travel

Report from Austria: The Cloud

I brought a box of soap to my Austrian friends as a hospitality gift. It was found in a drawer in my aunt’s house, which I have recently cleared out after her move into an assisted living facility. The box is of fine black, durable, shiny cardboard, is about a foot long and a fewContinue reading “Report from Austria: The Cloud”

Report from Marseilles

There were hundreds, hundreds, more than I have ever seen, of sailing boats and other boats in the marina in the middle of Marseilles’s downtown, a sign of enormous wealth and privilege. But the rest of the city was disturbing. More than once I was jostled more closely than normal and I clutched my BaggaliniContinue reading “Report from Marseilles”

Report from Provence: Trains

The case for trains: 10 reasons for, 1 against, 1 neutral. The trip to the station is short and cheap. The number of train cars is flexible, accommodating holidays, rush hours, etc. The chances of becoming deathly ill in the petrie dish known as an airline cabin are erased. You can stand up and moveContinue reading “Report from Provence: Trains”

Report from Paris: III Mostly Toilets

Today I will write mostly about toilets. I’ve seen quite a few in my time, beginning with outhouses and holes-in-the-ground in the Maine woods in the 50s, but today will begin with the most amazing toilet I’ve ever seen, a public toilet on the streets of Paris. It is an oblong building, with a drinkingContinue reading “Report from Paris: III Mostly Toilets”

Report from Paris: Art, Toilets, Poetry

Art and artists Today we walked for about five hours and at the end I felt like a novice in boot camp. It was worth it – the street music was fantastic, and we ate in the restaurant “Le Train Bleu” at the Gare de Lyons. It was ornate and a bit pretentious, but weContinue reading “Report from Paris: Art, Toilets, Poetry”

Report from Paris: Art, Toilets, Poetry

Report from Paris: Poetry, I am in Paris. I didn’t want to come . I envisioned walking through museums viewing paintings that I had known (or near enough) for decades. Sigh. It would be fine. I wanted to be out in the country, enjoying the dry summer heat, or the cool summer breezes, in touchContinue reading “Report from Paris: Art, Toilets, Poetry”