Have you had a Magical Moment

General Discussion
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Grandson and I surveyed “our” valley and the rolling hills beyond.

Nanna, I love “the animal smell of the countryside”. (obviously a phrase he has picked up in UK)

What animals? Those sheep are downwind, so you can’t smell them.

What am I smelling then?

The different scents of all the flowers in the meadows and on the trees.

Do trees have flowers?

Yes and on fruiting trees it’s called blossom, but whatever it’s called - the smell is glorious. Just sniff the air…

(giant sniff)

Nanna, I could live here forever :hugs::heart:

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As so many of us do, we live in the country and are used to country sounds.
At the moment (sadly) my wonderful wife is in the UK and I’m here with the dogs for company.
Last night, I went up to bed and just stopped in our bedroom and listened to nothing - absolute silence.
What a sensation, so silent that my brain couldn’t accept it and started a humming/ringing sound for me to listen to (not tinnitus, I don’t suffer that).

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When I arrive at my French house the first thing that hits me is not the stunning scenery but the quietness

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He went on to explain the merits of living in a big city - such as where he lives in UK - (and making a fair fist of it, for a 10 year old) - we had quite a discussion (with me being very careful what I said).

He was knowledgable about light-pollution/air-pollution/water-pollution/noise etc etc (subjects covered at home and at school). Coming here, to discover a place with virtually no pollution, has let him appreciate the differences.

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That’s adorable Stella.

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I had a magical moment many years ago that’s stayed with me and made me really appreciate the joy that is travel. Whenever I feel I may have been blasé or dismissive - I use it to help myself get a grip ! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Back in the mid 80’s I was a young holiday rep and quite regularly took coach parties on the ‘Paris-by-Night’ excursion. By then I’d been all over the place - by land, sea and air, totally spoilt, although I didn’t realise it at the time.

My magical moment came one balmy evening when the coach was parked up at the Palais de Chaillot (Golden statues etc etc), overlooking a resplendent, illuminated Eiffel Tower, the Jardins du Trocadéro , the Seine and the Champs de Mars beyond. Something I’d seen 100 times before.

Blow me down if one of my ‘older’ punters had stayed on the coach and not disembarked as instructed to buy loads of tourist trash from the hawkers outside! Bloody cheek - less commission for me ! :wink:

I climbed back onto the coach to see the said lady of about 157 years old (it seemed to me at the time!!) and gently ‘encourage’ her to step outside to take a look at the Tour and of course some of the gorgeous souvenir (commissionable!) items for sale…

As I approached her I noticed the tears streaming down her face and immediately thought ‘oh heck, she’s ill, going to croak, lots of forms to fill in!’ - but no…when I asked her if she was ok she told me she couldn’t have been happier.

She told me a long, personal story but, essentially she’d waited her whole life to see the Eiffel Tower and wanted to keep the moment to herself. Just to sit there, looking out of the window - taking it all in. She’d lost her husband fairly recently and they’d always planned, but never achieved the trip to Paris together.

It was her moment but it had, and often has, a huge impact on my life - a magical moment. I started my flying career shortly afterwards and remembered my special lady in Paris every time I was lucky enough to see and experience something my passengers had saved and saved to see. I saw the Eiffel Tower differently after that night and it helped me see a whole new world. :slight_smile:

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I’m sitting here… with tears in my eyes and sniffing madly. Please excuse the dot dot dot. That was when I had to have a quick gulp or else I would have wept over the keyboard.

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Reminds me a little of when I brought my mum across to live here.

It was before the days of satnav and I had to drive through Paris to reach the motorway I needed. Got lost and ended up driving along by the Seine at one point, mum was in tears and I thought it was because she was tired. No, she had seen the Tower and the Seine and couldn’t believe that she was actually here.

As an aside, despite what is sometimes said about Parisians being cold and unhelpful I had two of them put me on the right track on the perepherique or I may have still been going round in circles!

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I had a magical moment at school in a maths lesson when I suddenly found myself floating above everyone else,
Wonderful.

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Jane - had you been taking something you shouldn’t :slight_smile:

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Yep - and I think she’s still there ! :rofl:

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No, just an out of body experience.

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Last week sitting by the river having a quiet moment, saw a Golden Eagle. :eagle:

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Wish I had been at the étang des Landes recently (Creuse) some Pelicans stopped off there much to the ornathologists delight :slightly_smiling_face:

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That really is something exceptional. :slight_smile:

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I saw loads of pelicans when my ship went into Ensenada in Mexico. As it was to be the ship’s base, the pelican ended up on the ships’s crest!
Lovely birds though appearing a little ungainly.

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We had several hundred grues circling the church spire (opposite our house) - for about 4 hours - in the early morning, one year. Their calls woke us ( although we nearly always sleep through the clanging of the bells). :smiley:

We made a cuppa and sat and watched them… swirling, then some straggling, others calling to them to “get with it”… then swirling again. absolutely wonderful stuff.

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No, just an ordinary out of body experience!

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In 1970 I left England for the first time in my life aboard the Union Castle liner SS ‘Windsor Castle’, en route to Cape Town, South Africa, to start a new life in Zambia.

The second night out the ship berthed off the island of Madeira, and I stood at the ship’s rail in the warm sub-tropical air and inhaled the perfume borne by the offshore breeze. The dark mysterious bulk of Madeira twinkled with lights. It was indeed an unforgettable magical moment.

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We seemed to have had a break in our wi fi, It looked as though this reply was lost, hence the repeat.
Sorry.