Paris no Name Conjures more evocotive Images

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If You Happen to be in the Luxembourg Gardens toward the end of Next Week you will find me taking my Morning Exercise

 At some point you will find me drinking a demi at the Cafe Flore or the Deux Magots

Eating a Steak Fritte and Quaffing a glass Of Red Somewhere like this 

 

And Strolling on the Quay

 

Only a Loony would not Visit the Cotswolds

                        

Looking down the High Street Burford

The overwhelming number of Foreign Visitors to England never make it out of London. This is a fact and it is also very sad. The UK is much more than London. Take the Cotswold's for example only an Hour from London exist some of the finest Medieval  small Towns and Villages in the World. The name Cotswold is the joining of two Old English words Wold meaning Gentle Hills and Cots which are Sheep enclosures. The beautiful  Buildings in these Medieval Villages are so impressive and well preserved because the People who built them had become wealthy thanks to the Wool Trade. One could take a train from London to Oxford spending a Day looking at the Superb Oxford Colleges in this most English of Towns  then rent a Car to tour the many beautiful Cotswold Villages!!

The Lamb Inn Sheep Street Burford

The Lamb has been my Favourite small Hotel/Inn since I first stayed there 20 Years Ago

The Snug Lounge at the Lamb Inn

 

Autumn is a great time to stay at the Lamb, afternoon tea taken in front of a gently crackling Log fire must be like being in the waiting room before entering Heaven!! Undulating Stone Floors and Woodwork gleaming with the Patina of age, make the Lamb an utterly enchantingly comfortable place to be!! An elegant Dining Room serving excellent Food and Wine after having had a Pint of  the Local Ale in the friendly Bar and then of to bed in a Four Poster!! Unfortunately the Lamb is not cheap but it is an unforgettable experience and something you owe to yourself!!

There are Countless Beautiful Villages Like This One. A Day Spent driving around the Beautiful Cotwold Hills will take you back in time to the England of Yesteryear!! Enjoy

 

Enjoy Your Travels in Europe Before Vladimir Putin Annexes us!!

 

OK hands up the Headline is a bit of an attention getter. However the Actions of Vladimir Putin bear a frightening resemblance to the way Adolf Hitler sensing a lack of resolve on the part of Western Governments Annexed Czechoslovakia. He then brought about the Second World War by his gamble that the Western Powers would let him get away with invading poor Poland!!

Prague

I am reminded by the above of a wonderful adventure I had a long time ago. At the age of 19 or 20 I was living in Paris and got hold of a Visa to visit Czechoslovakia. This really was a long time ago in fact it was a few Years before the Prague Spring and the poor Old Czech's were still under the thumb of the Soviet Union.It was terribly exciting observing a Convoy of Russian Troops approaching along the Road I was traveling on. In those Days of course the "Cold War" raged and Russia was seen as being a very real threat to the peace of the World, in fact just as it is again becoming!!

The Czech's were amazingly friendly to all visitors from the West (In those Days we were a real Novelty) I was taken home by a young Girl (Not what your thinking!! I was invited to stay with Her Family!!) Black Market Touts would sidle up to One in the Street offering twice the Official rate of exchange for all Western Currencies!! With this amazing exchange rate a Litre of wonderful Czech Pilsner Beer cost sixpence (before Decimalization there were 240 Pennies in a British Pound, so for the ludicrous sum of Six pennies one could quaff the best Lager in the World until it was coming out of One's Ears Happy Days!!

A Pristine Piece of Mittle Europa