Château d'Ussé, the home of Sleeping Beauty. It is this châteaux, with its Flamboyant Gothic architecture, that gave Charles Perrault inspiration to pen the classic tale of good triumphing over evil. While researching this I've discovered that "flamboyant" is French for "flaming". Pretty neat 🔥✌🔥 #GayPride #RignyUssé #Mandolin #Travel #Adventure #France #SleepingBeauty #CharlesPerrault #Flamboyant #Gothic (at Château De Rigny Ussé)

A typical village scene from 16th century France 🇫🇷👑🎶 What do I love about this picture? The diversity of my audience. The love of music is an experience that can be shared by all. #GayPride #Mandolin #France #Busking #Chateau #AzayLeRideau #LeBicycle #Travel #Adventure #IfMusicBeTheFoodOfLovePlayOn (at Château d'Azay-le-Rideau)

Châteaux du Clos Lucé, the final home of Leonardo da Vinci and the last stop of my Gay Pride busking tour in France. I chose to end my tour here as Leonardo da Vinci is one of the greatest human minds that has ever existed: Scientist, artist, musician, inventor, writer... the list goes on. A mathematical and creative genius: A Renaissance Man. Its also known that Da Vinci was homosexual. An incredible human being, responsible for creating or laying foundations for the creation of some of the most remarkable and noteworthy parts of this world we share. A person certainly worthy of immense respect and celebration. An icon of human achievement. Two weeks ago I set out on a two-day busking tour through the Chateaux of the Loire Valley in celebration of Gay Pride. Alone in a foreign land whose language I cannot speak I had no idea what to expect, and I am humbled by the receptions I received from the people I encountered. A mandolin, a pride flag and six songs were greeted with cheering, clapping, and excited hand gestures: cars that slowed as they approached, wound down their windows and waved as they passed. Without being able to say more than three phrases in French, a pride flag tied to my mandolin connected me to the people around me, many of whom I found could not speak a word of English. I didn't anticipate anything like this, and being able to connect with people in this manner was a very special experience. I had no idea how many smiles a simple coloured flag could create. My tour showed me that this flag is representative of so much that is great about our world and the people in it: Respect, dignity, love, freedom, unity, celebration. I think I've done something good, and I'm proud to have been a part of it. #GayPride #France #Mandolin #Busking #Chateaux #Loire #Amboise #ClosLuce #LeonardoDaVinci #Happiness #Punk #DIY #Adventure #Activism #Travel #SomethingGood (at Château du Clos Lucé)

The Royal Fortress of Chinon, where Joan of Arc first met King Charles VII on her epic path that initiated the reclamation of France from the English. She is iconic to my Gay Pride busking tour as she is a person who stood up for what she believed in, said "This isn't right, so I'm going to change it" and got the job done. This picture sums up the tour so far: It's been received with smiles and little dances by the locals. Even though I can't speak more than 5 words of French, and I've found the same language barrier in the locals, its amazing how much communication can still occur. I didn't anticipate how much happiness one flag could bring. #GayPride #Chinon #JoanOfArc #Busking France #Travel #Mandolin #Happiness (at Château de Chinon)

EURO BUSKING TOUR NO. 2. GAY PRIDE. FRANCE. #NOFILTER I am incredibly excited to announce my second busking tour, this time live from the front line! After months of practise and planning, I've finally put all the pieces together to busk through France in celebration of Gay Pride and everything that it entails. Gay Pride is a uniting effort to bring respect, dignity and celebration to persons and communities that have been marginalised due to their sexual orientations. It is a celebration of the diversity of the people of the world. It is a great cause to be part of. Over the next 2 days I will be travelling to and through the Loire Valley region in France, busking around the Châteaux with a Pride Flag strapped to my mandolin: Its going to be fun. Its going to be great. Its going to have meaning. #GayPride #Mandolin #Busking #Adventure #Paris #France #Montmatre #Fun (at Paris, Montmatre)

Adventuring across the sandy beaches of Londontown! It's always better to take the long way round, most often it involves ice-cream. Weekend Punk for lunch, Gay Pride for afternoon tea, Soho afterparty for dinner. Pic by fellow adventurer @roxys_jam, what a great day! #alwayswearyourbestsocks #London #WeekendPunk #GayPride #Towerbridge #Beach #Travel #Adventure #DoraTheDirtyExplorer #FightThemOnTheBeaches (at Tower Bridge)

I MET MARILYNNNNN MONROOOEEEEEE!!!!!! What a Babe!!! #Gaypride #London #Nofilter #Gains (at Gay Pride London 2016)

A spiritual place. Silent shoeless feet on white marble floors make one feel truly connected to the world around oneself; Inside the Swaminarayan Temple an exhibition on Hinduism explains the interconnectivity of their belief system, and notes that India gave birth to such important corners of civilization as the concept of zero, surgery such as the c-section, and discovery of the pythagorian triangle theorem before Pythagorus himself. I was just in time to catch the end of a prayer session. A quiet, calming experience. Thanks to Steve for the photo, goodluck with the drawing! #Temple #Travel #Adventure #Mandolin #Pythagorusgains (at Shri Swaminarayan Temple - Neasden)

Julius Malema, Pharaoh of deNile, and his hand puppet, the disHonorable President Jacob Zuma, reigning supreme over South Africa by hook and by crook. Thursday night doodling gets a little sidetracked by my soundtrack ✌ Caricature credit goes entirely to the peerless Zapiro, showerhead and all. #JuliusMalema #JacobZuma #ANC #EFF #EgyptBand #Zapiro #SouthAfrica #Doodle #Watercolour #Ink #Ninehundredandninetyninesevenhundredamdeleventythousand

A selection of flowers from the finest gardens of Stockwell! Rather pink, wot-wot. #PlantsAndStuff Across an afternoon exploring various gardens in the neighbourhood during the Stockwell Gardens Open event I learned lovely new words like "shubunkin" (a plant), "laburnum" (a plant), "mimosa" (a plant) and "doodlebug" (a nickname for the 1000kg TNT payload bombs fired upon England from across the channel during WWII). #Shubunkin #Laburnum #Mimosa #Doodlebug #Flower #Garden #Goodtimes #WotWot (at Stockwell)

"If music be the food of love, gimme the lute" #TheShakesperiousBIG After 4 independant attempts over the course of a year and a half, I've finally made it to Birmingham! Lots of good graffiti, this place. Thanks to the lady by the chip shop for being so welcoming on my very first mandolin pitch! Great cast of characters, including a tenacious Slipknot leg tattoo. #Busking #CityOfColours #CityOfChrome #Birmingham #Shakespeare #NotoriousBIG #Mandolin #FatherOFlynn #Slipknot #Shakira (at City of Colours)

Doodlesndrips in his natural environment. #OuterSpace #Siiiiiiiick #Graffiti #CityOfColours #Birmingham #MagicPinapple (at City of Colours)

Birmingham, you're a different kind of beautiful. #AfroAudreyHepburn #Birmingham #Graffiti #Travel (at Birmingham, United Kingdom)

We got us a banjeer player #bathroomselfie #peakyblinders (at The Goat, Berko)

Commuting home from work during the heaviest British thunderstorm I've yet been in! Shoes dry, fun remains. #Skateboarding #InternationalSkateHomeInTheWetDay #fun

"Every human being, whether inside or outside these walls, deserves to live a life of happiness and dignity." #NapalmDeath (at Download Festival)

I met this brother two weekends ago in a @CancerBats moshpit in Leeds!! We now meet again!! The first time I read his tshirt I was immediately compelled to leap upon his back shouting "I'm motherfucking Frodo!!". This time I managed myself and we just took a selfie. What a legend. Two weekends later we meet again in an @Atilla pit. I gotta say, Atilla say they are party starters and that doesn't even do it justice. They sound like Limp Bizkit meeting Skrillex in a head on collision. Its frigging wild. I am delighted and impressed. Thanks for the shoutout!! #Unicorn #Atilla #CancerBats #TheLimpestBiscuit #LordOfTheRings #PitTroll #MotherfuckingFrodo #DownloadFestival (at Download Festival)