Flying to Addis Ababa The first day, getting from home to Addis Ababa, was always going to be a long one. But it's even longer than it needs to be because of the choices I have taken. The cheapest flight my travel agent could find was with Emirates so I have flown further East than I needed to in order to spend some time waiting in Dubai before coming back West to Addis Ababa. Secondly I've broken my journey a couple of times within the UK. I've stopped off in London for a couple of hours to have lunch with Martyn and then got to Gatwick early enough to check in my bag and sneak out to go and share a pint with one of my travelling "buddies" who lives very near Gatwick. The flight with ... read more

Thursday - Back to Bois-en-Ardres Thursday - The Green Room It’s time to move on. I have to be back home for a family wedding on Saturday. So it’s “thank you”s and “goodbye”s to Nick and Anne who have put me up and put up with me and showed me around the local area for the last week. I load up the car and head for Calais. Fortunately this time Ken and my Satnav don’t want me to go through the middle of Paris and I have a fairly uneventful journey back to Bois-en-Ardres. The roads are almost empty. But the roads are expensive. It costs me about €40 in tolls for a journey of about 350 miles. On the next day I drove from Dover to Mansfield, a journey of just over 200 miles - ... read more

Tuesday - Le MOT and the Wine Museum Le MOT It’s a test of our ability to speak French this morning. Nick and Anne’s car has to go in for the French equivalent of its MOT, the “Controle Technique” test this morning. Anne speaks far better French than either of us and would be the obvious person to attempt a conversation with the mechanic. But she has earned a lie-in this morning - she has been working picking grapes for the last few days and has been out celebrating the end of the Vendange last night. Nick takes the car in early and we arrange that I will take Anne to the garage later as she has far more chance of understanding the French equivalent of “Sorry mate, your front head gasket’s gone” and “Which cowboy ... read more

Sunday - Les Joyeux Temps de La Vendange Mont de Sene We take a drive out to Mont de Sene, also known as Le Montagne de Trois Crois. Even with my limited French I’m looking out for three crosses on a hill as we are driving along. There are views out in all directions. Nick tells me that sometimes he has been able to see Mont Blanc from here but today it is a little hazy. We’ve brought a picnic with us - just some bread, cheese and water. Being a Sunday there are a number of families out picnicking too. We feel very underprepared - the typical French family seems to have brought a table cloth and a full silver service with them and are making a big family occasion out ... read more

Friday - God’s Hotel, Bulgarian cookery and International Table Football Hôtel-Dieu Friday morning and it’s a visit to Hôtel-Dieu. If my French is any good {and we’ve already established that it isn’t!} that translates as “God’s Hotel”. I don’t think I’d be able to get a room there. Also known as Hospices de Beaune, it was originally established as a hospital for the poor in the late 15th century. It remained in use as a hospital until as recently as 1971 {Am I showing my age by describing 1971 as “recent”?!?} but has now been opened as a museum showing the hospital as it was back in the 15th century. The guide books describe it as one of the best examples of 15th century French architecture and it is certainly worth a visit. The roof, which ... read more