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[DN - Written at Aubeterre-Sur-Dronne, France - November 2021.] The croissant ('crescent') was invented by the Viennese On our Tuesday morning bike rides in France, Charlotte and the gang stop enroute for café et croissants at a local village épicerie . To be honest, I prefer a pain aux raisins, but I can happily rip off pieces of this buttery, crescent-shaped pastry and munch them, leaving a pile of large, flaky French crumbs on the table, and on me, and on the floor. Exce

Odysseus trying to resist the call of the Sirens I’ve finally managed to complete reading the ‘Odyssey’!! No, not Homer’s original. Nor a heavy and testing translation, faithfully true to his work. But a lighter adaptation by Simon Armitage written as a play for BBC Radio 4. Years ago, I had tried to enjoy a translation of Homer’s ‘The Iliad’, but I never completed it, because I’ll admit to finding it a bit heavy going. Armitage’s Odyssey however is an easy, frothy romp. Alth

Missy Bear has arrived Preveza in the modern region of Epirus, which lies on the eastern coast of the Ionian Sea. If we had strayed a few degrees off course on our crossing, we would have ended in Corfu or even possibly Albania, which formed part of the ancient region of Epirus. The Despotate of Epirus (red) The area is generally rugged and mountainous, but here at the mouth of the Gulf of Actium the landscape is gentler and the sea is calm, reflecting the blue of the late au

As you know, we’d got as far as Riposto on the east coast of Sicily, where we sat out the storms in the Ionian. We’d pinged a shackle on the mainsail on the way down, and headed out to find another one first thing on Monday morning, during a kind gap in the rain. Unfortunately, although shackles are generally two a penny, this one is a proprietary piece of kit, and we were unable to find a replacement. To add insult to injury, the heavens opened again… Riposto sits at the foo

Missy Bear Will cross the Ionian Sea. Missy Bear Will cross the Ionian Sea. Depart: 10:00 am, Monday, November 1. From: Riposto, Sicily To: Preveza, Greece Trip: 275 NM Crew: Richard and Tony B. Follow us live on: MarineTraffic.com The weather router on Windy App Leaving Riposto 09:10, with patch of blue sky over Etna. Very lost and tired friend. My colleague Will thinks it is a meadow or tree pipit. We had many small birds land onboard, and one landed in my lap. Some had a