*-Written from the apartment in Abu Dhabi, where the weather today was sunny and in the low 80s. As usual, we will do this as a reverse countdown, “Late Show with David Letterman” style.

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I had been looking at this scene for nearly two weeks. What appeared to be, from across the Rue de Rivoli, a festive collection of artificial Christmas trees on the place in front of the 4th arrondisement mairie. What I didn’t realize for the first week was … these “trees” are constructed, ingeniously, from some […]

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More than a dozen visits to Paris. But none to the Musee D’Orsay. It doesn’t rise to the level of “must see” represented by, say, the Louvre. It is not an architectural marvel, in the mind of the tourist, to compare to the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame or the Arc de Triomphe or Sacre […]

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Huge day for sports in greater Los Angeles. The Angels signed Albert Pujols to the second-biggest contract in baseball history and the Lakers traded for Chris Paul — only to see the NBA commissioner kill the deal. But being “big news” doesn’t mean also mean it is “good news.” One of these stories is bad […]

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The planet boasts several examples of a capital city that is so important to its nation, across the range of human activities, that it dwarfs all other cities in the country. Paris certainly is one of those, and perhaps the ultimate example (though London is in the running). When France’s “second city” is gritty Marseille […]

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The 20th century was hard on most of Europe. It was hard on organized religion there, too. This isn’t something I just now noticed. Though it struck me anew on Sunday as I sat inside the grand — but nearly empty — American Cathedral in Paris.

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Any day visiting this city is likely to be a good day, but I believe it becomes an iron-clad guarantee if at some point you walk onto the Ile de la Cite and the neighboring little Ile St-Louis.

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  This time of year the City of Light takes its second name seriously. Paris is lit up like … well, a Christmas tree. The above photo isn’t sharp, because it was dark and we were aiming the little camera down the length of the Champs Elysees, but perhaps you get an idea of all […]

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No getting around this. If you are in Paris long enough you begin to notice … that you are hemorrhaging euros whenever you sit down to eat in a restaurant. For a few days, you don’t mind. If the restos are particularly special, you shrug off the expense. It’s when you encounter something ordinary, by […]

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  Imagine window-shopping for food in an upscale neighborhood. Walking past dozens, hundreds of displays of the tastiest, most mouth-watering comestibles — meat, fish, cheeses, chocolates, vegetables. It would be a form of torture. Now flip it. You are doing the same window-shopping of gourmet foods … but you are allowed — nay, encouraged — […]

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