DanielWL

The Dassault Rafale: agile, mighty and versatile. The Rafale is France's multirole jet fighter and is being produced both for land-based use with the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations with the French Navy. The F3 standard is the latest update available (2010).

Rugby Firefox, with a brand new blue ball: Second try!

The A380, the largest passenger aircraft in the world, made its first commercial flight on October 25, 2007, from Singapore to Sydney, Australia, with Singapore Airlines. The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. In an average 555-passenger configuration, the A380 has 33% more seats than a 747-400 in a standard configuration but 50% more cabin area and volume, resulting in more space per passenger.

The Rafale F3. The Rafale is a French twin-engined delta-wing agile multirole 4.5th-generation jet fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Introduced in 2000, the Rafale is being produced both for land-based use with the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations with the French Navy. The F3 standard is the latest update available (2010).

Rugby Firefox: First try!

The Bluenose II is the iconic schooner of the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia (Eastern Canada). We did - and liked - the picturesque Bluenose tour in July 2006 (we wish it would have lasted a bit longer, though…). This picture, taken from the ship's bow, shows her boom, heading toward the high sea, as we were sailing outward in the bay of Lunenburg. Grace, beauty and strength! A definite thrill too.

The Nissan X-Trail, jeeping on wet and dry terrain in Southwestern France (near Toulouse and Arcachon), in 2008. Nice, smooth and surprisingly efficient rides, I reckon, thanks to the All-Mode 4x4 i and its useful 'Lock' position, available in difficult all-terrain conditions.

Lunenburg, NS, Canada. This attractive, picturesque harbor is the home port of the fantastic and iconic schooner Bluenose II.

The Douglas DC-3 is a true flying legend. Just think: it first flew on December 17, 1935, and hundreds of them are still flying today. It was a hi-tech low-wing all-metal plane with trailing edge flaps, single elevator and rudder and retractable landing gear. The DC-3 also had two cowled radial engines. The controls included an automatic pilot and two sets of instruments. Although many variants were built, the original design was so satisfactory that the basic specifications were never changed.

The carrier-borne Dassault Rafale M is the multirole jet fighter of the French Navy Air Arm (Aeronavale). The French Rafale M fighters operate from the French Navy (Marine Nationale) flagship, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle.

The last days of summer and their nostalgia.

Blazing liquidambar leaves: autumn in the Midi Toulousain (the Toulouse area), Southwestern France. Autumn - Fall - Garden - Tree - Liquidambar - American Sweetgum - Red - Orange - Yellow - Leaf - Leaves - Blazing - Nostalgia

The Airbus A380 is a useful behemoth! The world's largest jetliner is a passenger-and-environment-friendly aircraft and a hi-tech achievement. This double-decker is a real world solution for a cleaner, quieter and smarter way to fly. According to the Chief Operating Officer of Airbus, the new A380-900 could carry up to 900 passengers. It could be delivered to customers around 2015. Some airlines already expressed interest in the extended model including Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and Air France.

The CJ5 was an incredible all-terrain vehicle! The short wheelbase and narrow frame of the CJ Jeeps allowed them to fit into places where full-size 4x4 trucks could not go. Their ability to maneuver over rough terrain made them ideal for trail and offroad four-wheeling. Also helping them gain popularity was their low cost of repairs and operation. The smooth standard Hurricane F4 engine allowed fantastic offroading. Oh, and yes, the music!... Did you say vintage?

The Rafale F3. The Rafale is a French twin-engined delta-wing agile multirole 4.5th-generation jet fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. The Rafale is the first aircraft to have been designed, from the outset, to take off and land both from land bases and from aircraft carriers. The Rafale will ultimately replace all the current types of fighter aircraft now in the inventory of the French Air Force and the French Navy.

The Nissan X-Trail on a Galician dirt road, near Cabo Finisterre (Fisterra, Western Spain), in August 2010. Comfortable, pleasant, picturesque and quiet jeeping, I have to say!

Simple, rugged, rough and tough: the 2008 Chrysler Jeep J8 has everything you want from a Jeep. The J8 is essentially a beefed up 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. This model undoubtedly marks the start of Jeep's renewed commitment to supply armies, civilian government programs, exploration companies and NGOs with the highest-quality 4x4 vehicles available anywhere in the world. The standard engine is the appropriate Italian-made 2.8L VM Turbo-Diesel.

My Liquidambars in the bright mid-morning November light of Southwestern France. Autumn - Fall - November - Garden - Tree - Liquidambar - American Sweetgum - Red - Orange - Yellow - Leaf - Leaves - Blazing - Nostalgia

The Bleriot XI, on which Louis Bleriot crossed the Channel in 1909. Louis Bleriot (1872 – 1936) was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. He completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of GB£1000. He also is credited as the first person to make a working monoplane.

Angelle L Brook. She is two parts Kelly Brook, one part Jennifer Lopez and one part Angelina Jolie. Sexy Angelle L Brook, is a computer-generated composite representing British women’s idea of the “most seductive woman of all time”. Angelle combines Brook’s hair and body, Lopez’s nose and Jolie’s lips, wrapped up in “the most seductive dress of all time”: Marilyn Monroe’s white halter dress from The Seven Year Itch. From The Telegraph (UK), April 18, 2008.

Amsterdam, Holland. That city is definitely a superb, cool and lively spot, a place where sailing is a very popular activity on the numerous and picturesque waterways. Amsterdam's world-famous vintage canals are the perfect place for quiet, safe, genial boating, with your family, your friend(s) -- or just with your favorite cactus if you prefer...

The fortress of Louisbourg is located on Cape Breton island, Nova Scotia. This National Historic Site of Canada was built by the French in 1720 and completely destroyed by the British at the end of the Seven Year's War (1760). The fortress and town were partially reconstructed in the 1960s, using some of the original stonework and providing jobs for unemployed coal miners in the effort. The Louisbourg site is now operated by Parks Canada as a living history museum.

Louisbourg, circa 1757, again. Here's a montage evoking soldiers on watch in the fortress, facing a water-drenched desert of barren grounds... The problematic isolation of their settlement is obvious, between the endless wilderness of Isle Royale and Lower Canada, on the one hand, and about 3000 nautical miles of a Northern-Atlantic rough cruise to sail, on the other hand, if there's a ship to take you back to France. How humble and precarious they must have felt sometimes...

Le Stade 4-Star Winners! Stade Toulousain, the Toulouse Rugby Union club, won their fourth European title (the Heineken Cup) on May 22, 2010, establishing a new record in the competition. Toulouse also won the French Championship title on June 04, 2011and their alltime record nineteenth Championship title on June 09, 2012, to make it double. Allez le Stade!

The Canals of Amsterdam, Holland. Memories of a lively, picturesque and very pleasant Dutch city: a must.