We get the 10:29 No 17 tram from Troska, 600m from the campsite, into Staromestska where Nick's cousin, Petruska, is waiting to show us around her home-town. Our tour starts with a walk around the Jewish Quarter where we see some ornate buildings, including one covered in dark green motifs and Jewish stars. This is one of the first Cubism buildings, as Prague is where Cubism began. We wander past Petruska's original home and through a narrow courtyard that was...

After a quiet and very good night's sleep we are ready to leave at 09:30. Only few miles before we join the motorway to take us to Prague. In contrast to yesterday's heaving traffic and endless roadworks, this morning there is almost nothing on the road. All around are thick pine forests or rolling farmland with distant hills. Junction signs portray Schoss-this and Schloss-that place-names. Within an hour we reach the border and enter the Czech Republic...

Heavy rain last night and still showers this morning. Margo's tyre is flat again, suspected to be a broken wheel weld, so they suggest we head on to Amberg while they find a garage in Kaiserslautern. Satisfied they are OK to be left, we set off at 10:20 and join the motorway. Traffic is very busy and frequent showers cause lots of spray, making driving far from pleasant. Passing Hockenheim we see the grandstands of the motor racing circuit right beside ...

Bright sunny morning. We leave Blondel's yard at 10:30 and drive some of the 'Champagne Route Touristique' towards Verzany where a large wooden windmill stands high on a hill overlooking miles of fresh vines. We continue through to the Somme region along the D903. The huge, flat pastures planted with barley and wheat waving in the wind, or fields of yellow rapeseed, belying the horrors and bloodshed of a century ago. We pass through villages with familia...

After the busy few days and late nights we slept in a bit. Warm bright morning as we set off to Beauvais to get diesel and LPG. All commented on radio how good to be back in France with its gorgeous rolling countryside. We drove alongside the River Aisne to Jaulzy and stopped for lunch in a passion we had visited last October. Our journey continued towards Reims where we stopped on the remains of the old racing circuit. Again somewhere we'd been last year, b...