Gounod’s Faust was the first opera I ever saw, and I saw it at Palais…
Corona Virus Diary 4: Safely Stocking the Larder
I have long disliked going to the grocery store. From the time I was twenty and in my first apartment I made a list based on a strict budget, went in, collected items, paid up and got out. My mother loathed going to the store with me. I was boring, she complained. I...
Hyggelig 1: Living Cozy
Apartment 1 in the Central Canal Apartments, Wildersgade, 15, in the Christianshavn neighborhood in Copenhagen is snug. No rugs for bugs and no room for much else. A rack accommodates clothes on hangers but stuff that would go into drawers must stay in suitcases. The...
Black Jelly Beans
What is it with making ordinary treats seasonal? I already went cuckoo when I nearly couldn’t find peppermint stick ice cream for my Christmas dinner menu—and I don’t see why the flavor should be available only from late November to late December. When I was a child...
Based in Batignolles 3: Beyond the Pale
Apparently, our neighborhood does not exist. Consult a tourist guide like Eyewitness Paris and there is an empty white space where one might expect to find Batignolles. The teal-green blob of Montmartre floats in a void separate from the colors that identify the...