My friend Monique is tall, thin, recently single, and recently blonde. She’s invited me to a play at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, 8:30 curtain. We’ve met first for a quick dinner at Chez Francis, the [...]

The back table by the kitchen at Kasaphani, Paris’s premier Greek Cypriot restaurant, is reserved for family and friends. Tony, the oldest of the three brothers who operate the restaurant, was sitting there with another [...]

The other day I invited my mother to come with me to visit the Philadelphia Art Museum and the city’s Rodin Museum. She was ironing at the time, preparing her bags for winter in Florida. [...]

I hate to contradict more spiritual travelers, but for me actual travel is not “all about the journey.” It’s about the people, the place, and me (or you) among and within them. It’s about being local. Travel [...]

The day after the election of President Obama I went to get a haircut. There were no other customers in the shop, odd for a Saturday morning. The barber motioned to one of the chairs. He [...]

A message from Sue arrived today through the website: “My husband Phil and I are considering visiting Paris this winter… I’m wondering if I’m concerned that the French are so anti-American?” I’m not sure whether [...]

Heather Stimmler-Hall could be poster child for American junior year abroad programs, or perhaps a cautionary tale. In either case, Heather has done what many American students in Europe on their junior year abroad dream of doing: extending their [...]

I helped an acquaintance move, someone from the neighborhood who I know well enough to respond affirmatively to his call for help him move some boxes and furniture.   He lives on the fifth floor [...]