Trees, blue sky and snow jostled for position in my field of view as I slid backwards in a vague upside down W shape, trying to arrest my fall. It couldn't go on forever - I knew the slope levelled out eventually - though it would possibly be long enough for my whole life to flash before my eyes, in slow motion. I tried - in vain, as it happened - to dig something Into the slope, a ski, a pole, tried to twist on my side o give less sliding surface area (scienti...

Grrr on a Train As I mentioned yesterday, I like travelling by train. I'm not sure I will be an as-enthusiastic passenger on Elon Musk's Hyperloop, where speed sacrifices views and you get to your destination in a long seamless tube at supersonic speeds, but then again the Hyperloop is still very much in the experimental stage. I may not be on the platform when the first one pulls (surges? launches? vrooms?) out of its station. But your everyday common-ou-jardi...

'OMG,' announced Catherine as she finished swallowing another gulp of French bubbly. 'Why didn't we just agree to stay here for four weeks?!' We were sitting outside in what I like to call 'Business Class' - up-front on board Liberty in lovely warm sunshine. Not a breath of wind. Only swans and ducks to disturb the placid waters of Cergy marina. Bloody inconsiderate wildfowl. 'Because,' I said, having recovered from choking on my sip of Clairette de Die and thi...

The forecasters were right - Paris positively glowed today in 16-degree sunshine. I also positively glowed in my red ski jacket, but was at least able to remove it for lunch sur la terrasse. What a treat to be able to sit outside at a restaurant in a T-shirt at this time of the year. See? That's the EU for you. I deserved an outdoor lunch treat though, since I was up at 05:45 and off to Terminal One at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris to meet daughter Catherin...

I am no good at packing. My wife is good at packing. I picked her up from work yesterday and she said, 'How did your packing go?' 'Okay, ' I said, non-committally. 'But can I confess something?' 'Yeees...' She replied cautiously, obviously suspicious that I was about to admit to some sort of sin. I like to create a bit of drama. 'I haven't really packed much at all; I really need your advice...' It may have been because we'd just driven over a speed bump, but I...