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The satnavs tick off the passing interchanges, the passengers in the back seats are bored and the blood pressure of the drivers rises. No-one, no-one on the busy highway will ever know that a touch of heaven is just a few feet below the angry tarmac. Join us as we follow the forest path as it passes under a motorway.
The crossing is a place we all know. On the upper level there is the roaring tide of business and pleasure on the motorway, below merely the country path which slips quietly through a tunnel under the road. Which road? Well, that hardly matters. It could be the M25 which orbits London, or any of a dozen other motorways that seethe past cities in England. The bridge that crosses our particular path, if you must know, escorts the E30. That is one of Europe’s mega-highways, sweeping traffic from the North Sea coast to Minsk, Moscow and beyond. It cuts across Europe, passing just south of Berlin.
Ah yes, so you’ve been to the bridge too? Your bridge is probably pretty similar to our bridge.…
Latest Note:
That long, cold winter
The European winter that is now — all too belatedly — being eclipsed by spring has seemed painfully long. Yet curiously, it has not been exceptionally cold. Across much of Europe, March was chilly by the standards of the average March, but it broke very few records for absolute minima. And a biting north-east wind made some areas feel much colder than the thermometer suggested.
Letter from Europe:
The Russian Season in Paris
Those looking to depart from convention in Paris usually head for the left bank. No-one goes to the Avenue des Champs-Elysées (on the right bank) looking for revolution. But cast back one hundred years this month and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées was the venue for some radical departures from choreographic convention.
It is an extraordinary building, one that in its style presciently anticipates what later came to be known as art deco. Although disquieted by the architecture, the citizens of the French capital were even more incensed by what went inside the building.
Our tweets
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@kaerast Yes, indeed. But getting a €10 ticket for a IIHF game seems a whole lot easier than the normal visa process for Belarus.
hidden europe 3 days, 7 hours ago -
@Aerohaveno Announced 15/01/13 on БЕЛТА & Russian news agencies. Visa-free Belarus for 5 wks. Чэмпіянат сьвету па хакеі з шайбай 2014 году
hidden europe 3 days, 7 hours ago -
Impressed by how very well many non-professionals can write about travel. Editing a book on bus journeys for @BradtGuides Lovely project.
hidden europe 3 days, 7 hours ago -
Interesting that Belarus will suspend its normal visa regime for five weeks next year (25/4 to 31/5). A chance for visa-free visits.
hidden europe 4 days, 4 hours ago -
Sorry that Brighton City Airways are suspending services. We're not that keen on flying, but BCA's Shoreham to Pontoise was a quirky route.
hidden europe 1 week, 4 days ago
