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We had all the ingredients for a big family reunion in February with our son and his wife coming over from California to meet up with his son (our grandson, naturally) before he leaves on his first foreign posting - to Estonia. This would be a good opportunity to meet up with our two nieces from...

After Brexit you can go back to pounds, shillings and pence to match the blue passports. ;-)

Christmas we spent with son and wife, and on Boxing Day we invited them for dinner. I cooked up a Boeuf Bourgignon that I gave a lot of loving care to. The French don’t give any special significance to Boxing Day, so all the stores were open, allowing me to pick up fresh ingredients for the...

Our son and daughter-in-law had invited us for Christmas, letting us occupy one of their rental properties for the month, with us just paying for the utilities. We had planned on staying for two weeks but they insisted we spend a month so we agreed, with a degree of reluctance. We know that most...

Two more weird experiences, both of them involving car washes. The first occurred in Spain during the three year period we resided there. We lived just outside a small town called Coin and Spain, being a terribly dusty country, we had to use the local high pressure car wash frequently. This...

I bought 12 pairs from Amazon and they're great - warm, soft, comfortable. What more could you ask?

Hi, Saskia. Yes, I've read all those Delderfield sagas twice except for the Swann trilogy which I've only read once. I'm now on the final few pages of Sorrell and Son and have thoroughly enjoyed its portraits of 1920s people and their times. I ordered the Swann books on my Kindle the other day...

Living the expat life has an awful lot going for it, mostly it’s fun, often interesting, but there are times when it’s definitely odd. And right nowI seem to be going through one of the odd phases. As I remarked to Jackie when I got home the other day after my morning walk that I am totally...

I’ve just bought a book that set me on a train of thought going back quite a few years. I first became aware of it when it was broadcast on the BBC (I think it was on the Light Programme, which goes to show how old it is). I was only about 11 or 12 but it was on just after I got home from the...

For our last full day we already knew where we were headed without the help of our chef - a place which had been one of the highlights of my school trip to Germany - Schauinsland. Now that sounds like a weird name which can be literally translated as Look into the Country, or View of the Land...

There’s been a bit of a hiatus in completing this trip report but there are sound reasons. One is that my implant treatment is now almost finished. I have an appointment next Thursday for the permanent teeth to be installed and then the whole treatment will be finished. Cheering all round in the...

I had mentioned to Jackie that there was a crystal museum not too far away and it sounded like the kind of exhibit that we both enjoy, she agreed with me, so that was our destination for the day. The drive to Dietingen, the town where the museum is to be found, took longer than I expected due to...

Thank you, Keesha. Jackie and I have always adored Singapore, ever since our first visit. We were staying in a hotel close to Newton Circus, which has now been demolished and replaced by another hotel. We were suffering from jet lag and the first morning we overslept. The first I knew was that...

Hi Wolfie. I read Edward Rutherfurd's book "Sarum". This intrigued me so much that when we were visiting the UK with our American friends we made a detour to visit Old Sarum itself. Claire, the wife of the American couple, loved the place and went off exploring and photographing. It's strange...

Thank you for the likes I have received. You know who you are and I would just like to express my thanks for your thoughtfulness. We thought that today we would take the train to Freiburg, taking advantage of the free travel scheme for visitors. At breakfast the cook came to our table to wish...

There's not really much to add to JoKalsbeek's post - she was pretty comprehensive. Totally agree with her on Paris, especially Montmartre where we went one day and had as great a time as we have ever had in Paris. Our taxi driver who took us from our hotel to the Sacre Coeur told us to go...

The first breakfast in our hotel turned out to be an unexpected treat. Everything was fresh, from the bread, to the cheese and ham and on to the eggs. We got into conversation with a French couple from Metz, which is a short drive from Luxembourg. They also spoke German so that was the language...

Absolutely, Keesha. Variety, for me, is truly the spice of life. Think of my life here in Luxembourg. Within a short drive of our home (10 minutes) there is a suburb of Luxembourg City called Alzingen. There are three restaurants within 100 yards of each other - one specialises in Luxembourg...

Hello again, Keesha. I hope I've been able to explain how Brexit will affect people in the same situation as myself (and Jackie, of course ;-)) I totally agree about "immigrants". When Chinese people first came to Europe in fairly high numbers British food was in the dark ages. My parents used...

Hello, Keesha. Jackie pointed out to me that I hadn’t completely answered your questions about how Brexit will affect us so I thought while we’re spending a quiet Sunday I should get on and do the job properly. If we hadn’t become citizens of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg our situation would...