Philobiblon

1. Food, glorious food

Stopping between trains at the Gare de Lyon, I nip out of the station to the nearest Chinese restaurant and have a delightful scallops fried with baby corn, spring onions and lemon grass – suddenly the whole point of Cantonese cuisine – usually in Anglo countries a stodgy, sweet mess – becomes clear.

Then on to Avignon, my “home” for the next week – I’m calling this my “Christmas holiday”, since I didn’t get one then, and I figured it might be good to get here before the tourist hordes in spring. Dinner on the Grand Square – a vegetable soup served with grated cheese that melts beautifully in it, a ham steak covered with a parsley and honey glaze, perfect pomme frites, and a yoghurt with delightfully tart fruit compote. Nothing flash, but all perfectly thought out and prepared (even if the waiter was surly since I insisted on eating outside, making him walk a bit further – no tip for him then.)

2. Public architecture that works

The grand new TGV station at Avignon is all straight flat planes of glass and concrete – built underneath the raised tracks but surprisingly airy and light. Do this in Britain and by now this would be a smelly, dirty, graffitied home to the homeless and worrying local youths – here it is bustling but friendly, with half a dozen shops seemingly doing a roaring trade.

In days ahead, I’ll probably be adding to this list…