A Gaulling experience
Out of curiosity I spurned a night in Paris for a night at Charles de Gaulle airport. It was a surprisingly interesting experience.
Tale of two cities
I’ve always maintained that Paris and London are incredibly alike. They’re both big, proud, characterful cities that utterly dominate their respective countries politically and culturally, and they both are world famous cities that are centres of major world languages. Also, they share a similar feel – engaging, gritty and down to earth, yet with an…
Munich to Paris
It was approaching the end of our trip, but this particular leg was one I had been especially looking forward to. Any journey between two of Europe’s greatest cities is always going to be an exciting and evocative one, not least when it is a sleeper train. Moreover, this was going to be no ordinary…
Interchange
Montparnasse. My head was slowly adjusting to the French signs and adverts, to the sound of a not quite familiar language, and the value of prices in a currency I didn’t often use. The same hubbub and background noise of any major transport interchange, blurred by the high roof, but in a slightly different accent.…
On fake jetlag, writing and Paris
If you ever want to know what it feels like to travel to the other side of the world, but don’t have the time or money to do so, then allow me to suggest that you take the overnight bus from London to Inverness. The feeling of exhaustion, plus the desperate need to sleep during…
The waiting game
Nicole and I are heading off to France in September. It’ll be a chance to catch up with a few friends we have over there, and while we both really like the country I’ve not seen too much of it and my French could do with some significant practice. We’ve decided we’re going overland, which…