Blog

Snippets of French history: Chopin. Great French musicians.

Chopin (1810-1849) was described by his mistress as “more Polish than Poland”.  Although many think of him as a Frenchman, he was Polish and, although he lived in France for the last 19 years of his life, he never spoke French particularly well. Chopin was christened Fryderyck in his home village near Warsaw.  He was […]

Posted 12 years ago

Portugal: the palace at Sintra, up the coast from Lisbon.

I am not sure whether to call this a palace or a castle, though the Portugese refer to it as the Palace of Pena.  I have seen many many palaces and castles and on the whole feel thoroughly palaced-out and totally castled-out, so wasn’t overkeen on visiting this one.  It has to be said, however, […]

Posted 12 years ago

Charente Maritime, France. Places to visit.

This area of France, with its plethora of limestone cliffs, has a long tradition of cave dwelling. At Meschers there are the Grottes de Regulus, named after a ship. Measuring 55 metres long and carrying 700 men, the ship was fired by Captain Jacques Regneau during the night of April 7 1814, when, failing to […]

Posted 12 years ago

The last King of Portugal. Regicide and shame.

Manuel II 1889-1932 The history of the demise of  Portugese royalty is every bit as shameful as that of Russia in that it was in the 1900s, when mankind had advanced so far  in so many ways … to kill off the Royal family in these brutal and churlish manner when society had advanced a […]

Posted 12 years ago

el camino … Santiago de la Compostella, Spain.

My mother did the camino to Santiago de Compostella when she was in her late seventies and early eighties.  She always referred to it as The Camino and said that those days were among the best in her life. The word camino is Spanish and means the road or the path and refers to the […]

Posted 12 years ago

Portugal …. road trip to the Algarve

I first came to Portugal a zillion years ago when I was in my twenties.  I was with an English chap by the name of Martin, who also lived in Marbella, and who was in the throes of selling his flat in Faro.  With us we had two dogs – his was named Fitsherbert I […]

Posted 12 years ago

Spain: el Cid. A snippet of Spanish history.

I remember very well that wonderful film with Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren!  What a heart-wrenching story and what a great film it seemed at that time – I’d love to see it again, but would probably nowadays find it “tame” and a bit silly.  But it was excellent in its day. El Cid (1043-1099) […]

Posted 12 years ago

Spain … the Ebro basin.

We crossed the border near St Jean de Luz.  The caravan ran along behind us, as good as gold. Our trusty Nissan Patrol dealt with the hills, as indeed it should, like a dream and made us remember our poor Chrysler Grand Voyager, who faithfully towed our 1.5 tons caravan all over southern Europe for […]

Posted 12 years ago

Spain: Isabella of Castille. Henry VIII’s mother-in-law!

Isabella of Castille (1451-1504) means nothing to the average Brit till they realize she was the mother of Katharine of Aragon, the first wife of our Henry VIII.  I read about Isabella in my youth – it may have been an historical novel.  She struck me at that time, and has remained so in my […]

Posted 12 years ago

Spain … Marbella, Ronda, bull fighting.

They say that wherever you spent your “formative years” is the place that remains in your heart.  Surely that depends on one’s definition of “formative years”?   I think it is not just the childhood years, but adult years where we learn a lot, do a lot, feel a lot …. I lived in Spain […]

Posted 12 years ago

Books now available on Amazon:

A Call From France
French Sand
Kefani: An African Childhood
The Man With Green Fingers
Saying Nothing