Monthly Archives: September 2004

Mices Internet Shop, Gloucester Green, Oxford, England About 60 experts and devotees of Gerard Manley Hopkins are gathered at Oriel College at Oxford to present and listen to papers on a Jesuit poet who once walked these same narrow tunnels … Continue reading →

A woman who boarded the Eurostar in Paris with a white guitar case dozes on the three-hour trip to London. Send to KindleTweet

Beneath the English Channel aboard Eurostar 9031 to Waterloo Station, London My ears feel changes in air pressure as the train glides beneath the ocean at 186 miles an hour. Passengers speak quietly, as if in church. You can hear … Continue reading →

The Chronicles staff sets up shop in a Starbucks located at 70 Boulevard du Montparnasse, Paris. Send to KindleTweet

I see no French tractors poised to plow over the latest encroachment of American culture, as one did to a McDonalds site in southwestern France five years ago. Instead, the fourth Starbucks store in Paris has a line of customers … Continue reading →

The view from Picasso’s window in Antibes. Send to KindleTweet

Fifty-eight years ago this week, Pablo Picasso began work in a third-floor room of a chateau which the city of Antibes had converted into a museum. Until the weather turned cold in November, he arrived each afternoon to paint until … Continue reading →

Patrizia, Steve and Len on the apartment balcony this morning. Send to KindleTweet

My Bennington poet friend, Steve Gregoris, is in love. Patrizia Pedrazzina grew up in Piacenza, Italy, and speaks Italian and British-accented English. He is 46; she is 41. Each has been married and involved before. They know the drill. So … Continue reading →

Darlene just before the start of the Course Pedestere du Boulevard Carnot, noticing that most of the other entrants seem to be seasoned runners, as compared with the more casual field in a U.S. race. Send to KindleTweet