The Arch

Cold! Discover that the Arch is actually open to the elements at the top. We are doing something about that urgently! Nonetheless a good day with two English journalists and one French. Interview in French for French Radio London. Of course London has the fourth or fifth largest French population in the world... (there is a little dispute with Lille)... So it is a good Idea to get any of nos amis who may be homesick to come to The Arch for a taste of home. There are several hundred.

Did some posing - do a lot of that, I do - for the photographer for the Eurostar Magazine. He was Hungarian and was remembering happy childhood around his dad's little wine cellar.

I've often banged on about the Hungarian ' vineyards for all' idea. It’s one of the greatest ideas on the planet for a happy life.

A bit like allotments. Just much better.

Everyone can - and even could under Communism - have an acre of vines AND a little cellar. Often underneath.

So as you drive though Hungary you'll see what look like villages of miniature houses. Each, just one tiny room... with a vaulted barrel-lined tunnel running behind underneath the vines. Adrian remembered how his Dad loved to escape home for a day tending his vines, his barrels and ... of course, having a lot of extremely necessary tastings with the neighbours. Beats an allotment. “Vineyards for All!” I say.

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