Drottningholm is listed as one of UNESCO’s world heritage sites.

To be honest, I wasn’t impressed by the royal palace. I think when you’ve seen Versailles and Co., you’re no longer impressed by this type of monument, considering that they are much smaller and more modest. In addition, I didn’t think that the presentation was well done. As a visitor, I expected a panel in each room explaining the purpose of the room and describing the ornaments and paintings. There was nothing of that sort. Either you were visiting with a guide, or you had a guidebook with you that gave you the essentials (my case), otherwise you just passed each room without a clue of what was what. Not very visitor-friendly…

That said, I thought the setting was really beautiful. The palace is built by the water, on the Island of Lovön, at 10km west of Stockholm. You can reach it by ferry or public transportation (ferry is better, and strangely enough, it’s not more expensive!).

Besides the royal palace, there is the Chinese Pavilion that is worth a detour. This pavilion was a birthday present from King Adoph Frederic to Queen Lovisa Ulrika, who was crazy about chinoiseries like many others at that time in Europe. So the King had it built in Stockholm and transported by boat the day before her birthday. Talk about a surprise!

The royal palace: view from the garden

The Chinese Pavilion

The royal palace: view from the water

If you chance to be in Stockholm on a sunny day, then visiting Skansen is a good choice. It’s an open-air museum, supposedly the first of its kind in the world, which lets you travel back in time to Sweden in the old days (14th to 19th century). Here you can see a collection of houses from all over Sweden, from farmer’s house, barns, craftsmen’s workshops, shops, to a manor house. You simply walk around this vast domain, and you can enter the workshop and watch glassblowing, shop in the tiny grocery store which actually does sell things, or go inside the individual houses. Sometimes the house is empty, and sometimes you find an old woman knitting in the living room. There is even a zoo with Scandinavian animals – bears, elks, reindeers, etc. I spent the whole afternoon in the park and had a great time!

A farmer’s house

The red house

A manor house

This museum is another must-see in Stockholm. Here is exposed the Vasa, a huge vessel that sank in the Stockholm Harbour in 1628. The Vasa’s story is actually a pathetic one, since it sank only after a distance of 1,300 m out in the harbour, right on its very first voyage, supposedly because it carried too many heavy cannons and a light breeze made it lose its balance. So the vessel itself does not have a particularly impressive naval history to tell, although you can appreciate the ornate sculptures and imagine what life would’ve been like for the hundreds of sailors and soldiers on board.

But the incredible story of the Vasa is that in the 50’s, an archaeologist managed to recover the vessel from the bottom of the harbour where it lay for more than three centuries. Were it not for the particular property of the water in the Stockholm Harbour, the vessel would’ve been completely deteriorated. But it was miraculously conserved, and after years and years of restoration, the impressive vessel came back to life.

I particularly appreciated the way they exposed the Vasa – you see it immediately as you enter the museum, without all the blah-blah that you usually see in museums that try to save the best for last (but then, by the time you get there, you’re tired). It’s definitely worth a visit!

Gamla Stan is the old town, THE place to see if you’re only staying in Stockholm for 2 hours. It’s a small island (Stockholm is composed of several islands), home to the Royal Palace, and the perfect neighbourhood for an afternoon walk. The narrow streets are full of nice little shops, especially of Swedish handcrafts, and some spots remind me of picturesque villages in the south of France (the chilly wind reminds me immediately of where I am).

The Royal Palace

Stortorget

I was in Stockholm for a few days. Mid-September, and it was already chilly in this Scandinavian city, but the beauty of it motivated me to walk around the different neighbourhoods, visit different sites and museums, and also do some window-shopping.

The city is really beautiful! But winter here might be too harsh for me, judging from the temperature in September. It was fine during the day, if it happened to be sunny (not everyday), but when it was cloudy and windy, and in the evenings, I would’ve been glad to have a winter coat, scarf, hat and gloves. For the locals, it seems as though it’s only the end of summer, since many of them still eat outside at lunchtime and walk around eating ice cream (unthinkable!).

Just like other Scandinavian cities, it is very expensive (how can I forget the 30-euro pizza in Norway – the first and last time we ate out during our trip!) – hence, the window-shopping… By the way, I checked out an H&M store, and found out that this was probably one of the few countries where buying the local brand locally comes out more expensive than buying it abroad.

In any case, I had lots of fun wandering through the narrow streets in the old town.

Strandvägen on a beautiful sunny day

Ces derniers temps, j’ai été un peu débordée, donc pas le temps de mettre à jour ce site, même s’il s’est passé beaucoup de choses. J’ai quitté Madagascar après un séjour de 11 mois et je suis à nouveau en France. Ces dernières semaines étaient bien remplies avec le déménagement, le boulot, les pots de départ… Les prochains mois, je m’occuperai de mon ventre arrondi et le petit bonhomme-to-be. Mais d’abord, c’est le moment des vacances bien méritées pour moi et Fabrice. A bientôt et bonnes vacances à tous!

Ah oui! C’est la bonne vieille couverture de l’AP-HP qui a apparemment eu une deuxième vie dans un hôpital public dans les environs de Tana – dans une chambre payante haut de gamme, s’il vous plaît!

Le 26 juin est le jour de l’Indépendance de Madagascar, et c’est un jour férié. Ce jour-là, il y a une grande foule sur l’Avénue de L’Indépendance, qui est bordée de marchands ambulants, jeux et diverses animations. C’est la grande fête! Mais c’est aussi l’endroit idéal pour les pickpockets, donc j’ai préféré rester à la maison. La fête commence la veille au soir, avec les feux d’artifice sur le lac Anosy. On s’est réuni chez une amie qui a un appartement avec vue sur le lac. Nous étions à la première loge pour voir les feux d’artifice qui étaient assez impressionnants.

More pictures of kids and malagasy dance taken at an inauguration ceremony that took place on Friday.

Walk the World is an annual walking event organized worldwide by the World Food Programme with its corporate partners. The event aims to raise awareness on world hunger, while fundraising for their activities, such as school feeding. The “food crisis” is now a hot topic, affecting both developed and developing countries, but low-income countries such as Madagascar are particularly hit by the recent increase in food price and essential goods.

I helped organize this event when I was working for WFP last year, so I was determined to participate when I found out that Madagascar was having its own WtW, too. The walk took place in the village of Ambatomirahavavy, at 18km southwest of Tana, on Sunday, June 1st. The event is only in its second year in Madagascar, and its scope is still small – around 170 participants – but in any case, it was great to walk for an hour and a half admiring the beautiful countryside.

The walk begins!

The beautiful countryside…

Kids, queue up!

Everyone gets an orange balloon!