I’ve passed through Paris a few times en route to somewhere else. All I’ve had the chance to explore has been in the context of a cramped RER train, a missed alarm and a dash to Gare de l’Est to catch an early morning ICE to Germany,

Every year, my company downs tools for a week and decamps to a hotel for a week of training and an internal conference. Usually, if it’s in mainland Europe, that involves flying. I try to avoid it. I hate the rigmarole of flying. Partly because airports are awful places

I’ve spent a few days in Manchester for a conference. It’s been rainy (normal for Manchester) and I haven’t ventured beyond the city centre—I didn’t have my bike with me, and everywhere I was going was within the city centre, so it didn’t seem