mourningdove

Normandy Bike Tour, Part 2

Before we caught the ferry from Saint-Malo to Guernsey, we absolutely had to get kouign-amann, so we trecked back to the intra-muros and stopped at a cute boulangerie we had seen the night before. To be honest, I was kind of let down by the kouign-amann I ate in Brittany. I think I just didn’tContinue reading “Normandy Bike Tour, Part 2”

Scrambling: A Normandy Bike Tour, Part 1

Well, truth be told, this was a Brittany–Channel Islands–Normandy tour, the planning of which ended up being just as epic as it sounds. The biggest reason for this was the tour involved ferries, and one of those ferries (I’m looking at you here, Manche-Îles) abruptly changed their stated policy on transporting bikes *after* I hadContinue reading “Scrambling: A Normandy Bike Tour, Part 1”

Mauerradweg: Südroute

This was the final, longest, and hardest stage of my circuit of the Mauerradweg. I rode 70 km from Wannsee to Warshauerstraße and would not recommend doing that. Not because it’s boring or unattractive: there are stunning lakes and villas, sweeping field views, lovely forests, beer gardens, canals, parks, and interesting urban sites. But thisContinue reading “Mauerradweg: Südroute”

Tarbes and the Haute-Pyrénées

I visited my friend Marie this weekend at her new place in Tarbes, and since the weather favored us, we were able to take a drive up the valley to the Col du Tourmalet, alongside riders training for the Tour de France (either professionally or enthusiastically). Then, we went down the west side of theContinue reading “Tarbes and the Haute-Pyrénées”

Amicae Usque ad Aras, Part Five, Cont.

Phemonoe “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.” It was pure habit: as Paulos gave his sermon, I split my attention in two, just as I had when I attended the Pythia at her public appearances.Continue reading “Amicae Usque ad Aras, Part Five, Cont.”

Mauerradweg: West Route

The vast majority of this 50km stretch (not counting the ferry crossing of the Wannsee) of the Mauerradweg meanders through rural landscapes: along maybe a dozen of Brandenburg’s 3,000 lakes and through lush meadows, shady timber plantations, and wilder forests of birch and beech. There are even a couple of *gasp* steep hills (short ones,Continue reading “Mauerradweg: West Route”

Mauerradweg: Stadtroute

I determined soon after I arrived in Berlin that I wanted to ride the entire perimeter of the former Wall (die Mauer): there’s a well-signed route that circles the whole thing. And since I’m starting a bike tour in Brittany and Normandy next weekend, I figured it was high time to get my butt inContinue reading “Mauerradweg: Stadtroute”

Amicae Usque ad Aras, Part Five

Dionysia I don’t remember much of the journey back to Delphi. I went to a place I hadn’t been for a long time, a place inside myself that was like a nest in a tree or on a cliff, high above everything and everyone. Down in the real world, I put on and took offContinue reading “Amicae Usque ad Aras, Part Five”

36 Hours in Amsterdam

I know, it’s not enough…but it’s what I had: and it’s only coincidentally named after the New York Times article series (they do 36 waking hours; mine was total). The first order of business was to get a reservation at the Rijksmuseum because I have loved Vermeer and the other Dutch Interior painters since IContinue reading “36 Hours in Amsterdam”

Ceramics Saturdays: Meissen “Red Porcelain”

Edmund de Waal includes an extended account of the development of “red porcelain” or Meissen red wares in White Road, but the upshot is that on the way to discovering a formula for a European white porcelain, Böttger and his assistants in Augustus the Strong’s kilns in Meissen first discovered a way to reliably produceContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Meissen “Red Porcelain””