I wanted to tell you a little bit more about that amazing sea of lava in Lanzarote - the tumultuous impression of jaggedness you experience as you survey its massive extent; that chaos of lava rocks straining towards the sea. I would have added...

This time last week we were enjoying summer temperatures in Lanzarote. On our return, it was quite a shock to discover that Bordeaux is still plunged in the chilly depth of an inhabitually bleak winter. Several people had warned us that Lanzarote is a...

I feel like a cat in one of those cruel sixties experiments you learn about in Psychology. You know, the cat that was placed on a tiny platform in the middle of a swimming pool and every time it went into a deep sleep its muscles relaxed and it fell...

A lecture theatre filled with a three or four hundred students is a scary thing to look up at from the podium. A good PowerPoint presentation can look awesome on a gigantic screen. Unfortunately, tiny mistakes look correspondingly gigantic.Next time,...

This could have been a nice cosy post about how much Z and I enjoyed the Opéra de Bordeaux's unusual production of the Magic Flute last night. It takes place in a ski resort with lots of kitchy decor and sixties style hairdos and anoraks. Great...