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…
In the year 885, Viking ships sailed up the Seine and launched what turned into an 11-month-long attempt to seize control of Paris. In the end, the fearsome warriors were paid to take their catapults and battering rams elsewhere. They continued ravaging the population of western France for another century…
As 2022 comes to a close, it feels more than ever like the pandemic is behind us. Perhaps the biggest indicator of our improving societal health is the return of social gatherings, both privately and in shared public spaces. This year, on December 31, Paris will once again ring in…
At the end of September, I drove to Detroit to attend a panel discussion featuring two descendants of Vincent van Gogh. Josien van Gogh, Vincent’s great-grandniece, and her daughter, Janne Heling, had come to the Motor City to help kick off a new exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts, titled Van Gogh…
There are many reasons why I keep returning to the city of Paris, some of them concrete, others intangible. I always take hundreds of photos. Last summer, on my first trip back since the pandemic, I did so with the idea of melding them into a video to share with…
After a week of perfect weather, another glorious morning fueled our footsteps as we made our way beneath the Porte de Bourgogne to catch a northbound tram. It was our last day in Bordeaux, a city of 250,000 residents with an enviable transportation network comprised of 4 tram lines, 80…
