curi·ous {Old French curios} Drawn to investigate, prick up the ears, ponder for the sake of pondering. Enticed by mysteriously labeled bottles.
vo·luptu·ary {Late Latin volupturius} A lass devoted to the pursuit of pleasure. An unabashed epicurean, hedonist, libertine, sensualist, lotus-eater.
A trip to Deyrolle, cabinet of curiosities which I am delighted to report has risen from the ashes of the 2008 fire that threatened it’s demise. Some of the rough-around-the-edges charm is gone, but in it’s place is a more polished, self-aware magnificence. Which I ’spose means Deyrolle grew up.
Began the day with a trip [...]
Was a time when visits precipitated calling cards, a hand fan pressed to the lips spoke: You may kiss me, and there was a taxidermist in every hamlet, no matter how small. I’m speaking of course of the Victorian era.
Besides well-mannered guests, the well-appointed Victorian parlour would likely be stuffed with all manner of natural [...]
For my birthday we visited Le Grotte de Frasassi and it was incredible. Thirteen km of the caves are known (it is thought that they extend at least 35 km); we were invited to see about a kilometer and a half of that.
“The speleologists held their breath when the stone began to fall [...]
Easter water is thought to have healing properties–farmers once herded their cattle to brooks on Easter morning to protect them from illnesses. Another tradition calls for young women (ahem) to bathe in the early morning on Easter to secure everlasting youth and beauty. Who am I to doubt it?
All bathed and youthful, we had [...]
Sometimes life gives you exactly what you ordered. This can be good or bad, but probably shouldn’t surprise if you’ve been taking notes or at least not reading Oblivion Enthusiast magazine in class.
The day began rather late, as our internal clocks are all crazy and we stayed up until 2am giggling over the absurdity that is Scarface on the local tv station. So this morning I loafed in my pjs and planned my schedule for the next few days.
Today’s agenda:
First, a visit to the formative stomping [...]
I believe sleeping twelve hours and getting up at two constitutes vacance.
Ali woke to an omelet and a salad of strawberries, orange, and mint (pilfered from last nights Vietnamese). I love any excuse to snarf the butter here, which is unfathomably delish and nothing like home.
We hightailed it to the south east edge of town, [...]
Today we went to the Centre Pompidou and saw a rather silly but entertaining show on Beckett.
I wasn’t really in the mood for museums, this trip is all about exploring, on foot, metro, foot again. My calf muscles are beyond aching, but this is what makes me happy these days. The French women who do [...]