Travel Journal
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Cefalù and Caccamo – Sicily Trip #5 (Italy)
We’re getting back in the car today to explore the other side. But Sicily is so vast that it takes a full road trip to see it all. From Palermo, and in just one day, we can only push as far as Cefalù and Caccamo. We struggle to find a parking spot. Construction on the main avenue cuts the available spaces in half, and the huge parking lot outside town is just that… outside town. We finally manage to squeeze into a small spot, pay for parking, and walk 15 minutes to the old town. This place must be 10 times busier in summer. That beautiful beach is sure to…
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Monreale Cathedral and Segesta Temple – Sicily Trip #4 (Italy)
There are so many things to see in Sicily that you have to make choices. Since I want to visit both Monreale , and Cefalù which are in two opposite directions from Palermo, we decide to visit Monreale one day (and go as far as the Temple of Segesta), come back to sleep in Palermo, then go to Cefalù the next day, then return to Palermo, to our Airbnb. We rent a car for two days from Dream Rent – Noleggio Auto e Scooter – Rent Car and Scooter https://maps.app.goo.gl/pBbsWLLWCBPmMmd78 for 70 euros (insurance still covered by Serenitrip). It’s a small local rental company with a tiny office, but the…
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Palermo – Sicily Trip #3 (Italy)
After Catania, we take the train towards Palermo. There are two main pedestrian streets in the city center, and our Airbnb is on one of them. They’re always full of tourists, noisy, lively, but the apartment is over 100 square meters, so we feel way too comfortable and don’t visit anything for long weeks. We just go eat focaccias, Neapolitan pizzas, pistachio gelatos (the local specialty), cross several times a day a beautiful pedestrian intersection with sculptures on all four buildings, and stroll along the pedestrian streets for window shopping. If I had known that the churches in Palermo were so pretty, I would have forced myself to visit earlier.…
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Catania & Mount Etna – Sicily Trip #2 (Italy)
I’m catching up on travel journals left unwritten since 2022-2023, and here we are in January 2023, having just left Malta by boat to head to Sicily. While the first stop is the famous Syracuse, the second (very brief) stop is Catania to visit Mount Etna. We take the train from Syracuse to Catania and spot Etna from afar. You can’t tell from photos, but it’s massive, given how far away we can see it. As an active volcano, it regularly releases gases and smoke plumes, even without major eruptions. This smoke is mainly water vapor, sulfur dioxide, and other volcanic gases. From a distance, it just looks like clouds.…
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Visit of the Château de Monte-Cristo (France) – Alexandre Dumas’ residence and park
We take advantage of a rainy Wednesday to visit the Château de Monte-Cristo with JB, my sister, and my niece. Nestled in the heights of Port-Marly, just a stone’s throw from the Seine, the Château de Monte-Cristo is much more than a simple historic residence. It’s a true green haven, where Alexandre Dumas, the author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte-Cristo, created his refuge away from the Parisian hustle and bustle. In 1844, after his first literary successes, Dumas decided to settle in a more peaceful setting, away from the city’s turmoil. He fell in love with the landscapes along the Seine and chose a plot on…
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Review of our (almost free) lunch at L’Oiseau Blanc – The Peninsula Paris
We had already tried the tea time at The Peninsula Paris (which I really enjoyed). This time, we head up a few floors to test their Michelin-starred restaurant (2 stars in the Michelin Guide) with a view of the Eiffel Tower. As every year, we get 200 euros per year with our American Express Platinum card (referral code here) to enjoy a gourmet restaurant. This year, to properly celebrate JB’s birthday, we chose L’Oiseau Blanc. The restaurant’s name pays tribute to the two French aviation pioneers, Charles Nungesser and François Coli, the first to attempt a non-stop transatlantic crossing in a biplane. They allegedly succeeded before disappearing forever in the…
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Diary of a GR20 Trek in Corsica
Last April, my brother sent me the following message. Last October, we had done together the Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal. But this time, it’s a whole different story: the GR20 is known as one of the toughest treks in Europe, and for the past few months, Vincent has taken up trail running! There was already a clear gap in fitness levels working against me. Now it’s not just a gap, it’s a chasm! After some hesitation and after making sure Vincent didn’t mind dragging a dead weight around for two weeks, I agreed – it was now or never! The GR20 is a trek of about 180 km…
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Two days in Amiens (France): following in the footsteps of Marcel Proust
Isn’t it funny? John Ruskin writes a book about Amiens Cathedral called “The Bible of Amiens.” Proust follows in his footsteps and finds the same beggars Ruskin pointed out, arriving from the south side just like Ruskin did. And here I am, following Proust… I’ve trailed him to Illiers-Combray, Cabourg… and now I’m back in Amiens. Part 1: Travel JournalPart 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Journal Amiens isn’t unfamiliar to me; I went there once during our tour of France, and returned a second time for a few weeks in winter when we stayed in an Airbnb a bit far from the center. This time, I’m back with my…
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A Day in Cabourg (France): On the Trail of Marcel Proust
Any reader of In Search of Lost Time is bound to want to visit the Grand Hôtel de Balbec, or Balbec itself, sooner or later. This dream has stayed with me since I read Within a Budding Grove, where the plot takes place mainly at the Grand Hôtel de Balbec and the surrounding area of Balbec. Part 1: Travel JournalPart 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Journal Balbec is always associated with Cabourg, even though Marcel Proust tried to incorporate elements from other regions to throw people off the scent. And Marcel Proust himself spent several summers at the Grand Hôtel de Cabourg. It’s now a hotel owned by the…
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[review] World Biennial of Art Bookbinding 2024
I wasn’t supposed to go to the World Biennial of Art Bookbinding in 2024 because I was staying in the northern suburbs of Paris and had to go all the way to the end of the RER B line to attend. But a Vietnamese bookbinder won a prize and a mutual friend put us in touch. I went mainly as a favor. I did enjoy it a bit, but I’m glad I combined the trip with another event in Paris because 3 hours round-trip for that alone would have put me off. It’s a bookbinding competition open to everyone: professionals and amateurs. Everyone has to bind exactly the same book…
