With just a morning left of our Parisian adventure we did what AI had outlined for us and went shopping. Marks & Spencer this is not Galeries Lafayette was just a short walk down from our hotel and we arrive… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/10/1…

One of our favourite films is Amelie, a love story set in Paris, and today we set about trying to find some of the locations of the film. Coffee, Religion and the Republic Much of what we … neilthompson.co.uk/2026/10/1…

We tried out a different cafe for breakfast this morning which also give us the opportunity to check out the weather and gauge our clothing choices. It was fresh but dry and it could only get warmer, … neilthompson.co.uk/2026/10/1…

Paris is somewhere that we haven’t been for a very long time, probably 20 years or more, and so we decided that it was well overdue a visit. On the journey over, and to get me into the mood, I watched the… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/10/1…

Ok, not just any churches but an Abbey and a Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Cathedral to be precise. Westminster Cathedral The idea of visiting Westminster Cathedral was that it has a bell tow… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/10/0…

At the third time of asking I finally managed to get to see a screening of the film “People’s Emergency Briefing“. This is, for those that haven’t heard about it, a 50 minute film about climate change… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/09/2…

The Oxford Bus Museum is what I would call notionally in Oxford given that it is ten miles north of the city. However, it is just 15 minutes by train, which is how I arrived. Google Maps had said that from H… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/09/2…

I really shouldn’t have been surprised at the level of security to get into the Bank of England Museum, but I was. There are airport-style scanners through which all your stuff has to go, including anythi… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/09/2…

It is somewhat ironic that both my attempts to visit the London Transport Museum have come with transport problems. I had intended to visit last week but then the line between Reading and Paddington was cl… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/09/2…

The second of my two Heritage Open Days this year and this one was closer to home. Reading Minster My first stop was the Reading Minster on St Mary’s Butts an interesting chequered bu… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/09/2…

This is pretty poor @santanderuk. Trying to notify you of a death. What's the problem with the submission? What number do we call you on? Could there be any less information here?

Another one to add to my “I never knew that existed in Reading” list. This morning, we visited Green Park, where there was a free photography exhibition being held run by The Photographic An… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/09/1…

It’s that time of year again when places that would normally be off limits to the public throw their doors open and let us in. It’s time for the annual Heritage Open Days. In every other yea… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/09/1…

For the love of god @OctopusEnergy please let me remove this. I’ve already answered the question!

I’ll get the jokes out of the way at the beginning. I was concerned that today’s trip would be a load of rubbish and a waste of time. There, now we can move on. Our u3a Out and About group had con… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/08/1…

Interesting artwork in the Royal Berkshire Hospital - Divers by Sophie Dickens.

As the weather is taking a break from being in the 30s, we decided to get in another leg of the Thames Path. Because of our desire to only use public transport wherever possible, we chose to o… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/08/0…

I forget how I came across Longplayer but I was fascinated by its intersection between two of my interests: music and technology. Conceived by Pogues member Jem Finer for the turn of the millennium, … neilthompson.co.uk/2026/08/0…

Reading the latest Martin ‘Money Saving Expert’ Lewis email last week it reminded me that Amazon do behind the scenes tours of their fulfilment centres, something that I’d had on my to do list for … neilthompson.co.uk/2026/07/2…

Another leg of the Thames Path checked off ✓. This time an 8.5 mile quiet and rural stretch bookended by Abingdon town and the city of Oxford. Here One Minute, Gone the Next For the first tim… neilthompson.co.uk/2026/07/1…