We visited (what remains of) the splendid 18th Century Cabinet of Curiosities of Bonnier de la Mosson, at the Bibliotèque of the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle. Considered by many the richest and most imaginative French cabinet of the early eighteenth century, this curiosity cabinet was housed in the hôtel particulier, as the city residences of aristocrats […]
Back in Paris we spent much of our time flaneuring, but did spend an afternoon viewing the ethnographic archive at the Albert Kahn Museum and gardens. You can see the autochromes commissioned by philanthropist Kahn from some 50 photographers sent around the world here. The project was abandoned when the crash of 1929 brought his […]
We do a lot of driving on these trips. I’ve learned to do much from a moving vehicle–edit manuscripts, serve thoughtfully prepared snacks, take in the view, photograph it at 120kph. I’ve even overcome my sad public school grasp of European geography. It is different when you are…There. I often feel like a dog with […]
We traveled to many villages and towns in Provence and the Luberon Valley–there was Avignon, home of Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes), called by poet Petrarch the “most foul and stinking city on Earth” (its not, but it sure is touristy!), and where we saw a couple waltzing in the morning sunlight on […]
I have been reading several travel and food writers lately, for pleasure, but also with a secret fantasy of being one I think. A. J. Liebling’s Between Meals, Brillat-Savarin’s The Physiology of Taste, M.F.K. Fisher’s Two Towns in Provence, and Sybille Bedford’s Pleasures and Landscapes are all on my night table at the moment. we […]
Our treasure lies in the beehive of our knowledge. We are perpetually on the way thither, being by nature winged insects and honey gatherers of the mind. Guess who said that? Hmm…I wonder. My day began with the birds and the ocean, in the dark, around six or so I spose (no clock, heaven!). We […]
Perhaps I was too glib when the ostrich bit me. In retrospect it seems a harbinger of much that was to follow. This weekend we explored the Loue Valley, following along the winding Doubs river that runs from Switzerland to France. The Loue river was discovered to be a tributary of the Doubs when in […]
I discover the real French flea market at Puces de Vanves. I find a lovely Nouveau print of Eve and the serpent by Lucien Levy-Dhurmer, two Victorian theater hats (a velvet beret with moon and stars and a tri-corner with an ostrich plume), a set of antique Tarot cards, and tiny esspresso cups with geishas […]