Kevin, Isabelle & Barge Nilaya

Kevin, Isabelle & Barge Nilaya Follow the worldwide travels of Kevin and Isabelle plus France aboard their beautiful barge Nilaya

04/04/2025

Okay. Can’t take this madness any more. We’re taking a break from Instagram and Facebook. Sorry. Xx

Myanmar or formally Burma. One of our favourite travel destinations bar none. I’m sharing more from our amazing 2014 tri...
29/03/2025

Myanmar or formally Burma. One of our favourite travel destinations bar none. I’m sharing more from our amazing 2014 trip, because the memories and experience’s from that trip alone will live with us for the rest of our lives.

We all make lots of trips if lucky and wealthy enough, but just once in a while, a trip becomes more than the addition of hotel bills.

Something special happens. A bond, a love, a real emotional rollercoaster. If the civil war hadn’t happened after we’d left, I have no doubts that Myanmar would be our ephemeral ‘home’. We’d have done everything we possibly could to help some children, boost a school, train some teenagers, anything. But alas it was not to be.

What goes on in Myanmar breaks our hearts and every day that goes by, it breaks a little more. So sad 😭

Myanmar. So sad to see the earthquake news from Myanmar today. As if that poor country wasn’t going through enough, with...
28/03/2025

Myanmar. So sad to see the earthquake news from Myanmar today. As if that poor country wasn’t going through enough, with its civil war. Our 2014 trip there ranks as one of the finest tours we ever made. We cruised under the bridge in the first picture on a voyage from Mandalay to Bagan and if you’ve seen the news today, that bridge lies in ruins. Feast your eyes on some remarkable photos that sum up that utterly amazing country and its beautiful people 😢

Just imagine? Creating a new exciting alternative Trade Bloc. Not containing the US!The UK , Mexico, Canada and EU could...
27/03/2025

Just imagine? Creating a new exciting alternative Trade Bloc. Not containing the US!

The UK , Mexico, Canada and EU could club together and flip the bird to American protectionism. Standardising certification, removing tariffs, and offering subsidies to industries hurt by Trumpian U.S. tariffs.

Create joint supply chains: for example, European and Mexican auto parts + Canadian steel = assembled cars for global export (excluding the U.S., of course, which would be too busy arguing about gas stoves, wind turbines and which shade of orange POTUS looks best in.

Alliances boosting domestic resilience while creating a unified front that gives the U.S. way less leverage.

It could be the happy ending non Americans can dream of?

If we resist the urge to squabble about fisheries, tequila, post-Brexit bureaucracy and cheese or maple syrup naming rights, Europe gets clean Canadian lumber and steel. Canada imports more EU Mexican and UK goods, particularly in tech, automotive, and pharma. The UK finds actual trade friends who don’t live 4,000 miles away and try to sue over sausages.

Meanwhile, the U.S, if it continues down this path WILL face:
• Higher inflation
• Isolated markets
• Global manufacturers pivoting away from America
• A bruised dollar, fewer friends at G7 dinners and only getting to buy and drive Tesla swasticars.

The Catch? America is still a massive market. Most global manufacturers can’t afford to lose access to it. So while alternative trade circles are real and expanding, completely isolating the U.S. is unlikely, at least not unless it fully dives into isolationism or continues lobbing economic grenades at its allies.

But yes, in theory, and increasingly in practice. Canada, Mexico, the UK, and the EU can lessen the damage by boosting intra-allied trade and working together like a polite, metric-using Justice League.

I think it’s time to let the un United States of America fester in the self inflicted disaster they’ve voted upon themselves. The intelligent world will happily work around this ‘land mine’ until it self detonates. Which of course it surely will. Probably WAY sooner than later. My personal Opinion of course… 😃

Just saying? PLEASE SHARE. KEVIN X

London. Always the amazing city! A Four day celebration of my birthday, together with my 83 year old dad, soaking up som...
27/03/2025

London. Always the amazing city! A Four day celebration of my birthday, together with my 83 year old dad, soaking up some of the quirky charms only London can offer! Theatre, ancient pubs, warm beer, full English breakfast, cathedrals, art galleries, street food, flower markets, awesome public transport, historic everything, the mighty Thames river.

What a time we had, rounding it off with a gorgeous spring walk right across Hampstead heath to a traditional gas lit pub for a final dinner at the Holly Bush Inn. The simple AirBnB exceeded our expectations and gave us a home from home in the greatest city on earth. Thank you London. It was amazing!

These posters are showing up all over Europe and Canada! We can’t wait to see what sensitive US military secrets his inc...
25/03/2025

These posters are showing up all over Europe and Canada! We can’t wait to see what sensitive US military secrets his incompetent officials share next? 🤣
Trump is once again proving what the rest of the world already knew: he’s an imbecile. No surprise there.

What’s truly tragic is how he and his cabinet of clueless media clowns have shattered America’s global image.

While the world mocks him, the damage he’s inflicting on the U.S. is deadly serious and unforgivable.

Take today’s Hegseth debacle: broadcasting sensitive military movements via an unsecured app, with a journalist in tow, just two hours before the attack? It’s a chilling glimpse into their reckless incompetence.

Had lives been lost, the fallout wouldn’t stop at fallen soldiers — others would’ve deserved to answer for it.

These posters are all over london! We can’t wait to see shared secret US military activities posted on Insta and Faceboo...
25/03/2025

These posters are all over london! We can’t wait to see shared secret US military activities posted on Insta and Facebook by Trump, Hesgeth, Vance, Musk and cronies soon. 🤣

Correze, France - Back at our amazing house in France and enjoyed an incredible natural light show around sunset tonight...
09/03/2025

Correze, France - Back at our amazing house in France and enjoyed an incredible natural light show around sunset tonight. A sort of vertical power rainbow! Wow!🤩

I spotted this rather strange concrete construction as we zoomed along on our train south just north of Orleans. It sort...
06/03/2025

I spotted this rather strange concrete construction as we zoomed along on our train south just north of Orleans. It sort of looked like an aqueduct or my thoughts, possibly a monorail? I’d seen a sort of similar structure at Disneyland. So, I started digging. The next message shows what I discovered using AI, and fascinating it was. Do watch the video in the following post.

AI TOLD ME: Yes! What you saw was the Aerotrain test track, part of an experimental high-speed hovertrain project developed in France during the 1960s and 1970s. The project was led by Jean Bertin, a French engineer, and aimed to create a revolutionary transportation system that used air cushions instead of wheels.

What Was the Aerotrain?

The Aerotrain was a monorail-like vehicle that floated on a cushion of air, similar to a hovercraft, and was propelled by jet engines or linear motors. It was designed to travel at extremely high speeds with minimal friction, making it a futuristic alternative to conventional trains.

The Test Tracks Near Orléans

The structure you saw is one of the Aerotrain test tracks, located just north of Orléans, between Saran and Ruan. This elevated concrete guideway was built for test runs, and several prototypes were tested there. The longest test track, around 18 km (11 miles) long, allowed speeds exceeding 400 km/h (250 mph).

Why Was It Abandoned?

Despite promising results, the project was ultimately abandoned in the late 1970s due to political and financial issues. The French government chose to invest in the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) instead, as it was seen as a more practical and scalable solution for high-speed rail travel.

What Remains Today?

The abandoned test track still stands as a relic of this ambitious project, visible along the A10 motorway and railway lines north of Orléans. Some sections have deteriorated, but others remain intact, serving as a haunting reminder of a futuristic transport system that never came to be.

So yes, you just got a glimpse of one of France’s most fascinating and forgotten transportation experiments!

https://youtu.be/qUXEFj0t7Ek

Our 92 days exploring Asia are over. After 19 flights, 35 hotels, 32,000km by plane, road, and boat, we flew into a balm...
06/03/2025

Our 92 days exploring Asia are over. After 19 flights, 35 hotels, 32,000km by plane, road, and boat, we flew into a balmy Paris and enjoyed lunch in a cafe by the Seine. So many incredible sights seen, food consumed and new people met. Tonight we’ll be cosying up next to a real fire at our country home and planning what comes next! The garden needs taming and we’ve a long birthday weekend in London coming up, so between now and then, it’ll be pruning, tidying and a lot of mowing! Bring it on… !

Saw this in a Bangkok bar a couple of days ago. Made me smile 😃
03/03/2025

Saw this in a Bangkok bar a couple of days ago. Made me smile 😃

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Four lucky guests enjoy exclusive use of one of the most gorgeous private barges uncovering a hidden side of France that few get to see. Stunning scenery, flexible dining and being able to tell the captain ‘where to go’ are just a few of the ingredients ensuring your trip of a lifetime. Whether it's the champagne reception, substantial continental breakfasts, extensive light lunches or gourmet home cooked dinner, you're sure to leave Nilaya with the most wonderful memories. Barge Nilaya cruises spectacular regions every summer and we're focusing our attention on the Ardennes, Alsace, Lorraine, Burgundy, Loire, Paris and Champagne. Nilaya's variable rates are some of the most reasonable to be found on the French waterways, offering an unbeatable quality of food, accommodation and experience for the price. Testimonials from previous guests back this up. With six night cruises starting at just £2450 per person, why not browse our route options at www.bargenilaya.com/index1.htm