A few days after my train ride to Canterbury, I was heading down through Kent again, this time on the high-speed line for the Channel Tunnel. The exhilarating trip from St Pancras to Brussels was followed by another non-stop run from the Belgian capital to Cologne, where we boarded an overnight sleeper for an 11-hour journey to Prague.

‘We’ were a five-strong party of press persons on a five-day trip arranged by Railbookers Ltd, a London-based travel company whose activities are implicit in its name.

It is curious to consider this week, as we bask in the glorious sunshine of Oxfordshire, that a few days before I had been travelling on a bus through heavy snow. This was encountered on the two-hour drive from Prague to the fashionable spa resort of Karlovy Vary. Many will recognise it from the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale, which featured the five-star Grandhotel Pupp in some of the scenes.

In view of the cold weather, it was a special privilege to spend part of the morning in a bubbling spa bath. You can see me (or at any rate my legs) in the photograph below.

I shall have more to say on the subject next week. Meanwhile, have a very happy Easter