France

Postcard from Lille, Part 8

9th March 2019 Always Worth Saying 0

I’ve settled myself down in modest but adequate lodgings in Istanbul and get into the habit of a daily stroll just after sun down. It’s a five minute walk down to the Bosphorus where a [more…]

Postcard from Lille, Part 7

2nd March 2019 Always Worth Saying 0

We’re off to Lille as a family group. We’re travelling by train the length of England from the Bad Lands to the White Cliffs of Dover. And, dear reader, if you will allow me to [more…]

Postcard from Lille, Part 6

23rd February 2019 Always Worth Saying 0

We’re travelling the length of England from the Debatable lands to the white cliffs. We’re on the way to Lille but I’ve been distracted by an Arab girl who reminds me of an excellent pen, [more…]

Postcard from Lille, Part 5

9th February 2019 Always Worth Saying 0

We are on our way to France as a family group. We are travelling first class and the serotonin is high. I’m a ‘look out of the window’ kind of person and, as we travel [more…]

We are a family group en route to the near continent travelling by first class train to London. It’s November and the English countryside is touched by frost and gentle mist. As we head south, [more…]

Postcard from Lille, Part 3

26th January 2019 Always Worth Saying 0

After a gap of many decades I’m setting off by train to visit the near continent. Some of my family are coming with me and as a special surprise treat I’ve booked first class seats [more…]

Postcard from Lille, Part 2

19th January 2019 Always Worth Saying 0

First Class Previously I regularly visited the continent travelling by train, ferry and hovercraft. Subsequently I went via the channel tunnel but before the high speed rail link to St Pancras had been completed. After [more…]

Postcard from Lille, Part 1

12th January 2019 Always Worth Saying 0

In the prologue we recalled a fond age of travelling to the near continent via rail, ferry and hovercraft. This landscape changed with the opening of the Channel Tunnel. At the beginning of Eurotunnel operations, [more…]

Postcard from Lille, prologue

4th January 2019 Going Postal 0

Previously, underused first class carriages formed an overnight , £5 a seat, train between Glasgow and London. It was called the Nightrider. In those days Scotsman would travel with ghettoblasters and a cardboard tray of [more…]