Category Archives: Memoirs

Perpignan, French Catalonia and our Café

This chapter is taken from my book ‘Off the Autoroute’ which is now available on Kobo as well as Amazon The area around Perpignan in French Catalonia is where our travels all started around twenty-five years ago. It is a short hop from Provence so let us see what we found there starting in PerpignanContinue reading “Perpignan, French Catalonia and our Café”

Cordes Sur Ciel and a whole Lot of rain

This excerpt is from my French travel book – OFF THE AUTOROUTE, the fifth in my Series of French travel memoirs. Please enjoy on Amazon including Kindle Unlimited. It will take you on a tour of France from Calais to the South and back through Brittany and Normandy. It is time to move on, andContinue reading “Cordes Sur Ciel and a whole Lot of rain”

My Vinyl LP Record Collection – reviewing a life through Music

Today, as I listen to the Bruce Springsteen ‘River’ album, I am wondering what it is that shapes our love of music and particularly a genre that we seem to stay with for life. To be fair I did come to Springsteen a little later in life although the seeds were already there for him to step into my collection. My reason for starting this journey through my past, to paraphrase Neil Young, was my father’s vinyl collection. My father died recently, and he left a vast collection of vinyl including 78’s which I suppose are technically shellac. His CD collection was even more extensive, but it was the vinyl that fascinated me.

Flavigny-sur-Ozerain and the filming of the movie Chocolat in Burgundy

Taken from my French Travel book – OFF the AUTOROUTE Chocolat This destination is one of our favourites – Northern Burgundy. It is a much neglected part of France from a tourist standpoint. To the north is Champagne with its landscape of gently rolling vine covered hillsides. The towns of Champagne are steeped in wineContinue reading “Flavigny-sur-Ozerain and the filming of the movie Chocolat in Burgundy”

Historic Vézelay in Northern Burgundy

Historically, Vézelay is one of the most important religious sites in all of France. Back at the time of the inception of the Basilica it was arguably the foremost site of faith in the country. Vézelay in fact was chosen as the venue for the preaching of the second crusade in 1146 but rather fellContinue reading “Historic Vézelay in Northern Burgundy”

Sandy Denny – Sandy

Sandy Denny’s solo albums can be flawed to a degree, as is her work with Fotheringay. Sometimes it is the song choice being patchy, it can be over-blown arrangements or just too many musical influences on one album. But in all of them are absolute gems. She is THE English female vocalist of the 20th Century – I do not engage in arguments over that one. If I was encouraging someone coming new to her work, then I would certainly suggest going to a compilation of which there are several worthy ones. I don’t own a vinyl compilation so I must as I write about my collection go to my favourite solo album.

Discovery of the Truro Cornwall ‘Ghost’

The people of the remote county of Cornwall have long had a tradition of having an interest in superstition and the ‘unexplained’. Even today there is still to be found by the curious tourist a thriving trade in visitor attractions that trace their origins back to such matters and times. Thankfully at least the Cornish people have by Thomas’s day in the early 1800s finally stopped bringing potential witches to trial but that does not stop children to be still chasing and harassing old ladies that ‘looked the part’ through the streets of Truro. Education comes slowly to the poor of the parish and the parents of these children see no harm in upholding the long traditions of this isolated and independent county.

The year is now 1821 and in May of that year we find that Thomas Ashburner is in a dreadful state both physically but more especially mentally. It is now that our Surgeon L H Potts re-joins our story by taking it upon himself to pen an extraordinary and detailed letter to the Royal Cornwall Gazette. In it he first paints a picture of the Ashburner family’s home circumstances.

French Travels, Cricket, Springsteen & Brief Encounters

Taken from my French travel book ‘Off the Autoroute’ : I was watching the English version of the Antiques Roadshow recently when it produced a blast from my past as well as reminding me of people we have encountered in France under the most unexpected circumstances. On this programme an old cricket stump was producedContinue reading “French Travels, Cricket, Springsteen & Brief Encounters”

Claude Monet and his House at Giverny

The story goes that Monet in his search for a house to accommodate his growing family set out one day by train from Paris and spotted what was then the tiny hamlet of Giverny. Standing out amongst the cluster of properties along Giverny’s long main street he saw from his carriage a long but lowContinue reading “Claude Monet and his House at Giverny”