In journalism, we have a concept known as the “toe touch”. In brief, it means a reporter/writer making an appearance at the city/country he or she is writing about. It almost literally can be a toe touch. Off a plane, through passport control and customs, and right back to a waiting lounge for the next […]

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Flying to and from Europe, with Abu Dhabi at the start and finish, makes for some interesting evasive actions. On the way over last month, to Rome, we went mostly due east from the AUH, skirted Israel, then made a sudden move to the northwest, straight for Rome. Airlines that are flag carriers for the […]

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It had been more than 14 months since I had been in Paris, and the city continues to change, of course. Some good changes, some bad, some neutral/just different. Let’s look at 10, in list form.

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Already noted: We are in an unusual apartment, here on the edge of the Marais. Angels on the wall; a bathing area where a person cannot stand; low, skull-threatening beams throughout the washroom, a tiny toilet room. And perhaps the smallest elevator in Paris. Or in France.

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Since Saturday, we have stayed in an unusual place on the edge of the Marais, across the street from the Pompidou, a top-floor apartment where the elevator deposits you directly into the living room. The living area is a very fine space, with couches and a dining table for six. The kitchen is well-appointed and […]

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It was One of Those Days in Paris. When the sun is breaking through cottony clouds and everyone is smiling and the world is a wonderful place — or at least it is as viewed from the little park named Square Jean XXIII on the tip of the Ile de la Cite. Let’s take a […]

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It’s not exactly Everest, but it is a hike from the bottom of Butte Montmartre to the top, where the Sacre-Coeur Basilica was built. Most tourists, including this one, tend to believe Sacre-Coeur is old. Like Notre Dame. But it is not. Notre Dame was begun in 1163 and completed in 1345. Sacre-Coeur was started […]

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Sometimes we forget how much our living space says about us. Our furniture. Our appliances. The art on the walls and the knick-knacks on the tables. The size of our television. What is present, in our digs, and what is absent. And I can say, without hesitation, that our home in France this week is […]

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All the time spent in Paris … and it is hard to recall more than one day spent in the 18th arrondissement. A visit to Sacre-Coeur. A very long time ago. However, we are staying a week in the 18th this time around, and it’s not quite like the areas of Paris with which we […]

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In some ways, it was a well-planned fete. A concept years in the making. Guest list resolved. Date and time chosen months ahead. Place identified. Champ de Mars, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. Near the dirt allee named Thomy-Thierry. The trouble with that?

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