Cara

Last night we met up at a Thai restaurant in Maidenhead (it was good and they're all ticked off now) with my daughter Cara, before she sets off next month on a work sabbatical to Africa and India. She intends to spend three months in each continent, travelling and getting involved in voluntary work. Her request and justification for the time off (she works for a major American software house) was brilliant and made me very proud. I sincerely hope she has a safe journey.

We return to France tomorrow morning with a very early flight from Luton. As we come to the end of this trip we agreed that we should make no plans for our last day. If you're away from home and plan to do nothing all day it is so much more effective as a 'day off' than similar time at home because at home there are always jobs to do. So often we cram too much into a trip so that when we get home we need to chill because we are so tired. With any luck this trip will be different. We shall she.