Of the 13,000 women who signed up to join this year only 9,000+ showed up and ignored the rain. There are different categories to choose – fun run 5 km fast run, fun run 5 km run, fun run 5 km jog, fun run 5 km jog along or stroll and chip timekeeping 5 or 10 km race.

I preferred to laze around and just stroll with my Thai colleague. We’re both first timers in this event and we had fun despite the unstoppable rain. Everybody’s a winner, with a medal and a bag of goodies in the end. Anyway, it’s the winning that counts but the physical activity. It was more fun than tiresome. Now I have body pains to heal.

It was one fine winter day in January and this part of Switzerland seemed to be a good place to see a beautiful sunset on the road.

It was kind of dark when we saw the memorial but the lights revealed its significance in the place. Later, we learned that it’s a memorial for the victims of the ill-fated Air France Flight 1611 that caused death of 95 on board. The place crashed into the Mediterranean Sea off Nice. It was believed that the crash was caused by a missile (weapon) test misfired by the French army. (Source: Wikipedia)

September 11, 1968 was indeed a catastrophic date in France. When 9/11 comes in mind it brings me back to the WTC attack in America. But it seems as though it’s not the only country that has a history of 9/11. I remember the Swedish minister for foreign affairs died of a knife attack on September 11, 2003. This makes it three stories I know about 9/11.

The names of the victims were inscribed on each of the stones by the sides of the stele. This memorial is close to Aeroport Nice Côte d’ Azur.

This 38-storey tower is the third tallest building in Barcelona. Those window openings are approximately 4,500 and its 4,500 LED luminous devices create nocturnal illumination. It took nearly 6 years to finish the construction and in 2004 the Agbar Tower stood tall between Avinguda Diagonal and Carrer Badajoz. We first came to Barcelona a year before so this explains why we didn’t see it then.

The Torre Agbar in the background is just so huge to get in the picture but you can see the facade of what it seems to be windows. Some were closed, some were opened.

The Torre Agbar became an architectural icon of Barcelona. It also has become the venue for welcoming the New Year thanks to its special lighting system capabilities. Like I said before, we missed the event because we could not find any available hotel room in the city when we were on a roadtrip. Anyhow, seeing it by day and by night was a compelling travel experience.

There are small roads if one wants to avoid the Autobahn but it would delay you to reach your destination. Since there is no speed limit on the Autobahn (mostly, except otherwise a limit is stated on signs) driving is quite more nervy than driving on roads with speed limit.

The traffic on the Autobahn can be heavy and intense, especially on regular weekdays when all the commercial trucks are going through to get to other countries. And let alone the tourists on a roadtrip.

As you can see, hubby was driving that fast. I managed to get a steady image though. But he’s not the fastest driver on the Autobahn. When a car behind comes speeding like a bullet fired he’ll see it and change lane to give way to the speeding car.

I observed him many times when he was driving on the Autobahn on our recent roadtrip. Then I thought I would probably get body pains after just an hour of driving. Though somehow, driving on the Autobahn is a challenge.

Despite the fact that different types of gambling, from betting on horse races to trying their luck at the poker tables, are very popular in France, outsiders do not necessarily see the European country as the top choice for casino hopping. It should be though. The French don’t necessarily need to go to websites like fr.partypoker.com/ to play Texas Hold’em, because there are so many casinos right around the corner from where they live. If you wanted to visit some of the best casinos France has to offer, which ones should you pick?

Casino Croisette

Located in Cannes (yes, of film festival fame), Casino Croisette/ is the biggest and most popular casino in the area. With not just Blackjack and Roulette to choose from, but also Texas Hold’em on the cards, the entrance fee is reasonable considering gentlemen must wear a Jacket to gain entry. The gaming room is open from 5pm to 5am giving you plenty of time to try your luck.

Casino Barriere de Deauville

As one of the top ranked casinos in Europe, players enjoy their time playing games here from the moment they step through the doors. There are a wide variety of table games on hand including Roulette, French Roulette, Blackjack, Boule 2000, Stud Poker and Texas Hold’em, making it a perfect destination for those who pride in their excellent poker skills. And the three restaurants, bars and the night club ensure you don’t need to leave the premises to have a good time.

Casino Cercle Gaillon

If you prefer to spend your time in smaller casinos, then Cercle Gaillon is the place to go. The amount of live game tables is small, but they offer all the classics including Texas Hold’em, Omaha Poker and other poker tournaments of note between 3pm and 2am. The best part is you don’t have to be dressed to the nines. Semi formal attire will do nicely (dress shirt and jacket will be required in the live game area though).

And this is just three of the venues you can visit in the country. Think how many others you could discover along the way?