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HOW TO TRAVEL LIKE A GYM RAT

September 28, 2019 by

A gym rat is an expert on gym fashion. Some are better at it than others, but gym fashion is big. Traveling like a gym rat means combining gym fashion with daily wear. Look around any street or mall or library and you’ll see it in action. And no, yoga pants aren’t part of the […]

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LIFELONG MEMORIES IN PARIS AND LONDON: ROLE MODELS FOR PORTLAND OREGON

September 27, 2019 by

Time spent in Paris and London brings comparisons and competition for lifelong memories. People who live in both cities, who have apartments and houses in each, are the best judges. Oddly enough I met just such people on a visit to Bruges, Belgium. What are the chances of meeting people in one country and seeing […]

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SPEAKERS CORNER SPEECH TO THE MASSES

September 22, 2019 by

My Speakers Corner speech to the masses didn’t go quite according to plan, which is always part of my plan. Actually, I was prompted to take to the ladder. One prompt and I had my speech ready. But Hyde Park is a long haul from one end to the other. How long? Longer than I […]

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MOVING DAY ON A EURO TRAIN

September 21, 2019 by

It’s feels odd to have a moving day so soon on a travel trip, but here I am killing it on a London bound train from Bruges to Lille with a change in Kortrijk. To keep things exciting the taxi came late to The Pand. He blamed dispatch. I would have blamed dispatch too. During […]

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FRENCH PRESS IN THE MORNING AND RICK STEVES HISTORY

September 19, 2019 by

I noticed the French press in the sidewalk restaurants one Paris local said cost $100K in fees for table rights. Tight stadium seating from one place to the next looked formidable, but not to Rick Steves fans. Stadium seating? All eyes forward in most cases, but what’s to see? Traffic, on foot and in cars, […]

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PARIS PURCHASE: WHAT YOU CAN’T BUY

September 16, 2019 by

The most important Paris purchase on a mission to harvest cultural material? It’s a bad question because the big things aren’t for sale. The key is remembering the important parts.

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NOTRE DAME UPDATE FROM OREGONIAN IN PARIS

September 12, 2019 by

How do they fix broken stone and burned timbers? It looks like this:

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FRENCH TRAVEL WITH OREGON AND IOWA

September 10, 2019 by

French travel started out bumpy. I found my seat on the second plane, the long haul plane out or Minnesota. But it was occupied. That’s no way to start. Simple adjustment, right? But the lady had the same ticket for the same seat. At least that’s what she said. Then we all looked at our […]

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PARIS RIVER: HOW WATER MAKES THE CITY

September 9, 2019 by

The Paris river divides the city like the Willamette divides Portland. But instead of an Eastside / Westside divide, Paris goes with Right Bank and Left Bank. One method means knowing the compass, the other is much more simple. Think of finding a place with directions that include east, west, north, and south. I’m already […]

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PARIS NOTES AND LESSONS LEARNED, SO FAR

September 9, 2019 by

The top pic is the view from the hotel window. One block of Paris notes to work from is not enough, but it shows a consistent theme. I’m picking my new apartment out in these buildings, except mine is on the back side, the Eiffel Tower side. From my window there’s a tower view of […]

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