Montmartre, the Parisian District of Popular Culture and Colour
These days, I like to visit Paris now and again. I feel that I am keeping myself topped up with a sense of youthful Gallic life that always makes...
Mazda’s eminent suitability for many, if not all, with its CX-5
IAIN ROBERTSON Beguiled by Mazda for many years, Iain Robertson recalls sometime ownership but highlights the ‘shock factor’ that occurs to anyone strange to the brand, a state readily...
ARCHAEOLOGY NEWSFLASH No.456a How embarrassing!
Skeptics hated the announcement – and they wanted revenge! So they picked an ex-drug-runner to discredit me. THE “IMPOSSIBLE” DISCOVERY You see, I had recently come back from the...
Corking Mazda2 crashes on price front
IAIN ROBERTSON Automotive downsizing is an inevitability of high traffic densities and upwards spiralling running costs, states Iain Robertson, but the increasing desire for ‘up-market’ and frugal tiddlers should...
Tee time in Provence at Dolce Fregate – Meanderings through France
Annick Dournes & Frederic de Poligny Sunshine, blue sea, typical Provencal architecture, beautiful landscapes, cicadas’ song… You could call them clichés but they happen to be true at...
Gareth Butterfield spends a week in Renault’s new rear-engined Twingo
DAY ONE THIS is the new Renault Twingo. Cute, isn’t it? Because we’re English, we think this is the second generation of Renault’s small city car. But it’s actually...
SHELLY BEACH SNIPPETS No 42. June, 2015.
The whales and dolphins are all heading north now that winter has arrived. The ski season has commenced and heavy snow is falling at Mount Buller, Victoria, just in...
Relive a time when Paris needed wood to become Paris – Meanderings through France
Annick Dournes & Frederic de Poligny For a long period of time wood was the only energy source of Paris and 90% of this wood came from the deep...
Malta Diary The “Upside Down Village” at Qrendi and Hassan the Barbary Pirate
The Maltese archipelago that is the main islands of Malta and Gozo as well as half a dozen other smaller islands is mostly composed of Globigerina Limestone and...
ENJOY A REAL FRENCH MARKET
By Ann Evans If you’re heading to the Dordogne in France this year and you’re a fan of local produce, then take time out to visit Brive-la-Gaillarde’s indoor...
The Art of London
I recently had a brief trip to London, and managed to fit in a few visits to art galleries and exhibitions. London is, apparently, now known as the cultural...
Cuba, Birds in Flight. 2016 from February 22nd-26th. Zapate Swamp, Biosphere Reserve.
Cuba is holding a Photographic Holiday in the Zapata Province, where Castro and Che Guavera landed in the Bay of Pigs. I have been there several times and I...
THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO. Did the Weather affect the Results? 200 YEARS AGO TODAY!
The sun was shining as I gazed across the flat, neat farmland which was the site of The Battle of Waterloo. How different the weather was in 1815! 200...
Malta Diary From prostitution to restitution – where the light has changed from RED to GREEN
The Sliema suburb of Gzira (literally meaning Island, a name given it by virtue of an adjacent small island known as Manoel Island to which it is connected...
SHELLY BEACH SNIPPETS No 40. May, 2015
Patricia Newell-Dunkley Photographs by Reginald J. Dunkley. Barry Humphries arrived in Australia for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, and was his usual happy self “Hello Possums”. Humphries one of...
ARCHAEOLOGY NEWSFLASH 452. 30 tantalising questions
I invite you to consider the enormous changes that have come upon our world during human history. Were you aware that where there is now the dense jungle...
Ethical accommodation, for work, or pleasure, with Natural Retreats
IAIN ROBERTSON Known for his travels, while assessing the latest modes of transport, Iain Robertson does reside at some of the most outstanding places around the world and one...
REVVING UP FOR A CLASSIC SHOW
By Ann Evans Photos courtesy of the Heritage Motor Centre Red lorry, yellow lorry – in fact a whole lorra lorries will be trundling along the A46 on...
BRASS BAND FESTIVAL
By Ann Evans Photos courtesy of Ironbridge Gorge Museums If you love the sound of a brass band, then you’ll be in seventh heaven this weekend if you head...
Gareth Butterfield spends a week in Volvo’s petrol-powered Volvo V40 T5 Geartronic R-Design Lux Nav, which costs from £31,900
DAY ONE THIS is the Volvo V40. And there’s quite a lot of them about at the moment because, quite simply, it’s a very good car. However, take...
Fascinating Fondation Folon!
Although I appreciate art (except bricks, beds, blobs and other silly cons) I don’t always like it. I went to the DaVinci Exhibition in London, and I stared,...
First there was small…then there was smart
IAIN ROBERTSON Believing the smart car to be the modern day iteration of the post-war ‘bubble-car’, Iain Robertson has been an ardent fan of the German brand since...
SHELLY BEACH SNIPPETS No. 38 May.
Patricia Newell-Dunkley – Photographs by Reginald J. Dunkley Prince Harry farewelled Australia in grand style chatting and shaking hands with fans on the steps of the Sydney Opera House....
California basement find covered up! ARCHAEOLOGY NEWSFLASH 449a
THE DOCTOR’S STARTLING REPORT Some time back American professor William Gorentz emailed me with this startling news: “In 1971, I was part of an archaeology team from a college...
WATERLOO. HOW DID IT FEEL WHEN WE WON THE WAR?
Gazing across the calm, colourful, cultivated flat Belgian landscape it’s impossible to picture the manic mayhem that was happening here 200 years ago! I would have been watching hundreds...
Get on board Eurostar for the fastest journey ever from London to Marseille – Meanderings through France
Since early May you can reach Marseille in just 6 hours and a half from London by direct train on board Eurostar and be right in the heart of...
Cruising the Caledonian Canal, Scotland
We cruised along 58 miles of the 60 mile long Caledonian Canal in the luxury barge, The Scottish Highlander. It was a leisurely trip. The barge travels so slow...
BB King, Died May 14th, 2015
A couple of years ago I was on a trip along the Mississippi, from Memphis to Nachez. We dined in BB King’s Reataurant on Beale Street, and visited the...
Let’s discover Alsatian heritage – Meanderings through France no 50
Annick Dournes & Frederic de Poligny If we all have heard about Strasbourg, European Capital City and about the famous and delicious white Alsatian wines such as Riesling, Gewurtztraminer...
SHELLY BEACH SNIPPETS No. 37. May, 2015.
Patricia Newell-Dunkley – Photographs Reginald J. Dunkley. The latest news from down under is that at last it has stopped raining. Here on the Central Coast the lakes flooded,...
Re-focus for the BMW 1-Series
IAIN ROBERTSON Along with the Mini, the BMW 1-Series sister product has a vital role to play as the entry-level to the rest of the German company’s range and,...
Vincent Van Gogh and Auvers-sur-Oise: an everlasting love story – Meanderings through France
Annick Dournes & Frederic de Poligny Seventy days! It only took seventy days to create an unwavering link between Vincent van Gogh and Auvers-sur-Oise a small village stretched along...
SHELLY BEACH SNIPPETS No. 35 April, 2015.
Patricia Newell-Dunkley Photographs by Reginald J. Dunkley. The 2015 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia was full of style and swagger as it celebrated its 20th year, with more...
Hotel Bon Sol ~ Mallorca’s greenest hotel?
Mallorca (or Majorca – both spellings are acceptable) is still a virtually unspoilt jewel in the Mediterranean, with clear blue skies and very reasonable prices. I spent two nights at...
Old stones love keeps Strasbourg alive and kicking – Meanderings through France
Annick Dournes & Frederic de Poligny On a totally different scale but with the same passion devoted people take care of Strasbourg’s heritage: on one side Deborah and Denis...
The Camden Markets, London
If you pay a trip to Camden, you can dress as weird as you like and you still won’t be noticed in the eccentric crowds. Believe me, however weird...
Peugeot’s 308 slant on Grand Touring flatters to deceive
IAIN ROBERTSON – BCingU – CARS – Hot on the news that Citroen’s Cactus model (of which he is not a fan) has been awarded a...
Mondaino – A Town Torn in Two, Italy
Rimini, Emilio Romagna region. Mondaino, population 1,385, is one of the spectacular fortified villages that dominate every hilltop in the Territory of Rimini. It is completely split into two...
Go Champagne, not for the wine but for the holiday! – Part 2
IAIN ROBERTSON The ‘default option’ for Gallic travel is Paris, Brittany, or ‘Le Croisette’, which Iain Robertson highlights is wonderful but also a bit ‘thoughtless’, so he drove...
Go Champagne, not for the wine but for the holiday! – Part 1
IAIN ROBERTSON The ‘default option’ for Gallic travel is Paris, Brittany, or ‘Le Croisette’, which Iain Robertson highlights is wonderful but also a bit ‘thoughtless’, so he drove...