Tuesday July 24, 2012 – 56.4024° N, 124.4251° E
Coat of arms of Neryungri.
Extract from the Andelysien newspaper
Henri kayaking.
Henri and Magdeleine.
Henri in costume…
Skiing
Henri going scuba diving
Glider
Henry
I am now back in Russia to continue my human powered expedition, after having taken one month hiatus in France to wish my 77 years old father Henri Kieffer a last farewell after his tragic death on June 19th 2012.
So, after being through a difficult month , to say the least, I am now trying to gather my thoughts so that I can start riding my bicycle southbound later today out of the southern Sakha/Yakut coal mining town of Neryungri.
Before leaving Neryungri, I want to deeply thank Sasha, Lyuba, Genna and Anna Kudyarov who have been so kind to me, welcoming me in their home and helping me during these difficult times.
I apologize for the delay to anyone I have recently promised to post new Nexus Expeditions pictures and/or related stories. I will post these as soon as I can clearly do so.
For the time being, let me go and ride…
“Henri,
My father, the doctor, the husband, the brother, the father-in-law, the brother-in-law, the grandpa, the godfather, the uncle, the great uncle, the best man at the wedding, the friend, the great friend, the scout, the moujik, the Papa Sum, the swimmer, the skier, the diver, the kayaker, the airplane pilot, the glider pilot, the captain sailboat, the postgraduate medical student, the traveler, the believer, the great movie buff, the great lover of Scrabble and puzzles, the avid reader, the political lover, the Tour de France fan, the collector of figurines, mignonettes, books and so many memories…
In short, the bon vivant.
A man with whom, I think, we all had the pleasure of sharing good bits of life.
Strong moments, sometimes full of tenderness and sometimes even Slavic lightning, but despite everything real moments of life.
I would like you to keep within you the image of a man who had within him an extraordinary energy and thirst for life and not that of recent years and especially in the last months when he was quickly becoming a shadow of himself.
Because that, I know, he couldn’t stand, just as he couldn’t stand to see his own fleeting fire dwindle so quickly.
I just hope that now he can find peace and rest with his parents, his brothers and sister, his friends, and his first wife Magdeleine.”
DK – Les Andelys, June 2012