This isn’t about sports. Nor journalism. Nor sports journalism. (OK, wait. A tipsy Englishman sitting next to us, who decided to tell us about hedge-fund managers he has known, conceded to being a fan of Newcastle United. I expressed my deepest condolences. He thanked me.) What this is really about … is just food and […]

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Almost 11 months ago I did a blog post that generated as much hate mail as anything I’ve written at this address. Vile stuff. Unprintable. I posted eight comments, but another 20-plus I did not. Not because I didn’t like the criticism (I read them all), but because I didn’t feel like redacting the vulgarities. […]

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Paris seems to be about eating as much as anything. Sure, culture, history, fashion, ideas, government, all those matter. But most of them seem to amplified or explained or resolved … over a slow, leisurely meal. I am no gourmand.  But I know what I like, and this is what I look forward to eating […]

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“Marais” means swamp, in French (perhaps related to “marsh” or “morass” in English?), and because the ground was less-than-solid, in previous centuries, Le Marais was one of the last parts of the central city to be developed. Now, curiously, it is one of the oldest parts of Paris, with the sort of narrow, short, non-Haussmannian […]

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According to weather.com … the forecast high temperatures (in Fahrenheit) the next 10 days, including today, in Paris: 69, 72, 67, 65, 69,  71, 72, 74, 75, 74. And the highs in Abu Dhabi: 109, 108, 107, 110, 111, 110, 110, 110, 109, 109.

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It can be done. I proved it tonight. Not every trip is wonderful and not every experience within it is grand. Many of us feel a sort of compulsion to turn all our travel endeavors into one long run of good news and great experiences. But they are not. Of course. Herewith, a brief explanation […]

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We are staying just down the street from the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, our first week in Paris. I had never been there, not being a big fan of cemeteries, even one often declared “the most famous cemetery in the world.” But it was only a mile or so away … And … Paris also has […]

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A “benefit” of two weeks in Paris in August … a chance to resume jogging. Outside. I haven’t jogged — or done any out-of-doors cardio — in Abu Dhabi since April. Just way too hot. For most of us regular folks, it’s just not an option. Running when it’s 110 degrees, that’s a death wish […]

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Britt and Drew arrived in Paris today. I was very happy to see them coming at me at the end of the quay at the Gare de l’Est train station, rolling their luggage and looking like seasoned travelers. They are the first members of my family I have seen since we left for Abu Dhabi […]

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We are staying in a great place in Paris this week. Partly by accident. Partly by design. The planning part of it: We contacted the man who handled the rental of a friend’s Marais apartment and asked him to inquire after reasonable two-bedroom places in the area. The accident: That this place apparently had just […]

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