VISIT THE PLAYMOBIL & LEGO FAIR IN EL POBLE ESPANYOL

The Grandma visits Montjuïc

After a 25-hours flight from Auckland with a scale in Dubai, The Grandma is exhausted. The jet lag is killing her and because of this she has decided to leave their English studies during two days, to give enough time to her brain to put it in order and to give enough time to her body to get fit again.

Eli Jones explained her that today was going to there be a great Playmobil and Lego fair in El Poble Espanyol and The Grandma has thought that this visit could be a good way to start to recover herself.

Early, this morning, The Grandma has taken the bus and has arrived to El Poble Espanyol in Montjuïc, one of the most popular Jewish mountains in Barcelona. The Grandma has taken profit of this fair to visit the installations and enjoy with some examples of the Spanish culture in a beautiful place after buying some appreciated figures that she had been searching for a long time.

After remembering Herod lots of times, a cold and necessary beer has been the best Grandma's friend to help her to suffer the unfinished quantity of children who were disturbing, crying, shouting and running, in every one of the activities.

Finally, The Grandma has arrived at home saved, healthy and without any kind of psychological trauma produced by the pack of children.

More information: Barcelona Turisme

The Poble Espanyol, literally Spanish town, is an open-air architectural museum in Barcelona, Catalonia, approximately 400 metres away from the Fountains of Montjuïc.

Built for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition, the museum consists of 117 full-scale buildings, which recreate Spanish villages. It also contains a theater, restaurants, artisan workshops and a museum of contemporary art.

The Grandma visits El Poble Espanyol

The idea was promoted by the Catalan architect Josep Puig Cadafalch and the project was realized by architects Francesc Folguera and Ramon Reventós, art critic Miquel Utrillo and painter Xavier Nogués. The four professionals visited over 600,000 sites in Spain to collect the architecture to bring together the main characteristics of the peoples of Spain.

The Poble Espanyol has replications of 117 buildings representing Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Baleric Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Galicia, Murcia, Navarre, Valencian Country, and the Basque Country.  

La Rioja is not present because it was not a region when the museum was designed and built. The Canary Islands are not represented because the four designers could not travel to them for economic reasons.

More information: Poble Espanyol

Playmobil is a line of toys produced by the Brandstätter Group, headquartered in Zirndorf, Germany.

The signature Playmobil toy is a 7.5 cm tall (1:24 scale) human figure with a particular cherub-like smiling face, known as a klicky. A wide range of accessories, buildings and vehicles, as well as many sorts of animals, are also part of the Playmobil line.

Playmobil toys are produced in themed series of sets as well as individual special figures and playsets. New products and product lines developed by a 50-strong development team are introduced frequently, and older sets are discontinued. Promotional and one-off products are sometimes produced in very limited quantities. These practices have helped give rise to a sizeable community of collectors. Collector activities extend beyond collecting and free-form play and include customization, miniature wargaming, and the creation of photo stories and stop motion films, or simply as decoration.

Playmobil was invented by German inventor Hans Beck (1929–2009), who is often called the Father of Playmobil. Beck received training as a cabinetmaker and was also an avid hobbyist of model airplanes, a product he pitched to the company geobra Brandstätter. The owner of the company, Horst Brandstätter, asked him to develop toy figures for children instead.

Murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, WWI begins

Beck spent three years from 1971 to 1974 developing what became Playmobil. Beck conducted research that allowed him to develop a toy that would not be too complex but would nevertheless be flexible. He felt that too much flexibility would get in the way of children's imaginations, and too much rigidity would cause frustration.

The toy he came up with, at 7.5 cm tall, fit in a child's hand and its facial design was based on children's drawings, a large head, a big smile, and no nose. I would put the little figures in their hands without saying anything about what they were, Beck remarked. They accepted them right away... They invented little scenarios for them. They never grew tired of playing with them.

The 1973 oil crisis made it possible for Playmobil to be considered a viable product. The rising oil prices imposed on geobra Brandstätter, for whom Beck worked as head of development, demanded that the company turn to products that required less solid plastic material than the hula hoops and other large plastic items the company had been producing.

In 1974, the company put the first sets of knights, Native Americans, and construction workers on show in its display rooms. Initially, visitors were reluctant to accept the toy. Nevertheless, the toy was shown at the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, which took place that same year. A Dutch firm agreed to buy a whole year's production. By the end of the year, geobra Brandstätter had achieved sales of 3 million Deutschmarks with Playmobil, one-sixth of the company's total sales. Playmobil began to be sold worldwide in 1975, and has remained a popular toy ever since.

Playmobil has been a successful toy line for more than 40 years and they have been a major competitor to Lego toys. Examples of directly competing toys in both their product line are not hard to find. Within the limitations of the Playmobil toy world, the Playmobil toys are usually realistic, and present accurate representations of arms, armor, costumes, and tools from a recognizable time period. Especially notable for their fine attention to detail are the modern construction and city life toys: cars, cranes, fire-engines, trains or boats.

More information: Playmobil

Lego is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colourful interlocking plastic bricks accompanying an array of gears, figurines called minifigures, and various other parts. Lego pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways to construct objects including vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Anything constructed can then be taken apart again, and the pieces used to make other objects.

The Lego Group began manufacturing the interlocking toy bricks in 1949. Supporting movies, games, competitions, and six Legoland amusement parks have been developed under the brand. 

Romans, Egyptians, Greeks and the Far West

The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891–1958), a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932. In 1934, his company came to be called Lego, derived from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means play well. In 1947, Lego expanded to begin producing plastic toys.

In 1949 Lego began producing, among other new products, an early version of the now familiar interlocking bricks, calling them Automatic Binding Bricks. These bricks were based on the Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, which had been patented in the United Kingdom in 1939 and released in 1947. Lego had received a sample of the Kiddicraft bricks from the supplier of an injection-molding machine that it purchased. The bricks, originally manufactured from cellulose acetate, were a development of the traditional stackable wooden blocks of the time.

The Lego Group's motto is det bedste er ikke for godt which means roughly only the best is the best. This motto, which is still used today, was created by Christiansen to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality, a value he believed in strongly. By 1951 plastic toys accounted for half of the Lego company's output, even though the Danish trade magazine Legetøjs-Tidende, visiting the Lego factory in Billund in the early 1950s, felt that plastic would never be able to replace traditional wooden toys. Although a common sentiment, Lego toys seem to have become a significant exception to the dislike of plastic in children's toys, due in part to the high standards set by Ole Kirk.

By 1954, Christiansen's son, Godtfred, had become the junior managing director of the Lego Group. It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that led to the idea of a toy system. Godtfred saw the immense potential in Lego bricks to become a system for creative play, but the bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint: their locking ability was limited and they were not versatile.

In 1958, the modern brick design was developed; it took five years to find the right material for it, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) polymer. The modern Lego brick design was patented on 28 January 1958.

The Lego Group's Duplo product line was introduced in 1969 and is a range of simple blocks whose lengths measure twice the width, height and depth of standard Lego blocks and are aimed towards younger children.

In 1978, Lego produced the first minifigures, which have since become a staple in most sets.

More information: Lego

We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, 

to exercise our diversity. We need to give each other space 

so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things as

ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion.

Max de Pree

GOODBYE THE GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS, WELCOME SANT BOI

The Jones are coming back by plane

Last evening, The Jones left the Galápagos Islands and they are flying to Sant Boi de Llobregat where they're going to meet The Beans. 

Both families have an important appointment tomorrow with Cambrigde University.

The Jones have watched some films during the flight. The Grandma has preferred black and white cinema because she loves Charles Chaplin but every member of the family has been able to choose her/his favourite films.

Eli Jones watches an amazing Playmobil Film about Egypt and its history while the rest of the family is sleeping. It's a long flight and tomorrow they must be relaxed and ready to enjoy a new experience.

Watch Curse of the Pharaons, The Movie by Eli Jones

Good luck Jones! Good luck Beans!

In the end, everything is a gag.

Charles Chaplin

THE ANCIENT JAPANESE MARTIAL ARTS: JUDO & KARATE

Marta & Víctor Jones at Tokyo Skytree

Yesterday, The Jones visited Tokyo. Since they arrived to Japan, some days ago, the family hasn't visited the capital deeply and they wanted to see important sights like Tokyo Skytree, the Rainbow Bridge and the Shibuya Crossing. 

In Shibuya, The Jones visited the Daikanyama Karate School, one of the most important schools of this martial art and fascinated by it, they decided to visit the Kodokan School of Judo, to learn a little more about another important martial art. Japan is the cradle of Karate and Judo but it's also the cradle of forty-eight more martial arts. 

The Grandma wanted to visit Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita an old friend very popular since Karate Kid became a movie success in 1984.

More information: Lonely Planet

First, The Jones visited Tokyo Skytree, a broadcasting, restaurant, and observation tower in Sumida. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010 and reached its full height of 634.0 metres in March 2011, making it the tallest tower in the world, displacing the Canton Tower,and the second tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa, 829.8 m.

Some Jones inside Tokyo Tower

The tower is the primary television and radio broadcast site for the Kantō region; the older Tokyo Tower no longer gives complete DTT broadcasting coverage because it is surrounded by high-rise buildings. 

Skytree was completed on Leap Day, 29 February 2012, with the tower opening to the public on 22 May 2012. The tower is the centrepiece of a large commercial development funded by Tobu Railway and a group of six terrestrial broadcasters headed by NHK. 

More information: Tokyo Skytree

Next, the family went to Shibuya Crossing, the world's busiest pedestrian crossing which represents the towering neon lit Tokyo that travelers expect. The traffic lights at the crossing have a 2 minute cycle. 

Eli, Merche & Paqui Jones at Shibuya

Cars from various directions eat up more than half of the time. Thousands of pedestrians all cross at the same time from five directions. When the crowds meet in the middle chaos ensues. It's a spectacle that's repeated every two minutes all day and most of the night until the crowds finally thin out after midnight when Shibuya stations closes.

Eli Jones was very excited because she wanted to visit the small statue of Hachiko,the famous dog which, back in the 1920s, came each day to meet his owner after work at Shibuya Station. His owner died but Hachiko continued to come each evening to the Station to wait. This continued for around ten years.

More information: The Culture Trip

Finally, The Jones visited the Rainbow Bridge, a suspension bridge crossing northern Tokyo Bay between Shibaura Pier and the Odaiba waterfront development in Minato.

Ana & Joaquín Jones near Rainbow Bridge

It was built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries,with construction starting in 1987 and completed in 1993. 

The bridge is 798 metres long with a main span of 580 metres. Officially called the Shuto Expressway No. 11 Daiba Route - Port of Tokyo Connector Bridge, the name Rainbow Bridge was decided by the public. 

The towers supporting the bridge are white in color, designed to harmonize with the skyline of central Tokyo seen from Odaiba. There are lamps placed on the wires supporting the bridge, which are illuminated into three different colors, red, white and green every night using solar energy obtained during the day.

More information: Yabai

Japan, not only a mega-busy city that thrives on electronics 

and efficiency, actually has an almost sacred appreciation of nature. 

One must travel outside of Tokyo to truly experience the 'old Japan' 

and more importantly feel these aspects of Japanese culture. 

Apolo Ohno

Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practices, which are practiced for a number of reasons: as self-defence, military and law enforcement applications, mental and spiritual development; as well as entertainment and the preservation of a nation's intangible cultural heritage.

Although the term martial art has become associated with the fighting arts of eastern Asia, it originally referred to the combat systems of Europe as early as the 1550s. The term is derived from Latin, and means arts of Mars, the Roman god of war.

Jigoro Kano

Judo, which means gentle way, was created as a physical, mental and moral pedagogy in Japan, in 1882, by Jigoro Kano. It is generally categorized as a modern martial art which later evolved into a combat and Olympic sport. 

Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the objective is to either throw or takedown an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke. 

Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defenses are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms, kata, and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice, randori. A judo practitioner is called a judoka.
 

The philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for other modern Japanese martial arts that developed from koryū, the traditional schools.

More information: Thoughtco

The early history of judo is inseparable from its founder, Japanese polymath and educator Jigoro Kano. He studied English, shodō -Japanese calligraphy- and the Four Confucian Texts. When he was fourteen, Kano began boarding at an English-medium school, Ikuei-Gijuku in Shiba, Tokyo. 

The culture of bullying endemic at this school was the catalyst that caused Kano to seek out a Jujutsu dojo, at which to train.

Judokas

Early attempts to find a jujutsu teacher who was willing to take him on met with little success. With the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, jujutsu had become unfashionable in an increasingly westernised Japan. 

Many of those who had once taught the art had been forced out of teaching or become so disillusioned with it that they had simply given up. Several years passed before he finally found a willing teacher.

In 1877, as a student at the Tokyo-Kaisei school Kano learnt that many jujutsu teachers had been forced to pursue alternative careers, frequently opening Seikotsu-in, traditional osteopathy practices. 

More information:  World Judo Day

Kano was referred to Fukuda Hachinosuke a teacher of the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū jujutsu. Fukuda is said to have emphasized technique over formal exercise, sowing the seeds of Kano's emphasis on randori, free practice,in judo.

On Fukuda's death in 1880, Kano chose to continue his studies at another schools and in February 1882, Kano founded a school and dojo at the Eisho-ji, a Buddhist temple in what was then the Shitaya ward of Tokyo. Two years later, the temple would be called by the name Kōdōkan which means place for expounding the way and Kano received his Menkyo, certificate of mastery. This is now regarded as the Kodokan founding.

More information: International Judo Federation

If there is effort, there is always accomplishment.

Kano Jigoro

Karate is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts called hand, under the influence of Chinese Kung Fu, particularly Fujian White Crane. 

Karate is now predominantly a striking art using punching, kicking, knee strikes, elbow strikes and open-hand techniques such as knife-hands, spear-hands, and palm-heel strikes. Historically, and in some modern styles, grappling, throws, joint locks, restraints, and vital-point strikes are also taught. A karate practitioner is called a karateka.

Gichin Funakoshi

The Ryukyu Kingdom was annexed by Japan in 1879. Karate was brought to Japan in the early 20th century during a time of migration as Ryukyuans, especially from Okinawa, looked for work in Japan. It was systematically taught in Japan after the Taishō era. 

After World War II, Okinawa became an important United States military site and karate became popular among servicemen stationed there.

Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan karate, is generally credited with having introduced and popularized karate on the main islands of Japan. 

In addition many Okinawans were actively teaching, and are thus also responsible for the development of karate on the main islands. 

More information: History of Fighting

Funakoshi was a student of both Asato Ankō and Itosu Ankō, who had worked to introduce karate to the Okinawa Prefectural School System in 1902.

Karatekas

In Karate-Do Kyohan, Funakoshi quoted from the Heart Sutra, which is prominent in Shingon Buddhism: Form is emptiness, emptiness is form itself. He interpreted the kara of Karate-dō to mean to purge oneself of selfish and evil thoughts. For only with a clear mind and conscience can the practitioner understand the knowledge which he receives.  

Funakoshi believed that one should be inwardly humble and outwardly gentle. 

Only by behaving humbly can one be open to Karate's many lessons. This is done by listening and being receptive to criticism. He considered courtesy of prime importance.

More information: World Karate Federation

 Karate aims to build character, improve human behavior, 

and cultivate modesty; it does not, however, guarantee it.

Yasuhiro Konishi

ELI JONES: CYPRIOT RESILIENCE FOR GREAT SUCCESS

Eli Jones & The Bells of Sant Baldiri Church, Sant Boi

Eli Jones. Bell Maker. Cyprus.

I was born in Nicosia, the capital Cyprus, Pygmalion's country, an incredible Mediterranean country which is a cultural border between Occident and Orient. It's not easy living in an island and the most part of its inhabitants emigrate to search a better future. It's not my case. I search fortune in my land because I'm a bell maker and I've found the most precious treasures here: the Cypriots. I like churches and temples, of course, because you can find bells inside them.

 
-Good morning, Eli Jones, and thanks to attend us.

-Thanks. It's an honour.

-Well, to start with our interview, I would like to ask you if you can explain what is a bell maker.

-Yes, of course. A bell maker is a person who makes bells. A bell has been a basic element in churches and temples since the 12th century because population used it to communicate between towns and villages.

-Communicate?

-Yes. The bells have their own language and with them population created alarm codes to warn about fires, invaders or weather conditions.

-What's the work of a bell maker in the 21st century?

-Basically to restore old bells because nowadays there aren't a lot of churches under construction, although I'm having a lot of work with the Sagrada Família in Barcelona.

-What do you think people know about bell makers?

-I don't know, but I suppose that they think that we work in a job without future because technology is killing artists and manufacturers.

-Is a bell maker a profession of risk?

-All works have risk. Risk zero doesn't exist in life but I have a lot of studies in occupational hazards. They are necessary if you want to work avoiding risks.

-Have you put your life in danger working like a bell maker?

-No, I haven't. Although is not easy to install a bell in a bell tower.

-Which is your favourite bell?

-Well, it's very difficult to choose only one. They are historic bells like Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, the Great Bell of Kyoto, or the Tsar Bell in Moscow but I prefer the Bell of Sant Baldiri Church in Sant Boi. It's a historic bell which was very important during the War of the Spanish Succession in the 18th century and during the Siege of Barcelona between 1713 and 1714. I also love the bells of the Church of Sant Climent de Taüll in the Vall de Boí. In fact, both towns are connected, but in the case of Sant Boi I like, especially, because the city has a bell in its shield.

-How do you feel being a member of The Jones family?

-I feel very well. We're a fantastic family with open minds and a great sense of respect and collaboration, something very important for surviving like a group.

-How is a normal day with The Jones?

-I don't know if we can talk about normal days because first of all we must define normal. If normal means that you're always doing the same routines, well, we aren't a normal family, then. We like innovation, creativity and we have tons of imagination.

-How long have you been studying English?

-Since the school. Cyprus was under British control from 1878 to 1960 when it becomes an independent state. English is a part of our recent culture and although British left the island, we kept their language because it was interesting for us. Remember, English is the world communication language.

-Is English difficult to learn for a Cypriot?

-No, it isn't. In Cyprus, we speak four languages: Greek, Armenian, Arabian and Turkish. As you know, the island is divided in two different zones, two languages, two cultures, two religions... but Cyprus is an important geopolitical place in the Mediterranean Sea and we have been occupied by Mycenae, Egyptians, Phoenician, Greek, Assyrian, Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Arabian, Venetian and British.

-What can you explain about your life with The Jones?

-For me has been a great experience. It has been beautiful share time and experiences with this family and thanks to this I have discovered my sinister origin and how my surname can determinate my origins.

-Which is your best memory with the family?

-A lot of memories but the best was when I came back with my family again after being missing during some days after a boat sinking. It was a terrible experience and be with them again was very excited.

-What's your favourite book?

-I haven't got a favourite one. It's impossible but now I'm reading one about dogs. I want to adopt one and I must learn how to take care of them before having it.

-What do you think about dogs?

-I think they are incredible animals. They are very intelligent and loyal and as the legend says, they are the best man's friend.

-What's your favourite film?

-Well, I have more than one but thanks to our Japanese travel and because I like dogs, I would like to talk about Hachiko: A Dog’s Story.

-Which the plot?

-Hachi is a story of love and devotion between a dog and a man. It's based on the true story of Hachikō, which was an Akita dog born on a farm near the city of Ōdate. In 1924, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor at the Tokyo Imperial University, took Hachikō as a pet and brought him to live in Shibuya, Tokyo. Ueno would commute daily to work, and Hachikō would leave the house to greet him at the end of each day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued the daily routine until the day when Ueno did not return. The professor had suffered a cerebral haemorrhage, while he was giving a lecture, and died without ever returning to the train station in which Hachikō waited. Each day, for the next nine years, nine months and fifteen days, Hachikō awaited Ueno's return, appearing precisely when the train was due at the station.

-It's a sad story.

-It's a story about love and loyalty, two of the most important things you obtain from a dog. I would like to obtain the same from people...

-(Laughs) Thank you very much, Eli Jones.

-You're welcome.

You have found him, or he has found you. 
Who knows. It is destiny.

Ken Fujiyoshi, Hachiko: A Dog’s Story

THE JONES AT CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES: KEEP CALM AND GO ON

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Today, The Jones have revised some Social English and some grammar with the Future Continuous.

After remembering some past experiences in Hogwarts and in Urquhart Castle, the family has welcome Eli Jones again. Scottish Navy found her in the Loch Ness shore waiting for being rescued. It was a terrible experience that Eli wants to erase as soon as possible.

More information: Future Continuous

The family has started to read Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, a masterclass of the literature that talks about people who don't accept being old and try to avoid that is not possible to stop.

After reading the first chapter, The Jones have practised how to sum up all the chapter with only one sentence keeping the syntactic order. The Grandma has explained a long story that connects different European wars since the 18 century, different places but one thing in common: the resistance and resilience of the population and its effort to survive building refugees and opening new paths of exile. The Grandma has also talked about one of the most important and clever characters of the last century: Winston Churchill.

More information: Tricentenari BCN & MUHBA

Winston Churchill

It has been a sad story, full of dignity and courage but terror and death. Some people say that History repeats again and again but History is only the reflex of human behaviour and humans don't learn from the past and do the same mistakes again and again.

This afternoon, the family has decided to visit Champs Elysées, one of the most important and beautiful places in Paris and also, one of the most historical places witness of the parades that celebrated the Allied victory in the WWI in 1919, and the parades of Free French and American forces after the liberation of the city, respectively, the French 2nd Armoured Division on 26 August 1944, and the U.S. 28th Infantry Division on 29 August 1944 during the WWII.

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 1.9 kilometres long and 70 metreswide, running between the Place de la Concorde and the Place Charles de Gaulle, where the Arc de Triomphe is located. It is known for its theatres, cafés, and luxury shops, for the annual Bastille Day military parade, and as the finish of the Tour de France cycle race. The name is French for the Elysian Fields, the paradise for dead heroes in Greek mythology.

More information: BBC I & II

The lower part of the Champs-Élysées, from the Place de la Concorde to the Rond-Point, runs through the Jardin des Champs-Élysées, a park which contains the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais, the Théâtre Marigny, and several restaurants, gardens and monuments. 

The Jones at Le Jardin des Tuileries

The Élysée Palace, the official residence of the Presidents of France, borders the park, but is not on the Avenue itself. The Champs-Élysées ends at the Arc de Triomphe, built to honour the victories of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Until the reign of Louis XIV, the land where the Champs-Élysées runs today was largely occupied by fields and kitchen gardens. The Champs-Élysées and its gardens were originally laid out in 1667 by André Le Nôtre as an extension of the Tuileries Garden, the gardens of the Tuileries Palace, which had been built in 1564, and which Le Nôtre had rebuilt in his own formal style for Louis XIV in 1664.

More information: Winston Churchill

Le Nôtre planned a wide promenade between the palace and the modern Rond Point, lined with two rows of elm trees on either side, and flowerbeds in the symmetrical style of the French formal garden. The new boulevard was called the Grand Cours, or Grand Promenade. It did not take the name of Champs-Élysées until 1709.

More information: Times of Israel

Download Transport Vocabulary 

 The books that the world calls immoral

are books that show the world its own shame. 

Oscar Wilde

THE JONES PARTICIPATE IN THE 116th PARIS-ROUBAIX

Joaquín, Silvia, Claudia, Merche, Victor & Noelia Jones

The Jones have participated in the 116th Edition of the Paris-Roubaix road. This year, the organization has made an exception and the inscriptions have been opened to women. All the members of the family, except Eli Jones who is still missing in Loch Ness although is present in our memories, have participated in this fantastic race full of danger and emotions.

Víctor Jones has arrived in the fourth position being the best classified Jones and Claudia, Joaquín, Merche, Noelia and Silvia Jones have arrived in the top 20. The Grandma is still cycling, although the race has been closed some hours ago but, as you know, the most important is participating, enjoying and arriving.

More information: Paris-Roubaix

The Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the Monuments or classics of the European calendar, and contributes points towards the UCI World Ranking.

The Paris–Roubaix is famous for rough terrain and cobblestones, or pavé, setts,being, with the Tour of Flanders, E3 Harelbeke and Gent–Wevelgem, one of the cobbled classics. It has been called the Hell of the North, a Sunday in Hell, also the title of a film about the 1976 race, the Queen of the Classics or la Pascale: the Easter race. Since 1977, the winner of Paris–Roubaix has received a sett, cobble stone, as part of his prize.

Download The Paris-Roubaix Route 2018

Eddy Merckx and The Grandma, 1973

The terrain has led to the development of specialised frames, wheels and tyres. Punctures and other mechanical problems are common and often influence the result. Despite the esteem of the race, some cyclists dismiss it because of its difficult conditions. The race has also seen several controversies, with winners disqualified.

From its beginning in 1896 until 1967 it started in Paris and ended in Roubaix; in 1966 the start moved to Chantilly; and since 1977 it has started in Compiègne, about 85 kilometres north-east of the centre of Paris. The finish is still in Roubaix. The race is organised by the media group Amaury Sport Organisation annually in mid-April.

The course is maintained by Les Amis de Paris–Roubaix, a group of fans of the race formed in 1983. The forçats du pavé seek to keep the course safe for riders while maintaining its difficulty.

More information: Cycling Tips

Paris–Roubaix is one of the oldest races of professional road cycling. It was first run in 1896 and has stopped only for the two world wars. The race was created by two Roubaix textile manufacturers, Théodore Vienne, born 28 July 1864, and Maurice Perez. They had been behind the building of a velodrome on 46,000 square metres at the corner of the rue Verte and the route d'Hempempont, which opened on 9 June 1895.

Víctor Jones (centre) and other participants

Vienne and Perez held several meetings on the track, one including the first appearance in France by the American sprinter Major Taylor, and then looked for further ideas. In February 1896 they hit on the idea of holding a race from Paris to their track. This presented two problems. The first was that the biggest races started or ended in Paris and that Roubaix might be too provincial a destination. The second was that they could organize the start or finish but not both.

The race usually leaves riders caked in mud and grit, from the cobbled roads and rutted tracks of northern France's former coal-mining region. However, this is not how this race earned the name l'enfer du Nord, or Hell of the North. The term was used to describe the route of the race after World War I. Organisers and journalists set off from Paris in 1919 to see how much of the route had survived four years of shelling and trench warfare.

More information: Cycling Weekly

Originally, the race was from Paris to Roubaix, but in 1966 the start moved to Chantilly, 50 km north, then in 1977 to Compiègne, 80 km north. From Compiègne it now follows a 260 km winding route north to Roubaix, hitting the first cobbles after 100 km.

During the last 150 km the cobbles extend more than 50 km. The race culminates with 750m on the smooth concrete of the large outdoor Vélodrome André-Pétrieux in Roubaix. The route is adjusted from year to year as older roads are resurfaced and the organisers seek more cobbles to maintain the character of the race, in 2005, for example, the race included 54.7 km of cobbles.

More information: Eurosport

Everyday there's something that reminds me why I love this sport.

Bernard Hinault

THE JONES IN PARIS: BONJOUR À LA VIE EN ROSE

Silvia Jones in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel hall

The Jones are in Paris. They have just arrived to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the French capital and they are resting now and waiting the last news about Eli's searching in Scotland.

The Grandma is very happy to return to Paris, one of the most wonderful cities around the world, a city that she loves deeply and an incredible centre of history and culture. She trusts in Scottish friends and she knows Eli Jones is going to appear because as difficult as life seems, as passion and effort you must offer, in fact, La Vie en Rose.

More information: Mandarin Oriental Hotel

It's difficult for The Grandma choosing between Édith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich, Madonna, Louis Amstrong, Lady Gaga, Céline Dion or Cindy Lauper but, because life is a way of chances, she decides to bet for Cindy Lauper, perhaps this 94-old woman still has a Goonies' spirit inside her heart.

 

 

 Hold me close and hold me fast,

the magic spell you cast.
This is la vie en rose.

Louis Amstrong

Paris is the capital and most populous city in France, with an administrative-limits area of 105 square kilometres and an official population of 2,206,488. The city is a commune and department, and the heart of the 12,012-square-kilometre Île-de-France region. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of Europe's major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts.

Cubism in Hogwarts, 2018 / Musée de l'Orangerie

The City of Paris's administrative limits form an East-West oval centred on the island at its historical heart, the Île de la Cité; this island is near the top of an arc of the river Seine that divides the city into southern Rive Gauche and northern Rive Droite regions.

Paris is especially known for its museums and architectural landmarks: the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée de l'Orangerie and the Pompidou Centre Musée National d'Art Moderne. The historical district along the Seine in the city centre is classified as a UNESCO Heritage Site. Popular landmarks in the centre of the city include the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris and The Gothic royal chapel of Sainte-Chapelle, both on the Île de la Cité; the Eiffel Tower, constructed for the Paris Universal Exposition of 1889; the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, built for the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900; the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Élysées, and the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur on the hill of Montmartre.

Download Paris by The Grandma

The name Paris is derived from its early inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. The city's name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology.

Paris is often referred to as The City of Light (La Ville Lumière), both because of its leading role during the Age of Enlightenment, and more literally because Paris was one of the first European cities to adopt gas street lighting. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps.

French Revolution, 1789-1799

The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. 

One of the area's major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité; this meeting place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town and an important trading centre. 

The Parisii traded with many river towns, some as far away as the Iberian Peninsula, and minted their own coins for that purpose.

The Romans conquered the Paris Basin in 52 BC and, after making the island a garrison camp, began extending their settlement in a more permanent way to Paris's Left Bank. The Gallo-Roman town was originally called Lutetia. It became a prosperous city with a forum, baths, temples, theatres, and an amphitheatre.

More information: Facts and Details

By the end of the Western Roman Empire, the town was known as Parisius, a Latin name that would later become Paris in French. Christianity was introduced in the middle of the 3rd century AD by Saint Denis, the first Bishop of Paris: according to legend, when he refused to renounce his faith before the Roman occupiers, he was beheaded on the hill which became known as Mons Martyrum, in Latin Hill of Martyrs, later Montmartre, from where he walked headless to the north of the city; the place where he fell and was buried became an important religious shrine, the Basilica of Saint-Denis, and many French kings are buried there.

Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris

Clovis the Frank, the first king of the Merovingian dynasty, made the city his capital from 508. As the Frankish domination of Gaul began, there was a gradual immigration by the Franks to Paris and the Parisian Francien dialects were born.

By the end of the 12th century, Paris had become the political, economic, religious, and cultural capital of France. The Palais de la Cité, the royal residence, was located at the western end of the Île de la Cité. 

In 1163, during the reign of Louis VII, Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris, undertook the construction of the Notre Dame Cathedral at its eastern extremity.

In the summer of 1789, Paris became the centre stage of the French Revolution. On 14 July, a mob seized the arsenal at the Invalides, acquiring thousands of guns, and stormed the Bastille, a symbol of royal authority. The first independent Paris Commune, or city council, met in the Hôtel de Ville and, on 15 July, elected a Mayor, the astronomer Jean Sylvain Bailly.

More information: History

During the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), Paris was besieged by the Prussian army. After months of blockade, hunger, and then bombardment by the Prussians, the city was forced to surrender on 28 January 1871. On 28 March, a revolutionary government called the Paris Commune seized power in Paris. The Commune held power for two months, until it was harshly suppressed by the French army during the Bloody Week at the end of May 1871.

Oscar-Claude Monet

Late in the 19th century, Paris hosted two major international expositions: the 1889 Universal Exposition, was held to mark the centennial of the French Revolution and featured the new Eiffel Tower; and the 1900 Universal Exposition, which gave Paris the Pont Alexandre III, the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais and the first Paris Métro line.  

Paris became the laboratory of Naturalism with Émile Zola and Symbolism with Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine, and of Impressionism in art with Courbet, Manet, Monet, and Renoir.

A the beginning of the 20th century, artists from around the world including: Pablo Picasso, Modigliani, and Henri Matisse made Paris their home. It was the birthplace of Fauvism, Cubism and abstract art, and authors such as Marcel Proust were exploring new approaches to literature.

More information: Art History Archive

During the First World War, Paris sometimes found itself on the front line. The city was also bombed by Zeppelins and shelled by German long-range guns. In the years after the war, known as Les Années Folles, Paris continued to be a mecca for writers, musicians and artists from around the world, including Ernest Hemingway, Igor Stravinsky, James Joyce, Josephine Baker, Sidney Bechet and the surrealist Salvador Dalí.

Grandma's memories in Paris in August, 1944

Paris started mobilizing for war in September 1939, when Nazi Germanyinvaded Poland, but the war seemed far away until May 10, 1940, when the Germans attacked France and quickly defeated the French army. 

The French government departed Paris on June 10, and the Germans occupied the city on June 14. During the Occupation, the French Government moved to Vichy, and Paris was governed by the German military and by French officials approved by the Germans.

For the Parisians, the Occupation was a series of frustrations, shortages and humiliations. A curfew was in effect from nine in the evening until five in the morning; at night, the city went dark. Rationing of food, tobacco, coal and clothing was imposed from September 1940. Every year the supplies grew more scarce and the prices higher. A million Parisians left the city for the provinces, where there was more food and fewer Germans. The French press and radio contained only German propaganda.

More information: Daily Mail

Jews in Paris were forced to wear the yellow Star of David badge, and were barred from certain professions and public places. On 16–17 July 1942, 13,152 Jews, including 4,115 children and 5,919 women, were rounded up by the French police, on orders of the Germans, and were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Grandma's memories in Paris in August, 1944

The first demonstration against the Occupation, by Paris students, took place on 11 November 1940. 

As the war continued, anti-German clandestine groups and networks were created, some loyal to the French Communist Party, others to General Charles de Gaulle in London. 

They wrote slogans on walls, organized an underground press, and sometimes attacked German officers. Reprisals by the Germans were swift and harsh.

Following the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, the French Resistance in Paris launched an uprising on August 19, 1944, seizing the police headquarters and other government buildings. 

The city was liberated by French and American troops on August 25, and General Charles de Gaulle led a triumphant parade down the Champs-Élysées on August 26, and organized a new government. 

In the following months, ten thousand Parisians who had collaborated with the Germans were arrested and tried, eight thousand convicted, and 116 executed. On 29 April and 13 May 1945, the first post-war municipal elections were held, in which French women voted for the first time.

More information: Eye Witness to History

In May 1968, protesting students occupied the Sorbonne and put up barricades in the Latin Quarter. Thousands of Parisian blue-collar workers joined the students, and the movement grew into a two-week general strike. Supporters of the government won the June elections by a large majority.

In the early 21st century, the population of Paris began to increase slowly again, as more young people moved into the city. It reached 2.25 million in 2011.

More information: National Public Radio

Never relinquish the initiative. 

Charles de Gaulle