The success of any system depends on the user community

Here I’m not talking of any IT systems. The other day I was traveling from Chennai to Bangalore by train. In the wee hours of the morning got down at the cantonment station to take the auto-rickshaw from there. I was always happy to reach B’lore as the Pre-paid system for the autos works very well there. It was the greatest pain to discover during this visit that the system has gone for a total toss when the Chennai train arrived. There were a lot of autos @ Stations, but not in the pre-paid counter, but a lot of them a little away from there. Inspite of a big queue standing in the line awaiting for their turn, these autowallahs refused to take passengers from the Pre-paid line. Instead there were lot of people who go to them and pay exorbitant amount to reach their home. What a pity, the police person who was on duty was completely help less as many people don’t bother to stay in the line and approach the autowallahs directly. This creates a problem for all, for the individuals who run the show, the public & the enforcement people. Why all this for a system which was a super hit? This made me think. I was wondering does this happen only for the Chennai trains or for all trains. I think when it comes to Chennai trains these sort of things happen, that’s what I was told. This made me travel back and think what people do @ Chennai central. Same thing inspite of having a prepaid system, still people prefer to go out of the way and get their own service. Why all this? What is the ownership of the individuals in such system. I suppose the people who come to from Chennai by that train are mostly the IT gang, if I’m not wrong.

Best of Alps

As some of my earlier team members are going to France and with the fact that its snowing, I suggested them to visit the French Alps – Chamonix- Mont.Blanc. I’m missing the ski season there. Ok now coming to the point I was googling for the information on the Alps cable cars I stumbled on this site Best of Alps. I was so happy to see that I have traveled quite a few places in that namely
Megeve (France)
Chamonix – Mont Blanc (France)
Zermatt (Switzerland)
St. Moritz (Switzerland)
Garmish- Partenkrichen(Germany)
Of all the places I visited my vote goes to the Franch Alps.

Here is the picutre taken from that site, here you can see the entire Alps range.

Rennes - Part of my last road trip in France

Rennes is a hugely attractive town which fuses architectural styles from Gallo Roman beginnings to a medieval cathedral quarter and elegant 16th-18th century bourgeois buildings.
When Brittany was united with the rest of France in 1532, Rennes was made regional capital and established itself as an important thoroughfare from Nantes and Le Mans to the northern and western ports. In 1720 much of the city's splendor was destroyed in a fire.
When you look at the present Rennes u won't get this feeling.

Rennes was live in action on the Halloween night with great costume parades. We had a gr8 time. The unforgettable night of the road trip. We could not get accommodation in the place we wanted to stay for the night, and as a last resort settled to spend the night in Rennes. Not a bad choice, Edu thanks for the fun. I will never forget the chase u gave me @ 4 in the morning in the streets. Also learnt a few Portuguese words that night. Not to forget the beautiful last dinner (hopefully not) with Alex, Edu, Ioana, Ciprian & Chris. A mix of Indian and French.

However Rennes has managed to retain much of its early stature boasting two universities, an upbeat ambiance, high tech industry and an established cultural life. The medieval streets, half timbered houses, designer boutiques and chic bars & restaurants. Have a closer look at the statue in the picture. You can easily agree the kind of celebration that would have happened the previous night ;-)

Who is PUCK-MAN?

Was going through Jag site and discovered … Celebrating it’s 25th birthday this year, and destined to be around for time to come I’m sure - this game is, of course, Pac Man. The inventor was inspired by a pizza at a dinner party, and originally designed to appeal to girls, it’s been played over 10 billion times.. read on about it @ Jag’s site

What do u call an adventure in B’lore

Remember the other article on Para-sailing @ B’lore I did over the weekend. Inspite of not so high safety standards in such activities, still they are considered to be a much safer then walking on a one-way in B’lore. The other day as I was crossing the Cunningham road looking on the oncoming traffic, Bang for the wrong side a cyclist comes and hits on my left leg. This leads to two hairline fracture on the left ankle. What a sad state? He doesn't even bother to apologies pick-up his cycle and runs. Sob sob. This doesn't stop me from going to Chennai for the weekend. Sriram drove me to chennai in his car as I had an urgent work there. Also my best friend G came to the bus stand when I was leaving. So sweet of her, still her daughter cries aloud. Next week is G's birthday, advance birthday wishes.

Parasailing in B'lore

Ready

Steady

Fly

Mont-St-Michel

@ Mont-St-Michel, It was the bishop of Avranches who first started work on the abbey on this beautiful island. I was told this is one of the France's most visited attraction.
The bay provides numerous opportunities for walking, riding and cycling. This pleace is clearly marked with high tide and low tide sessions. This is the day night picuture of this place.

Cancale

The second day we stayed in Cancale.

Cancale has made its reputation as a fishing port and is famous for its oysters.

This is Quai Gambetta, the main streat that runs along the seafront

Granville

Granville has a long-established tradition of seafaring and piracy and is often compared to Brittany's St-Malo.,I shall come to St-Malo later. This walled town was built by the English in 1439 in an attempt to capture Mont-St-Michel. If you climb to the top of the ramparts you'll be rewarded with stunning views for the near by towns.

The lower part of the town is a traditional seaside resort complete with casino, seafronts and gardens.

This port also acts as a departure point for the Channel Islands.

First stop - Caen

Caen is the capital and largest city of Basse Normandie. William the Conqueror and his wife Matilda built two fantastic abbeys and a castle in the mid 11th century on the bank of the river Orne.
Unfortunately Caen's historic centre is small due to extensive World War II bombing. This gave us a chance to visit the World War museum. A very nice one.
Picture taken infront of the war museum, with Edu & Alex

Been there and done that road trip in France

Been there and done that road trip in France. 2600 km in 4 days and visited the Normandie & Brittany region. Places visited Caen, Granville, Mont-St-Michel , Cancale, St Malo, Rennes and a drive around Tours region. Highlight of the trip are visits to the American cemetery, Castle trip, Halloween in Rennes and visit to Alex grandparents house in Normandie.

My absence from the blog is for two reasons one is the above road trip and the other one is on travel on B-2-B, back to Bangalore for good.