Temptation Island

Ladies and Gentlemen (boys and girls, workers and students, French and Belgians alike), welcome!

This is a site designed to help you continental folk on your trip across the channel. I will assist you on your quest to demystify the many oddities that you are likely to encounter when you first set foot on British soil.

Seasoned travellers will know that even the simplest of tasks can be rendered more complex than anticipated. Shopping becomes a lesson in mental arithmetic while crossing the road without making a conscious effort to look the right way first will almost certainly lead to serious injury (look left!). Even the little things take some getting used to, like the milk. It tastes different somehow. And call me barmy, but I swear that British vacuum cleaners are harder to use than their continental equivalents.

In this and subsequent posts, I will reveal all the hints and tips you need to fully understand the natives.

The British people are an odd bunch known for their originality. We will see (and attempt to understand) why the Brits drive on the left or indeed why they feel a compulsion to add an orifice to their electrical outlets.

Even the most experienced travellers and British cultural know-it-alls may find time to smile as they read this guide, if only to contemplate the sometimes huge and peculiar differences between Britain and its closest neighbours.

While you read this blog, think of the unfortunate souls who’ve stepped off the Eurostar only to be hit by an on-coming car… driving on the left. And it is with this in mind that I quote Jean Claude Van Damme’s wise words : Rester Aware.