Snowboard equipment for sale

These are the stuff I have for sale, if interest call: 06 37 59 81 88 :


Snowboard 155cm + bindings  = 120 €

Boots Burton (size 43.5) = 60 €

Helmet =  20 € Snowpants + gloves + goggles = 30 €

Phone number: 06 37 59 81 88

The day I ascended Alpe d'Huez

I am happy to say that my personal project of ascending Alpe d'Huez on bicycle was successfully accomplished. There were a couple of last minute changes (including the traditional oversleeping and missing the bus) but nothing serious to stop me saying this:

I CLIMBED UP ALPE D'HUEZ ON BICYCLE!

more pictures here

I have only three advice for those amateurs like myself willing to do it:

1. The first part of the ascending is indeed brutal and you feel it is endless!, so do not waste energies there, keep it cool and just mind to get alive to curve 16. There you've got a chance breathe.

2. Prepare yourself mentally, so you don't get surprised by how hard it is!!

3. Get a personal reason to do it, don't do it for glory, a personal motivation will pull you stronger than just thirst of glory (at least in my opinion)

Personally I did it for my father, who soon will reach 14 years of death. I know Alpe d'Huez meant a lot for him due to the victory of Lucho Herrera in 1984, and I wanted to offer my ascending to his memory. Additionally the constant pain in my legs reminded me the constant pain and hurdles my mother had to overpass to rise my brother and me just by herself. After thinking about her life of struggling without quitting a single day I couldnt allow myself to stop pedaling. Those were my personal reasons.

The experience was awesome, I think climbing is something almost spiritual. I think the hardest part is in the head rather than the pain of the legs. Pedaling and feeling pain becomes mechanical, it actually becomes a background process that is just there and won't leave until you reach the top.

The real struggling happens in your mind, because there is a moment when you unplug yourself form the body and from the physical pain it feels, and then you start a discussion with yourself that actually holds you during the ascending. 

The struggling is between two parts of your mind. One pushes you to quit, to stop, to give up, it reminds you how painful it is, and the other part denies any of those possibilities, it uses your personal motivation to make you push and push and push until the moment that you realized you are at the top of the mountain. 

Here is my Strava information about the ride.

Even though the most important for me was to get there no matter the time, I have to admit that I was pleased to see that my time of ascending the 21 curves (1h29m38s) was few seconds better than my most optimistic timing (1h30m). I know I know, there is practically no difference, nor it is an amazing time but I don't care! it just makes me happy to know I made it.

If you live in France, in Italy or have the possibility to come, don't hesitate it! it is the Mecca of cycling, if you like this sport, you better come and do it at least once!

Le Petit Prince, Sixteen Years After...

Once I heard Crime and Punishment was that kind of book that everytime you read it, it become a different book. I've read it only once so I cant comment on that yet, instead I can say that "The Little Prince" is a book of that type.

The first time I read it in Spanish, back in 1996 when I was 9 damn years old. After sixteen years I read it again, this time in the original language (French), when -as arithmetic dictates- I am 25.

In general I enjoyed reading the book in French, it was easy without me being an expert on the language, it has interesting reflections but the best thing for me was to have the chance to reassess it. I give it 2 from 5 stars and I recommend to read it, though not to expect to be awesome.

It is widely believed that it is a children's book, but it is not!!. It's impossible to understand it and enjoy it when you are still a child and haven't lived the whole spectrum of things such as love or friendship, when you haven't taken decisions about life itself when you haven't left yet your planet and understood that there are many other planets around. Precisely for that impossibility for children to understand it, I think it is why the author rather dedicates the book to the child that is within us and that now is a grown up. In a nutshell it is a book written for our past, not for the present children...(the power of literature).

Personally, my impression is that the intentions of the book are to makes us reflect on mistakes and bad life-choices the grown ups make, thought I felt kind of uncomfortable with all the judgments the book has and with its simplistic and superficial approach to many of those.

Still the book has interesting parts and messages. The one I liked the most is the one with the fox, it is a nice reflection about what friendship (and love) is, about the power of those to enrich the world and the experience of life, no matter if there are tears, that's the part where the highlight of the book appears, from the voice of the good-old fox:

"... On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux..."

"...we can only see with our heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes..." 

Weather and company updates

This morning Julian has confirmed his willingness to die in the mountain, so we have booked a second bicycle for him. Now my ride wont be alone, I am very glad for that. I know he will be a good challenger.

Finally the weather for tomorrow seems perfect, between 16°C and 21°C. Probably we'll bike back to Grenoble instead of taking the bus.

Bike for the challenge: Checked!

The bike I have been riding on is this one, I call it "La Gorda":

A mountain bike Decathlon RockRider 6 Limited Edition with 21 gears, very thick tires and strong grip. About the weight, well mine weights 18.8 kg. Not exactly a route bike...

With a big challenge in front of me (Alpe d'Huez) I have decided to rent a more adequate bike for the climb and enjoy for the first time a route bike:

A route bike 2012 Specialized Secteur Sport Compact, 2.5cm tires, 9.5 kg and 30 gears. I am paying 35€ for one day. More decent bike indeed.

Sections of Alpe d'Huez ascending

I have just made a not-very-strict analysis* of the ascending parts of Alpe d'Huez, but I think it is good enough to be used as a "rule of thumbs" about the different sections of the ascending. 

I did it based on some readings describing the climbing. I included the number of the bends (yellow) and some guide values about the steepness of the segments (white), I tried to simplify the segments by colored bubbles (Red is "hard", Blue is "not-that-hard"). 

Note: Everywhere I read they agree the first part is the hardest, despite the 12% you'll find around curve 9!

Below there is a more detailed graph taken from here:

References: 

- Alpe d'Huez: La Subida

- Altimetrias Alpe d'Huez

- Alpe d'Huez mythical ascent

- Strava Segment: Alpe d'Huez "Vieil Alpe"

* If you see any mistake or have any suggestion to improve the graph, drop me a comment! ;-)

Transport Grenoble - Bourg d'Oisans

The time-table for this year 2012 - 2013 can be found in the page of Transisere, the bus I have to take is the 3000, I can catch it in the train station. It takes hour and a half to get there, these are the times for the following saturday. In bold my target times.

Grenoble - Bourg d'Oisans: 8:10 am, 10:20 am, 14:24, 16:40, 18:00, 19:20
Bourg d'Oisans - Grenoble: 10:25 am, 13:15, 16:30, 19:05

Also it has been confirmed that I can take the bike in the bus. So I can rent the bike on Friday here in Grenoble and then go there in case there are no renting shops there in Bourg d'Oisans due to the autumn.

Personal project: Alpe d'Huez on bicycle

My new personal project is to climb this up the following weekend on bicycle. [update: The day I ascended Alpe d'Huez]

"La mythique montée de l’Alpe-d’Huez" (The mythic ascending to Alpe d'Huez) that's how are known the 11.9km on 21 bends at an average slope of 8.6%*. The segment starts at 720m.o.s.l. and climbs up to 1750meters.
It is the ending part of the Grande Boucle stage at the tour de France. The best time is held by Marco  Pantani "The Pirate" (37'35'') and second one is Lance Amstrong (39'41'' at an average speed of 23.4km/h).

 I have been biking for some days since summer, and without being an expert I think I can make it. Following is a chart comparing some of the climbing I've accomplished and the Alpe d'Huez (being the top-right corner the toughest).

As it can be seen, indeed Alpe d'Huez would be the hardest climbing I've ever done, but I've accomplished some others that are not far from it, specially Saint Nizier and Lans en Vercors (which I did the last two weekends without any inconvenient), those might not be as steep as Alpe d'Huez but are for sure larger and steep-enough.

I feel I am in shape for it, I estimate I can finish it between 1 hour and a half and two hours, but time doesn't really matter to me. Moreover I am planning to rent a proper bike for this. Because I have been biking all these days with a mountain bike, which is heavier and has thicker tires. So a racing bike should in theory ease the challenge.

I still have some logistics problems regarding the bike I have to rent and the way to get there (it's about 50km away from Grenoble) additionally I am kind of under pressure by the weather, it's getting colder and colder and up in the mountains snow is already appearing. So the sooner I make it, the better it is.

This ascending has a personal meaning and I will share it once I accomplish it (even if I don't ;-) ). Still, Alpe d'Huez has meaning for Colombians, because it was there where the first and the only time an amateur won a stage of the Tour de France, beating all the professionals. That amateur was a humble guy from Colombia, Lucho Herrera.

I'll keep updating about fixing the details, bike, transport there, weather. Stay tuned ;-)

*Those are the values of the climbing part, when including the flat part at the top the values are 13.8km at 7.9%
References: La montée de l’Alpe-d’Huez « La mythique »

Visa to India from France

Disclaimer: The following is is just my experience and it is not a guide to apply for Indian Visa. No responsibility shall be given to the author for any mistake during the application.

This is the site that gives you the information: THIS ONE

With this post I just want to say that the process is quite simple. I can not say how much it cost because there is no generic price, there are many variables that they will tell you how to calculate it, at least myself, I payed 118€. I applied last friday 12th of October 2012.
As It is not compulsory to hand in the papers personally in Paris, so I sent them by post paying a small fee (small compared to the cost of going to Paris just to hand in some papers...)...in general I think it is very easy to apply, they say it will take them 3 working weeks.

The steps are as usual:

1) Fill-in the online form. No need to have a booking in a hotel, though you need an address where you might stay in (I just looked for a hotel and copy-pasted the address), and also a reference person in France (I put someone in the school where I study in).
2) Collect the papers: (two pictures 5cm X 5cm white background,  a copy of your passport, if you are not French you have to attach an additional form they give you in the website and just in case I added a copy of my French residence permit)
3) calculate your fee...they have a table for you to make the calculation.
4) the payment is made in the post office. It is some kind of "mandat postale", they will charge you like 7€ for that.

5 Armas Secretas hechas letras

Feliz de poder leer de nuevo a Cortázar, feliz de que el castellano sea mi lengua nativa y pueda disfrutar "a pelo" de lo que este genio hacia con el lenguaje. En orden de goce y disfrute mi tabla de posiciones sería así (y por ende mi order de recomendación):

1. Las Armas Secretas: Es el ultimo cuento del libro y el que más me gustó, el que más me llenó. Corto, con cambios de ritmo, con los maravillosos cambios de plano que Cortázar maneja tan bien. Tiene unas partes que me recordaron mucho a La Muerte De Artemio Cruz, con esos dialogos personales, esos divagares de nuestra mente que nos llevan a rincones absurdos. Admiro mucho cuando un autor es capaz de reproducir esa fluidez y ese sin-sentido que puede llegar a ser el pensamiento.

2. Las Babas del Diablo: (cuento que inspiró la pelicula Blow-up) Delicioso sentir la facilidad con la que Cortázar juega con los tiempos, la relacion tiempo-espacio y para terminar de ajustar, como es capaz de hacer de un simple momento entre dos desconocidos una escena llena de sensaciones y detalles que pasa lentamente frente al lector de palabra en palabra sentiendo al aire y la incomodidad de la situación. La escena del rio cuando esta tomando la foto es magnifica, y sobre la escena más tarde cuando él observa la foto tomada es simplemente Cortáziana, no encuentro otro adjetivo!

3. Cartas de Mama: Un cuento, "normal" dentro del estandard de Cortázar, igual entretenido de leer.

4. El Perseguidor: Es el cuento que más significado tiene no solo en el libro, sino en la carrera misma de Cortázar, pues es el punto de quiebre en su carrera y el catalizador de Rayuela. Igual tengo que admitir que disfruté más los otros cuentos. Lastimosamente este cuento me lo lei de manera muy fragmentada, cada noche antes de dormir, de modo que fue dificil aportar la continuidad que es lo minimo que uno como lector debe poner. Sin embargo, igual que con Rayuela (y es el parecido que le vi) es un libro cuyo proposito no es el final propiamente, sino las letras en si mismas, el caminar a traves de las situaciones y de los juegos.

5. Los Buenos Servicios: Este cuento si me parecio muy normalito. Por ahi hay ensayos super academicos explicandolo y su magia y no se que. Pero yo como lector desprevenido y a pie no le vi gran cosa.

Lo comencé el 25 agosto, lo termine el 7 de octubre, casi lo mismo que me demoré leyendo Bestiario, aunque Las Armas Secretas sí lo disfrute más.

Bonus: Las partes que subrayé mientras leia.
==========
la irrisión de vivir a la manera de una palabra entre paréntesis, divorciada de la frase principal de la que sin embargo es casi siempre sostén y explicación.
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y sé que si me voy, esta Rémington se quedará petrificada sobre la mesa con ese aire de doblemente quietas que tienen las cosas movibles cuando no se mueven. Entonces tengo que escribir.
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Entre las muchas maneras de combatir la nada, una de las mejores es sacar fotografías, actividad que debería enseñarse tempranamente a los niños pues exige disciplina, educación estética, buen ojo y dedos seguros.
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Creo que sé mirar, si es que algo sé, y que todo mirar rezuma falsedad, porque es lo que nos arroja más afuera de nosotros mismos, sin la menor garantía
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—El compañero Bruno es fiel como el mal aliento —ha dicho Johnny a manera de saludo,
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Este jazz desecha todo erotismo fácil, todo wagnerianismo por decirlo así, para situarse en un plano aparentemente desasido donde la música queda en absoluta libertad, así como la pintura sustraída a lo representativo queda en libertad para no ser más que pintura.
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Football: I LOVE you!!

Today I have had a football overdose, lifting my joy of a perfect sunday to unexpectable levels. The only thing I regret is not having my brother next to me to enjoy minute by minute the three matches I just have watched.

The first match was Barça - Real. I can not deny my preference towards Barça, but it shall not be confused nor over-posed to my greater love towards football. the game was amazing, two different styles punching each other, displaying all its potential, and two players showing why they are the best...I must recall CR7 when he says "Messi and me are differents, like you can not compare a Porche and a Ferrari", and to Seu Mourinho ("it should be forbidden to say who is the best"):

When my father used to talk about the Brasil of the 1970, with Ribelinho, Socrates and Pele I was jealous, and even more when then he was telling us about that Argentina from 86 with Baldano and Maradona...well, now that wound it healed, now when I can witness other two genious at double-dose in a single age, Ronaldo and his power plus Messi and his magic. Real Madrid playing one way, Barcelona playing another, still hurting each other and giving joy to all of us. Conclusion: This game is un-exhaustible .

After that I watched another derby, Italian y global: Milan and Inter, Yepes and Guarin. other football, other type of game, still full of passion.

Just to close I reached the game of the humbles, the football by the love for the football, the football that acknowledges its lack of magic but its abundance of love, sweat and sacrifice.  The football that confirma that this game has place for everyone, regardless all this times it doesnt seem to. Atletico de Madrid from Cholo Simeone, against Malaga from the Chilenian Pellegrini. Roque Santacruz, respecting his  Paraguayan origins, scored with the head in an unexpectable moment, Cebolla Rodriguez showing that the Garra Charrua is not a matter of wearing the Celeste but a matter that goes in the blood, and Falcao Garcia proving  that he is a world-level player:

If in the Eurocup my love for football fell down, today it has grown up again.

"and in the seventh day, when god saw what he created and saw how beautiful it was, he realized something was left...and he created Football, then the world was perfect!"

12 brain rules in 7 months

12 Brain Rules, an interesting book to read. It is easy to digest, though it has plenty of information. The author gives a summary at the end of each chapter plus he is not afraid of imagining a world where the brain rules are applied. I rather let the author explain what the book is about:

The only sad thing is that the way I read it was very inconstant and it took me 7 months to do so, thus I have forgotten lots of it. Anyways, Mr. Medina is a geek who really want the world to know about this rules to improve lives and society, that's why in his webpage he practically explains the book (for free!),  following the links for the the twelve rules: 

1. Exercise boosts brain power
2. The brain evolved too
3. Every brain is wired differently 
4. We dont pay attention to boring things
5. Repeat to remember
6. Remember to repeat
7. Sleep well, think well
8. Stressed brains do not learn the same way non-stressed brains
9. Stimulate more of the senses
10. Vision trumps all other senses
11. Male and female brains are different
12. We are powerful and natural explorers

Le tour du Néron

Le Néron is one of the most amazing city-mountains I've ever seen, it can be seen from many places in Grenoble or any time coming to Grenoble from Lyon, but better a picture about it:

Today I biked the Tour du Néron, which is about rounding the Néron, this is the map:

View Larger Map

Its about 27km from my place in Saint Bruno square, it took me 2.5hours with 20 minutes rest in the top to take some pictures and some water of course!, the elevation profile of the route is something like this:

It's a lovely route, a bit intense in the first climbing, then with a breath before having the second climbing which at some point reaches 22% of inclination. There are great views during the whole trip and few cars running so it makes it a very interesting route for biking!

The route is within the Parc Naturel Régionel de la Chartreusse, indeed one of the wonders you can easily explore being in Grenoble.

the following are some pictures I took...mainly when I was descending:

only a Colombian will understand why I took this picture...

Joyas de lavanderia

En esas lavanderias publicas a las que hay que ir cuando uno no tiene lavadora en la casa ni amigos que le dejen lavar la ropa en la de ellos hay siempre unos numeros viejos y ya manoseados de revistas de vanidades o peor aun, de costura, y para mejorar el panorama en mi caso, esas revistas estaran en Frances.

Esta semana hice un viaje bastante cargado a la lavanderia del barrio y entre tanto paquete olvide el librito que me libra de esas revistas de puntos de cruz en frances, de modo que no tuve mas remedio que buscar desamparadamente algo interesante entre el bultico de revistas para matar mis 50 minutos ahi sentado. Para sorpresa mia habia una revista diferente, era desactualizada como las otras, ¡pero esta era de Futbol! oh alegria la que me invadió y más aun cuando ví que no estaba tan desactualizada, de hecho era de este año.

En primavera de este año el Montpellier, un equipo humilde de media tabla, ganó por primera vez en su historia el torneo francés dejando atras a un Paris Saint-Germain lleno de petro-euros y estrellas compradas por los nuevos dueños Cataríes. La revista hacia un especial sobre el campeonato, la historia del club y las legendas que han pasado por ahi. Oh jubilo inmortal cuando abro la pagina de las Leyendas y lo primero que me encuentro es esto:

Carlos Valderrama, El Mago.

No solo lo llaman inolvidable por su cabellera sino su talento como organizador y generador de futbol entre otras, y que fue traido al club despues de haber sido el mejor jugador de la Copa America de 1987, jugó desde 1987 hasta 1991.

Pero la mayor sorpresa del dia vino al seguir viendo los otros inolvidables del club y me encuentro que una de las mas grandes nemesis del futbol colombiano jugó con nuestro querido Pibe en el Montpellier:

Roger Milla, La Legenda.

Asi que Roller Milla y el Pibe Valderrama jugaron juntos, al menos las temporadas 87, 88 y 89. Dos grandes compartiendo los grandes momentos de sus carreras, de las cuales nos podriamos remitir a un solo evento para mostrar porque el Pibe es mago para nosotros y a la vez Milla es una dolorosa legenda en nuestro futbol: Copa Mundial de Futbol, Napoles-Italia 1990, juego de octavos de final entre Colombia y Camerun.

Atención: El siguiente video contiene imagenes dolorosas para los Colombianos, vease con precaución.

¡Que lindo que es el futbol! y que lindo es encontrarse estas joyas, asi sea en las lavanderias públicas.

Breaking Stereotypes

I should admit that I didn't like Napoleon, I couldn't understand how French people loved him after being him who destroyed the republic and the revolution by becoming an emperor. As I didn't understand that and it was my only argument to protect my point I decided to read his biography. Indeed I found something completely different and my stereotype about Napoleon broke together with my stereotype of the For Dummies books, which indeed are for dummies but are not at all crappy.

I read Napoleon for Dummies, it was the only book in the kindle store which had everything I was looking for: history, battles, politics, reforms and implications. I have to admit I hesitated whether to buy it or not but I think it was a good decision. Easy to read and comprehensive. Obviously I can not recall here everything I learnt about Napoleon but at least I can say that my opinion of him has changed and I got to understand much better the contexts and the importance of his role in changing the times, boosting the values of the revolution through out Europe, reforming the civil codes, promoting religious freedom, sponsoring the academy and the arts (through looting though), promoting public education, busting up the opportunities for the best qualified...
It is impossible to deny his political capabilities together with his management ones (not only to rescue France from a deep economic crisis, but to handle huge military campaigns).

Taking about those campaigns, I'd like to share a map of Europe that gives a simple image of how much the guy moved through the continent and even to Africa.

I'm very pleased with the book and I might read it again in some point in the future to refresh it, but now after having read about Simon Bolivar and Napoleon Bonaparte it seems the next one could be Julius Caesar and/or Alexander the Great, we'll see.

As a bonus, I include a timeline of the life of this fellow:

1769

15 August Napoleon is born in Ajaccio, Corsica, which was transferred from Italian to French rule a year earlier.

1779

1 January Napoleon and his brother Joseph enter school at Autun, France, mainly to learn French. 

25 April Napoleon enters Royal Military College at Brienne.

1784

15 September Napoleon passes exams and is selected to attend the École Militaire in Paris. 

1785

24 February Napoleon’s father, Carlo, dies.

September At age 16, Napoleon graduates from military school and is commissioned as Second Lieutenant of Royal Artillery. He joins the La Fère Regiment at Valence.

1789

14 July The fall of the Bastille signals the start of the French Revolution.

1792

20 June Austria and Prussia (soon joined by England and others) form the First Coalition against France.

10 August Napoleon witnesses the massacre of the Swiss Guards at the Tuileries by the Parisian mob. The monarchy soon falls, and the first French Republic is declared.

1793

21 January King Louis XVI of France is executed.

31 May The Reign of Terror in France begins.

September–December Napoleon commands artillery and leads the French government’s retaking of Toulon from royalists.

21 December Napoleon, at age 24, is promoted to General of Brigade.

1794

28 July Maximilien Robespierre is executed; the Reign of Terror ends.

9 August Napoleon is arrested and jailed but is released in 11 days.

1795

Summer–Fall Napoleon is stationed in Paris and meets Josephine.

22 August The constitution of 1795 creates the Directory.

5 October Napoleon puts down a royalist uprising and is soon promoted to general of division.

1796

2 March Napoleon is appointed general in chief of the Army of Italy.

9 March Napoleon marries Josephine.

4–22 April Napoleon wins a series of stunning victories in Italy against Austrian occupiers and their allies.

10 May Napoleon wins the Battle of Lodi in Italy.

15–17 November Napoleon wins the Battle of Arcole in Italy.

1797

14 January Napoleon wins the Battle of Rivoli in Italy.

17 October The Treaty of Campo Formio between France and Austria is ratified.

5 December Napoleon returns to Paris and is soon elected member of the National Institute of Sciences and Arts of France and appointed commander of the Army of England.

1798

19 May Napoleon and his army leave for Egypt via Malta.

1 July Napoleon captures Alexandria.

21 July The French win the Battle of the Pyramids.

1 August Admiral Nelson wins the Battle of the Nile against the French.

29 December A Second Coalition against France is formed by Britain, Austria, and Russia.

1799

7 March Napoleon takes Jaffa but is later stymied at Acre (in modern Israel).

25 July Returning to Cairo, Napoleon defeats the Turks at Aboukir.

August–October Napoleon leaves Egypt and returns to Paris a national hero.

9–10 November Napoleon helps overthrow the Directory and becomes First Consul at age 30.

1800

13 February The Bank of France is established.

15–23 May Napoleon leads his army through the Alps to attack Austrians in Italy, beginning the second Italian campaign.

14 June Napoleon wins the Battle of Marengo.

24 December The incident of the “Infernal Machine”: An attempt is made on Napoleon’s life.

1801

9 February The Peace of Luneville ends the War of the Second Coalition.

24 March Russian Tsar Paul I is killed; Alexander I becomes tsar.

15 July Napoleon signs the Concordat with the Pope.

1802

25 March The Peace of Amiens between England and France is ratified.

1 August Napoleon is named First Consul for Life.

1803

3 May The United States buys the Louisiana Territory from France.

18 May Great Britain declares war on France.

1804

21 March The civil code is published, and the Duke of Enghien is executed.

18 May The senate declares Napoleon Emperor of France.

19 May The Legion of Honor is established.

2 December Napoleon is crowned Emperor of the French.

1805

26 May Napoleon is crowned King of Italy.

9 August England, Austria, Russia, and Sweden form the Third Coalition against France.

17 October “The unfortunate General Mack” surrenders at Ülm.

21 October Admiral Nelson defeats the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar but dies in the action.

2 December Napoleon wins the Battle of Austerlitz over the Austrians and Russians.

26 December The Treaty of Pressburg is ratified between France and Austria.

1806

12 July The Confederation of the Rhine is created.

6 October The Fourth Coalition against France is formed by Prussia, Russia, and England.

14 October Napoleon defeats Prussia at Jena and Auerstädt.

21 November Napoleon issues the Berlin Decrees, starting the Continental System.

1807

8 February Russians and Prussians lose the Battle of Eylau.

14 June Russians and Prussians lose the Battle of Friedland.

8 July The Peace of Tilsit is made with Russia and Prussia; the Grand Duchy of Warsaw is soon created.

November France invades Spain and Portugal.

1808

17 March The Imperial University is created in Paris.

6 June Napoleon’s brother Joseph is made King of Spain.

15 July Napoleon’s brother-in-law Joachim Murat is made King of Naples and Sicily.

4 December Napoleon enters Madrid and abolishes the Inquisition.

1809

9 April Austria and England form the Fifth Coalition against France.

20–23 April Napoleon defeats the Austrians at the Battles of Abensberg, Landshut, Eckmühl, and Ratisbon.

21 May Napoleon is held off by Austrian Archduke Charles at the Battles of Aspern and Essling.

5–6 July Napoleon defeats Charles at the Battle of Wagram.

16 December Napoleon divorces Josephine.

1810

11 March Napoleon marries Marie Louise of Austria by proxy in Vienna.

1811

20 March Napoleon’s son with Marie Louise, the King of Rome (Napoleon II), is born.

1812

24 June Napoleon crosses the Niemen River to invade Russia.

July Russia and England form the Sixth Coalition against France (and are later joined by Prussia, Austria, and others).

7 September Napoleon defeats the Russians at the Battle of Borodino.

20 October Napoleon leaves Moscow for Paris, arriving there on December 18th.

1813

26 August Napoleon, now 44, wins the Battle of Dresden.

16–19 October Napoleon is defeated at the Battle of Leipzig.

1814

January France is invaded by Sixth Coalition allies.

10–13 February Napoleon wins battles at Champaubert, Montmirail, Château-Thierry, and Vauchamp in France.

31 March Allies enter Paris; a provisional government is formed.

6–11 April Napoleon abdicates at Fontainebleau.

4 May Napoleon becomes Emperor of Elba.

29 May Josephine dies.

1815

1 March Napoleon returns to France.

20 March Napoleon enters Paris and the Hundred Days begins.

16 June Napoleon defeats the Prussians at Ligny (Belgium).

18 June Napoleon is defeated by the British and Prussians at Waterloo.

22 June Napoleon abdicates again.

15 July Napoleon surrenders to Captain Maitland of the HMS Bellerophon, hoping to retire in Great Britain.

15 October Napoleon is sent into exile on St. Helena at age 46.

1821

5 May Napoleon dies shortly before 6 p.m. at age 51.

1840

15 October Napoleon’s remains are exhumed for return to France.

15 December Napoleon is interred in the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris.

My own Tour de France: 2nd Stage

Saturday 7th of July, my second stage, this time towards the south of Grenoble, I was seeking the Lac Monteynard, about 50km from Grenoble:

Indeed I found the lake, but I was still far from the beach (about 20km more) and it was a really hot day, like 32degrees, so I decided to come back and live instead of reaching the lake and die :P. This stage has a long flat part and then you start to climb up the mountain. I reached about 800meters of altitude this time and it was like 30km one way, so 60km in total, but this time was very tough I have to admit it. I am considering changing the bike because I have mountain bike with very thick tires and I need the opposite, any ways, we'll see. This is the path I followed.

View Larger Map

A proof that I indeed reached the lake, at least the beginning of it ;-)

Next time I think I could rather take a bus to the lake and then make the circuit of it, THIS ONE.

My own Tour de France: 1st stage

Saturday 16th of June was my fist day biking outside Grenoble , at that time I didnt know where I was going so I didnt advance much, eight days later, Saturday 23rd  was the real first stage of my own Tour de France from Grenoble to Lans-En-Vercors, it's 27km one way, thus it was 54km all the way. The highest point is about the 1200 meters of altitude, being Grenoble at about 250meters it means it's a nice slope to climb.

View Larger Map 

There are beautiful sights in all the road, and you can see Grenoble and its surrounding mountains. In my way to the top I caught a tribute they were making to some heroes of the French resistance against the Nazis in the summer of 44. In that area there was a group of Frenchmen opposing resistance to the German army who had occupied France, it seems that in the place where the cemetery is the Nazis shot about 200 people, now in the cemetery there are some of those Frenchmen who died fighting against the Nazis.

My summer friends

I just want to introduce my two friends for the summer.

The daily one: Perfect for going to work, to french classes and other city issues

The weekend one: Perfect for going to the mountains and enjoy the summer in the alps

Cosas que pasan en Macondo

Noticia tomada del diario El Tiempo, Colombia. (ver articulo original)
Me tomo el atrevimiento de incluir algunos comentarios mios y de subrayar los pasajes por los cuales decidí incluir esta noticia bajo la etiqueta Macondo, y que me llevan a pensar una vez mas que ese es el verdadero nombre de mi pais.

A ritmo de reguetón, salsa y merengue celebraba su matrimonio el narcotraficante Camilo Torres Martínez, alias ' Fritanga', cuando fue capturado por la Policía en un hotel cinco estrellas en la isla Múcura, a dos horas de Cartagena.
Fuentes de la Dijín señalaron que la captura del poderoso narcotraficante, pedido en extradición por EE. UU., se dio en medio de una lujosa fiesta amenizada por orquestas internacionales y con la presencia de cerca de 200 personas, entre ellos reconocidos actores y modelos de la farándula nacional [Pablo: Un tributo a Aureliano Segundo, quien introdujo las monumentales fiestas a mi pais Macondo] .Los invitados, que se resistieron a terminar la fiesta, habían llegado a la isla desde Cartagena en yates contratados por el narcotraficante, en los que se servían todo tipo de frutos del mar y champaña.
Uno de los investigadores de la Policía relató que mientras ocupaban el hotel los invitados siguieron bailando y los uniformados tuvieron que apagar la música y ordenar que dejaran de repartir licor para poder realizar el operativo.
Incluso, cuentan personas cercanas al caso, los invitados se molestaron por la presencia de la Policía y se empezaron a quejar. Solo la advertencia de que todos podían ser detenidos y la mediación del mismo narcotraficante logró que se calmaran y atendieran las instrucciones de la Fuerza Pública.
Todo el hotel había sido reservado para la fiesta de matrimonio del 'narco' y la parranda ya llevaba varios días -había iniciado el martes pasado-. Cada noche tocaba un artista reconocido y cuando llegó la Policía en la tarima estaba en pleno concierto un exitoso cantante nacional.
La fiesta, en la que ' Fritanga' ya había gastado alrededor de 1.500 millones de pesos, terminó cuando su principal protagonista fue esposado por la Policía y cuando sus invitados de honor trataban de esconderse y buscaban la forma de abandonar la isla.
Pero como si fuera poco, la Policía informó que en los archivos de la Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil, 'Fritanga' aparecía como muerto. Al respecto, la Registraduría dijo que ese dato "se soporta en un registro civil de defunción expedido el 3 de diciembre de 2010 en la notaría 17 de Bogotá". En el registro, aparece que "el fallecimiento presuntamente ocurrió a las 11:00 p.m. del 2 de diciembre de 2010". [Pablo: Pero es que en Macondo no le negamos fiesta a nadie, ¡ni a los muertos¡]
Las autoridades mantienen un fuerte dispositivo de seguridad en la zona ante la posible presencia en la fiesta de Jhon Freddy Manco, alias el 'Indio', primo y socio de ' Fritanga', quien habría asistido a la boda pero no fue encontrado durante el operativo.
El 'narco' tiene un extenso prontuario al servicio de capos de la droga como Diego Rendón Herrera, alias 'Don Mario', y tendrá que responder por cargamentos de cocaína enviados a Estados Unidos a través de Centroamérica. Su nombre apareció a nivel nacional en 2009, en el escándalo que llevó a prisión al exdirector de Fiscalías de Antioquia, Guillermo León Valencia Cossio.

Historias de Macondo

Bajo la nueva etiqueta Macondo, quiero reunir esas historias de mi pais Colombia que en mi opinion clasificarian para hacer parte de Cien Años de Soledad, o que simplemente dan fé de que "nuestra realidad supera la ficción", de que nuestra realidad esta tan llena de absurdos  que es necesario mirarlos por encimita para poder seguir viviendo sin enloquecernos.

¿Que de donde soy yo, me preguntás? Yo soy de Envigado, un municipo de Macondo, en algun lugar entre la cienaga, el mar y las montañas.

Football takes and gives back

Three different games, two different tournaments, one common actor: England

Under construction [include this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_FIFA_World_Cup_Final]

June 27th 2010, SouthAfrica's world cup. England and Germany are playing the quarters of final in a brilliant match, Germany stroke first, and stroke again, 2-0 was the score after just half an hour of game.

But England woke up and score after a corner kick, it gave them the energy to keep pushing to get the tie before the break and gave us (the football lovers) the hope to get a memorable match, indeed it was, England tied but the referee disallow it! look:

The ball clearly was in! but the referee clearly didnt see it because he didnt allow it!! it was a decision that killed the game, England went pissed to the break and for the second half had its head rather in the referee than in the game, Germany scored two more goals. 4-1 final score, England victim of a bad decision.

June 19th 2012, almost two years after that, England was playing against Ukraine, again a quarters of final, this time of the Eurocup. England was leading 1-0 after a goal from Rooney, and the Ukranian Marko Devic shot this ball:

Again, clearly the ball crossed the line, goal for Ukrain!! no wait, John Terry was fast enough to clear the ball out before the Hungarian referee and his assistants noticed the clear goal. They didnt allow it either. Just that this time England was smiling.

Football takes away from you but also gives you back!

A week to remember

The last week of April of 2012 shall be remembered in the history of football.

This week the god of Football showed us, reminded us that in this game nothing is written, that there are no unbeatable teams and that even the greatest can fall on their own field. And as once is not enough, this week it happened twice.

First, Barcelona, the best times of last times (some say that the best team ever) was defeated in his own field by Real Madrid.  With this victory Real submitted papers for its new championship. But that was not that special.

The week started to become historical, when the same Barcelona was kicked by Chelsea from the final of the champions league. An epic accomplishment that even Chelsea's coach couldn't believe. Barcelona played the same style of game that made them unique, but failed to find more creative ways to score one its cracks were out of the top (Even Messi missed a penalty and Xavi missed unbelievable oportunities) while Chelsea managed to keep the score with a notorious defending strategy (with Drogba, one of the best 9's of this time, defending as a 4 in the right side). Football reminded that everyone has a chance to win.

Not enough with that, the next day, the Real Madrid, the other super favorite to reach the final, was also kicked out by Bayer Munich. After a soon 2-0, every body thought that the game was over, but not that soon! Bayer scored through a penalty and since then dominated as a visitor the team of Mourinho. Extratime was needed, but still no definition. It was necessary then to move into penalties shout-out. Cristiano Ronaldo missed the first one, Kaká (once the greatest) missed as well, then Casillas stopped two penalties in a row, to then let Ramos send the ball to a new galaxy.

Twice in the same week, football showed that everyone can win!

Later at the end of the week, Josep Guardiola, the coach of the Barcelona announced his non-continuity next season. Some have compared this with the end of the Beatles, because it was him who constructed one of the best teams of history, playing beautiful, and winning continuously, the best things of the Menottism and Bilardism together.

The end of an era seems to end. I am just happy of living this chapter of football history

Football: A ball in the foot!!

Just to avoid any uncomfortable misunderstanding, here we are going to talk about FOOT+BALL, not about other sports with doubtful names!

A poem to Football

I just realized that I have barely written here about one of my passions:  Football.

To remedy that situation, I am officially opening right now the label Football in my blog, where I expect to write down a bit about my love for this game, love inherited from my father and brother, love nurtured by my culture, love enriched by friends from many countries who share it, love that grows with any episode worth to be over-interpreted.

To open this label, nothing better that: A Poem to Football (by Walter Saavedra).

(please forgive me for the translation, I did the best I could, but it is simply impossible to replicate its beauty from Spanish to English)

"How are you going to know what love is,
if you never became a club fan?
How are you going to know what pain is,
if a defender never broke your tibia and fibula?
or being in the "wall" and the ball hit you just there!
How are you going to know what pleasure is,
if you never ran an Olympic Lap as a visitor.
How are you going to know what tender is,
if you never curled the ball hitting it with the outer of your boot
leaving the ball spinning in below the net.
Listen to me, how are you going to know what solidarity is
if you never went to defend a partner kicked from behind?
How are you going to know what poetry is
if you never dribbled.
How are you going to know what humiliation is,
if you were never thrown the ball between your legs,
How are you going to know what friendship is
if you never returned a triangulation,
How are you going to know what panic is
if you were never taken in bad position
during a counterattack
How are you going to know what is to die a bit
if you never picked up the ball from you own goal.
Tell me mate, how are you going to know
what solitude is
if you never stood below the three posts
12 steps away from someone who wanted to shoot you and kill your hope
How are you going to know what mud is
if you never jumped to someone's feet to trow the ball to the side,
How are you going to know what selfishness is
if you never dribbled one more time than you should
while the 9 was alone waiting for it
How are you going to know what art is
if you never ever created a rabona.
How are you going to know what music is
if you never sang from the ultras,
How are you going to know what injustice is
if you never got red card by a bias referee.
tell me, how are you going to know what
insomnia is
if you never went to second division.
How are you going to know what hate is
if you never scored in you own goal.
How, how are you going to know what crying is,
yes, crying,
if you never lost a World Cup final
through a doubtful penalty over the time.
How are you going to know, my dear friend,
How are you going to know what LIFE is
if you never ever played Football"