So, give or take a couple of weeks in France, I have been in the UK now for about nine weeks. I was born here. I lived the first 15 years of my life here. And yet, as a returning native I am treated often with suspicion and mistrust. It all boils down to crime and terrorism (of which I subscribe to neither), and the resulting tightening of security in so many aspects of British society. On more occasions than I can count now I have had to prove my identity beyon...

Finally, after around seven weeks since leaving New Zealand, Liz and Mike are actually abroad together! Liz and daughter Yasmin arrived at her parents' place near St Marcellin, SE France on 2 August while I was still in St Jean de Losne shortl-listing boats. So I wasted no time and rode the motorbike down south to meet up with them... a lovely reunion... and to hear all about their adventures travelling via Hawaii, San Fran, and New York. But then, two days late...

Took a day off boat-hunting today and caught the train to Dijon, Burgundy's capital, just for a bit of a look round. Now, as anyone who's been to France knows, many towns and cities have a Notre Dame, Paris's being the most famous. So it should come as no surprise to find that Dijon has its own Notre-D, which dates from the 13th century. What is surprising however is the wonderful collection of gargoyles on the front facade. There's row upon row of the ugly cre...

Je suis arrive en France, enfin! Oui vraiment, yesterday I finally arrived at the small inland port of St Jean de Losne in Burgundy after a very long and tiring motorbike ride from Caen on the French north-west coast. This has been a much looked-forward-to destination because it's here that there are many boats for sale, and a major part of our Grand Plan is to buy a boat and live on the French canals and rivers for a year or so while exploring France at an esc...

Here's a heartwarming tale of piracy and derringer-do that will shiver your timbers. Today I visited New Brighton, across the Mersey from Liverpool, and a place I used to be taken as a treat by my Mum and Aunt when I was a wee nipper. It's a classic English seaside place, with a promenade, deck chairs for hire, amusement arcades, ice cream parlours etc and so on. Today it is blissfully free of cars for many a mile, being pedestrian only. The sands are golden (...