Arriving in Paris in a snow storm, without reservations we walked out of the Gare du Nord where the Eurostar and dropped us, turned left and found a 1-star hotel for €40/night. However there wasn’t much for breakfast. We ended up in this little cafe opposite the train station, whose name I forgot to write down. It was cosy and seemed full of locals though they boasted “un petit dejeuner anglais”  which came with bacon and eggs! While we were waiting I snapped this shot. The camera was determinded that it needed flash – but I knew it wouldn’t work with [...] Read more »

I never got to Germany before the wall fell while I was in Europe in 1989. In 2010 I finally made it all the way to Berlin – for somewhere that seems so far and so difficult to get to for much of my life – its only a  6 hour €50 train ride from the Netherlands. We arrived to snow and more snow. And it was beautiful.   At home, in the summer, I find Christmas very tacky and not much fun to be honest, and Christmas lights seem a waste of time when its dark until after 9pm. However [...] Read more »