Category Archive: France

Announcing my Next Tour, Merry Christmas!

The bright little lights sparkle all the way down the row of tidy stalls. They seem sharper in the cold winter air. Look above the row to see the dignified old buildings of… Continue reading

Parisian Sidewalk

It’s possible hell is being a dog walked by someone wearing ear buds. Paris today offers a succession of such tortured pooches I’d love to pet, all proudly Parisian. Or maybe it’s the… Continue reading

Today’s Paris Story

On our drive into Paris yesterday we were singing lines from Les Miserables. Everyone loves Victor Hugo’s story of the everydayman driven by desperation to a small crime, excessively punished but spirit unbroken… Continue reading

What are you going to do now, Paris?

Standing in front of Notre Dame Cathedral I had a lot of answers. 12-14th century, Judean Kings, and here are 10 things you can do tonight. Another 21-day tour almost finished, I was… Continue reading

A Paris evening

A drunk woman is vaguely howling along with the Arabic music pumping from the radio she holds to her ear. The guys she with seem uninterested. African immigrants and refugees fill the shadows,… Continue reading

Paris dreaming

The good news is that I’ve found a new way up to the castle. More interesting, with stuff to see along the way, versus the dull direct path we’ve taken before. As a… Continue reading

A gift from a fellow traveler

It was another vacation weekend. Sitting on the beach with two of my favorite people, my telephone far away, unchecked, the madness of the modern moment unimportant before the relentless majesty of an… Continue reading

A Parisian response to fear

What do you do when terrorists want you to be afraid? To be closed off, fearful of strangers, and angry? To stay locked in your house, suspicious of others, scared of crowds and… Continue reading

The Secret to Europe

The smell of fresh baked bread. Is there anything on earth so glorious as that smell on a Paris morning? It was Friday and the perfectly round fruit-topped tarts were glistening with sugar… Continue reading

I think Paris is getting to me

The Rhine was running high, Florence was florid with wine-flushed cheeks and well-trod streets, and the Alps were calm as only stone can be. Last night 24 of us, from 21 days of… Continue reading