Burgundy's Reproduction Medieval Castle (work in progress!) now on BBC TV

Want to know how to build a medieval castle? (For the man who has everything.) You can't get it in time for Christmas because they are still building it. (I know - building work always takes forever.) 

At the World Travel Market I stopped at the Burgundy stand and I wrote up my account of the medieval castle building in one of my travel posts for you.
Now Mr Christopher Kelly has written to tell me you can see it on TV.

The BBC 2 series "The secrets of the Castle" at 9pm next Tuesday, 18th November.  The last of the five programmes includes sequences filmed in Vezelay http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04sv5nc 
Should you urgently need any information, please contact us.Chalon : Jérome Marché, Tel : + 33 (0)3 85 46 65 89 jeromemarche@achalon.com    www.achalon.com 
Guédelon : Sarah Preston, Tel : + 33 (0)3 86 45 69 15 sarah.preston@guedelon.fr    www.guedelon.frVézelay : Agnès Millot, Tel : + 33 (0)3 86 33 23 69 , vezelay.otsi@wanadoo.fr    www.vezelaytourisme.com

Burgundy is in France. Take a look at this map. It's nearer to the Channel ports than I remembered. If you've driven south through France down east from the Paris area towards Chamonix for skiing you may have passed though Dijon, or you might wish to take this route on your next trip.

I must admit I could not place Vezelay. You've probably heard of Santiago de Compostela. Santiago is Saint John translated into another language. The basilica is a pilgrimage point and   

a world heritage site.

More travel information on the Basilica you can visit in Vezelay:

http://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Vézelay

Travel and Diet - Fruit or Brownies?

Travel and diet - that's tricky. You know what you ought to eat. You et fruit at home, then pile on the pounds every time you eat out. Do you lose weight at home but put on weight when out at a buffet or travelling?
   When I'm travelling or just out at a conference or meeting, I sometimes deliberately grab the sugary chocolates and biscuits. That's because I need energy to run for a train, talk to an audience, stay awake to catch plane, or get off the train at the right stop.
   If you want to avoid the temptation of a buffet, what can you carry in your pocket or bag? A piece of chocolate or biscuit can turn up in your bag or pocket a week later with no problem. But a bag of fruit or vegetables has turned into a nasty mush.
   However, I am mulling over my choices when travelling after reading what psychologists in Dijon, France, have discovered, that smelling fruit in advance of choosing food. The University of Bourgogne's researchers showed that having smelled fruit in the waiting room, the subjects chose fruit rather than brownies for dessert. 

This is what we eat for breakfast at home. (If we need sustaining, followed by a boiled egg, if in a hurry. Plus lots of water.)