Jbeil: Ô rage, Ô désespoir, Ô vieillesse ennemie ! Alexandre is now 16. He was always interested in theater and drama. Last year, he felt confident enough in this little amphitheater in Byblos to act for us the Cid of Corneille. This year he wrote and directed a 30 minutes play for his english class and made his teacher cry at the end of the play.

My native village.

Below is a selection of pictures we took during our vacations in Lebanon, summer 2005.

We started our journey in Baalbeck coming by land through the syrian border. We drove then to Zahlé and Jounieh following the mountain roads. We next toured the mountains of Kesrouane, Nahr Ibrahim, Byblos, the North and the Chouf. We ended the country tour in the south, Jezzine, Saida, Tyr and the southern border area. We visited Beyrouth on our last two days.

But the first picture is of olive trees in my native village, the most enduring memory I had and still have of Lebanon.

Baalbeck: Bacchus temple.

Baalbeck: Jupiter columns. 

Baalbeck's ruins and Jupiter columns as seen from the roof of the Palmyra hotel.

Many drawings by Jean Cocteau were given to the Palmyra hotel as an appreciation of his stay there during Baalbeck's famous summer festival. These drawings are everywhere in the hotel: in the dining room, in the hall and even in the bedrooms. 

Hotel Palmyra, Baalbeck. 

The Bekaa valley as seen from the road between Baalbeck and Zahlé.

A view on the mountain road between Zahlé and Jounieh. 

The bay of Jounieh. 

Qafqa, the source. 

Villages on the road between Qafqa and Byblos.

Wadi Al-Jamajim. The valley of the skulls. 

The Hermitage in Wadi Qadisha.
The hermit arrived to Lebanon coming from Colombia fifteen years ago. He does not shy away from visitors, speaks a perfect Arabic and was a therapist psychologist for youths with problems before deciding to become an hermit. He had a discussion on love, beauty and marriage with my daughter and on Philosophy with me but he was more prolific on the former subject. A stunning character. His name is Dario Escobar and I am not kidding ! 

Wadi Qadisha 

The monastery of Saint Antoine of Qos'hayya. 

Bcharré, Cedar reserve. Five minutes after we left the reserve at the end of the day, it must have been between 7 and 7:30 p.m., a rapidly descending fog had shrouded the trees. 

A view from Beit Eddine. 

Saida, the sea fortress. 

A view of the Galilée from Qana. 

A view from Niha fortress, Chouf. The fortress is naturally carved in the rocks. 

The Chouf cedar reserve. Those are the oldest trees in the reserve. 

Beyrouth, Raouché. One of the things people do when spending an afternoon in Raouché is to rent a small boat and to drift around the rocks. I have the memory of my father taking me there when I was a child and of my restrained fear because I didn't want to disappoint my father.