Grand Tour of Little Britain

Trainman

Just when we we were getting very bored with Stratford-upon-Avon (at 11am on our second day) we came across this man whose name we may never find out. He built a miniature version of Stratford junction as it would have looked a long time ago and has opened his house to show it. I was a little startled when he suddenly appeared amidst the trains and started telling us all about his work there and upstairs, where he was working on a even smaller scale version. While Hg diverted his attention, I snapped a few shots of him and his pride and joy.

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City of Light, my arse

Last night it took me about four hours to book a hotel in Paris near the Stade de France where U2 will be playing in July. It was incredibly frustrating to try to find out the simplest things about a city when you’re not too familiar with it. Hotel websites do not mention whether they are easily accessible on foot, or whether they’re tucked away among motorways and only accessible by car, as many budget hotels can be.

From the maps I found online it was impossible to see whether the Stade de France is located outside of the city, or in an urban area and whether I would be able to walk from the hotels around it and back. Hotels quite obviously on its doorstep were fully booked.

I could not find a map of Paris that included the Stade de France, since it´s in Saint Denis. I found maps of Saint Denis, but could not see how far it is from Paris city centre. The Stade de France website only has a map of itself and its surrounding parking lots.

In the end I gave up and booked a room near Gare du Nord. I hope trains / metro (which I hate in Paris, completely confusing, unlike the London Underground) will get me where I want and back without too much trouble.

Have I ever mentioned how much I loathe Paris?