On Holiday

The blog's going quiet for a few days as I take a week off in Norfolk. (This photo of my destination was taken in July when there was sun, rather than September when there'll probably be rain!)

OT: Holiday Snaps

Here are one or two snaps from our recent holiday in Yorkshire/Lake District.

The bad weather - Settle Station


Incoming rain at Simon's Seat, Yorkshire



The good weather - climbing up Helvellyn (3rd highest peak in England):





There are some photos of "Wuthering Heights" on my teenage blog.

OT: Off on Holiday Tomorrow

It's been nearly two years since I've had a proper holiday ie stopped away from home for more than three nights, so I'm very excited about stopping away for nine nights from tomorrow. I shall be online from time to time(possibly blogging) and contactable via twitter (but not email).

Can you guess where I'm stopping from these three books? (Two nights in the first one, four nights in the second and three nights in the third.)


Review of In a Dry Season.


Review of The Serpent Pool.


Here's an extra clue:

James Bond's Hand

The weather here in Cannes has been lovely for the last three days, hitting 22.5C this morning. We are leaving for Paris tomorrow - just before the rain returns to the area. There is a tradition of handprints of famous film types near the Palais des Festivals though none seem very recent unless we missed them. I found at least one of euro crime interest:



I couldn't get my other half to pose (you can see the handprints in the floor):



A view of Cannes Bay from the old town:

OT: Yes We Can-nes

We've been promising ourselves a trip on the Nice-Digne-les- Bains line, the last two times we've stayed down here and finally we made it. It's a 7 hour round trip which takes you 150 km into the hilly country NW of Nice. When we got back to Nice, a mere 30 minute journey took us to Cannes where we are staying for 4 nights. We don't intend to get on a train tomorrow!

Digne-les-Bains Station and our train

Var Valley (taken from the train)

OT: Avignon-TGV station

We were unaware that there was a national train strike until we reached Nice but it could explain why our train from Brussels to Nice was terminated at Marseilles. Those of us heading to the south coast were told to get off at Avignon-TGV station and wait for the next TGV, 1.5 hrs later. The station is a beautiful structure and has a decent bookshop (click on piccies below to see in more detail). (The roof was leaking in parts and the wi-fi out of action until January - so it did feel like Britain !). We managed to squeeze into the cafe for a cafe creme and then when the train came it was a double length double decker, allaying any fears of having to stand for 3 hours.

OT: Nice-ly Arrived

After a long journey, made even longer by a train strike, we've arrived in Nice in the pouring rain. After some food I hope to upload some pictures from the day. Wi-fi (pronounced wee-fee in French) is free in France unlike in Belgium (last night's stop-over!).
I wish I'd brought more books though...