Category Archives: Uncategorized
Avignon
Thirty Years, One Baby, and a Belt I Couldn’t Find In which our correspondent drives two and a half hours to celebrate a marriage that has outlasted several monarchies, meets a granddaughter who has been on the premises for considerably … Continue reading
Le Mans 2026 – Day 3
The plan survives contact with reality (mostly) Race day The words that make every other day of the year feel like a rehearsal. I had, as is my custom, a plan. A proper one. Not the kind scribbled on a … Continue reading
Himmelfahrt
🇬🇧 When Heaven meets beer carts and fatherly pride The Divine Ascent and the Earthly Descent Today is Himmelfahrt—a day so uniquely German that it manages to blend the sacred and the saucy into one glorious, beer-fueled, handcart-hauling celebration. If … Continue reading
Chinese name
So I have a Chinese name, a must officially when applying for a work visa. Mine was suggested to me by the manageress of the induction course I attended prior to settling in Shanghai for my 3 years stint. č‹Źćť° … Continue reading
Excursion en Auvergne
There are birthday parties, and then there are birthday parties. Bob II’s 80th fell squarely into the second category — though why the “II”, I shall not explain here. Life is too short, and besides, some mysteries are best left … Continue reading
The week that was 17/2026
The aperitif dispatch There will be no weekly recap this week. The blank page can wait; Brittany, as it turns out, cannot. When the weather in this most stoically damp of French regions decides to behave — genuinely behave, blue … Continue reading
Three days of sun in Brittany II
Or Everything they told you was a lie Golfe du Morbihan · A Monday morning, suspiciously luminous Chris and Jeffrey have departed for England. I have seen them to the door of the weekend, metaphorically speaking, and waved them off … Continue reading
When the Moon photobombs the sun
🇬🇧 and your wife’s birthday There are moments in life when the universe conspires to make a decision for you. Not assist you, mind you. Not nudge you gently in a sensible direction. Full-on, celestial-scale conspire, with dramatics. August 12th, … Continue reading
Asian tour
🇬🇧 It is done. Flights to Thailand are booked, paid for, and sitting smugly in my inbox like a promise I actually intend to keep. Bangkok will once again serve as our gateway to South East Asia — a region … Continue reading
Spanish retreat – Day 19
🇬🇧 Saharan dust, sardine trams & the sacred nap Early to bed, they say, means early to rise. What they neglect to mention is that this cheerful proverb applies to everyone in the household except the person who went to bed earliest. … Continue reading
I do it my way 