page26

ABOVE: Aphrodite's Rocks (or Petra tou Roumiou), where the goddess of love supposedly rose from the foam as in the famous painting by Botticelli

BY RAIL THROUGH THE CANADIAN ROCKIES (1999)
Included in this tour of British Columbia are the classic scenes of lakes, forests and snow-capped peaks ... the skyscrapers of Vancouver ... the elegance of Victoria ... the resort of Banff with its hot springs... the colourful floral displays of Butchart Gardens ... totem poles created by the West Coast ‘First Nations’ ... wildlife including ground squirrels, killer whales, bighorn mountain sheep, a skunk and, of course, Canada Geese ... the incredible experience of being on a glacier in a snow-storm ... and finally the journey from Banff back to Vancouver on the ‘Rocky Mountaineer’, billed as the most spectacular train journey in the world. Currently my most popular presentation, seen by over sixty societies.

APHRODITE’S ISLAND (Greek Cyprus) ( 2001)

The goddess of love and beauty arose fully-formed from the waves at the spot now known as Aphrodite’s Rocks. The wonderful collection of mosaics in the ‘House of Dionysus’ dates from the Roman period. High in the Troodos Mountains are tiny painted chapels which are over 800 years old. Lefkara, a village of narrow alleyways, is the home of traditional lace-makers. Cyprus, given its independence by Britain in 1960, has red letter-boxes, while one drives on the left and spends Cyprus Pounds in the shops.

LEFT: Gerald Ponting ‘on location’ at the Tombs of the Kings, Paphos - in Indiana Jones mode !!

A TALE OF TWO CITIES - PARIS ANCIENT AND MODERN (1997)
Nôtre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysées - the photographic clichés of Paris - are included here. But so are the buskers and mime artists and some of the less-well-known historic sites. Paris is also a very modern city, with the controversial Pei Pyramid in the Louvre courtyard and the ‘Science City’ of La Villette. Most modernistic of all is the district of La Défense, the more elegant Parisian version of Manhattan, with its colourful skyscrapers, weird sculptures and ‘La Grande Arche’.