Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...

Or, perhaps more appropriately, bureaucrat interrupted. Yes, I'm back on holiday again, after my plans were somewhat disturbed by rioters. No, we didn't have any in Paradise-sur-Gipping, but Ros did have to go back to listen to the Cameron statement.

We had planned to spend last Wednesday night at the Swan Hotel, Southwold, eating good food, drinking good wine and doing seaside a la bourgeoisie. If you know this part of the Suffolk coast, you'll know what I mean. The fish and chips has beer batter from the Adnams Brewery in the town, rock is discreetly purveyed and there is a pier, but it is Victorian rather than old-fashioned. However, it was too awkward for Ros to get back to London, so we postponed - until today.

So, welcome to the promenade, with the North Sea gently nudging the beach. I've left Ros to drift off to sleep whilst I take the air after a dinner of quail and guinea fowl, accompanied by a very pleasant bottle of semillon from Western Australia and followed by an excellent cheeseboard. And I've got to tell you, this is very nice. And dark. But that goes without saying, I suppose.

And it is all rather unexpected. You see, I am experiencing a curious sense of existential certainty. I am, whisper it quietly, strangely content. Life is fun and I have learned to potter. I could do this, or that, but I don't have to. It is all very curious indeed.

But anyway, welcome to Southwold. It is really rather lovely in a gentle, undemanding sort of way. With the Adnams brewery in the heart of the town - 'beer from the coast' as it is marketed - it is a vaguely working town, but rather a long way from anywhere 'big'. The nearest railway station is at Halesworth, with its train service every two hours and then an irregular bus service between there and here, making it relatively inaccessible. Our hotel, owned by the brewery is a Georgian building and not exactly cheap - actually, prices are more like London in high season. It is very nice though.

Instead of tacky bed and breakfasts on the sea front, there are private homes, some of which can doubtless be rented. But it is quiet and relaxing - I even saw a rabbit on the promenade a few minutes ago. I can see a few lights out at sea, including what looks like a trawler, catching something that might appear on a dinner table somewhere in the town in the next day or so.

And it is nice to have the time to sit and think...