TO VISIT BRITAIN after years of living on the European mainland, as Charlemagne did last weekend, is to glimpse the country through continental eyes. It is an exotically distinct place. Its cities are dominated by two-or-three storey buildings rather than five-or-six storey ones. Houses are more common than blocks of flats. Forms of convenience culture-pre-packed meals, card-tapping electronic payments, technological gizmos-are abundant. Institutions like religion, organised labour and even the state itself take a back seat. Public spaces feel shabby by northern European standards, but people are good-humoured about it. The country is strikingly mixed and multi-ethnic. Most notable is its sheer Vic-torian-ness: the architecture, the urban planning, the transport networks and even the pub names (Coach and Horses, Prince of Wales) speak of a country forged in the 19th century.
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