Category Archives: Foreign Parts

I have loved you so long

Posted on October 13, 2008 by John

What a won­der­ful film ! It’s not really about who did what but rebuild­ing a rela­tion­ship after 15 years, when one of the people is ter­ribly dam­aged.  And Nancy, the town, looks OK too.

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Between the Gare Du Nord and the Gare de l’Est

Posted on October 3, 2008 by John

Two sta­tions in Paris, about as far apart as Euston and St. Pan­cras  From Eng­land, you arrive in the far corner of the Gare Du Nord — a little enclave behind bar­ri­ers to pro­tect GB from unchecked for­eign­ers.  On par­al­lel … Con­tinue read­ing →

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Loading Gauge

Posted on July 24, 2008 by John

If we hadn’t been so parsimoious when we built our rail­ways, and only left enough height for a man with a top hat to stand up in an open third class truck, and only made our car­riages as wide as … Con­tinue read­ing →

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Bodensee and the Birnau

Posted on July 24, 2008 by John

Lake Con­stance, or the Bodensee, lies between Ger­many and Switzer­land, with a little bit of Aus­tria at one end.  The Rhine flows in at the East, and out at the West, past Kon­stanz, and on to the fam­ous falls at … Con­tinue read­ing →

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By Train all the Way (and back)

Posted on April 13, 2008 by John

York to South­ern Ger­many. Leave York 08.12, arrive Ravens­burg, nearly at the Bodensee, at the other side of which is Switzer­land, at 21.07 same day. Everything on time, too, at least until we got to Stut­tgart, where everything was run­ning … Con­tinue read­ing →

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Queen’s Gallery, Holyrood House

Posted on March 2, 2008 by John

Just a plug — a delight­ful small gal­lery, beau­ti­fully designed, that has really inter­est­ing exhib­i­tions. Cur­rent one is Breughel to Rubens. Lots of excel­lent pic­tures, with Breughel’s “Mas­sacre of the Inno­cents” the star. It appears at first sight to have … Con­tinue read­ing →

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Ah ! Paris !

Posted on February 16, 2008 by John

Well, actu­ally, “Brrr  Paris”,  in that there was an extraordin­ar­ily chilly little wind whist­ling up the Seine and round the Tuiler­ies and up and down the steps of the Metro (of which more anon). Eurostar did its bit very nicely and … Con­tinue read­ing →

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Don’t Do It Deutsche Bahn part 2

Posted on January 13, 2008 by John

The per­ils of one’s fif­teeen seconds of fame ! You will see from the first post with this title that I was inter­viewed for a Ger­man TV sta­tion (based in Stut­tgart) for a news item they were doing about the … Con­tinue read­ing →

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Metro Concerto

Posted on April 17, 2007 by John

The Wash­ing­ton Metro (Under­ground to those not in the know) is begin­ning to show its age. It’s just a little faded, a little scuffed, a little down at heel. But still roomy, and clean, and not often uncom­fort­ably over­crowded. But … Con­tinue read­ing →

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I Love Airports (Vol 2)

Posted on April 17, 2007 by John

Heath­row !!! You know, I was brought up under the flight path of that great splat on the lan­scape — even used to go there for a treat — when it was just a col­lec­tion of Nis­sen huts and the … Con­tinue read­ing →

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