Living Your Own Novel: RTW Bookshop Travel

June 26th, 2007 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

The round stamp of Shakespeare & Company on the inside cover of my journal is one of a dozen things that remind me of our trip each day. I got that stamp during the first week, on the history-soaked streets of Paris’ left bank. “That guy’s either nuts or famous,” I whispered in Tay’s ear as we entered one the world’s most renowned bookstores. The man had a white explosion of unkempt hair, and he walked barefoot in front of the store in striped linen pajamas, greeting people and talking earnestly. It was, I realized, George Whitman, the legendary nonagenarian owner of a “little Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart.” I’d just copied his hand-scrawled words into my journal: “I may disappear,” was George’s note to all who passed, “leaving no forwarding address, but for all you know I may still be walking among you on my vagabond journey around the world.” (more…)

Shakespeare & Company

June 24th, 2005 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

The most cramped, interesting, and full-of-famous-history used bookstore in the world:

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Packing Lesson: Don’t forget the tunes

June 23rd, 2005 | By Joshua | Comments Off

Once upon a time, a young couple fell in love, got married, packed up their belongings and left New York to travel for a year. Soon after, they met a pair of French newlyweds: Claude, a med student and Jacqueline, a budding pharmacist, had come to Israel to live and work for a year. They were staying in a guest house in Haifa and one of the things that attracted them to the Americans was their record collection. This was long before the Age of iPods—the French had a record player (they’d brought their car across on the ferry) and the Americans had brought albums by strange bands like The Doors, Pink Floyd, and Jimi Hendrix.
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Rick Steves: Paris and Belize

June 23rd, 2005 | By Joshua | 2 Comments »

My guidebooks at the moment? Rick Steves Paris and Moon Metro Paris have accompanied Tay and I on our daily forays. The Moon Metro guide is mainly useful for its detailed and discreet maps, but for solid, up-to-date dirt and creative, realistic walking tours, Rick, and co-authors Steve Smith and Gene Openshaw, have been wonderful companions. It’s also been interesting to actually use one of these books after hearing so much hype about about the man and his travel empire.
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“So fearfully and wonderfully Frenchy!”

June 23rd, 2005 | By Joshua | No Comments »

“It was a pleasure to eat where everything was so tidy, the food so well cooked, the waiters so polite, and the coming and departing company so moustached, so frisky, so affable, so fearfully and wonderfully Frenchy!”
–Mark Twain

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La Fete de la Musique

June 22nd, 2005 | By Joshua | 2 Comments »

It was no coincidence that La Fete de la Musique, a city-wide, all-night street-jam, occurred on the solstice — indeed, that summer should begin with an eruption of live bands and drum circles on every plaza, corner, bar, and cafe was a relatively recent tradition in the City of Light. But the full moon was an unplanned and auspicious bonus, as were the scooters.
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And We’re Off: Moon-eyed and wild of mane!

June 16th, 2005 | By Joshua | No Comments »

One of the best wedding cards we received pictured a cartoon bride and groom astride a white leaping/flying horse. Our friend, Carol, wrote “YOU” next to the figures and, pointing to the horse, “LIFE.” The image on the card was a mere flash amid so much pre-departure chaos, but it stuck in my head, re-appearing on the clouds through the scratched plastic of the airplane window.
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