Sunday, 22 January 2017

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Rogue One is the ship which goes on a mission to retrieve the plans for the Death Star.

Quotes from the film include -

"Be careful not to choke on your aspirations" - Darth Vader
"It's a chance for you to make a fresh start" - Mon Mothma
"What's your call sign - ", "Rogue, Rogue One"

Saturday, 14 January 2017

Live by Night (2016)

Live by Night is co-written, stars and directed by Ben Affleck. It is based on a book by Boston-born novelist, Dennis Lehane.

Passengers (2016)

Passengers is a film directed by Morten Tyldum and produced by The Fast and the Furious Los Angeles born Neal Moritz. It is set on the fusion-powered starship Avalon transporting colonists to the planet Homestead II. Laurence Fishburn (Morpheus in the Matrix) stars and RADA-trained Michael Sheen plays the android bartender aboard the starship.

Saturday, 31 December 2016

What is the Size of a Football Field in hectares?

A hectare is an SI unit of area. 100 hectares are equal to approximately 1 square kilometre. Hectares and acres are commonly used in measuring farmland.

Les Arenes de Lutece - Amongst the last vestiges of Roman Paris in 5eme

This is a Roman amphitheatre in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, also known as the Latin quarter. The 5th arrondissement is the only district left where the remains of Roman Paris can be seen.

The arena's  name comes from Lutetia, the Roman name for Paris.

The amphitheatre (which lies on the Rue Monge) was actually discovered in more recent times during the building of the Rue Monge, a road running roughly North-South starting at Rue Lagrange and crossing the Rue des Ecoles.

The author Victor Hugo (who wrote Les Miserables in 1862)  was one of the intellectuals pushing for the preservation of the arena.

Another notable relic from Roman times is the baths of Cluny (Thermes de Cluny) partly absorbed into the Cluny Museum of the Middle Ages, which houses a very important tapestry collection.

Saturday, 17 December 2016

The Paris RER

The Paris RER express train consists of five lines, A, B, C, D and E.

A map of the lines and the zones they cover can be found here.

The "RER C" train goes from Paris to Versailles to the West (station "Versailles Rive Gauche", Zone 5), subroute C5. "Ligne C" also goes via Champs de Mars Tour Eiffel and St Michel Notre Dame stations along the South (left) bank of the Seine.

Paris Metro tickets are valid for RER trains within Zones 1-2.

Notre Dame to Versailles is a roughly one hour journey.  RER stands for Réseau Express Régional, serving Paris and its suburbs.

The Louvre

The Louvre in Paris is the world's largest museum. The nearest train station is the Palais-Royale Musée du Louvre (lines 1 and 7).
Line 1 goes from La Défense in the West to Château de Vincennes (a royal fortress) in the East. It passes the Louvre and also the Champs Élysée.