5 minute read

Wayfarer Travels Paris Revisited

What’s on at the Cutty Wren

darker beer - bit stronger at 6.5%.

After visiting all the famous tourist spots such as the Eiffel Tower, the Arch de Triomphe, the Louvre etc., it’s worth venturing a little further afield to the Palace of Versailles about 12 miles from the centre of Paris. The gardens there are beautiful and the musical fountain show quite spectacular – even more so after dark when the spouting fountains are accompanied by varying lights & lasers as well as the dramatic music.

Then back in the city, there`s the atmospheric artists` quarter at Montmarte, crowned by the beautiful white domed basilica of Sacre Coeur. There`s a very pretty merry-go-round at the foot of the steps and it’s pleasant just to idly stroll around amongst the artists painting in the nearby square.

A boat trip down the River Siene is also recommended. You can take a one hour cruise at 15euros, which will take you past Notre Dame cathedral, the Louvre, etc. and will glide under classic bridges, such as Pont Neuf, or a more comprehensive tour costing ten times that amount but covering a greater distance and including a decent dinner.

There`s also plenty of evening entertainment as you would expect in a city such as Paris.

It`s over 10 years since we stayed in Paris and very little seems to have changed –except for the prices!

The city is quite accessible from the Northeast with several cheap flights every day from either Newcastle or Leeds Bradford as well as lots of short “city break” packages. The climate is very similar to that of London with slightly warmer summers. Restaurants are expensive with a decent meal £80 for two including a couple of drinks. Beer is also expensive at about £6-£7 a pint of local brew. Kronenbourg is France`s most well known beer but my favourites are Pelforth Blonde, a 3 grain beer at 5.8% and Pelforth Brune, a

I can recommend an evening at the Paradis Latin. I believe it’s the oldest night club in Paris. The show is spectacular and the inclusive dinner very good.

Wayfarer

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Are You Ignoring Your Injuries?

Iheardon the radio a few weeks ago somebody talking on Pause for Thought about how easy it is to get complacent; we get used to something being a certain way and slowly but surely it becomes normal. Whether we like it or not we no longer think about it – “Well it’s always been like that, and probably can’t be changed”. The speaker gave a really good example, about how he did something to his knee, years ago. He thought it hurt at first, but then forgot about it – he just got used to it, because his brain and body between them managed to compensate by very slightly changing the way he walked.

This was great for him in the short term, because he was no longer in any pain – if he got the occasional niggle he thought “Ouch!” but then forgot about it again. It was only months later that he saw a friend after a long absence who asked him what was the matter – why was he walking with a limp?

He had developed a limp in order to get away from the pain – when he tried walking “normally” again he found that he couldn’t do it without pain! So he got himself an appointment with his choice of health professional and after a few treatments it was back to normal, no pain and no limp.

This so often happens with my clients – their problem has been building up for so long and usually they don’t come for treatment because an old friend asks them what’s wrong, but because their body decides enough is enough and gives them some severe, acute pain they can’t ignore any longer. They HAVE to have something done, as they can no longer walk, or sit, or stand, or sleep – it varies from person to person. They come to me and say “I really haven’t done anything, it just went!” but when I get them to think over the last few months, or sometimes even years, it usually becomes obvious what the initial cause was, often a minor incident they forgot about and their body compensated for. When your body compensates for a small injury, it usually ends up building up the connective tissue under the skin and this pulls the skeleton out of alignment – doing this by even a tiny amount can affect the rest of the body quite strongly. Just imagine a tent, fastened tightly with guy ropes, poles and pegs. If someone came along and pulled a guy rope at the back, it wouldn’t only affect that rope – you would see that the guy ropes at the front, along with the poles, would be pushed out of alignment too. The same thing happens in your body over time, and this explains why many people come to me with one shoulder higher than the other, or one leg seemingly short, or a twisted pelvis – but they usually aren’t aware of this as it seems “normal” as it’s built up over a long period of time. It often means that when people come with, for example, a problem knee, I don’t only work on the knee, because the cause of the pain may be a long way away!

At the beginning of every Bowen treatment session at Smart Therapies we always assess the client’s body, so that we can see what it is telling us – and it may be different to what the client tells us! Despite that, their original problem is usually sorted pretty quickly, often along with other problems they hadn’t even considered mentioning until questioned. This happens at the first treatment, and every following treatment, even though the client may not be aware it has taken place. Usually the first thing they realise is that they sit up and the pain has either diminished greatly, or even disappeared completely.

Get in touch with Smart therapies if you want to see what we could do for you, with either Bowen Therapy or Reflexology

Judith 01287 660745/07934 430981

Norman 01287 660462 judith@smart-therapies.com

By ZHANG BOLI

Zhang Boli not only survived the atrocities of Tiananmen Square, he hid as a fugitive in China for almost two years before escaping the country and embarking on the most extraordinary journey you`ll ever read about.

Zhang was the only leader of the protest group to survive. He made his way across the frozen wastes of the former Soviet Union helped by local peasants and eventually found his way to freedom.

This book is worth reading just for the detailed accounts of the Tiananmen Square events but his subsequent escape is nothing short of miraculous.