Facebook says you’re gone, Like the many maddening horrors that mark the daily news, It can’t be true. Weren’t we just kids? You, pirouetting beneath a falling baton, Me, drawing glances with a waving flag. In the crowded hallways you caught my eye. Like a favorite sweater, you slipped over…
Historians claim that hanging on a wall of Victor Lustig’s Alcatraz cell was a postcard of the Eiffel Tower. Scribbled atop the iconic scene were the words “vendue pour 100 000 francs“. Lustig, a lifelong criminal who by age 20 had honed his charlatanry to P.T. Barnumesque acuity, was sentenced…
I recently read A Son at the Front, by Edith Wharton, the first woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. Wharton, the daughter of wealthy New York aristocrats, lived in Paris during World War I. Throughout the conflict, she dedicated herself to France’s defeat of the Germans. She volunteered…
Last month, I finished reading the 6th and final book in the graphic novel series, L’Arabe du futur, by Riad Sattouf. Every volume of this autobiographical bande dessinée has been a bestseller in France and translated into over 20 languages. Sattouf, whose mother is French and father is Syrian, zigzagged…
This summer I had the rather surreal and surprising experience of traveling in Japan. The surreal aspect of my trip might well have something to do with the 13-hour time difference coupled with Japan’s near-futuristic embrace of technology. I say surprising because my expedition to the land of the rising…
There is never a shortage of captivating expositions in Paris. Last week, I wrote about some spectacular shows that I visited in April 2023. I’ve continued my recent itinerary here. All of these shows are still underway. However, when they have closed, the off-the-beaten-path spaces that housed them are likely…
Whenever I visit Paris, I tell myself that this time I’m going to go to the Louvre. According to Statistica, it’s the most visited museum in the world. I feel like I should know it. Yet, something about its immensity prevents me from buying a ticket. The Louvre has so…
After spending three weeks in France, I came home energized and exhausted, if that makes sense. I’m eager to share some of my trip but this week I’ve been catching up on the business of living my actual life, not the fantasy life that I live while traveling. That being…
