Category: TravelPage 2 of 2

Stories from my journies

Ideas on the theme of ‘fun-for-free’

Hold your own mini-Olympics We did this last weekend down at my grandmother’s house. We had had plans to go to the local river where there is a…

A rockabilly festival and a 2CV convention – an extraordinary night out in rural France

At some point in the future I would like to spend some time living in the area of rural South West France where the French side of my…

Hello St.Pancras

For all the publicity in London about the opening of the new Eurostar terminal at St Pancras, passengers leaving Paris on its inaugural day wouldn’t have been any…

Au revoir Waterloo

Last Tuesday evening I bid farewell to Waterloo International, the last day that Eurostar will serve this station before it transfers to St Pancras ‘in the (other) heart…

Iran diaries* – the omelette hall of fame

Every omelette* has a story to tell. The first omelette was in Istanbul. It was on a Wednesday morning, having just arrived by train by a round about…

With reference to the Edith Piaf song

Moet et Chandon vs Mercier

This weekend I took a visit to Eperney in Champagne where I found many of the caves that produce that region’s local tipple. I went on a tour…

Finishing my course – travelling to Iran by train

Since my last post, I have been rather busy!  The lack of posts on this blog since then can be attributed in part to the large amount of…

Things to do in Paris ⋕1: Go to Lyon

This Monday I did “le pont”, which is when French employers give their staff an extra day off between the weekend and a bank holiday, in this case,…

Flying the TGV from Paris to Strasbourg

It’s not just about the trains.  It’s about the track, the gentle curves, the tunnels, the soaring bridges… click this link to fly the route of the TGV…

Trainspotting: TGV at 578 kmph

Choose life, choose reducing your carbon footprint, choose highspeed train travel instead of flying Thank you SNCF, for making trainspotting cool, at least for a day. Yesterday, a…

TGV in 354mph record attempt – 1pm

As part of the preparations for the eagerly anticipated TGV Est-Européen, which will operate from June 10th between Paris and Strasbourg, the SNCF are hoping to break their…

Project update – meeting the architect and virtual handshakes + one for those who moan about London Underground

At the beginning of the week, the architects for the project that I am working on flew into town for an intensive week of meetings. Most of yesterday…

Tube Challenge – Project update: wobbly floors

Tube Challenge I always dreamed of doing this when I was a lonely and boring teenager. All the tube stations in one day. Thanks to Mary for sending…

Womb with a view

Paris is slowly encircling itself in tramways. The latest tramway to open, connecting the disparate ends of several metro lines is the T3, which skirts inner Paris’ southern…

Sofia

Thursday 2nd November Regular readers of this blog may be either frustrated that I have not posted any entries recently. Or thy may think I got lost in…

Belgrade to Sofia

Wednesday 1st Novemeber – Thursday 2nd November Half an hour later than expected the Belgrade Sofia express night train creaked its way out of the station in the…

Belgrade – day 2

Wednesday 1st November Having decided upon taking a detour via Bulgaria, I embarked upon finding out some basics about the country before my train that evening. My first…

Belgrade

Tuesday 31st I first went to Belgrade in this summer enroute to Greece with Mary so I already knew bearings in the city. After a very agreeable lie…

Budapest to Belgrade

Monday 30th continued When it comes to rail travel in Eastern Europe, Budapest is a hub, which is why this is the third time I have arrived in…

Balkans by rail: Vienna to Budapest

Monday 30th October I must have slept well in my reclining seat as I completely slept through Munich and Saltzburg, although I had been aware of many different…

Balkans by rail: Paris to Vienna

Sunday 29th October The Gard de l’Est is my favourite of Paris’ railway stations because of the desitnations on its departure boards: Strasbourg, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna……

Getting ready for the off – Number Two

26th August 2006 I am on my way down to the south of France for the bank holiday weekend. This is the first time that I have managed…

Getting ready for the off – Number One

This weekend is my last in London. I am away next weekend for the bank holiday, and the weekend after that it’s the big off. It has all…