The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in vi...

The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in vi...

I've seen the future and it is Zeekr

The ATO has finalised PCG 2024/2, setting out how employers can calculate and reimburse home-charging electricity costs for electric vehicles (EVs) and

Apple commentator John Dvorak was clear in his thoughts: “Apple's adoption of A/UX is a mistake…if Apple adopts UNIX, advantages that relate to the company's proprietarymarket position will be lost. ...

But the car lobby is demanding that the EU scrap rules that would better reflect PHEV pollution.

Let me cover the homeward trip first - as part of our cruise deal, we had business class seats with Qatar Air. My first time with them and I was impressed, the Q Suites were nice and we had a 'double suite' on three of the four legs. It meant we had a sort of double bed for the last leg and we both managed a good sleep.

I have often wondered what happens when a sculptor makes a mistake. I think that I now know. I believe that this was going to be a lion but 'he' made a mistake, so he decided to make it a creature with the backend of a lion and the head of a woman. Even then it seems that she is showing great disdain and she is clearly not a happy statue.

The city of Rouen promotes this building as their central archives. That does not make sense to me. It is a city that was extensively bombed during WW2 and so they would have only modest archives (80 years worth). Why build a high rise building for documents? Most archives around the world are in a 'warehouse' type facility I can only assume that it is the headquarters of the French nuclear submarine program - obvious really.

There was a palpable sense of panic when this guy interrupted our drinks the other night, especially amongst the Americans on board. This guy was clearly an American paratrooper - what was he doing here and he sprang up out of nowhere, grabbed the microphone. Surely "the Don" doesn't now have his special forces boarding vessels in French waters - just to check on our social media posts - or does he??

We've been toughing it out on the Scenic Gem but last night the desserts were amazing. But it is not all easy going - they have this great way to limit the chocolate. They serve 3-4 squares in a jar. Clever and this scheme may be implemented back in Melbourne.

Everywhere I go I see this guy doing crazy actions like this, usually it occurs mid-morning when there are instagrammers nearby. It seems like he is pointing but he is not Sometimes he has all feet on the ground but not this time He always wears a cap Sometimes he is accompanied by a petite well-dressed woman, but sometimes it seems like she wants nothing to do with him.

We are now in the town of Rouen and some of the locals here thought this lady was a witch and burnt her at the stake. She was only around 19 years old but managed to squeeze a lot into her nineteen years. It is a fairly amazing story I think that this scene that is illuminated onto the Cathedral is also meant to depict her death scene.

On the day that I believe to be called Wednesday we were to head to the boat for our cruise. Before I tell of that adventure, I have some last photos of Paris. For some reason I find the various bike riders captivating, various outfits (some well designed for riding and some not), sometimes with an extra passenger or two and some just commuting.

We finished our time in Villers-sur-Mer and headed to Paris on "yesterday", I think some people call it Saturday. We knew we had a challenging day ahead as we had a drive of a couple of hours, drop the bags at our Paris 'digs' and then return hire/leased cars. I was pleased to discover that the Tour de France Paris finish was the Sunday and, even though it made accommodation hard to find for Saturday night, the roads were all still open.

We were sure that we had spotted Adele in Germany, now it seems that Elvis has tracked us down. We were having a quiet night reminiscing over the previous evening's table-tennis "tournament" and could hear some music coming from nearby. At first, I thought it was noisy neighbours, turns out it was the local casino putting on an outdoor show for their VIP guests....and it looked like the guy may think he is Elvis.

Before I talk of the local people, I must mention the weather again. It is very changeable but great for holidays unless you want to swim at the beach. It is often overcast, occasionally some rain but generally in the high teens to mid 20's. Almost every evening it is still and warm. Our day yesterday started with our local markets, always a great source of photos.

Ward and Jo arrived in Villers-sur-Mer fresh from their necro-tourism adventures in Ireland and Jersey. We've had some fun squeezing us all into Agey the silver Peugeot 3008 and had some fun around town. The weather has best been described as variable - some very heavy rain and lots of sun, but not cold. This shot was taken in bright sunshine fifteen minutes after the rain had passed by.

We've been here in Villers-sur-Mer for a week and had a lot of fun exploring the area. Some of it is new and some places, like Honfleur, we are revisiting. Firstly, I have to mention the weather - it has been a bit odd. Mostly very pleasant mid 20's but some days it is overcast and maybe even a spot of rain (like this morning) but then clears up by mid afternoon and then sun comes out.

Parking bays for disabled people are very plentiful here and in great spots. I have seen this sign before in France but it is still just as good as the first time I saw it - Take my parking bay, take my disability. Love it 2. Are these the oddest salt and pepper shakers...in a cafe too. 3. A sunscreen dispenser in the local park - next to the school…

I'm starting to understand what Rupert Murdoch worked out a long time ago - readers gravitate towards car accidents and young women in bikinis. The two most read blog entries so far on this trip were the one of young women in bikinis and the car accident. We've moved to France yesterday- more on that later - and the new house has a hot spa.

I'll start at the end and work backwards. We've had a couple of quieter days and I was sitting at my PC plotting out 'moving day' on Saturday. We have just over 500km to get from here to our next resting place in Villers-sur-Mer, so I was working out good stopping points. I was also checking the toll road setup - I knew that some are now based on numberplate recognition / online payment.

Most of the time I can fumble by and work things out - most roads signs are very good and Google is a close friend. Here are 3 that needed a double take I thought that the first one was for pasta - wrong, fire lighters. Tweetalige at a Real Estate Agent - must be social media. Wrong - bilingual support.

Since the last blog, we've had some quiet time and some 'not so quiet' time. Sandy had spotted a short historic train ride that she wanted to try - about 45 minutes each way, commentary in English and French. Sounded good, across several aqueducts, through some tunnels. We gave it a go and, lets just say that if Alan Fels was still at the ACCC in Australia, they'd be in big trouble.

I am a little concerned that the highest hits I've had on my blog on this trip had a photo of 4 young ladies in bikinis. Surely it was the literary content or the day of the week - and not the photo. I should also make it clear that I don't even pick which photo that Facebook displays....maybe Facebook knows you better than me???

We’ve packed a lot into the last 48 hours – and much has been dictated by the spell of very hot weather. We had done really well with 2-3 days of over 35 degrees, we’d head out ea…

We've packed a lot into the last 48 hours - and much has been dictated by the spell of very hot weather. We had done really well with 2-3 days of over 35 degrees, we'd head out early, a few hours in the relative cool at home and then a late evening walk. During the mid-arvo rest time, I was sitting reading and heard some laughter from the nearby river.

Before I talk about our Belgian experience, let me tell you about our last 24 hours in The Netherlands. When we checked in to our apartment, we realised that our hosts, Eric and Shakura, lived upstairs. They were very friendly and engaging, lots of good tips and then left us alone. On our final night we decided to head to our shared outdoor area (one of us in their PJs) for a drink, Shakura and Eric came out and joined us.

MANY years ago, Sue looked after a horse (Solitaire) for a schoolfriend who migrated to The Netherlands. Her friend, Doreen, was a very keen horse person from the age of six. She is the same age as Sue, but her house in the Perth suburb of Mount Yokine, had milk delivered by horse in the 60's. Doreen told us that she would get up early to walk along next to the horse.

Tomorrow we head to the Netherlands and Belgium, so a quiet day today. A few things to note Sandy has had a great reception at every Kieser (gym) she has visited. She has even scored a few goodies. They all want to know more about Kieser in Australia. Sandy has been using a eSim in her phone since we arrived. We only realised yesterday that it is 'data only', so it is fine for WhatsApp and any data things but does not make phone calls.