* McCain. Palin. Nuclear button. Now officially scared. And she can’t pronounce ‘nuclear’!

* Stayed up too long watching the Democratic convention. Now tired *and* hungover. And dialogue to write…

* So, a new Harper Collins fantasy and SF imprint on the Solaris model.

* Talking to the Americans about covers.

Spent a few hours on Bank Holiday Monday (or just ‘Monday’ to the world beyond the UK) travelling around the Mendip Hills in Somerset, which is rich in items of interest for anyone with a taste for prehistory or the Roman occupation, or the myths and legends of Britain. The landscape around the hills is wild and evocative and pretty unspoiled, as long as you ignore any business with Camelot, Arthur or Avalon in the name (otherwise known as the Glastonbury Tourist Fleecing Industry).

Cheddar Gorge is filled with plenty of spectacular caves that have turned up some great finds. Gough Cave delivered us Britain’s oldest complete skeleton in 1903 - mitochondrial DNA tests show his descendents still live in the area 9,000 years later. And nearby Soldier’s Hole contained some of the oldest Neolithic tools, dating back about 40,000 years and possibly Neanderthal.

I would normally advise you pass by Wookey Hole, not far from the cathedral city of Wells, which is essentially a pretty grotesque tourist attraction aimed unapologetically at the lowest, almost subterranean, end of the taste spectrum, complete with plastic dinosaurs and King Kong, a ludicrously inflated entry fee (£15 for adults, a tenner for kids) and the tired, desperate air of a travelling Carny. But the caves deserve to be seen, and the guides will give you a fantastic amount of interesting information if you catch them after the tour (thank you, James).

The legend says the Wookey Hole caves were the home of a witch, of the old-fashioned ‘evil’ kind, who terrorised the locals until a Glastonbury monk made sure she got her come-uppance in good old wrath of God, consigned to hell kind. Not sure how much of this is Carny huckstering - a great deal, I imagine. More interesting is the fact that the caves were sacred to the Celts, who used them as burial chambers. It’s also a powerful symbolic magical and spiritual site as the location of one of the biggest springs in the region the birthing point for the underground River Axe. There’s a suggestion that the Celts used the system of caves for numerous ritual acts.

Get past all the showmanship and there’s still a lot of power there.

Just back from a few days in Paris where I’ve been doing research for a new project, and I was struck by how much better the French capital is than our own stinky, slow-moving London. Not so much in the cutting-edge abstracts of ideas - the two cities are pretty equal on that front - but in the basic, bricks and mortar structures. Paris feels like a capital city, grand and weighty with a rich, powerful history. Looking up the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triomphe from the Place de la Concorde, you get a sense of awe that London never really evokes. It’s there throughout the city. The French have held on to their history well, but wtihout letting it get in the way of modernity and innovation.

The Pompidou Centre is head and shoulders above Tate Modern in my view. The design of the building matches form with function so much better, and the exhibitions just seem so much better curated.

And then there’s the Louvre. London has nothing like this. A temple to art and history that is as big as a village. With that great glass pyramid surrounded by those grand, ancient buildings, this is the point that shows up where the French are best at moving forward while holding on to the power of the past. The Louvre itself is just breath-taking in design and function. The big downside, as I’m sure others have mentioned, is that it’s a victim of its own success. So many people swarm through the warren of rooms that it’s impossible to appreciate the art and artefacts. Hot, sweaty, constant, blinding camera flashes… Seeing the Mona Lisa is like standing just before the stage at a gig, swept back and forth by the crowd and fighting to get close enough to get a glimpse. Dan Brown Tom Hanks and Ron Howard got to film here at night, and were allowed to wander through the rooms at will while making The Da Vinci Code movie. I envy them.

But still…good food, good wine and an abundance of surliness - what more could you want when you’re travelling?