CURRENT MISSION

enjoy life helping build sustainable bridges of World Citizenship!

ABOUT ME

Visiteurs francophones :
Désolé, pas encore réussi à rédiger une version française de mon profil... Question de temps, sans compter l'espace qu'occuperait cette auto-traduction... Braves gens hermétiques à l'anglais, vous devrez vous contenter d'une traduction-massacre via Google ;-)

Who am I ? Never enjoyed exercises of self-description... Besides, despite spending over seven decades discovering myself, I cannot risk a definitive answer yet !
Be warned : I am NOT awesome, cool, open-minded, laid-back, etc.
Joking, of course. But reason is merely that I have come to dislike these modern, tired clichés and try to avoid them... ;-)

Born and raised in France (tiny village in Beaujolais)
Good parents and solid primary schooling kicked in my education, still ongoing since. Is it ever complete ?
Shy little boy, had quiet and studious teenage years.
In fact, school gave me both the tools and desire to LEARN, and I just carried on learning more and more by myself and along with many others !

Though I never got to enroll with any academic University, I attended Continuous Education classes at Life University, and am still a dedicated student...
Not lazy, but slow learner : my Real-Life degree still not finished...
But then I do love reading, writing, and also TALKING...
No longer shy, I now enjoy small audiences, with which I can share my knowledge, experience, ideas and whatsoever... Reckon I too am learning from others in the process !

Notable affliction: a quasi-inextinguishable curiosity.
Yet still capable and willing to respect your privacy.

Neither my wife (52 years together) nor our two adult kids really fancy their personal details being exposed the world over by their husband or dad... So much I must respect.
But don't worry, I am more prolix in a face-to-face situation (if you dare allow me a try !)

My family: if and when asked, they'd sure tell you that I am a true chatterbox (hard to deny, although capable of staying very quiet, with a good book...)
They might also report that I am always ready to help (another of my weaknesses ?)

On the professional side, in case you'd be interested : electronics and IT tecchie, retired (on occasion tired...), trying hard to find time for many good causes, big or small...
Over a decade, committed in quite a few associations and volunteer work, which would eat up the time I had previously devoted to outdoor leisure such as hiking, cross-country skiing and some windsurfing.
Declining health and dependence of spouse gradually led us into sedentarity, but still glad to welcome visitors, until the pandemic struck our world.

I do keep learning to tread lightly on this Earth of ours.
Strove also for years to remain non-judgemental, but often failed...
Also still working hard at self-acceptance, with better success : proof is that I got self-awarded kudos...

About photos: never had (took?) time to sort/scan older pics/dias, hence bulk of my current selection is from Digital Cameras era.

PHILOSOPHY

- mankind does need the power of spirituality.
There are multiple roads... Many members of my family are agnostics. My parents raised me with a good Christian background. Personal interest led me to acquire insights in many religions, and equal respect for them, but only as long as they respect people.
Yet under different guises, if and when genuine, don't they all share many universal philosophical values ?

- strive to remain a hardcore optimist. It might help you find a good, easier path to happier life.
- try to enjoy your own life while helping others enjoy theirs : waiting is pure waste of our earthly time.
- always try to keep a few illusions or dreams : it's an important and necessary part of your life.

Random quotes:
"Let Life be your Teacher, and Love your main Lesson". (Anonymous)
"A smile is often a shortcut between two hearts". (Anonymous)
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education". (A. Einstein)
"Life can be awesome. Life can be gruesome. Let's try and make the most of it..." (from a Cantonese close friend)
"There is no real Language Barrier as long as we can use hands and smiles" (old aphorism)

In my own terms, without any copyright:
Greediness revolves around what we amass.
Happiness revolves around what we share.

- Mutual respect is essential to Harmony.
- If you are BORED, you're in big danger of getting BORING
- TV : monster black hole prone to suck up valuable time
- Problems ? a blessing in disguise : they are a call for solutions...
- Less is best ! Buy yourself freedom instead of stuff...

I do choose my friends by character, and my socks by color. Never the opposite

And also, in French :
"Bien faire, et laisser braire..." (a not-so-serious motto of mine, since high school...)

A few words of warning :
This chapter to be (perhaps) further documented, some time later,
...if and when I grow up,
Because just now near the end of my seventies, I'm still a teenager at heart. ;-)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Personally, I am ready to be contacted by travelers planning some stopover in (around) our beautiful city (area), for either a bit of sightseeing, a chat, a drink, perhaps an occasional meal at our place ...else also meet people during my travels.
At home, there are two of us. My wife is a less-energetic and more reserved person than her crazy hyperactive hubby; she did not embrace the CS spirit so readily as I did. Must reckon that she deserves to enjoy the peace and quiet of her retirement after harrowing years in charge of the medical care of a large bunch of toughies in a Child Protective Services' home...
Now she likes quiet strolls, reading, solving SuDoKu grids or crosswords, meeting selected friends or even occasionally watching good soccer on TV.
Another point : we are lacking private enough sleeping space for overnight stays. Hence, again, no guaranteed couch accommodation.

But then, for a place to sleep I can direct you/give you a ride to the local Youth Hostel (heard they would never turn off someone really stuck!)

I was privileged to enjoy many places and meet many people, CS provides me with valuable additions at a time when my global mobility and possibilities are somewhat declining...

Update: (2011) As for overnight stays, current couch unavailability is not totally rigid...
WARNING: No full privacy. Couch would rather be a basic mattress or an unrolled "futon" spread out in our living-room, without total hard separation from our family double bed. And beware, we might eventually snore...
We recently managed to successively accommodate at rather short notice a Taiwanese lady and a Japanese girl, both long-time friends of our daughter. Then enjoyed the 4-day visit of Ian, a distant Danish relative whose coordinates I found by chance parsing CS Denmark groups...

Health-related notes: no pets (although I personally do love dogs and cats, frogs and toads, etc... but they never could agree with my allergy-prone wife and kids, a bit sad...)
Our place is non-smoking (except on balcony), we do indulge in organic food and beverages whenever when possible, not vegans but veggies lovers...
With an open-mind and tolerance for other ways...

Tecchie note: noticed that my profile diversely shows connected from "here" or "there" in Rhone-Alpes area : this would actually only reflect inaccurate Internet server hook-up tracking.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Well, quite a bit, but not as CS is currently defined and nicely organized. Kind of experienced it long before the concept got mainstream...
First got hosted by a total stranger met on the Paris-London train, on my very first visit to UK some 45 years ago, on my way to an international workcamp with IVS (International Voluntary Service)...
Would not dream of advising our kids to follow their crazy dad's example...
Years later, during a seemingly endless South-North crossing of Germany in my Citroen 2CV, gave a German sailor a long lift to his parents' home, and got rewarded by evening meal, comfy bed and hearty breakfast...

Starting in the 70's, as a young married couple, we often had people "crashing" at our place (for a time, a haven for unlucky foreign au-pairs ill-adjusted to French ways...)
Even had a few hitchhiking backpackers, befriended during some long car trips.

Now, about official CS experience, since I joined, I have only been involved in five events/meetings with our local CS group. Was too busy on other volunteer work fronts, maybe ?
Yet meeting Yasi, Elie and later Faustine did renew my enthusiasm for the CS community.

Been slowly adding quite a few interesting encounters, starting with a China trip, with visits, sightseeing, drinks and meals...
Aug 2010 : from GuangZhou, among all memories I still remember nice discovery walks with Faustine and her local friends, and the meals, especially the delicious one she cooked for me at her place !
Sept 2010 : even managed to play host for Jimmy a Guilin CS contact who played guide for me on my tour to Yangshuo : the resort's nice twin room was just too big for solo use...
Nov 2010 : moving to US soil, I enjoyed Californian hospitality, staying 2 nights at Billy's place in San Jose then with Hayes in MountainView
Apr 2011 : hosted Ian, visiting from Denmark.
June 2011 : California again, was hosted by Mark in Pleasanton.
July 2011 : welcomed Faustine and Camilo, who spent most of their 9 days roaming the Vercors. Rewarded by a fabulous aerial trip to the Verdon canyon with "captain" Faustine in command...
Apr 2012 : visiting Norman, OK, added Tara to my American CS friends.
June 2013 was hosted in Paris by best CS friend Faustine, during 50th Paris Aerospace Exhibition at Le Bourget airport. No coincidence at all !

responsibility for errors and omissions lies entirely with me...

Interests

LIFE, of course !
- Human relationship and social interaction
- Environment, ecology and sustainable resources
- Science (but not without conscience)
- Aviation, computers and other technology...
- Music, despite obvious lack of knowledge or talent...
- Atlases and maps: tools for the traveler
- Languages ! besides my listed three working tongues, have been exposed to arabic, chinese, japanese, german, norwegian and a few more...
- Reading: I can turn into a bookworm, when lacking direct contacts. Usually grab anything readable (book, mag, daily, brochure...) even if I hardly understand the language !
- Travelling : though less now than in my younger years...

A footnote: Some CS members seem to enjoy displaying the biggest number of visited countries. According to latest count, my tally would now rise to 45, if I were to include countries (big or small) where I spent under one day... That's still a long way from the UN's 193-strong official list ;-)

silly footnote: I did shock the French trade unions by advocating the 35-hour DAY, when they were claiming for a 35-hour WEEK... ;-)

• animals
• pets
• cats
• dogs
• wildlife
• culture
• writing
• books
• causes
• education
• environment
• breakfast
• wine
• red wine
• cheese
• drinking
• flying
• electronics
• aviation
• technology
• reading
• tv
• traveling
• volunteer work
• socializing
• sudoku
• magic
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• windsurfing
• camping
• skiing
• soccer
• cartography
• ecology
• teaching
• languages
• religion
• science
• tourism
• hitchhiking
• volunteering
• sightseeing
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Way too many to readily remember and list...
Subject to continuous change. Gave up updating this quick outlook, jotted in 2012...

Music: as stated above, lacking any talent. Will enjoy yours, if any. Folk, country, jazz, classical, modern, Elvis, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, the Beatles or Michael Buble. Among favorites, the incredible voice of Judith Durham... But please not the too loud, noisy sort...

Books: Though very modest farm workers, my parents were big readers and I certainly inherited their virus.
In fact, my dad taught me to read long before my 6-year old legs could take me to the 3km-distant primary school...
Apart from real books, I enjoy comic strips, Calvin and Hobbes or Charlie Brown, mangas by Jirou Taniguchi... and of course Asterix the Gaul !
Language may be indifferently French (of course) or English, with Danish a rather distant third. For the litterary spectrum, eclectism rules...
Is some unknown itch to blame ? I seem to go through sudden reading sprees... During recent ones, my menu featured a good mix of languages and authors, not necessarily best-sellers : E-E Schmitt, Yasmina Khadra, Malika Mokeddem, John Grisham, Ken Follett, Jakob Ejersbo, Marie Sizun, the tough "Ballade de Lila K" by Blandine Le Callet...
The teenager in me could of course not resist the whole Harry Potter saga, nor recently, during a US trip, the Hunger Games...

Movies: we only go out to see outstanding ones (lately, そして父になる by KoreEda) We do appreciate the flexibility of DVD-homeplaying. Among recently watched-again, l'Auberge Espagnole, The Constant Gardner, Good-bye Lenin, The Life of Others, Balzac et la petite Tailleuse (the Little Seamstress), V for Vendetta, Forrest Gump as well as certainly less-known Danish sagas "Matador" and "Kroniken" just sprang to mind as I was updating this profile...
Not forgetting famed "Borgen" Danish TV series, which made it to UK and USA channels !

For a glimpse at my rather eclectic and voracious readings, we'd have to spend a long, quiet evening together. Then, what about your own tastes ?

One of my weaknesses: Bad Grammar is something up with which I have never been known to put... (pedantic joke, of course)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Isn't LIFE amazing ?

Among unforgettable things/places I was lucky enough to enjoy :

- Meeting HER and falling in love !
- Watching rich East Africa wildlife (Uganda before Amin Dada)
- Life in Saudi Arabia Rub-al-Khali sandy deserts
- Active presence at the birth of our 2 kids !
- Awesome aerial tour over (and into...) Grand Canyon
- working in China and trodding the Great Wall
- going around Uluru (aka Ayers Rock) in Oz
- 20-plus camping holidays in the Landes pine forest, along the Aquitaine coast (where the sand beach is 250km-long...)
- revisiting China on a solo tour after 27 years, and loving it !
- living 7 decades with no memory of getting bored...
- keeping alive my longing for some more earthly time
...all the more because I am now a happy grand-dad !
....

Teach, Learn, Share

Got strong interest in, thereby some knowledge about :
- computers (fascinating tools, although so inferior to PEOPLE)
- aircrafts and flying (my own way of getting high...)
- cheese and red wine (the French in me...)
- nature, preferably wild (and animals...)
- the 3R's concept, revisited : Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Would like to Teach/Learn/Share insights related to Environment, Globalization, Sustainable development, Privacy protection, Renewable energies, GMO issues...

Can share a rather extensive experience in Personal Computers preventive safety and malware infection detection/removal.

Long-time interest in aircrafts (been a young glider pilot and also enjoyed half a dozen parachute jumps in the 60's)

Could share my favourite motto : don't waste time and energy wailing about problems, try instead to focus on solutions.

To understand a culture, try to learn the language (even a tiny insight can work wonders...)
Then, to learn a language, try to understand the culture...

For me "SHARE" and "LEARN" are the keywords:
"Share what you know, learn what you don't..."
Because sharing is a value my parents did teach me through example even more than through words.
Now, better cut it short in order to tame my inflating ego !!!

What I Can Share with Hosts

- depends mostly on our mutual/common interests/tastes
- good talks and/or good meals...
- travel experience and/or memories...

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Japan, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, France, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom

• 

•