This was the train announcer’s cry as the train neared the station. I have always enjoyed train travel, and being able to get back to the centre of London from Angoulême within the day was important. Before the arrival of low cost airlines, this...
Isabella of Angoulême was a powerful woman and for her time considered quite ruthless. Perhaps she gave back to the world what she had received. Happily in the words of one reader she is also considered intriguing: ‘Finished Tangled Queen. This...
Copyright: © Mike Turner via CartoonStock – www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?catref=mtun766 The Hard Sell or Not? As a writer, an author with books to sell there are more things to consider than writing, editing, proof reading, agreeing...
The Ice Saints are St. Mamertus, St. Pancras, and St. Servatius. Their feast days fall on May 11, 12 and 13.There is often a cold or frosty snap on these days and this year was no exception. In medieval times farmers needed to know when to work...
Pains in the night On February 1st I was woken in the night by a stabbing pain in my back. It lasted about two hours. The next night I had an ache all around my left side and this lasted all night. I hardly slept. In the morning I phoned for a...
Two marriages, two very different husbands? Isabella married twice and both her husbands belonged to families that believed they were connected to Mélusine, the fairy woman who was beautiful, full of magic and full of mystery. The Angevins, who...
In France the days for the Sales are set by the state, so that no one department can gain an advantage over another. A highly regulated system of just two sales periods a year – one in summer and one after Christmas. And red letter days...
It is said that King John was born on Christmas Eve, 1166 or 1167 in Oxford. A king with a bad reputation. Nearly everyone has an opinion about him as he is forever connected to the need to curb his will and cruel power with Magna Carta. And of...
I live under the migratory path of cranes. The bird, the largest bird in Europe with a wingspan of 2 metres is also the largest migrating bird. In the breeding season and summer months they live in Russia, Poland and Germany as well as other...
As the autumn grows closer and deeper it is time to take stock of the year. I have managed, with help, to keep the journal entries up to date on a monthly basis. I also make sure that the Facebook page and Twitter get their fair share of...
The song says that summertime is easy; this summer in Southwest France has been hot rather than easy. A canicule struck twice. That word is used to describe the weather when several consecutive days have very high temperatures and the night time...
July began with a bit of a bang for me. On the 3rd of July I was lucky enough to be given a review for Isabella of Angouleme, The Tangled Queen, Part 2 on Helen Hollick’s site, Discovering Diamonds. https://discoveringdiamonds.blogspot.com/ Her...
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