Spring is in the air

Sunny weather in Paris is particularly worth celebrating, as the climate of Île-de-France is generally cloudy and rainy.

A picnic in one of the city's numerous parks, or a pizza lying on the grass during lunch break for those who don't have the time off, could be a great idea to enjoy the sunshine.

Parc de Sceaux, in the outskirts of Paris, was our choice this week. We took a long walk through its beautiful gardens abundant in blossoming plants, and enjoyed the rainbow over the lake.

The impulse to just sit back and enjoy the clear, blue sky came naturally,  for it's a view that doesn't uncover itself as often as we'd like it to.

A taste of France’s Joie De Vivre: 8th of March strolling through Élancourt’s forests

On the edge of the valley of Chevreuse, about 40 min from Paris, Élancourt is a very green city. Combining history and modernity, medieval edifices and modern buildings stand side by side in a green landscape that’s very much appreciated by residents as well as tourists.

Short history

In 1472, the small town called Ellencourt at that time reached for the first time a hundred people. Its population continued to grow at an easy pace until the advent of the modern city and the “population boom” in generated in the 1970’s. Summing 800 residents in five centuries, Élancourt attracts over 8000 people in five years! For the next 30 years, Élancourt become one of the main centers of urban development west of the capital, and now reunites 28 000 inhabitants. Turning from a village into small modern city while retaining its charm a natural landscape, Élancourt is an inviting destination at the gates of Paris.

Bois de Élancourt: 8^th of March in connexion with nature

With natural highlights such as forests, lakes and mountains close to Élancourt, there are several trails you can take for some fresh air. We chose Bois de Élancourt for its easy access: from the Town Hall (Hôtel de ville) you take the road to the left and in about 5-7 min by foot you’re at one of the entrances. As we wanted to enjoy the sunset, which is at 18:46h, we enjoyed a laid-back lunch and set out rather late in the afternoon at about 16h.

Entering Bois de Élancourt, the change of setting becomes more and more visible, as the noises of the town are being silenced and replaced by the sound of the wind through the leafs and a few birds singing here and there.

Continuing the descend along the path, as soon as hearing the flow of the water it feels like entering a naturally air-conditioned space. I do look forward to come back here on a hot summer day.

As the sunset approached, it was all peace and quiet.

And the sunset was absolutely marvelous.

Perfect to just take a sit and enjoy ;)

Is this the future of air traveling?

Isn't Solar Impulse incredible? A real pioneer, he's the only airplane -and may we hope the first in many- of perpetual endurance that can fly day and night on solar power. No fuel. 

Check out his trajectory and follow him live on his official site, as he has embarked on a journey around the world. 

Current location: Ahmedabad (India)

Nomad lifestyle ;)

Interesting article by Razvan Toma about building a location independent business. The title of his article is straightforward: "Quit your job and start a business as a freelancer on oDesk". 

Access the article here and check out his argument.

What's new @ traveling #theworld

The British have a national day of unplugging :-) And it's today, the 6th of March. We liked the Telegraph Travel's choice of 10 of the best technology-free holidays.

Downer: no African destination in their top 10 :(

Check out their article here

Check out Travelogx's TTOT SELFIE, where you can find our story & many more daily stories from worldly travelers

Click a smilie to see its story Long Term #Travel #TTOT 2015-02-24 Recap

Sometimes all you need to do is look up to the sky

                                                  Costa Rica, Puntarenas, 2011

A beautiful day upon Alhambra

A photo taken from the Mirador San Nicolas a few years ago, modified in PicsArt. The Alhambra Palace of Granada, Spain, had a particularly spendid air that day. 

A beautiful way to rememorate your travels is to play around with the pics of your favorite trips ;) 

The direct link between Rememorating and Building the Future

                                 
One of the most remarkable and evolutionarily essential elements of experiencing time through human consciousness is something cognitive scientists and psychologists call mental time travel — a combination of episodic memory, which allows us to draw on our autobiographical experience and call up events, experiences, and emotions that occurred in the past, with the ability to imagine and anticipate future events, writes Maria Popova on Brain Pickings.

According to Dan Falk in “In Search of Time: The History, Physics, and Philosophy of Time”:

“The capacity for mental time travel gave our ancestors an invaluable edge in the struggle for survival. They believe there is a profound link between remembering the past and imagining the future. The very act of remembering, they argue, gives one the “raw material” needed to construct plausible scenarios of future events and act accordingly. Mental time travel “provides increased behavioral flexibility to act in the present to increase future survival chances.” If this argument is correct, then mental time travel into the past — remembering — “is subsidiary to our ability to imagine future scenarios.” Tulving agrees: “What is the benefit of knowing what has happened in the past? Why do you care? The importance is that you’ve learned a lesson,” he says. “Perhaps the evolutionary advantage has to do with the future rather than the past.”

Modern neuroscience appears to confirm that line of reasoning: as far as your brain is concerned, the act of remembering is indeed very similar to the act of imagining the future, according to Popova.

Traveling keeps the brain sharp and the hearth healthy

            

“Research shows that travel helps build vital neural pathways”, says Dr. Gary Small, director of the UCLA Longevity Center at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, quoted by the Natural Society. 

The value of novelty is particularly high for our brains, as challenging new experiences of any kind help the brain develop parts of nerve cells called dendrites, which are like branches of a tree.  “Navigating unfamiliar places, tasting new foods, or learning even just a few words of another language delivers the brain-building effect”, affirms Dr. Small.

While the new and complex situations encountered while traveling can help keep the brain sharp, travel has been found to lower the risk of heart attack and death from coronary disease in certain groups, points out Elizabeth O’Brien on the Market Watch.

She quotes the result the long-running Framingham Heart Study, which studies residents of Framingham, Mass., in which women aged 45 to 64 were asked how often they took vacations. In a 20-year follow-up study, researchers found that women who vacationed every six years (or less frequently) had a significantly higher risk of developing a heart attack or coronary death compared with women who vacationed at least twice a year, even after adjusting for traditional risk factors such as blood pressure.

According to the same author, a separate, nine-year study found that annual vacations reduced the risk of death from any cause, and specifically death from heart disease, in a group of men at high risk for coronary heart disease. 

                                              

A journey might require less than you think

"Happiness is a journey, not a destination"