It’s not a holiday until somebody storms the local square. July 14 is Bastille Day in France. It’s a national holiday—the national holiday, in fact, commemorating the storming of the Bastille and the start of the French Revolution. We are visiting the Bordeaux region, staying in a fantastic stone cottage in the small village of St-Gervais (thank you Air BnB.) We wanted to see how […]
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When in Rome, take your time.
There is not one square metre of Rome that is not interesting. “Rome will wear you out.” I don’t remember which of my traveling friends issued this particular warning, but I shrugged it off at the time. Rome was a kind of dream for me. Having visited Europe four times and northern Italy once before, I still hadn’t made my way down the peninsula to the […]
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In Paris, it’s OK to stare.
Paris is the global capital of live and let live. It’s not easy being a street photographer. You’re eternally caught in a dilemma: do I ask permission to shoot, and end up with someone posing stiffly and awkwardly for me? Or do I just shoot and risk their wrath? This torments me. I have the right to shoot in public—the law is on my side. […]
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Welcome to Alexandria, Egypt
Update: I’m sorry to report that there are travel advisories being issued for Egypt, including beautiful Alexandria, at the moment. Let’s hope that stability returns soon. I’ll never forget my first trip to North Africa. It was my first time abroad, many years ago, and I was an inexperienced lad in Morocco for the first time, traveling with a group of drunken Australians. I had […]
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Re-routed to Cádiz (and other first-world problems)
Cádiz is western Europe’s oldest continuously-inhabited city. Yes, older than Rome. Okay, first things first: Cádiz is pronounced KA-dith. Like Judith with a ka. Or KA-diss, if you’re Latin American. Like bupkis without the bup, sort of. But the only place on earth it’s pronounced ka-DEEZ is on the lido deck of a cruise ship, which is where I am standing now, in the warmth of the southern sun, […]
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Western Mediterranean and Atlantic Islands 2012
Cruising out of Southampton Sept 15-Oct 13, 2012, first to the Western Med and then to the Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands.
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