Category: STORIES
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Paris | Bastille Day | Fête de feu d’artifice
Watching the Bastille Day feu d’artifice on a perfectly placed Paris roof terrace is in the top ten spectacular experiences of my travels.
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Paris | Le 14 Juillet
Today is France’s independence day, Bastille Day. The day commemorates the storming of the Bastille, which took place on 14 July 1789 and marked the beginning of the French Revolution. The prison of Bastille was a symbol of the absolute and arbitrary power of Louis XI. By taking control of the Bastille, the people signaled…
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Budapest | The Pest Side
Pest (pronounced “pesht”) is the nerve center of Budapest. It is both contemporary and old world at the same time. There are many curiosities about this unique city…trams that go both ways on the same track, currency with an exchange rate of 183.84 to the dollar (figure THAT out when you’re debating a purchase), words…
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Budapest | The Buda Side
The golden age of Buda castle was in the Renaissance, during the reign of King Matthias. Today it is a tourist destination…a chance to wander the cobblestone lanes of Budapest history, and to look over the Danube River to the stunning view of Pest.
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Buda + Pest = Budapest
Budapest is an enigma. It’s a city rich with architectural history, but still emerging from its communist past…so it feels like it’s a work in progress.
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Paris | Le petit-déjeuner complète
When I’m in Paris, I have the same breakfast every morning at Le Comptoir Des Saints-Pères…”le petit-déjeuner complète.”
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FLEA MARKETS | London | Spitalfields
On a London Saturday, the Portobello Road antique market stretches through Notting Hill. On Sunday, across town, is Old Spitalfields Market…a market of a very different color. Each day of the week, various vendors sell their wares here, but Sunday is when the covered market comes to life, with the creations of young artisans and…
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London | Royal Wedding Adventure | Celebration
The wedding of Will and Kate is over, but the occasion is still very much alive in London. Everywhere I go, people are talking about it…where they watched it, how lovely the dress was, how sad it was that Diana wasn’t there to see it, how poised the young couple was, how wonderful it is…
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London | Royal Wedding Adventure | The Big Day
The atmosphere in London is positively jubilant. People from all over the world have gathered to watch, and be part of, the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Some have camped out for days, and, even so, the mood is simply one of great joy. Unusually, I didn’t have a plan. I set out…
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London | Royal Wedding Eve
On the evening before the Royal Wedding, the crowds have gathered to camp out along the Mall, the wide boulevard leading to Buckingham Palace.
