Anthony Zacharzewski

More spots around Paris: Eating: Le Beaupré brasserie, av. de Suffren, near the Eiffel Tower: adequate bistro, with overfriendly staff a bit too ready to try English, German, Italian, etc. on foreign-looking visitors. Thanks, but we do speak French. Chez Paul, Rue de Charonne, 11e.: Excellent and very traditional French

One evening in Chambery, capital of Savoie, en route from Verona to Paris. It was quite a pleasant spot – our soulless but comfortable hotel, the Mercure, was right opposite the railway station. I got the feeling, wandering round in search of food, that there were a lot of people having

Venice was as wonderful as it always is, with the usual hordes of tourists around the Piazza thinning out nicely as we walked round past the Goldoni theatre and la Fenice to Campo S. Stefano. The pistachio ice-cream at Paolin’s there is a good thing. Jane slipped into a

I am posting this from a hotel (with wifi) apparently scientifically situated in the middle of nowhere, somewhere near Marseille. This is thanks to SNCF voyages who, while good at booking rail tickets, are apparently absolutely incapable of understanding the concept of a hotel being close to their own railway

A pleasant stay in Paris at the Hotel Patio St. Antoine, on the rue Faubourg St Antoine, metro Faidherbe-Chaligny. Also, right by the metro, a lovely friendly cafe callled Le cafe Faidherbe.