MONTREAL - Canada's first space tourist says his 2009 visit to the International Space Station was not an experience that changed his life.

But Guy Laliberte admits he lived through some very deep emotional moments.

"Did it change me? No, I am what I am," he told The Canadian Press in an interview on Tuesday.

(But) it did reinforce my conviction about the fact that we are truly living in paradise."

Laliberte said his space trip was incredibly exciting.

"I was like a little kid in a candy store," he said. "I was biting into every opportunity I had to live a sensorial or emotional moment."

The founder of the Cirque du soleil made his comments before a news conference held to promote "Gaia," a book of more than 150 photos he took during his 11-day visit to the giant space laboratory.

"Gaia" is described as the first collection of photographs published by a private space explorer and will be officially launched in August.

Laliberte explained in the introduction that the name "Gaia" -- the Greek word for Mother Earth -- has always been special for him and happens to be part of his eldest daughter's first name.

The bilingual coffee table book is available in several versions and is priced for different pocketbooks.

A hardcover edition will go for $68, another version will cost $960, and a large limited luxury hand-bound edition will require forking over $7,000.

Proceeds from sales of the book will go to One Drop, a non-profit organization founded by Laliberte that aims to eliminate poverty.

Laliberte brushed aside criticism of the $7,000 price tag for the high end version.

"This is an artist's edition, it's limited in number. This is something that exists in the high end book market."

"Each of them was made by hand and this is a fundraising project for One Drop."

"Hopefully, it will sensibilize people to the beauty of the planet," Laliberte said.

"With the big book we could raise over a couple of million dollars My royalties, everything, goes to One Drop so it will help save lives."

Laliberte wrote in the introduction that two important events defined his life path. When he was eight years old his mother bought him a passport for Expo 67 in Montreal and he used it to travel from "country to country."

He also recalled watching Neil Armstrong walking on the moon in 1969 when he was at summer camp at the age of 10.

Laliberte says he first wanted to travel and entertain people.

"I did not dream of going into space," he wrote. "I dreamed of travelling, of looking deep into other cultures, of discovering new landscapes and feeding on differences."

Laliberte says when he finally made his visit to the space station in 2009 at the age of 50, he was completely overwhelmed.

"All the training in the world and all the stories I heard could not have prepared me for what I experienced: an indescribable rush of adrenalin -- like being in a constant state of rapture."

Laliberte, who was often seen sporting the red nose of a clown, actually took 10,000 photos during the 11 days he was up in space as he orbited the Earth 176 times.

The book contains images from 40 countries and includes photos of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Sahara, as well as British Columbia.

He hoped to take photos of Montreal but clouds got in the way.

"I went over Montreal 35 times and I was dreaming of taking a picture. (But) I never saw Montreal because it was cloudy all the time,he said.

Laliberte says that explains why some countries are more represented than others in the book.

He shelled out around US$35 million to pay for the trip.

During his space station stay, Laliberte staged a two-hour show with performers in 14 cities on five continents to raise the profile of One Drop.

But he says he won't be going back into space in the short term and is still absorbing his last experience.

"I'm still hoping an alien spaceship will come and offer me a ride further than what I went," he joked.

But at this point, I think I already had a great privilege of being one of the rare persons who went into space.