What is so Special About the Tours Trams

When you are designing public transport, nothing is left to chance. Lighting warmth, the colour of metal grab bars, the texture of the seats, everything is considered and carefully designed. Passengers are 'nudged' into the desired behaviour by clever science and design. 

The lighting in the trams in Tours is set to more 'warmth' in winter, and 'colder' in summer, which influences how comfortable passengers feel. Studies show that manipulating the light makes people perceive the temperature as nearly two degrees warmer or cooler.

The trams in Tours are intended to look radical and different. They don't have headlights for example, but instead they've been fitted with two big vertical strips of lights, which act visually like an extension of the rails. The trams are the very incarnation of the City. The mirror surface created by polished steel and tinted glass is intended to play with the water flowing alongside in the Loire River, and reflect the surrounding landscape. 

Inside there is a nod to the former industrial heritage of the City, which was one of the first producers of silk in France. The interiors reference a special silk called Gros de Tours, which was a particular shade of red. The red interiors of the trams give a sort of special Tours heritage corporate look, but they also create a warm and comfortable feeling.

Tram design is not just about making them attractive. It must also correspond with the identity of the City. It's a subtle piece of territorial marketing.

Train!!

Susan often laughs at how excited I am when I see a train, and she is probably justified in doing so.

So imagine my surprise when she got excited and called "train!!" as we were driving to the dermo's about a month ago. She was justified though - it was a train travelling from Loches to Tours, and although we have lived here for over 16 years, we have never seen a train on the line. The lack of trains has been a source of discontent for many years.

However, we have now seen a train on the line to Loches, and here is a photo to prove it.

Last year SNCF experimented with a hydrogen powered train on this line, but that only lasted a month. This train consisted of two X73500 class diesel railcars.

Changeable

Normally we would be expecting weather like this in April. These photos were taken 25 minutes apart yesterday afternoon. Just as it looked as if the heavy rain was setting in, it stopped.

Which is a pity, because we could do with some rain.

A New French Phrase

 A new term for me: "Sans exhausteur de goût" = "no added flavour enhancers".

Although I could guess from the context I was curious enough to ask the checkout operator what an 'exhausteur de goût' was. Her response was that 'c'est quelque chose qui ramène du goût'. Then a shrug, and she added 'c'est chimique'. Literally, 'it's something that brings back flavour. It's chemical.'

The product in question, for those of you wondering, is thin slices of turkey breast wrapped around slices of ham and cheese, then crumbed. It's really intended for children I think, not really considered a grown up's meal in this cheap and cheerful version. The portion size is certainly small anyway. I buy them occasionally because I can do them in the air fryer and have a quick light cheap meal for the two of us, served with steamed veggies.

Please Watch Your Dogs

Photographed at Pearl Beach, just north of Sydney

Aussie Moth

In contrast to yesterday's moth, photographed in our salon, this is an Australian Hawk Moth.

Hippotion scrofa is about twice the size of yesterday's moth, a fairly hefty beast with a 70mm wingpspan. It's found in Australia, New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Susan photographed this one in the Australian Alps last year.

I identified it using ChatGPT. If you use the right prompts, it's quite a useful tool.