Author: Lee Hausman

National Catastrophe Averted!

Lee Hausman
I was not awakened last night by the sound of enraged French rubgy fans trashing Paris after their team suffered a humiliating defeat. No, instead the French team soundly beat the Irish 25-3, redeeming their honor, staying in the World Cup tournament, and averting the predicted national catastrophe. Magnifique! The U.S. has not fared so well – we lost 28-10 to England and 25-15 to Tonga and are out of it.
 
Have you ever watched rubgy? I stopped at a bar this afternoon and watched a match for a while. For one thing, the players run into and tackle each other with the same force as NFL players, yet wear no protective gear. Play does not stop just because the ball hits the ground; in fact, it can be given a low, bouncing kick into the "end zone" and if the kicker’s team gets their hands on it there, they score. Fascinating to watch, not quite as brutal as reputed, and actually played with rules. Having a 20" neck and weighing 280 lbs. helps, apparently.
 
I had a fine meal last night at Soufflot Cafe, near the Pantheon in the Latin Quarter, not far from my hotel. During my visit to Paris in 2001 with daughters Lindsay and Sarah (hello, ladies!) we ate dinner there and a wonderful older waiter named Guy (pronounced "Gee") took a shine to the girls. He advised them on how to order meals in French, teased them about their aversion to escargot (snails in butter and garlic – yum), and had them add up our bill with a pencil on the table cloth. We took a photo of the him and the girls and after we came home we sent him a copy of the print and a thank-you note, care of the cafe, and we got a nice reply back from him. Guy retired a few years ago, but my loyalty to Sufflot Cafe was firmly set. I ate while sitting outside, facing the sidewalk, enjoying both the food and the people-watching.
 
I got a good night’s sleep and in the morning hopped the #27 bus to visit some of my local friends: the Orsay Museum and the Louvre. I spent some time with my favorite works by Degas (pastels of dancers), Delacroix ("Liberty Leading the People"), and Gericault ("The Raft of the Medusa"), some of which are included in my photo gallery. It seems weird to take photos in a museum but, as long as you don’t use a flash, it is allowed. This of course leads to large numbers of idiots who don’t know how to use their cameras taking flash pictures. Digital cameras allowed the camel’s nose, as they say, under the tent and it’s open season now. All those flashes are bad for the artworks, of course, and annoying to the visitors. In fact, sadly, museums are losing their status as special places: there’s so much cell-phoning, texting, MP3-listening, and photography going on now that they’re more like Main Street. Nonetheless, I always feel it is a privilege to be in the presence of the result of such genius. Even now, after so many visits, I still look closely at Degas’ pastel strokes and marvel, even revel, in the mastery of technique and creativity displayed.
 
I also snapped a (non-flash) photo of Winged Victory (the statue) and La Grande Odalisque by Ingres. The Louvre was not crowded for once and I had a leisurely cappucino at noon in the snack bar there. There’s a large underground mall (Carousel du Louvre) next to the museum with a food court. Speaking of malls, I meant to mention yesterday that the Marco Polo airport is really a shopping mall with an airport attached. After clearing security, I was amazed at how luxurious the retail area was, nicer than Tysons II. The stores had some very high-end decor and fixtures and even the hallway floor was parquet!
 
I hopped the bus again back to the Latin Quarter but set off on foot in a new direction down the Boulevard St-Germain. Whew – what a "Miracle Mile" of wall-to-wall boutiques! Scattered here and there are some cafes (Les Deux Magots, Le Procope, etc.) made famous by writers from Voltaire to Hemingway, arty rebels who would no doubt be shocked at the designer fashions now on sale in the neighborhood.
 
After an unsuccessful search for a patisserie offering the "best macaroons in Paris", according to a newspaper article I clipped, I headed south on foot, past the St-Sulpice church, to my one of my favorite places in Paris: the Luxembourg Gardens. I posted some of photos of the 60-acre park, including the Medicis Fountain and a couple having a picnic with my favorite champagne (Veuve Cliquot) in the photo gallery. An orchestra was giving a free concert in the band stand and the day, sunny and 70-degrees, was just beautiful, perfect for sitting and enjoying the music, the breeze, and the dappled sun.
 
After a late lunch of kabobs (more like a gyro than the kebabs we’re used to) and a short rest, I went into a bar for a cocktail and met a fellow Harley-Davidson owner. It turns out he, too, had been to Key West (small world) and so we talked Harley talk for a while. It was nice to enjoy the universal language of motorcycles.
 
Tomorrow is Sunday and the pace of Paris will slow down. We’ll have to see what tomorrow brings for me and it’s very nice not to have a plan.
 

Farewell Venice, Bonjour Paris

Lee Hausman
 
After a good night’s sleep and a nice complimentary breakfast at Hotel Campiello, I took care of some errands Thursday morning. If you want to see the Venetians, the actual Italians who live in Venice, you will find them out early in the morning, going to work, going to the market, and avoiding the still-snoozing tourists. You get a better opportunity to listen to their unique Italian dialect and see them undiluted by the cultural stew of the visiting hordes.
 
At midday I ventured off into the Dosodoro neighborhood, where I’d never been before. This is an area to the east of the Grand Canal, behind the Accademia museum and, apparently home to a large student population. I trekked to Campo San Margherita and found the Pier-Dickens Inn, an Italian "pub" with an impressive array of pizzas. I ordered Quattro Stagione, a pie with four sectors, covered in turn with ham, artichokes, and mushrooms. The crust was paper thin and delightfully chewy in the middle and crunchy at the edges. It was an excellent pizza, accompanied by some house red vino, and well worth the walk.
 
On the way I passed something you don’t see anywhere else: a market boat in the canal, loaded with fruits and veges and selling to those on the dock (see picture). Perhaps Giant and Safeway should consider it?
 
After lunch, I headed south for the Biennale of Venice Exposition, an every-other-year arts festival. Sadly, the film portion ended a few weeks ago, which I why I missed staying with George Clooney at his palacio this year. Instead, I spent a few hours walking around the huge Arsenal building and its modern art display. My gosh, there was some weird stuff. Europe appears to be more deeply affected than the U.S. by the last few decades of war. There were many works that covered aspects of conflicts in Yugoslavia, Africa, and the Middle East. The most gruesome: a continuous film of a 10-year old vigorously practicing his soccer skills in a rubble-strewn yard in Belgrade, with blown-out buildings in the background, studiously kicking, flicking, and manuevering a human skull instead of a soccer ball.
 
Other lovely works included collections of newspaper war headlines, razor wire sculpture, and a large-scale map of the U.S., made up entirely of 3×5 cards, each with the hand-drawn face of an American soldier who has died in Iraq, with each card located in the deceased’s home town. That last one really gave you some pause. Like a lot of modern art, there were a lot of works that made you think, "Hey, I could have done that" and "That’s art"?
 
I was watching the vaporetto "conductor" yesterday and thinking about U.S. and Italian differences. The conductor tosses a rope onto a cleat at each dock as the boat approaches and ties it off; the boat captain uses the tension of this rope, the current, and his engine to temporarily hold the vaporetto against the dock for boarding. The conductor opens a simple sliding gate, held in place by a metal notch at one end when closed, to allow riders to board and disembark. It’s a simple process and no more complicated than it needs to be. How would this play in the U.S. I wondered… well, first there are the OSHA regulations, then goverment’s tendency to over-engineer everything. You get the idea: it would never work as easily or cheaply. Italians: 1 U.S.: 0
 
However, today when walking down the shoreline to the Biennale I was came upon a huge pedestrian bottleneck at one of the foot bridges that cross side canals. When I got to the bridge, I found that vendors had laid their wares out on the bridge, narrowing it down to a few feet wide. These "vendors", several of whom I talked with, are from Senegal and they are unlicensed (which angers the retail shop owners). They lay a sheet on the ground and on it lay out knock-off belts and handbags. As night falls they can be quite aggressive in pursuing potential customers. They’re part of organized gangs of these sellers (I happened to see a gang and its leader in action in Florence last year) and they use cell phones to stay one step ahead of the polizi. They can scoop up their sheet and wares into a trash bag in seconds and then lay them out again nearly as quickly when the cabinieri (patrolling cops) pass. It appears that they can block public walkways, ignore licenses, interfere with regular commerce, and harass tourists at will. In the U.S., I imagine a similar effort on say, the Mall in D.C., would be met with a much different level of police zeal: arrests, internment, and eventual deportations. U.S.:  1, Italy: 0.
 
After a quick, late afternoon break, I took my chances at Vino! Vino! again and this time I was seated because I went fairly early when they weren’t very busy. To be honest, the food was just so-so (except the roasted potatoes which were heavy with olive oil and rosemary and were out of this world). As a finale, they didn’t take credit cards (as Chow Venice said they did) and it was just dumb luck that I had enough Euors in my pocket to pay the bill.
 
I’m writing this from my hotel room in Paris, having made the vaporetto, bus, and plane journey here without incident in about 8 hours, doot-to-door. Thank God for aisle seats on airliner exit rows. I’ve managed to land such a seat twice now and the added legroom is fabulous. So, tomorrow I’ll be prowling the town, so stay tuned.
 
By the way, tonight France, the host country in the Rugby World Cup, plays Ireland. If France loses, they’re out of the competition, which says the newspaper, would be a "national catastrophe". Bars are gearing up and fans from both countries in jerseys and face paint are roaming the streets. I await the post-game carnage!
 

Venice Is Always Worth The Trip

Lee Hausman
 
Let me start by backing up. My initial flight from the U.S. on the ever-reliable Virgin Atlantic airline was excellent and I remain a big fan of their "Revivals Lounge" at Heathrow and my luggage even arrived with me. There were, however, more people (I estimated 400) at Customs than I’ve ever seen before. I don’t usually travel on Mondays & Tuesdays, so perhaps this is normal. Even with the Virgin "Fast Track" pass that sends you through a special Customs line, there was quite a delay and, in general, it seems that there are more travellers and that everywhere is more crowded than in the spring when I usually travel.
 
As detailed in my previous post, my scheduled flight to Venice was cancelled due to a 1-day "industrial action" (aka strike) at the Venice airport and I spent the day in London instead. My subsequent flight the next day went perfectly and I arrived in Venice by about 2:30 pm. God Bless the Exit Row with its superior leg room. The nasty weather in Venice from the previous day was gone, the sky was sunny, the temp cool and it was beautiful. Waaay too many tourists though; I was again surprised by the hordes of people. My 30-minute vaporetto (water Metro) ride to the hotel was glorious, with the water not too choppy, a lively breeze in my hair, and the wonderful tapestry of Venice passing by.
 
It’s always a treat to observe the Europeans: how they dress, how they talk, how they gesture. Wonderfully entertaining people-watching, indeed. The Hotel Campiello is great and it was nice to come back to it again. After freshening up and changing clothes, I headed for the famous Harry’s Bar around 6 pm for cocktails. Which at Harry’s means either a Bellini or a martini, and it was the latter for me. While seated at the bar, I met a couple from Michigan who own four Italian restaurants, a couple from Melbourne, Austrailia, and finally two guys from Majorca, Spain who were here for an international bar tending contest. Great stuff, and the martinis were nice too.
 
I then headed off to Vino! Vino!, a restaurant recommended by the great "Chow Venice" book and I experienced a First there. As I fantasized about their lasagna with artichokes, for the first time in my life I was turned away by a restaurant for being a "Single"; they would not seat me because I was alone. Now, as a single, I’m relatively used to being given the least desirable seats, by the door to the kitchen, etc. but I’ve never been told to go away before. Actually, I was told to "come back later" when they got less busy. But as it was already 8pm and I was starving, that was not an option.
 
So, I hopped a vaporetto and went up to the Rialto bridge, then on foot to al Peocetto di Risorto, a wonderful place recommended to me by my friends Joanie and Chuck Tooley of Billings, Montana (thanks again, you two). At al Peocetto, though busy, they welcomed me and even offered me a choice of seats. The food was excellent: spaghettti aio oio pepperocino (with oil, garlic, and peppers), scallopine de limone (veal with lemon sauce) and a mixed salad. The house red wine was superb. The wine here in general has a smoothness to it you just don’t get at home. Happy and sated I took the vaporetto back to San Marco Square and topped off the evening with some tasty gelati before going to the hotel and hitting the sack. After the general craziness of traveling, Venice was heaven.
 
One day in Venice and much to do…
 

Not All According to Plan

Lee Hausman
 
Tonight’s installment comes from the Heathrow Hilton. Yes, I’m not in Venice as planned. I
love the Travel Gods sense of irony: I was concerned about the forecast for my arrival in
Venice, which was "Heavy Rain". Venice, with no cars, is all about getting around on foot.
Even getting onto the vaporettos (water bus) was going to be interesting with heavy rain and
(probably) lots of wave action bouncing the docks around, trying to juggle tickets, luggage,
and umbrella.
 
So, as usual, I prepared: I packed the galoshes, the rain coats, the rain hat, and the umbrella.
I thought through a plan of action for deploying all of this stuff at the Marco Polo
airport. However, the airport workers decided to stage a 1-day strike (sooo very Italian)
and when I reported this morning to check-in, I found my flight to Venice was cancelled. I
spent today in London instead of going on to Venice and am rescheduled to go tomorrow.
Forecast for tomorrow: you guessed it, sunny and mild.
 
Aside from costing me a small fortune to stay at the Heathrow Hilton and a also incurring a
boatload of other  unanticipated, unbudgeted costs, the day was not a total loss. I recently
became aware that the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden offers great backstage tours and
attempted to sign up for one while planning this trip. However, no tours were offered the
day I had open in my schedule, so it was not to be. However, today was another matter and I was
able to dash into London, have lunch at a great place (more food than I could eat for 5
pounds), and take the opera house tour. The Travel Gods take and they also give.
 
The Royal Opera House was amazing, covering 2.4 acres, and outfitted with some really great
stage machinery. Our guide was very knowledgeable and the tour was very interesting. I had
a tiny personal connection to the place: my grandmother performed in operas there in the
1930’s.
 
So, now I have a sunny, lovely return to Venice to look forward to (and one day less there).
 Viva Italia.
 
  

2007: Europe in the Fall for a Change

Lee Hausman
 
Greetings Travel Fans,
 
I’m delighted to report that plans have been laid at last for my annual (2007) European trip. This year, for the first time, I’m going in the autumn. Many folks have told me that September-October is a great time there, with nice weather and fewer crowds. Over two weeks I’ll be visiting Venice, Paris, and London.
 
August 23, 2007 –
Just 25 days and 3 hours to go before departure (but who’s counting?) and all of my plans are essentially in place. Starting in late September I’ll have three days in Venice, four in Paris, and three in London. I’m planning on expanding my knowledge of these cities and will be visiting districts and neighborhoods I’ve not seen before. This opens up the possibilities of finding new restaurants, cafes, shops, architecture, and broadening my skills at getting around. Should, as usual, be a blast.
 
Are you going to be in Europe, too? Perhaps we can meet for a martini at Harry’s Bar in Venice or some vin rouge in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris? I enjoy talking with other travelers and sharing experiences and travel tips. Post a comment here if you’re interested.

2006: Endings and Beginnings

Lee Hausman
Home is a place and a state of mind, I find, especially after a long absence. While I do love traveling, I equally love returning to the familiarity and security of my own roof, my own bed. My return flight from London was uneventful; on the taxi ride to Falls Church, as always, I was taken by just how green Virginia is this time of year. I’m now sorting through the post-trip wreckage of dirty laundry, maps, guidebooks, and  travel gear to be cleaned and put away.
 
Venice, Florence, Rome, Paris, London: all unique places with signature art, geography, and temperaments; all well worth visiting. I think the general travel experience would be enlarged by traveling with an SO (Significant Other) but I can’t pass up the opportunity to go to these places just because I lack one. Life is too short, my friends, too short.
 
Five flights, five train trips, five cities, three countries, two currencies, and one passport. I’ve pretty much mastered the logistics of international travel by now and so had the right-sized suitcase, the right clothing combinations, and the right schedule to make things go smoothly. The mechanics of this trip were never a concern and that’s a good thing on foreign turf. It’s also something I’ve arrived at not by any great wisdom, just by sheer experience and, probably, luck.
 
These blog entries were often made under time constraints as I tried to get my doings down digitally before using up my minutes at one Internet Cafe or another. I tried to avoid making them simple lists of I-went-here and I-saw-that but in this I don’t think I always succeeded. I decided not to drag a laptop along to Europe in order to save carry-on baggage weight and the attendant mental security overhead but having one along would have allowed me to compose my blog entries in places and at times that might have encouraged more reflection. This is a long way of saying that I’m sorry if the narrative got a bit dry here and there.
 
No one knows how the future will look back on these times but it seems to me as if we’re turning a page; the old world with its paintings, books, and sculpture – all very "hands-on" – is being slowly eclipsed by the new digital world. This begs the question about how the future will value old artifacts: will they be revered more as reminders of our humanity or be rendered meaningless to generations raised on text messaging and the ubiquity of the Internet?
 
I, obviously, find a strong and important human connection to the beautiful things from the past that have been created with relatively primitive tools. And, alone or accompanied, I recommend them to you as examples of human expression and genius that everyone needs to experience firsthand. Perhaps we can read your travel blog next? If so, be sure to send me the URL!
 
Thanks, dear reader, for coming along with me on this and my earlier journeys. I’m not sure what the fate of this blog is at the moment but I will not take it down for now. I think it could benefit from a little proof reading at this point. Thanks to all of you who have sent me encouragement and your own recommendations; they were greatly appreciated. For now, ciao, au revoir, and so long.
 
 
 

All Points of the London Compass

Lee Hausman
Today, my last day in London and the last before returning home to the U.S., was filled with activity. But before we  go there, I want to promote my traditional strategy of staying at a high-end hotel at the end of a trip like this. In this case, I’m at the Paddington Hilton (but , thanks to Frequent Flyer miles, I avoid the stiff prices) where the room is great, the bed is superb, and the bathroom is almost as big as my entire hotel room in Rome. Also, the Paddington Hilton sits right atop Paddington Station (endpoint of the Heathrow Airport Express and crossroads of several subway lines) so getting to the airport tomorrow will be so very easy. I highly recommend the practice!
 
So, today began with a "tube" ride out the west side of London to Warr’s Harley Davidson dealership, a lovely place packed with bikes, established in 1924. The staff was very welcoming and even gave me a little tour of the shop. There I saw two brand new bikes, for customers in Bahrain and Beruit, that had been customized to look like bikes from the 40’s and 50’s – really beautiful work. This gives you an idea of the international nature of the business here in Europe. After a bit, I snapped up a tee-shirt, bid them farewell, and headed back into London.
 
My next stop was Harrod’s where I discovered that my favorite Lagerfeld after shave balm is also not sold here anymore (so I guess they really did stop making it) and where I did a little gift shopping. Harrod’s is always an amazing experience – the targeted, quick in-and-out was a good approach but I could have been sooo easily distracted and stayed much longer. The Food Halls are unbelievable!
 
Next, back on the subway for a long ride to the South East of London, to Greenwich and the Royal Observatory. The latter sits atop a steep hill in the middle of huge park and so it’s a pretty long walk up to see the observatory and… the Prime Meridian, or 0-degrees Longitude. Yes, it’s the international zero point for Longitude and all of our time zones are offset from it (see photos). The observatory grounds also house a neat museum covering the 19th century contest to figure out how to acurrately measure Longitude at sea. Greenwich also has a fine maritime museum (which I didn’t see) and a nice waterfront area (which I did). I had lunch at the Spanish Galleon Pub and learned a bit about the bar business, English-style, from the friendly manager. Now I know the difference between lagers, ales, and bitters and their handling.
 
My next two subway rides took me to the north side of the city and the British Library. I fell in love with their "Treasures Room" during my last visit and definitely wanted to go again. The items on exhibit change periodically but here’s some of what I saw today: a Gutenberg Bible; one of the copies of the Magna Carta; the handwritten notes of Galileo, Da Vinci, and Newton; the Codex Sinaiticus (4th century Bible in ancient Greek); the Beowulf manuscript; one of the Shakespeare 1st Folios; some of the works of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, and Lewis Carroll, in their own handwriting; the original scores of Handel’s Messiah, works by Mozart, and Beethoven’s 9th; and finally, the handwritten original lyrics for a number of Beatles songs. Totally amazing stuff, just really jaw-dropping. You can digitize books all you want and read them online but there is something so personal about being within a few inches of the actual paper where the hands of the creators wrote these things. I know it seems silly but I feel as if a proximity to the actual paper and ink handled by these geniuses brings you somehow closer to the essence of what these people are/were.
 
Finally, one more tube ride back to the Hilton and then a little rest. It was a very good last day in London, spanning all sorts of things that are veddy British, and a good way to wind up my little European excursion. Tomorrow I’ll pack up my bags, head to the airport one last time, and turn myself over to Virgin Air again for the ride home. Once I get there, I promise a retrospective entry and my final photos.
 

Home of the King’s English

Lee Hausman
It is something of a relief to be back in a country where English is the predominant language. My new command of Italian and also my French (which came back to me better than anticipated and is still, I think, such a beautiful language) served me well "on the Continent" but the mother tongue is so much more relaxing. Of course, it’s something of a treat to bathe in all the accents here in the U.K.
 
Taking the RER train to Charles Degaulle Airport, flying BMI to Heathrow, taking the Heathrow Express to the Paddington Hilton, these are all known and familiar experiences, too. Still, for a 43-minute flight, there was a 5.5 hour door-to-door exercise.
 
The Bayswater area around Paddington Station is nice but, like everything, has changed a bit. The Archery Tavern, operated continuously since 1840 and the neighborhood pub where I planned to have a pint and dinner, closed last January! What a shame, the end of a long history and no "Tanglefoot Ale" for me. I managed to find the Dickens Tavern instead and sampled small doses of ales named "Pride of London", "John Smith’s Extra Smooth" and, my favorite, "Courage".
 
I meant to mention something about the handling of credit cards at European restaurants. A great effort is made to keep your credit card in your sight at all times. It goes like this: a wireless, hand-held credit card authorization station is brought to your table, your card is swiped once and immediately returned to you, you get to watch the screen to see the results of the authorization. The device then prints the paper receipt for you to sign. So you are absolutely sure that the card is only used once for your bill and never leaves your sight. This may be security overkill but certainly is nifty.
 
A young German couple had a fight of some kind on the Heathrow Express and the young girl had a tear-filled melt down right in front of me this afternoon. All I could do was offer her some tissues I had in my bag and a sympathetic nod. I know from personal experience that traveling can be hard on relationships – I remember a girlfriend from long ago (known to my friends as "Wonder Woman") screaming at me as we walked down a street in Athens while I tried to look like I didn’t know the crazy woman. Traveling alone has its shortcomings, too, though. At every hotel this trip, the desk clerk has looked incredulous when confirming that my room reservation is not for two people.
 
Tomorrow: first, a special stop in London and then off to Greenwich to visit the Prime Meridian.

A Fine and Busy Day in Paris

Lee Hausman

Friday I revisited my old friends, the Louvre and the Orsay Museums. Virtually across the Seine River from each other, the Orsay is a newer museum that houses recent Impressionism and Art Deco collections and more modern sculpture. It was built by renovating an old train station and the building itself, with its cast iron structure and deco details, is something to see all by itself (see photos).

The Louvre is always a treat and I always stop in to see the large-scale 19th century works of Gericault and Delacroix. On my first trip to the Louvre I learned about the secondary entrances where there are rarely lines and each time I visit it again I try to find Americans in the long main entrance line (which can be hours long) and point out the secondary entrance. However, there was virtually no line at all so there was no need to share the "secret" this year. I did take a few pictures of couples (with their camera), another good deed I try to do each day.

Things do change and I was disappointed to find that Soufflot Cafe, one of my favorites near my hotel, has changed management and the menu. Quel horror – no more escargot! They changed the menu enough that I decided not to eat there at all last night and just settled for wine and a view of the passing sidewalk scene.

Today (Saturday) was a bus- and subway-riding extravaganza. These two mass transit systems are so good here. I started by bus with a visit to the Paris Harley Davidson dealership where I indulged myself by buying an HD Paris tee shirt. The folks were nice and we chatted a bit; it was interesting to see how a dealership can be wedged into several city storefronts. Next I hopped the subway to the famous department store Printemps for some gift shopping and then had lunch up under their nifty art deco, cast iron and stained glass dome on the top floor (the menu has changed here too but lunch was good anyway and the service was great). I took a post-lunch walk a few blocks down to the Paris Opera House to see how the cleaning and renovation of the front facade (which took a year or so) turned out and it was beautiful (see photos). Next, a subway ride to the Rodin Museum and some of my favorite scupltures. You may know his The Thinker but my favorites are The Danaid and The Kiss – very sensual stuff for hunks of marble.

I spent some time today at the Luxembourg Gardens which the citizens here use as their front porch. Metal chairs and wooden benches abound and couples often meet here for romance, families come to run the kids, and students to do their studying. When the weather is good, this is a wonderful place to enjoy the outdoors. Best of all: it’s free.

Odds and Ends: I miss the more complete Italian smoking ban; too bad the practice is alive and well in most places here, especially among kids. We must be in between the Spring Break and Summer tourist hordes as crowds are low and there are no lines for anything. Hour-long U.S. TV shows are shown here (not the current season, of course) with just one commercial break; so the show starts on the hour and ends (with break) at :40 after. This makes it much more obvious just how much of a viewing hour is show and how much commercials.

Caution – Free Press At Work: Here’s some verbatim reporting from Sky News about the recent terrorist arrest in London, about six hours after the event:

Cecil (at Scotland Yard): "John, we’ve had no report yet from the police whether or not a bomb device was found and that’s something you would think they would have revealed by now."

John (at the studio): "Thank you, Cecil. So the latest from London is that no bomb device was found."

Sky News also reported at different times throughout the day that 150, 200, 250, and 300 officers were involved.

My tourist pocket is overflowing as access to everything now is via plastic or cardboard card with a magnetic stripe. For example, in my pocket right now I have a hotel key card, credit cards, ATM card, Museum Pass, Bus/Subway Pass, and an Internet Cafe card. I have no pickpocket worries though as I have troubled yanking that wad of cards out of my pocket myself.

Au revior, mes amis. This is my last report from Paris; tomorrow I’ll fly over to London for a few days before coming home on Tuesday. Paris has been very pleasant and I’m glad I put it in my itinerary.