TAKING five children canoeing in France was always going to be an adventure. The polyglot Dutchman who is supplying our gear seems a good man to ask for advice on the route but he gives a shrug that is almost more Gallic than the real thing. "I wouldn't go that way, " he says. "It is just flat water. It is very boring - go down there. There is white water. Don't worry, it is very safe."

The Herald

FOR many Britons, Dresden still conjures up thoughts of the Allied bombing and firestorm that razed it  during the Second World War. But it is a shame that more of us don’t visit this magnificent regional  capital today to see how it has risen, phoenixlike, from the ashes.