If there’s one thing you don’t want to be in Quebec City, it’s British. We’re not very popular over there and haven’t been since 1759 when we fought the French on the Plains of Abraham and won control of New France, opening up the St Lawrence river and giving British ships access all the way… Continue reading Quebec: battles, bad art and unanswered questions
Montreal Botanic Gardens
I must admit that I expected Montreal to feel a lot more French than it actually did. It seems to me that apart from the language, it is a totally North American city. The culture, the way of life and the food are all very unFrench; having dinner at 6 pm, eating chips with gravy… Continue reading Montreal Botanic Gardens
Druids and extraterrestrials in the Kent countryside
It’s not every day that you get to meet a Druid, but an ancient forest in Kent is probably one of the likeliest places to come across one. Having read many Asterix books, I was expecting the Druid to be dressed in robes, with a long beard and a pointy hat, and I was rather… Continue reading Druids and extraterrestrials in the Kent countryside
The herb trolley is on its way, Madame
You know that you’re in good hands in a restaurant when the head waiter tells you that the staff had a meeting before you arrived to discuss whether they thought your table would be large enough or not. We were a party of nine, celebrating a birthday in the Michelin-starred Le Chantecler in Nice, and… Continue reading The herb trolley is on its way, Madame
Maliciously damaging six turnips …
Beaumaris on Anglesey is a history lover’s dream. Beaumaris Castle was ambitiously designed to be concentric: a large castle containing several identically shaped smaller castles – just like Russian dolls or a set of Tupperware boxes. It was intended to be the pinnacle of Edward I’s castle building spree in Wales and he demanded that… Continue reading Maliciously damaging six turnips …
Put another octopus on the washing line!
Lesbos was the home of Sappho, considered to be one of the greatest lyric poets of Ancient Greece – so what more suitable place to head to for a writers’ retreat? That was our thinking anyway, as we boarded a plane and jetted off for a week of creativity with beautiful sea views. This was… Continue reading Put another octopus on the washing line!
Coming face to face with the Pope Spanker
I do love eccentric women. There’s something about the way they just do their own thing and don’t give a toss what anyone thinks of them, that I find hugely admirable. And Isabella Stewart Gardner of Boston definitely fits into that category. Isabella was a wealthy patron of the arts, having inherited nearly two million… Continue reading Coming face to face with the Pope Spanker
Blowing my own trumpet at Harvard
When I got an email telling me I’d won a prize in an international short story competition, the message went on to say that my story would be read out at the annual Barbara Pym Conference at Harvard and I could either attend and read it in person, or a member of the judging panel… Continue reading Blowing my own trumpet at Harvard
Meeting My Hero
I bought a second-hand copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking when I was in my early twenties, and one hot summer Sunday I sweated and stressed as I created a tarte aux fraises using sweet shortcrust pastry, patisserie cream and the ‘handsome strawberries’ the recipe insisted on. It was tricky but… Continue reading Meeting My Hero
Only in California …
Sitting upright in a chair is so last year. Anyone who’s anyone over here has a zero gravity chair which ‘enables a neutral spine alignment, improves blood circulation, relieves muscle tension and promotes overall wellness.’ Now, I bet you all wish you were lying in a sort of head-down-legs-up contraption too … a bit like… Continue reading Only in California …
The Only Living Goddess in the World (no, not me)
The Newari people have lived in the Kathmandu valley since prehistoric times and they are an interesting mix of Buddhist and Hindu. Essentially they’re Buddhists who have adopted the Hindu caste system, and have also adopted a Hindu goddess, Durga, who they believe lives in the body of a chosen little girl, the Kumari. Rather… Continue reading The Only Living Goddess in the World (no, not me)
Kathmandu: dreams, death rituals and dental problems
Kathamandu is rather like Delhi – busy, noisy and full of cars, motobikes and exhaust fumes. But unlike Delhi it is still recovering from the earthquake damage sustained in 2015, and some people live in houses with external walls missing and have to climb over rubble to get to their homes. They are busy rebuilding… Continue reading Kathmandu: dreams, death rituals and dental problems
Hot stone baths and an obsession with archery
Hot stone baths are the traditional way to de-stress in Bhutan so, after hiking all the way up to the Tiger’s Nest, of course I had to try one. You order your evening bath first thing in the morning because it takes seven or eight hours to heat the stones, so you can’t wait and… Continue reading Hot stone baths and an obsession with archery
The Festival of the Black-Necked Crane
There is great excitement in the Phobjikha Valley in central Bhutan when the black-necked cranes arrive for the winter. They swoop in from the Tibetan Plateau and settle in the wetlands of this huge U-shaped valley, where a conservation area has been set up to protect them. The Phobjikha Valley is also the site of… Continue reading The Festival of the Black-Necked Crane
A hike to the top of the world
Now, I can walk a fair distance at home, on flat terrain in Bedfordshire which is eighty-five metres above sea level. Walking in Bhutan, in the Himalayas, over three thousand metres above sea level, is a totally different challenge. For a start it’s much steeper than anywhere I’ve been before, and the altitude makes it… Continue reading A hike to the top of the world
Bhutan … the most photogenic country in the world?
I’ve never been to a country before which is so photogenic that you want to stop and take pictures of literally every single thing you see, starting from the moment you arrive. The photo above is Punakha Dzong, said to be the most beautiful building in Bhutan … a bold claim when the bar is… Continue reading Bhutan … the most photogenic country in the world?
How to be a Californian
Being a helpful sort of person, I’ve decided to compile a manual for anyone who, like me, spends a certain amount of time in California and would like to go native as quickly and as effortlessly as possible. If you follow my advice, you’ll find that you’re embraced as a local in no time at… Continue reading How to be a Californian
Rome: where the dead are so much more interesting than the living …
It would seem that a popular pastime among the English upper classes in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries was to go to Italy in search of better health, and then die there. This presented a problem for the local authorities, because it was forbidden for non-Catholics to be buried in consecrated ground. In Rome they… Continue reading Rome: where the dead are so much more interesting than the living …
The Royal Experience in Côte D’Ivoire
My first taste of the royal lifestyle was in Côte d’Ivoire, where we sped through the terrible traffic thanks to a police escort on our way to visit the old capital, Grand Bassam. I can now appreciate that any royal journey is made with the sound of sirens permanently in the background, which isn’t a… Continue reading The Royal Experience in Côte D’Ivoire
You can catch me on Sky News Liberia…
They don’t get many tourists in Liberia. We could tell this the minute we got on the bus to go and explore the capital, Monrovia. The backs of most of the bus seats wouldn’t latch upright and just flopped backwards, so half of us were lying in the laps of the people sitting behind us.… Continue reading You can catch me on Sky News Liberia…