Having been to Paris about six times, I asked ChatGPT for some suggestions for quirky things to do in Paris when you’ve been before. One suggested place was Belleville Park, which I could walk to from my hotel. This morning, I set off early. There was a good chance the baguette de campagne hadn’t sold … Continue reading / view photos Belleville Park, National Library, and a concert
Category: Travel
Notre-Dame Cathedral
After the early start yesterday to catch the Eurostar train, I had a lie-in. When I eventually left the hotel, I walked to a nearby bakery. I wanted to buy a baguette de campagne (“country bread”), which is a sort of sourdough bread. It was sold out. I settled for half a plain baguette. On … Continue reading / view photos Notre-Dame Cathedral
Art and fashion in Paris
Boarding Eurostar in London and getting off in Paris is still a minor miracle. And it takes only about 2½ hours, which is quicker than going to many parts of the UK by train. Getting off the train, we immediately felt the heat, which contrasted with a chilly spell in London. At Gare Du Nord, … Continue reading / view photos Art and fashion in Paris
Cromford, Holmbridge and Buxton
Last year we went to Cromford in the Peak District. We liked it so much we decided to return to the area. This year we stayed further north, in Hombridge, just outside the Peak District. On the way to our accommodation, we popped into Cromford. We repeated our short walk along the canal before returning … Continue reading / view photos Cromford, Holmbridge and Buxton
Ludlow, Shropshire
On the return journey from Presteigne, we stopped in Ludlow, Shropshire. We had not been to Ludlow, despite it being close to Birmingham. The first thing you notice is the large church, St Laurance’s, which I initially thought was a cathedral. Only cities have cathedrals and Ludlow, it turned out, was not a city. Upon … Continue reading / view photos Ludlow, Shropshire
Sidney Nolan in Presteigne
Whilst looking for a place to stay near Wales, we found a beautiful cottage rented out by the Sidney Nolan Trust. We didn’t know who Sidney Nolan was but we learnt a lot whilst we stayed in the cottage. Sidney Nolan was a major Australian artist in the 20th century. He was, we learnt, most … Continue reading / view photos Sidney Nolan in Presteigne
Hay Festival 2025
A couple of weeks ago, we went to Wales for a few days. It reminded me of our trip last year to the annual festival in Hay-on-Wye. We’ve been to the festival before . This time, we went to hear a talk between writers Abdulrazak Gurnah and Elif Shafak. I’ve not read either of their … Continue reading / view photos Hay Festival 2025
Norwegian fjords
In 2007, a friend and I visited West Norway. I’d previously been to Bergen (and Oslo). On this trip, we travelled up the west coast to see the beautiful fjords. Here is the schedule I found recently: The trip started in Bergen — one of the prettiest places you can visit. Less well known is … Continue reading / view photos Norwegian fjords
India 2025 itinerary
My geotagging app says I travelled 14,000km in India and Abu Dhabi. The longer journeys were on domestic flights. India is so vast that train and coach trips can last days, even without delays. My bus trips were local but I took many trains, which are my favourite means of transport (apart from walking!). A … Continue reading / view photos India 2025 itinerary
Seikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Most workers I’ve seen in the UAE are foreigners. So far I’ve spoken to people from Nepal, Pakistan, India, Philippines, and Rwanda. Several of the Uber drivers said to me that they can’t become UAE citizens. They have visas, which have to be renewed every two years. One Uber driver told me that Uber take … Continue reading / view photos Seikh Zayed Grand Mosque