The Art Nouveau architecture of the Paris Metro.  

The quiet back streets of The Marais  

The romance of the Pont Neuf…  

…and then the other two turn up for the weekend on the Eurostar and the peace is shattered.  

It starts on a snowy morning on the 07:27 Central Line train into town  

By the time we’re above ground again on the DLR it’s daylight.  

A day at the office doing important things. Stewart would like this office because you can see the aeroplanes (below you) but he would hate it because it’s 30 stories above ground rather than 30 stories below.

 
Finally the 18:22 departure to Paris. 

 Jorge intends to get a photo of the locomotive at Gare du Nord. 

  
Jorge would quite like it to be warmer and for there to be a Pina Colada within reach.

Not content with the previous castle they decided to build an even bigger fortress. So big that Jorge needed to rest in the shade of a banyan tree whilst walking between the first entry gate and the last. 
 Stewart with the mechanism for the first drawbridge. There are at least two drawbridges and three gates.  

Stuart’s in his element in a great big tunnel that was designed to allow the defenders to intercept any attackers that were trying to undermine the walls. 

 Last shot of Havana 

 Before the ferry back to Havana.  

Next stop Paris; then home.

Halt who goes there! This is Dave’s castle.
    
This is the famous lighthouse at the entrance to Havana bay.  

 It looks all the way back across to Havana’s seafront.  

 Not quite underground enough for Stuart.  

 The steps are bigger than they look. Climbing to the battlements takes real effort when you’ve got short legs! 

 Jorge has managed to reach the top. 

There was an old train at the rest stop on the way back to Havana.  
The train used to carry sugar cane from the fields back to the factory where the sugar is extracted.  

We’re staying in a local house; although only Jorge is awake on account of it being New Year last night.  
It has shutters to keep out the light but let the air in to keep it cool.  

The roof is to a traditional wooden design and very high. 

 Dave would look better with a flower behind his ear. 

Pretty Dave  
 

Stuart has no idea what it does but it looks cool. He’s going to order two for his underground lair just as soon as he works out where to order them from.
 
Trinidad is 500years old, this is the bell tower from an old Franciscan monastery.  

The view from the top. 

 The local cocktail is honey, rum, lime and water. Jorge is definitely going to have to go on a detox once we get home he’s had at least three rum cocktails over the last two weeks. 
 The restaurant was in an old house we were next to the chaise; if we’d eaten in the other room we could have bounced on the bed! 
 Lots of old houses painted in bright colours… 

 …and a pineapple!   

 A problem with our scheduled hotel so we’re staying elsewhere. Dave does his magic thing with hotel rooms and we get a big room.  
Complete with Swan!  

Stuart in front of the Russian Antonow aircraft that flew us from Santiago de Cuba back to Havanna. We had our very own hug in Santa Clara, nestled beneath the palm trees and surrounded by chickens, turkeys, pea-cocks, ducks and other squarky wildlife.  

Santa Clara is famous for the revolutionaries derailing an armoured train. There’s now a monument next to where it happened.  

The trucks have an exhibition about the guerilla action.  

This bulldozer helped damage the rails.