Mont Saint Michel

But Normandy is also a place of rural tranquillity, a lush region of farmland, cider orchards and quaint, old-timbered villages.

Rural normandy

And let's not forget the Norman coastline which stretches more than 370 miles (600km), filled with pretty harbourside villages and sandy beaches.

Etretat

The bridge of Normandy

Honfleur

Le Hameau, Marie Antoinette's 'Norman' village in the gardens at Versailles 

Madagascar : beautiful exotic island

baobabs in the sunset

Madagascar, known as the third most beautiful exotic island (after Bali and Aruba). It is the fourth largest island in the world; at 587,000 km2 it is comparable to the size of France.

Although Madagascar has over 1,800 miles of beautiful beaches and exceptionally good food, its greatest attractions are its UNIQUE flora and fauna. 70% of Madagascar’s species are not found anywhere else in the world.

Madagascar is one of the greatest tropical wildernesses left on Earth and home to some of the most spectacular wildlife.

Among the discoveries are:

LEMURS: These prosimian primates are found wild only in Madagascar. Some of the best known are:

• the nocturnal dwarf lemurs, no bigger than a mouse, found all over the island
• the ring-tailed lemurs, most famously seen in the Berenty Reserve
• the agile sifaka, which leaps 30 feet or more from branch to branch
• the babakoto, "indri", the largest living lemur, most easily seen in the Analamazaotra Reserve ("Perinet")
• the aye-aye, most unique of all living lemurs, protected on the island of Nosy Mangabe and other protected areas.

EXOTIC BIRDS: Five families of birds are endemic to Madagascar.

Notable are:

• the marvelous vangas, found all over the island
• the couas, including the beautiful crested coua, and the peewit, easily identified by its unique call
• the Coracidae, sedentary insect feeders with brightly colored plumage
• an abundance of aquatic birds in rice paddies and marshes, including herons, egrets, cormorants, ibises, ducks, water hens and flamingoes
• birds of prey, such as eagles, falcons, and owls
• more than 70 species of singing birds, including the two species of vasa parrots

RARE PLANTS: Madagascar boasts one of the richest floras in the world with more than 10,000 species of vascular plants, over 80% of which are endemic to the island, including:

• 1,000 different species of orchids, including the Comet Orchid (Angraecum sesquipedale), the hawkmoth pollinated species with an extraordinarily long nectar spur and the exotic Black Orchid (Cymbidiella falcigera); both are found in the eastern rain forests
• Ravenala madagascariensis, or "traveler's palm", a striking "tree" with a water-storing trunk, in the bird-of-paradise family
• Raphia farinifera, the raffia palm, found throughout the East
• 6 different species of baobabs, all of which are found only in Madagascar
• Two species of the carnivorous genus Nepenthes, or "pitcher plant"
• the spiny forest of the South, with its many species of Kalanchoe, Aloe, Euphorbia and Pachypodium

OTHER ATTRACTIONS: 

Reptiles (including chameleons, geckoes, turtles and tortoises), amphibians (including brightly colored frogs), beautiful butterflies, moths and stick insects, unique mammals such as the fossa, fantastic coral reefs, whales during the breeding season, and so much more ...

Iranja Island