John asks: Why Basque and Catalan separatism is much weaker in France than in neighbouring Spain (or at least why it appears to be so). I know that

    Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels    

  Flashback to October 2010, one week before the trip that was (partly) going to be responsible for my move to Japan. Right before that trip, we made a shorter

  (asked by Patricia from somewhere – I guess the US)   Ah American women! The object of fascination of every Frenchman!!! Or are they? Well, first I guess we

    The title and subtitle of the card say: Our Alsace The Trois-Épis (Haut-Rhin) pilgrimage, near Colmar   I don’t know this village nor its pilgrimage, but if the

    Ok, things are getting back to normal in my offline life (still one crazy week of work ahead) so let’s slowly but surely go back to a normal

  Sure, I’m not posting much these days, but I have a good excuse, and no, it is not “blog procrastination” as I’m posting pretty much daily but not on

  When you’re in a city like Paris (but that applies for many smaller French cities and towns as well) don’t forget to look up once in a while, you

    Martel, in the Lot department, is one of those many villages that I dearly miss having been away from France for so long now. Note that Martel has

  English heavy artillery in action. War of 1914-1915.   Another one of those postcards depicting World War One, with the usual “inaccurate” dates as people obviously didn’t know when

    An old chimpanzee chilling in Beauval zoo.    

    If you know Paris, at least a little bit, you know the statue of the Lion of Belfort on Place Denfert-Rochereau. But do you know its story? Briefly,

    First, I wanted to commend you on your wonderful blog! I love returning to the site to see what new information you have to offer us. It’s incredibly

    The title says something along the lines of “Oléron Island – Coming upon an undressing on the sea shore“. I find this postcard quite interesting. First even if

    This pic was taken a few years ago when I lived in Paris and would take strolls in random parts of the city. It’s nothing special, but I