Doing the Camino de Santiago Your Way The little nagging fear about embarking on a pilgrimage is, at least in my case, that everyone else on the trail will be a whole lot more religious than I am. So it…
Slacking the Saint James
Tag: France
Day Trip from Geneva to Yvoire, France
Make Time to Go Medieval in a Small French Village From fast-moving and modern Geneva, with its trains and efficiencies, escape for a day to nearby Yvoire, France, a medieval town replete with a castle. Situated on Lake Geneva (also…
Retro Saint-Michel
Will a Half-Century Old Guidebook Help a Tourist View an Attraction Differently? Picking up an old guidebook on Mont Saint-Michel that was published in the 1960s, I flip through to find out what highlights were deemed important 50-plus years ago.…
Books about the Great Depression: Mont Saint Michel for Changing Times
Looking for a book about the Depression? Roger Vercel’s 1938 novel about the mount still entices What I like about Mont Saint Michel is that the closer you climb to the top of the mount, the farther you are from…
Benjamin Franklin for Any Age
Finding a Founding Father at the National Postal Museum U.S. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin offers something of interest to just about everyone. The younger set tends to be drawn to his kite-flying exploits, elders might explore his history with bifocals,…
France: The Oldest Friend of the United States
Celebrating Louis XVI
Accomplishments besides Marrying Poorly Louis XVI, king of France, was born 261 years ago on August 23, 1754, and what many seem to remember about him is his wife, Marie-Antoinette, originally of Austria, and his general ineffectiveness in leading his…
Wherever I Go, There’s Rochambeau
Recurring Characters in Historical Travels Revered as a hero in the American Revolution, the Comte de Rochambeau’s efforts helping the new country ward off the British are commemorated along the Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail—almost 700 miles extending from Massachusetts and…
Cruising Cemeteries around the Globe
Touring Graveyards for History and Understanding I suppose if you are bashful, a cemetery is a great place to visit given that no one is likely to talk to you much. I like cemeteries for the opportunities they provide to…
Traveling with Witches
It’s a good thing that the law has evolved a bit since the 1600s given my penchant for visiting shamans, inquiring about witches, and talking directly to higher powers without any male or priestly intercession. In May 1647, the first…