I want to give a big thumbs up to my hosts Anne and Ross Mackenzie, my #1 aussie fans who took care of me on arrival in Brisbane and helped me discover this fabulous town.

(sorry ross for the poor photo montage)

Brisbane is quite a huge town counting more than 1.8 milion inhabitants, and its center is really nice because you can get wherever you want by foot, or via the ferries Here is an overview of Brisbane from its highest point , Mt Coot-tha overlooking the city

To finish my first day in Brisbane blog post, I wanted to share with you guys the beautiful artificial beach created in the center of Brisbane where you can swim or just bask in the sun, as if you were on a real beach. “Elle est pas belle la vie à Brisbane?”

>> A lot more photos on my Flickr page

Finally arriving at Singapore Changi airport. Heard a lot of good things about it, and it really is a great stopover!

After a 7 hours night flight, I finally landed on Thursday April 30 in Brisbane at 07.00 am on-board this beautiful Qantas plane !

Relieved to have arrived on time (and with all my luggage), I can finally put on my shiny new Vuarnet sunglasses on the car trip to the house of my hosts,  Anne and Ross Mackenzie

Boarding on bigger plane: Boeing 747 with Qantas Airways, let’s go for a 13 hours flight!

Time to eat! Nice quality food: “Herb crusted cod with crushed pumpkins & new potatoes and hot breakfast: herbs & cheese omelette with bacon & tomatoes, and fruit salad.”

Entertaining: was amazed by Man vs Wild (dédicasse ClémyB), delighted by the spectacular effects of Quantum of Solace, and laughed at Bolt (especially with Rhino the Hamster!).

Slept 6 hours. I really want to thank the inventor of the eye mask and the travel pillow (thanks sis’).

The first part of my trip to Brisbane was via a  British Airways plane. I want to thank  British Airways and Qantas for beeing so kind with me during my trip, as they really guided me in Lyon and in Singapore.

But before taking off, “Paparazzis” time! I was followed by four photographers, two journalists and a cameraman before my flight. I really enjoyed my last french shooting seance at the airport.

The plane to London had been delayed. It was one hour late and I feared I could not make my connection to Singapore. I finally boarded comfortably in the Airbus A319 to London.

Finally, I arrived in London Heathrow one hour before my connection to Singapore: time to run, switch terminals, and jump into the plane!!

All the photos of this post are my property. Please do not use them without my expressed agreement

I’ll be in airports, planes and cars during the next two days. I hope I’ll be able to blog my photos between two planes!

(thanks Qantas!)

Last week,  I had the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Lyon, Mr Collomb.  He really wanted to support me getting the Best Job and did find an original way to do it:

(understand: The Best Job for a man from Lyon ? Let’s all support Ben on benforbestjob.com)

As Lyon is a great city, I decided to share with you 5 things about it:

	The Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvière It is the main basilica in Lyon. It was built with private funds between 1872 and 1896 in a dominating position in the city, as a mark of the triumph of Christian values over the socialists in 1870.
	Guignol Guignol is a French puppet born in Lyon in 1808. Its creator was Laurent Mourget. Last year, we celebrated Guignol’s 200th anniversary!
	Festival of lights (very touristy) This uniquely Lyonnaise tradition dictates that every house place candles along the outsides of all the windows to produce a spectacular effect throughout the streets. It is complemented by colourful video projections on the town monuments.
	Bouchon Lyonnais (gastronomy) A bouchon is a typical restaurant in Lyon with a very convivial atmosphere. Compared to other forms of French cooking the dishes are quite fatty, such as sausages, duck paté and roast pork.
	Vieux Lyon (very touristy) The Vieux Lyon is the picturesque medieval and Renaissance district of Lyon. This is one of the most extensive district of the medieval period and Renaissance (with Venice), which is still intact today.

1/ Islands of The Great Barrier Reef
Islands of the Great Barrier Reef are ideally suited for worldwide tourists. Regrouping more than 100 islands, from unique and exotic ones to the Whitsundays and the remarkable Northern Islands of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland will redefine your idea of paradise.

2/ Footy
Footy, also named the Australian rules football is a football variant opposing two teams (18 players) on a large oval-shaped grass field. The primary aim of the game is to score goals by kicking the ball between the middle two posts of the opposing side. Today, footy counts more than 700,000 registered players and more than 2,650 clubs.

3/ Beers & Wines
The preferred beer brand is XXXX (four-X) (which you can drink in a pot or a schooner  or a tinny (can) ). It is brewed in Brisbane.

Australians  drinking habits have changed and the country is a major exporter of wines. Wine is now available and appreciated in many places.

• White Wines : Cabernet-Sauvignon,  Chardonnay and Viognier
• Red Wines : Shiraz (The Syrah of our Côtes-du-Rhône)

Queensland produces some of these varieties on the plateau of the Granite Belt and South Burnett areas.

4/ Platypus
Platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal, the only mammal that lay eggs. Males have spurs on their hind feet that deliver a poisonous venom.
The platypus closes its eyes and ears underwater. To find food, it uses its amazing touch-sensitive beak! It is even featured on the reverse of the Australian 20-cent coin.

5/ Coral & Reproduction
Corals are created by Polyps, small animals with a central mouth surrounded by tentacles.
They transform calcium carbonates from sea water into hard limestone shells, which can pile-up into walls of hundreds of meters.
They live in symbiosis with an algae (Dinoflagella) and reproduce once a year a night or two after a full moon, creating a spectacular “snow rise”  of tiny eggs swirling in the currents.

Here are some stuff I plan taking with me for the trip to sunny Queensland.