The last couple of days in Paris has been great, getting to see the city when all is chilly and grey. Not everyone's cup of tea I know, but I always like a change from sunny days. I guess it provides a good contrast to work in the Ivory Coast.

The first night we spent in Paris this time, we went with Emma's parents, Jill and Patrick to the Grand Palais to see the "Jour de Fete's". We had thought it was a exhibit of carnival's but turned out to be the real thing. After a very wee traffic jam and a chilly walk we entered to see hundred's of people riding the various wacky rides, or shooting balloons, or just buying food. It was fun to see! So we had a wander around, won a radio at the airgun game, and finished it all off with a hot wine.

Hi All, hope this Xmas blog finds you all well, with a full belly and satisfied smile on your face. I'm sitting in a flat on Blvd Saint Michel waiting for Emma to return from work so we can meet up with a friend for a drink. It's freezing out there!! But all the same, nice to be in Paris in winter, still lots of tourists around!

The last Cote D'Ivoire stint was fun, interesting as usual. I've moved into the Bonikro Mine to be based there as we explore close to the mine. This means a very different work environment for me, flashing lights, short-wave radios, HUGE trucks and cafeteria meals. The change of pace and work is good I think. Certainly I'm finding it new, bright and shiny! Will see how I feel after 6 months of having to show my ID card at the gate.

Working near Bonikro means I am living in the town of Oume. Nothing like Yamousoukro, it is fairly small but with most things that you need. The biggest down side is that there is not much to do after work as the facilities here are not great. And unlike Yama, the street lights aren't good enough to run by. Luckily we have satellite TV from South Africa, so get the cricket and rugby.

Have run out of inspiration at the moment for more writing, so will add some pictures and viola!!
Bonikro Mine The uniform...
Love to you all

Back in Dourdan after 3 weeks in the Coast, I've now had 6 weeks in Cote d'Ivoire which makes me an expert I think? My last stint was all about working close to our mine, Bonikro, on the near-mine exploration. A very different experience for me, it was about defining resources, trying to prove up as much as possible, rather than trying to find something. Was good fun and enabled me to see a different side of the company, and to work with some different geo's. There are 2 expats working close to the mine, Keith and Jonnina. Keith has been here for a long time and knows a lot about a lot and is a great person to work with, very extrovert! Or should I say "Australian". Jonnina's from Sweden and next to Keith has been here the longest.

As well as the expats there are a new bunch of local geo's to get to know. As exploration in the Cote is relatively young there is not huge experience in the local work force. But the guys are very keen and willing to learn all the time. It's a very different working environment than I am used to, even things like computer literacy can't be taken for granted here. So while a person may be a qualified geo that doesn't mean they will be able to work Microsoft Excel. These photos are from a training session we had with to understand logging core and drill chips.

some of the staff
drill site
field office
our camp kitchen - sans rats at the moment
my tent in the foreground

Well, I'm back in France now after my first stint in Cote d'Ivoire and trying to collect my thoughts on my time there. I don't really know where to start, it was much as I expected, but not at the same time. I think I will start at the start and go from there.

I left France on the 1st of October and after a 1 hr sit on the tarmac in Paris made it to Abidjan at 7pm local time, a 6hr flight. Abidjan is the admin capital for CDI and is the largest city, but is not the capital. Yamoussoukro has that tag, even though it is a small place. But it was the home of the Ivorian leader, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who was determined to make it the leader of Ivoria.

I was picked up at the airport along with a few other LGL Gold people who just flew in. LGL Gold is an Australian company expanding into Africa and is upscaling operations hugely in the next few months. We have doubled the no of expat staff since I have been there, mostly upper management.

After a night in Abidjan (the roads are not safe to drive on at night) we headed for Yamoussoukro, our base of operations. LGL has a bunch of exploration permits scattered around the country and a working mine at Bonikro, close to Yamo. My role is as exploration geologist and project manager. I have been given a project to the north of the country that has over 600 drill holes into it and I need to work out where the gold is concentrated. Not hard to find small quantities, but not easy to find an economic load either. Generally the exploration is like my previous experience, although with less emphasis on airborne geophysics and the geology is very different. We are in old metamorphic volcanic and sediment rocks, very similar to NE South America and other West African countries that have had some success with gold exploration, so the hope is that CDI will be the same. Up till now CDI has been focused on agriculture so exploration has been minimal but they are expanding. I think it all looks very promising, fingers crossed!

We have an office in Yam, and field camps in various locations where we have on-going exploration. My project is 4-5 hrs drive from Yamo and has a fully set up field camp, complete with office, kitchen, tented accommodation, long drops and bucket showers. I have yet to run into any local wild life (not counting the insects), but have been informed that we have "beaucoup des elephants and lyons" here and of course snakes! Not looking forward to seeing those wriggly buggers, but it is inevitable. Our office in Yamo consists of a house in the suburbs, with our accommodation the houses next-door. The set up is not bad here; good phone and internet access, and we are upgrading the equipment we have to cope with the increase in staff. The houses are pretty well set up to, with all mod cons, including sat tv from UK and France, so all the European rugby to tap! Will just have to convince the boss that I need time to watch the all blacks play...

LGL has around 70 staff (I think) in Cote d’Ivoire, including geo’s, admin, field staff, cooks and drivers. It seems that driving in this country is pretty tricky so they have people to do that for us. There is a small number of expat staff, mostly geo’s, who are the project managers etc, with local geo’s doing more of the grunt work. Although there are also local geo’s in senior roles. Everyone seems really friendly, even with me who doesn't speak much French yet! Most of the geo's speak English to some level, better than my French at any rate, but I am forced to speak and listen to French all the time so am learning quickly.

I've included a couple of photos of the camp in the Nth and some of the people I work with. And no, the locals don't have red hair but were gifted those wigs from a Scottish geo and reckon it keeps the fly’s away!

Ah...lovely Dourdan!! Such a cute little town. Now that I've been to the Chateau de Dourdan, I can tell you that it was started in the 10th century and from the 13th century onwards has seen Kings and Queens, nobles and un-nobles, a few wars and a few pigeons. The town itself has an old centre around the chateau and Gothic cathedral, with a beautiful forest surrounding it. It used to be a royal forest (before they decided to treat the royals like trees and chop them down) and there are tracks all over the place, perfect for a jog in the evening. There are deer and boor in the forest, a danger for drivers in the evening.

A fairly small town, 10,000 Dourdannais, but it has everything, 3 patisserie's, a cinema, rugby ground. Every Wednesday and Saturday there is a market in the town centre, plenty of good fruit and veges to be had, and an odd horse-meat stall! Mmm...Mr Ed anyone?

Our house is only a minute from the centre by foot, within the old town. It's a beautiful old 3 story house with a wine-cellar (cave) and a little garden at the back. Built in the 1700's (we think), it was on the route of the escape path from the chateau and so is linked by underground to all the houses around. Unfortunately they blocked all the underground off after the Second World War when they became dangerous.

The last few weeks have seen Emma and I head into Paris to catch up with her friends. With the holidays season here we have been lucky to have been offered apartments in town to stay at while people were away, so we have made the most of that to base ourselves in town while we look around. With the myriad of museums available it is always a hard choice on what to see but the pick for me so far was the Musee de Armee, which has a history of armaments throughout France's lifespan (see photo for great horsey armour) and the best WW1 and WW2 exhibit I have ever seen, including the political lead up into WW1 dating back to the late 1800's. It was all so good it was emotionally tiring, especially looking at the numbers of dead from the wars. It's completely unfathomable to know that 1.7 million and that another 4.9 million were injured died from the USSR.

Another highlight of our time so far was the Bateau Mouche (Fly Boat?) that takes you on a 1hr 15 ride up and down the Seine, looking at some of the most famous of Paris buildings and monuments. We went with Emma's friends from varsity, most of whom had ended up in paris for work. Although we had seen all these sights before it was great to see them from a different perspective, not to mention seeing them all without getting off your chair! As always I get a kick out of seeing the Notre Dame, especially when you can't see the thousands of people in front of her.

The last week has seen a family outing down the Vallee de la Loire, a beautiful, fertile valley that follows the Loire River. Most famous for the many stunning Chateau's, we were headed for a flower show. Not my usual cuppa but I was tempted by Patrick with the promise of a picturesque drive...and he delivered! Past the scenic town of Bloise and onto one of the 59 nuclear power stations dotted through-out France.

The flower show was held in the grounds of the Chateau Chaumont-sur-Loire and was a festival of colour this year. While I didn't always understand the logic or artistic expression behind some of the gardens, (waffle waffle waffle) I at least appreciated the effort, especially the French Poodle!




After a lunch of salmon sammies washed down with cider, we decided to head onto the near-by town of Amboise which was the final home of Leonardo de Vinci (in the Clos Luce) and has a display of many of his inventions. What an amazing man he was, constantly thinking up new ideas and variations on old ones. A good example is the double-layered bridge so that pedestrians carts can use the same bridge at the same time, thus improving the traffic flow. Who would have thought he was a council worker at heart! But he didn't mind the odd war machine either!

The way to Rome is paved in gold they said, and so far I can't complain! We had 5 days in Moorea(French Polynisia) and 5 days in Santa Barbara(California) enroute to France and it was fantastic! In Moorea it was days by the beach, swimming, cycling and kayaking, while in Santa Barbara we were more cerebral, taking in the history and the beautiful buildings plus the local wine trail.

S.B surprised us with how picturesque it was, lovely streets, a beautiful beach and all topped of with friendly Californian's. The food was great, the beer was cold and they have the best Farmers Market I have seen. What more could I want? With all the reading of Loius L'Amour over the years I felt at home here.