Travel 2004 – Etoges, France

Thursday, 23rd December 2004 – Etoges, France Were it not just two days before Christmas, I’d be quite happy to be snowed in here… There’s this weird sixth sense Lynne and I seem to possess when it comes to picking hotels and restaurants, and it still works, even after a couple of decades. I’ve clearly…

Travel/Food 2004 – London

Saturday 23rd/Sunday 24th October 2004 – London Well, the weekend was fun (if somewhat damp – torrential rain seemed determined to get us). The Raphael exhibition at the National Gallery was well worth the effort, and thoroughly enjoyable. I’d recommend it highly. There was a fine mix of different works, including some amazing ink drawings,…

Travel 2004 – Valencia, Spain

Friday 15th – Monday 18th October 2004 – Valencia, Spain We made a reasonably timed start, getting away from the filling station in Mougins at 9:00, which is just after the rush hour traffic dies down. It was really just a case of pointing the car at the Mediterranean and then turning right. So long…

Travel 2003 – Macau, Hong Kong, London, Day 11

Tuesday, 18th November 2003 – Macau, Hong Kong, London, Day 11 Today was mostly devoted to combat packing as we all tried to stuff the extra goodies we’d acquired into various bags and cases. Lynne and I made the trip to the main (possibly only) post office with stuff for other people, which was fun….

Travel 2003 – Macau, Day 8

Saturday, 15th November 2003 – Macau, Day 8 Saturday is motorbike day – and we’ve all agreed we’re not going out there while they are on the loose, so we arranged to have a late start, not bother with breakfast and then do lunch at the Clube Militar de Macau, which is a very splendid,…

Travel 2003 – Macau, Day 7

Friday, 14th November 2003 – Macau, Day 7 Once again we went out track side, at least in the morning, spending some time at Sao Francisco Bend, which is interesting if somewhat distant from the actual track action. The photographers’ stand is about halfway up the hill, which means you need a long lens, and…

Travel 2003 – Macau, Day 6

Thursday, 13th November 2003 – Macau, Day 6 The first day at the track was entertaining, and we wandered out to Melco to have a good look around and take lots of photos. We didn’t ask for photographers access, but we were given it anyway. The reason we didn’t bother asking is that in previous…

Travel 2003 – Macau, Day 5

Wednesday, 12th November 2003 – Macau, Day 5 Today was a very lazy, easy sort of day, preparatory to the first real race day tomorrow. The last things you want is to be too tired to function when there are F3 cars whizzing past your elbow at the Melco Hairpin. We decided to take Glyn…

Travel 2003 – Macau, Day 4

Tuesday, 11th November 2003 – Macau, Day 4 Today we took the coach tour of the islands, as laid on by the Grand Prix Committee. The bus was a long way from full, with a couple from one of the other hotels, who seemed pretty unimpressed by everything, and an older lady who turned out…

Travel 2003 – Macau, Day 3

Monday, 10th November 2003 – Macau, Day 3 We’d resolved to take it easy this time round, so today we didn’t do much at all in the morning, apart from take a late breakfast so we wouldn’t need to bother with lunch, and then indulged in a little light sight-seeing. The Macau Monetary Authority had…