by Mark Simmons | May 18, 2023 | Uncategorized
Meeting at Hendaye The small far south westerly French town of Hendaye is the last stop on the Franco-Spanish railway line from Paris-Madrid before the border. Its palm tree lined waterfront lapped by Atlantic rollers to the west and to the east tower the mountains of...
by Mark Simmons | May 10, 2023 | Uncategorized
Out of the trip came my book: The Serpent & the Cross. The great Mille Miglia (Thousand Miles) road race was held twenty four times 1927-1957 with a gap during World War II. The race continues today as an historic classic car event. https://1000miglia.it...
by Mark Simmons | May 7, 2023 | Uncategorized
by Mark Simmons | May 7, 2023 | Uncategorized
Is the character of James Bond 007 based on anybody? Many people have been put forward as models. We can be fairly certain what Ian Fleming felt he looked like because he tells us. In Casino Royale his doomed girlfriend, Vesper Lynd, says to Rene Mathis of the French...
by Mark Simmons | Apr 25, 2023 | Uncategorized
‘Thoughts in a DB III.’ In the novel Goldfinger we are told Bond is given the choice of cars ‘from the pool.’ An Aston Martin or a Jaguar 3.4, we are told either of the cars were suitable. Bond opts for the DB III; because it has more gadgets and is ‘battleship grey’...