Happy New Year This is the final blog before our experiences and photos go into a book, which will be cherished for ever. Our last meal was at La Sirene in Cap Gris Nez, a lovely fish restaurant, which we have been to a few times and if ever you are in the area, it is an absolute must. We savoured every mouthful as we knew that the adventure was about to finish. A few weeks before I didn't want the moment to come, but I think we both reached the stage in the midd...

I have already sent this on 5.11.16, but it didn't publish so here we go again! 'Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.' ( Ernest Hemmingway) I don't think our year would have been possible if the above was not true and I have to say that I am very proud of what we have achieved this year and have realised that not many couples would even attempt a year together -24/7. It's quite remarkable when you have been married for a long while, what challenges a...

''But that's the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned I don't know what people are talking about. I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly, you are a 5 year old again, you can't read anything, you only have the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can't even reliably cross the street without endangerig your life. Your whole exista...

'Once a year go somewhere you have never been before.' (Dalai Lama) This is certainly true of this year. The decision to come to Italy and France was an extremely good idea and I have to say we have rather fallen in love with both. Our hope was that we follow the sun and to our surprise, besides a few days, the sun has stayed with us. The season in the south of Italy was very much coming to a close and I think we thought it might all be over, but as we travelle...

We are now very close to leaving Italy after a stay of approximately six weeks and it is astonishing how quickly you slip into lifestyles and customs which become an expectation in a very short period of time. Many of these are so pleasant that they will be missed greatly once we have left but as I have said before there are a few that I will be happy to leave behind although, I think, the former greatly outweigh the latter. The first thing you become aware of ...