Category Archives: Uncategorized

Trams are a cheap date. For the cost of one bus tour you can buy a week of tram tripping. Trams are friendly. If you get lost, they will always take you back to where you started. No questions asked. … Continue reading →

Today, I tramped across the 12th arrondissement from Place de la Bastille to Varenne-Saint-Maur on an old, abandoned rail line. About half of it is elevated on stone arches, the other half takes up the centre of streets, tunnels under … Continue reading →

You quickly begin to recognize European Palaeolithic country. It’s high. There are cliffs rising straight up from a deep river valley. There is lots of water and deep verdant vegetation. For at least thirty thousand years this is the kind … Continue reading →

August 15 is the Acadian National Celebration Day. It’s also a great religious day in the Catholic church, the celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. In Paris, it is a civic holiday and a day of pilgrimage at … Continue reading →

There is an old fig tree in the garden of the house we are renting. It is an old, powerful tree with a gnarled, thick girth and a densely branched canopy. On the hottest summer night, it is cool sitting … Continue reading →

It is difficult to know which I dislike the most the manipulative, political right or the gutless, political left.  The right’s reaction to the global collision of cultures has been to return to the call of the tribe.  In the … Continue reading →

There are two Tours de France. The one that takes place in France for French audiences and the one that happens on the sports networks for fans and the worldwide audience. I’ve been a cyclist ever since I can remember … Continue reading →

Dante Alighieri, author of the ‘Inferno’ is buried in Ravenna. Unlike his book, it is a beautiful and extremely peaceful place. It’s on a quiet back street, to the right there is a small park and trees. The tomb itself is … Continue reading →

Dear Felix, I am in Italy right now and do I have a surprise for you! I met Thomas the Tank Engine. He was steaming down a country line in Italy, not far from the village where we are staying. … Continue reading →

Saw Romeo and Juliet at the Budapest Opera House last night. The ballet was so rich and textured in emotion, so brilliant in composition and visual effect that no little girl should be allowed to see it as she will … Continue reading →