{"id":12536,"date":"2025-09-27T13:00:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T13:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/?p=12536"},"modified":"2025-09-27T13:04:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T13:04:19","slug":"weeknotes-343-en-seine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2025\/09\/27\/weeknotes-343-en-seine\/","title":{"rendered":"Weeknotes #343 \u2014 En Seine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='e-content'><span hidden class=\"__iawmlf-post-loop-links\" data-iawmlf-links=\"[{&quot;id&quot;:435,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.marriott.com\\\/en-us\\\/hotels\\\/bodox-moxy-bordeaux\\\/overview&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20251018062938\\\/https:\\\/\\\/www.marriott.com\\\/en-us\\\/hotels\\\/bodox-moxy-bordeaux\\\/overview\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-03 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05:58:06&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-04 08:20:43&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-07 13:27:18&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-14 09:04:39&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-17 16:48:39&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-20 22:04:19&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-27 01:50:09&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-31 08:58:59&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-03 14:12:56&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-08 09:26:10&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-12 17:21:57&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-17 16:56:30&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-22 18:09:26&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-25 21:48:23&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-29 18:21:03&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-09 18:16:32&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-15 18:25:59&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-22 12:38:32&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-26 02:45:24&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-29 08:10:46&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-02 15:17:25&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-02 15:17:25&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]\"><\/span>\n<p>I spent this week in France, the first half in Bordeaux followed by a couple of days in Paris. Every year, the division of the company that I work for gives a recognition award to around 50 staff, with the prize of a trip abroad along with our CEO, our Head of People &amp; Culture, and a number of other CxOs as hosts. All of the award winners are allowed to bring someone with them on the trip. My wife had planned to come for the first half, even getting special dispensation from her school for a few days off work, but ultimately pulled out after <a href=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2025\/08\/27\/weeknotes-339-lone-star\/\" title=\"Andrew Doran: Weeknotes #339 \u2014 Lone Star\">our eldest son\u2019s plans to go to college in the US rapidly accelerated in August<\/a>. As much as I\u2019m sure he would have coped, it didn\u2019t feel right to leave our younger son at home on his own, managing his schoolwork, his meals and our pets. So I went solo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was the second time that I\u2019ve won the award, four years after <a href=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2021\/03\/29\/weeknotes-109-foam-party\/\" title=\"Andrew Doran: Weeknotes #109 \u2014 Foam party\">the first<\/a>. Back then, we were in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, so a trip abroad was downscaled to a hamper and cash. As generous (and delicious) as that was, it wasn\u2019t a patch on the experience of going away with everyone. I felt a little guilty about being singled out for the projects that we ran last year as their successes were a massive team effort from everyone involved. But I also felt humbled and grateful that colleagues felt that they wanted to put me forward for the award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As soon as my wife decided that she wasn\u2019t going to come, I took a closer look at the travel details. A 7:35am flight from Gatwick on Sunday would have involved waking up at 3am, so I decided to book myself a flight for the evening before, as well as one night in a hotel. I picked the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marriott.com\/en-us\/hotels\/bodox-moxy-bordeaux\/overview\/\" title=\"Marriott: Moxy Bordeaux\">Moxy<\/a>, which was about the same price as a low-cost hotel chain, but looked a little funkier and was closer to where I would need to join the group the next day. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed, so I didn\u2019t end up getting to the hotel until after 10pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the late hour, I was keen to stretch my legs and explore. My Bordeaux adventure got off to an inauspicious start when, not more than 30 seconds\u2019 walk away from the hotel, someone in a passing car threw a water bomb at my back, one that I later found had been fashioned from a half-eaten bag of chorizo bites. (At least, I <em>hope<\/em> it was water.) It took me a few moments to work out what had gone on, by which time the car had driven off into the distance. It put me in a bad mood as I now had to dry out my clothes and potentially pay to have them cleaned. Being soaked in an unknown liquid was a good signal to cut my losses and go to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Graffiti near the Moxy Hotel.\" class=\"wp-image-12493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-700x700.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Graffiti near the Moxy Hotel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The next morning I woke up early and went in search of breakfast but couldn\u2019t find anything. The Moxy hotel is in a \u2018cool\u2019 part of town, but not a place where street caf\u00e9s are plentiful. I gave up and decided to head to the <a href=\"https:\/\/mondrianhotels.com\/bordeaux-les-carmes\/\" title=\"Mondrian Bordeaux Les Carmes\">Mondrian Bordeaux Les Carmes<\/a> hotel, where we would all be staying, to see if they would check me into my room early. As I waited for the room to be ready, I went for a wander, found a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paul.fr\" title=\"PAUL\">PAUL<\/a> bakery and picked up a burnt pastry and rank coffee. Fortunately this prelude to the main trip was the low point, and everything got immeasurably better from here on in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After checking into my room, I waited in the lobby and met a bunch of colleagues from Angola and Tanzania who had also arrived early. A small coach took us to our first venue, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chateau-kirwan.com\/en\/\" title=\"Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan\">Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan<\/a>. Before we had a chance to meet any of the other delegates, the staff whisked us off for a short visit to their fermentation room and cellar.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-1-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"The cellar at Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan.\" class=\"wp-image-12497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-1-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-1-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-1-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-1-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-1-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-1-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-1-1-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The cellar at Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Various vintages in the cellar at Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan.\" class=\"wp-image-12506\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Various vintages in the cellar at Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-3-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"The cellar at Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan. Presumably some very intensive wine-based rituals take place here.\" class=\"wp-image-12514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-3-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-3-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-3-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-3-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-3-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-3-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-3-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The cellar at Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan. Presumably some very intensive wine-based rituals take place here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Everyone gathered back at the main building, where we were treated to a canap\u00e9 lunch and drinks. People were doing well considering most of them had just stepped off overnight long-haul flights. I started chatting to various colleagues and their partners, learning a bit more about the people that I would be spending the week with.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-4-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"The menu at Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan.\" class=\"wp-image-12521\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-4-scaled.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-4-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-4-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-4-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-4-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-4-525x700.jpeg 525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The menu at Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-5-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Dessert canap\u00e9s at Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan.\" class=\"wp-image-12529\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-5-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-5-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-5-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-5-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-5-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-5-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-5-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dessert canap\u00e9s at Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>After a long, leisurely lunch, we boarded coaches to take us back to the hotel so that people could check in and get freshened up before a cocktail dinner in the hotel restaurant. It was lovely to meet people and make new friends, as well as chat to people from other offices that I knew but hadn\u2019t spoken to in years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the week, I managed to make it out early for some 10km runs \u2014 twice in Bordeaux and once in Paris \u2014 which helped offset all of the eating. The route in Bordeaux was pleasing in that doing a loop that crossed one bridge and then crossed back two bridges later came to just over 10km. There were <em>so<\/em> many runners by the riverside in Bordeaux, and there was a flow of them all day that was as constant as that of the river.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-6-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Bordeaux in the early morning as I went on my run.\" class=\"wp-image-12498\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-6-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-6-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-6-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-6-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-6-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-6-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-6-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bordeaux in the early morning as I went on my run.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>On Monday morning we split up into four groups, each of which had pre-selected a different activity. I was booked on a trip to visit <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ch%C3%A2teau_Smith_Haut_Lafitte\" title=\"Wikipedia: Ch\u00e2teau Smith Haut Lafitte\">Ch\u00e2teau Smith Haut Lafitte<\/a>, a winery that planted its first grape vines in 1365. The place was stunningly beautiful, from the gorgeous buildings, to the neatly planted grape vines, to the large pieces of artwork that had been placed around the grounds. Owners <a href=\"https:\/\/thebordeauxconcierge.com\/journal\/the-faces-of-bordeaux-florence-cathiard\" title=\"The Bordeaux Concierge: THE FACES OF BORDEAUX - FLORENCE CATHIARD, CH\u00c2TEAU SMITH HAUT LAFITTE, GRAND CRU CLASS\u00c9 DE GRAVES\">Florence and Daniel Cathiard<\/a> met when they were part of the French national ski team. After running chains of family-owned supermarkets and sporting goods shops, they sold the businesses and purchased the ch\u00e2teau in 1990. They have since invested in and developed the site, achieving organic certification in 2019, installing sculptures throughout the grounds and developing their wine tourism business. Everything about the ch\u00e2teau felt classy and well-loved.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-7-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Ch\u00e2teau Smith Haut Lafitte.\" class=\"wp-image-12505\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-7-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-7-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-7-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-7-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-7-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-7-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-7-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ch\u00e2teau Smith Haut Lafitte.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-8-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"The grounds of the buildings at Ch\u00e2teau Smith Haut Lafitte.\" class=\"wp-image-12513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-8-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-8-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-8-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-8-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-8-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-8-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-8-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The grounds of the buildings at Ch\u00e2teau Smith Haut Lafitte.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-9-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Artwork in the grounds.\" class=\"wp-image-12522\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-9-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-9-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-9-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-9-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-9-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-9-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-9-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Artwork in the grounds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-10-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"A mixed-size wooden box of Ch\u00e2teau Smith Haut Lafitte. A steal at \u20ac5,025.\" class=\"wp-image-12518\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-10-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-10-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-10-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-10-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-10-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-10-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-10-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A mixed-size wooden box of Ch\u00e2teau Smith Haut Lafitte. A steal at \u20ac5,025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-11-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"A 750ml bottle at \u20ac158 was the cheapest that I could find, but it still wasn\u2019t quite in my price range.\" class=\"wp-image-12530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-11-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-11-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-11-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-11-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-11-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-11-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-11-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A 750ml bottle at \u20ac158 was the cheapest that I could find, but it still wasn\u2019t quite in my price range.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-12-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Ch\u00e2teau Smith Haut Lafitte employs a cooper to make all of their barrels. The barrels are used twice for their main signature wines and then twice more for their other wines before being sold.\" class=\"wp-image-12500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-12-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-12-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-12-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-12-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-12-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-12-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-12-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ch\u00e2teau Smith Haut Lafitte employs a cooper to make all of their barrels. The barrels are used twice for their main signature wines and then twice more for their other wines before being sold.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-13-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"We\u2019d turned up at harvest time, so we got to see the team working to sort the grapes.\" class=\"wp-image-12510\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-13-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-13-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-13-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-13-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-13-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-13-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-13-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">We\u2019d turned up at harvest time, so we got to see the team working to sort the grapes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-14-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"In the very chilly and beautifully well-kept wine cellar.\" class=\"wp-image-12519\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-14-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-14-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-14-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-14-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-14-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-14-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-14-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In the very chilly and beautifully well-kept wine cellar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-15-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"King Charles III and Queen Camilla had recently visited, and there were bottles on display that celebrated their time there.\" class=\"wp-image-12531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-15-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-15-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-15-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-15-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-15-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-15-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-15-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">King Charles III and Queen Camilla had recently visited, and there were bottles on display that celebrated their time there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-16-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"In the wine tasting room, the floor opened up James Bond-style to reveal the private cellar. The oldest bottle I found was from 1878.\" class=\"wp-image-12501\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-16-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-16-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-16-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-16-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-16-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-16-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-16-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In the wine tasting room, the floor opened up James Bond-style to reveal the private cellar. The oldest bottle I found was from 1878.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-17-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Daniel Cathiard, one of the owners of Ch\u00e2teau Smith Haut Lafitte, popped into the wine tasting room to say hello. Our guide looked remarkably like Katherine Blamire from Smoke Fairies, and gave a gasp when I told her this and showed her a picture. She wrote down the name of the band, so perhaps they now have a new fan in Bordeaux.\" class=\"wp-image-12511\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-17-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-17-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-17-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-17-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-17-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-17-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-17-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Daniel Cathiard, one of the owners of Ch\u00e2teau Smith Haut Lafitte, popped into the wine tasting room to say hello. Our guide looked remarkably like Katherine Blamire from Smoke Fairies, and gave a gasp when I told her this and showed her a picture. She wrote down the name of the band, so perhaps they now have a new fan in Bordeaux.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-18-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Trying the white wine.\" class=\"wp-image-12520\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-18-scaled.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-18-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-18-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-18-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-18-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-18-525x700.jpeg 525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Trying the white wine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>After a leisurely and delicious lunch at the ch\u00e2teau, we took the coach back to our hotel. As I went to head back to my room, someone handed me a wristband for entry into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.laciteduvin.com\/en\" title=\"La Cit\u00e9 du Vin\">La Cit\u00e9 du Vin<\/a>, Bordeaux\u2019s beautifully architected wine museum. The group that had headed there in the morning had been given a set of extra passes and a few members of the team were keen to go back. I was very tired, but I knew I\u2019d regret just going back to my room to rest, so I joined them. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-19-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"La Cit\u00e9 du Vin, Bordeaux.\" class=\"wp-image-12532\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-19-scaled.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-19-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-19-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-19-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-19-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-19-525x700.jpeg 525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">La Cit\u00e9 du Vin, Bordeaux.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The museum itself was well-produced, but felt too digital. All visitors were given a headset and receiver, which triggered when you walked into a particular space or waved it in front of a panel. The exhibits were good, but they were all custom-made for the space; I didn\u2019t see any historical examples of wine, corks or bottles, for example. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-20-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"View across Bordeaux from La Cit\u00e9 du Vin.\" class=\"wp-image-12525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-20-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-20-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-20-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-20-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-20-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-20-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-20-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">View across Bordeaux from La Cit\u00e9 du Vin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>After our visit, we rolled back along the riverfront and met up with some other colleagues for a drink before going in search of somewhere for dinner. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tripadvisor.co.uk\/Restaurant_Review-g661224-d28053400-Reviews-Gruppomimo_Bordeaux-Artigues_pres_Bordeaux_Bordeaux_Gironde_Nouvelle_Aquitaine.html\" title=\"Tripadvisor: Gruppomimo \u2014 Bordeaux\">Gruppomimo<\/a> was exactly what we were looking for; an Italian with plenty on the menu and a big round table that could seat everyone in our group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Tuesday morning there was nothing planned and I was keen to get a few hours to myself after all of the socialising. I love meeting and talking with people I don\u2019t know, but I know the signs of when I need to recharge. I wandered from our hotel down to the river and along to the old town. I found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.belleepoquebordeaux.com\" title=\"La Belle Epoque, Bordeaux\">a caf\u00e9<\/a>, ordered a drink and caught up with some admin, including finishing off <a href=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2025\/09\/16\/weeknotes-342-out-of-breath\/\" title=\"Andrew Doran: Weeknotes #342 \u2014 Out of breath\">last week\u2019s weeknotes<\/a>, before going off to explore the record and CD shops of the old town.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-21-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Graffiti in Bordeaux.\" class=\"wp-image-12494\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-21-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-21-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-21-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-21-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-21-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-21-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-21-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-21-700x700.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Graffiti in Bordeaux.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-22-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Over the few days we were in Bordeaux, we saw the Ferris wheel getting dismantled piece by piece.\" class=\"wp-image-12507\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-22-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-22-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-22-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-22-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-22-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-22-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-22-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Over the few days we were in Bordeaux, we saw the Ferris wheel getting dismantled piece by piece.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-23-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Stickers fascinate me. There seem to be so many on the streets of the cities of Europe. Who goes to the trouble of creating and printing them? And why?\" class=\"wp-image-12516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-23-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-23-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-23-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-23-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-23-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-23-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-23-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-23-700x700.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Stickers fascinate me. There seem to be so many on the streets of the cities of Europe. Who goes to the trouble of creating and printing them? And why?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-24-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux.\" class=\"wp-image-12526\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-24-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-24-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-24-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-24-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-24-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-24-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-24-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-25-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Diablo Menthe, a great little record shop in Bordeaux that kept very odd hours.\" class=\"wp-image-12495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-25-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-25-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-25-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-25-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-25-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-25-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-25-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-25-700x700.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Diablo Menthe, a great little record shop in Bordeaux that kept very odd hours.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Tuesday night was the main event, a formal awards dinner in the hall of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bordeauxpalaisbourse.com\/our-spaces-and-conferences-rooms\/espace-bourse\/?lang=en\" title=\"Bordeaux Palais de la Bourse: Bourse Area\">Palais de la Bourse<\/a>. I found myself sitting next to the mother of one of the winners, who told me that she had never been abroad in her life. This is one of the big things that made the trip special, with so many people going outside of their country for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-26-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"The formal awards dinner menu.\" class=\"wp-image-12508\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-26-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-26-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-26-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-26-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-26-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-26-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-26-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The formal awards dinner menu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-27.jpeg\" alt=\"Receiving my award with some of the senior leaders of our firm. Photo: Amrin Mamad Moreira\" class=\"wp-image-12517\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-27.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-27-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-27-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-27-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-27-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-27-700x394.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Receiving my award with some of the senior leaders of our firm. Photo: Amrin Mamad Moreira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>It was a late night followed by an early morning as we had to have our luggage ready for a van to take it to Paris. We took the train, speeding through the French countryside at over 300kmh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Paris itself was a revelation for me. I\u2019ve been <em>through<\/em> it many times in order to change trains on the way to somewhere else, but I\u2019d never properly visited. Given its reputation as a capital city of romance, I shouldn\u2019t have been surprised, but I didn\u2019t expect it to be quite so beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our adventure started with a trip to the Eiffel Tower. This also surpassed my expectations. It\u2019s an iconic historic monument, but to my mind has always had a temporary, half-finished look about it, almost like a wireframe prototype for something more permanent. Seeing it in real life changed my perception completely. It\u2019s an incredible structure, and much bigger than I expected. At the base of the structure, which you get to after going through a security check, you see brown paint spattered all over the floor from where the metal beams were most recently decorated. The yawning void at the base of the structure is incredible in size, and the intricacy and decorative nature of the steelwork is stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-28-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"My first meeting with the Eiffel Tower.\" class=\"wp-image-12527\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-28-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-28-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-28-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-28-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-28-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-28-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-28-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-28-700x700.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">My first meeting with the Eiffel Tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-29-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"At the base of the Eiffel Tower.\" class=\"wp-image-12496\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-29-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-29-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-29-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-29-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-29-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-29-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-29-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">At the base of the Eiffel Tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-30-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Looking up (well, me looking down) from the base of the Eiffel Tower.\" class=\"wp-image-12533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-30-scaled.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-30-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-30-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-30-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-30-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-30-525x700.jpeg 525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Looking up (well, me looking down) from the base of the Eiffel Tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Getting up to the second floor was fun, ascending one of the legs of the structure via the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.toureiffel.paris\/en\/the-monument\/lifts\" title=\"La Tour Eiffel: THE EIFFEL TOWER\u2019S LIFTS\">large elevators<\/a> that resembled a funicular railway. The views here were good, but they weren\u2019t a patch on what we could see from the top level, which at 276m above ground is the highest public observation deck in the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-31-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Looking out over Paris from the Eiffel Tower.\" class=\"wp-image-12502\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-31-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-31-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-31-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-31-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-31-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-31-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-31-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Looking out over Paris from the Eiffel Tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-32-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"A view from the Eiffel Tower down the Seine.\" class=\"wp-image-12512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-32-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-32-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-32-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-32-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-32-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-32-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-32-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A view from the Eiffel Tower down the Seine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-33-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Another view of the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.\" class=\"wp-image-12523\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-33-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-33-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-33-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-33-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-33-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-33-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-33-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Another view of the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-34-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"The shadow cast by the tower across the gardens and buildings of Paris.\" class=\"wp-image-12534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-34-scaled.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-34-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-34-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-34-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-34-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-34-525x700.jpeg 525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The shadow cast by the tower across the gardens and buildings of Paris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-35-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Another breathtaking view from the Eiffel Tower.\" class=\"wp-image-12503\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-35-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-35-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-35-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-35-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-35-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-35-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-35-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Another breathtaking view from the Eiffel Tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Our visit was short, but it was long enough. The queue to get the elevators back down wound its way around the observation deck and it took quite a while before we were on our way. After getting back on our coach, we drove up the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es\" title=\"Wikipedia: Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es\">Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es<\/a>, past the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arc_de_Triomphe\" title=\"Wikipedia: Arc de Triomphe\">Arc de Triomphe<\/a>, and on to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hotelducollectionneur.com\/en\" title=\"Hotel du Collectionneur\">our next hotel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-36-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"The Arc de Triomphe.\" class=\"wp-image-12515\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-36-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-36-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-36-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-36-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-36-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-36-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-36-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-36-700x700.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Arc de Triomphe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>We didn\u2019t have long at the hotel before we had to get ready for an evening\u2019s river cruise, with dinner, drinks and dancing as we travelled along the Seine. It was a wonderful evening, meeting and talking to people that I hadn\u2019t yet spent much time with, and watching everyone let their hair down as the DJ played. Seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up at night was breathtaking, especially when it sparkled for five minutes at the start of a new hour. We finished the night with a final drink back at the hotel bar before heading to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-37-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Our riverboat menu for the evening. DJ and bar not shown.\" class=\"wp-image-12524\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-37-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-37-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-37-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-37-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-37-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-37-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-37-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-37-700x700.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Our riverboat menu for the evening. DJ and bar not shown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>On Thursday we had our final group activity, with people going off in four different directions until lunchtime. I was booked on a guided tour of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.louvre.fr\/en\/\" title=\"Louvre\">the Louvre<\/a>. At first, it seemed that we wouldn\u2019t make it inside the building as a result of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/france\/20250917-disrupted-planes-trains-and-tourist-sites-what-to-expect-from-france-nationwide-september-18-strike\" title=\"France24: Disruptions to transport and tourist sites: What to expect from France\u2019s September 18 strike\">the general strike<\/a> that was taking place that day. Our tour guide suggested that instead we plan a different tour, taking in some of the streets and passageways in the surrounding area. We started outside by the Louvre Pyramid, took some photos and pondered our next move. Someone overheard that the museum might be opening soon, so we thought we\u2019d take a chance and join one of the queues, giving ourselves a deadline for when we would give up and go and do something else. After 25 minutes or so, the doors opened, and after going through the airport-style security checks, we found ourselves in a wonderfully underpopulated museum.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-38-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Looking out at the plaza from a room in the Louvre.\" class=\"wp-image-12535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-38-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-38-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-38-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-38-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-38-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-38-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-38-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Looking out at the plaza from a room in the Louvre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Information poured out of our guide, giving us historical facts about the museum itself as we wandered around what used to be a moat of the old Louvre fortress. As we made our way through rooms of Roman statues, the museum started to fill up with people, until it got uncomfortably busy. We continued to learn from our guide, who explained what we were looking at, how we could identify the gods depicted in the statues and how some of the discoveries were made.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-39-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Turning out to be what I assume is another hectic day at the museum.\" class=\"wp-image-12504\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-39-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-39-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-39-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-39-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-39-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-39-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-39-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Turning out to be what I assume is another hectic day at the museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>To find the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mona_Lisa\" title=\"Wikipedia: Mona Lisa\">Mona Lisa<\/a>, we just had to move in the direction of the densest crowds, and eventually squeeze past some of them, through a tiny entrance to a large room. Seeing the painting in person was a fascinating experience, but not because of the painting itself; layers of people stood in front of the artwork, many \u2014 possibly most \u2014 with their phones and cameras out, taking pictures. It didn\u2019t make any sense to me. High-definition digital versions of the painting are surely available online. While you are there in front of the painting, why not look at it with your own eyes, something you won\u2019t be able to do as soon as you leave the room?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We wandered out of the museum and followed our guide to a nearby restaurant, where we met up with other colleagues and enjoyed a delicious and delicate French lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-40-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"A delicious starter for our final group meal.\" class=\"wp-image-12499\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-40-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-40-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-40-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-40-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-40-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-40-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-40-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-40-700x700.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A delicious starter for our final group meal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>In the afternoon I wandered around Paris, visiting more record and CD shops, before heading back to the hotel. Some of us met up for a final get-together, retiring to bed exhausted not long after midnight. The next day, everyone was on their way home.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-41-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Enjoying myself, sitting in a Paris caf\u00e9, facing the street and watching the world go by.\" class=\"wp-image-12509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-41-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-41-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-41-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-41-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-41-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-41-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-41-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-41-700x700.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Enjoying myself, sitting in a Paris caf\u00e9, facing the street and watching the world go by.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>It was an incredible experience, one that I feel very privileged to have been a part of. It was lovely to get to know new colleagues and friends, and to create these shared memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few other things from this week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Media<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Podcasts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Great to hear from <a title=\"BBC: Desert Island Discs: Danny Dyer, actor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/m002c2hw\">Danny Dyer on Desert Island Discs<\/a>. I don\u2019t think I learned a great deal about him that I didn\u2019t already know, but it was a fun listen.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Video<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Apropos of nothing, I re-watched <em><a title=\"IMDB: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai\" href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0172684\">Kuch Kuch Hota Hai<\/a><\/em> (1998) across a number of days. If you just go with the silly story, ridiculous over-acting and bizarre plot points, it\u2019s a fun movie. And the songs are so catchy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Watched another couple of episodes of Australian show <em><a title=\"Netflix: You Can't Ask That\" href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/gb\/title\/81232129\">You Can\u2019t Ask That<\/a><\/em> on Netflix, one focusing on deaf people and another on those with Down\u2019s Syndrome. It\u2019s an incredible programme.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dived into the mad world of Charlie Sheen through <a title=\"Netflix: aka CHARLIE SHEEN\" href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/gb\/title\/82024990\">the new two-part Netflix film<\/a>. Given his central involvement in the documentary, I am sure that there is a certain amount of rose-tinting in the final output. But what was left in was shocking enough. The main impression I came away with is that he\u2019s a very fortunate guy to have so many loving people around him.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Books<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Still making progress through Jon Savage\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.faber.co.uk\/product\/9780571358373-the-secret-public\/\">The Secret Public: How LGBTQ Resistance Shaped Popular Culture (1955\u20131979)<\/a><\/em>. I don\u2019t think I\u2019m quite halfway through this giant tome. It\u2019s excellent.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12528\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2.png 1000w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DraggedImage-2-700x393.png 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Next week:<\/strong> Back to work, and hosting an Album Club.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<a href=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2025\/09\/27\/weeknotes-343-en-seine\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" title=\"Permalink to Weeknotes #343 \u2014 En Seine\"><div class='e-content p-summary'>I spent this week in France, the first half in Bordeaux followed by a couple of days in Paris. Every year, the division of the company that I work for gives a recognition award to around 50 staff, with the prize of a trip abroad along with our CEO, our Head of People &amp; Culture, [&hellip;]<\/div>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-weeknotes","7":"h-entry","9":"hentry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10510,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2023\/10\/30\/weeknotes-244-bristol\/","url_meta":{"origin":12536,"position":0},"title":"Weeknotes #244 \u2014 Bristol","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"30 October 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Four days in Berlin knocked me out. Prior to the trip, I\u2019d already decided to take off an extra couple of days after I got back, as the rest of the family would be off work and school for half term. I\u2019m so glad I did. Tuesday was spent pottering\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Granary, Bristol","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Image-30-10-2023-07-18-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Image-30-10-2023-07-18-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Image-30-10-2023-07-18-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Image-30-10-2023-07-18-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Image-30-10-2023-07-18-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Image-30-10-2023-07-18-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5607,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2020\/03\/02\/weeknotes-63-running-in-the-family\/","url_meta":{"origin":12536,"position":1},"title":"Weeknotes #63 \u2014 Running in the family","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"2 March 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A week in which I... Had to work with the team to cover the gaps left by the sudden departure of a key technical colleague. Saw the team land a number of significant changes, resolving some long-outstanding issues we have had with our new platform in London, and paving the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Image-02-03-2020-07-37-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Image-02-03-2020-07-37-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Image-02-03-2020-07-37-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Image-02-03-2020-07-37-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Image-02-03-2020-07-37-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Image-02-03-2020-07-37-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13535,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2026\/03\/04\/weeknotes-366-kitzbuhel\/","url_meta":{"origin":12536,"position":2},"title":"Weeknotes #366 \u2014 Kitzb\u00fchel","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"4 March 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The town of Kitzb\u00fchel, Austria, from high up in the mountains. A four-day working week with a long weekend away at the end. I needed it. 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The boys had their school reports this week and we\u2019re so proud of them, we couldn\u2019t have asked for more. 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My downbeat, frustrated mood from a couple of weeks back carried on to the following week and I just couldn\u2019t shake it. Work weighed me down, I seemed feel miserable and couldn't find much joy in anything. 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It\u2019s so hard to believe that five days there used to be the norm. The office-based sensory overload that I\u2019ve been feeling went off the charts; by Thursday afternoon there were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DraggedImage-4-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DraggedImage-4-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DraggedImage-4-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DraggedImage-4-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DraggedImage-4-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DraggedImage-4-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12536"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12542,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12536\/revisions\/12542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}