Worldcrunch
They may look dignified and dedicated, but it seems that the guards of Quito’s Carondelet Palace, in the city’s centro histórico, are not doing a very good job: Over the years, the presidential palace has been looted several times.
Casually parked on a street near the port of Nice, on the French Riviera, was this a James Bond-like amphibious car?
The sun setting on Varanasi’s Dashashwamedh Ghat added a certain majesty to these Hindu pilgrims’ ritual ablutions in the Ganges.
The hard-packed sand at Daytona Beach makes it easy for cars to ride on the beach — something of a Florida tradition that started long ago, with horses and buggies. I had just the perfect view from my hotel room of some of the modern riders, who now have to pay for the shoreline cruise.
Before you can behold Petra“s Khazneh (Treasury), you need to walk — or ride a camel — for about one kilometer in the extremely narrow gorge they call the Siq. It’s the perfecty theatrical entrance to this truly awe-inspiring temple.
This week I’m traveling to Paris for a family reunion with my daughter, my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It has been a good 20 years since I set foot in the capital, but some things never change: Notre-Dame and the bouquinistes nearby are still there, like in 1960.
That shade of blue you often find on the Greek island of Santorini was also perfect for this donkey’s saddle. “The Donkey That Wanted To Be A Chameleon” would make a great fable by Jean de La Fontaine, wouldn’t it?
These Dutch klompen in Volendam bring back a precise chidhood memory: In 1940, when I was about the age of the boy on the left of the picture, I fled from my hometown in zone occupée to the village of Lacrost in the region of Bourgogne — then in zone libre … and I had […]
The mighty Danube divides Buda and Pest, the two cities that were unified in 1873 to form the Hungarian capital. The 19th century Széchenyi chain suspension bridge was the first permanent bridge across the river, becoming a national symbol of this linkage between East and West.
I could have run into famous French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson in the steep streets of Bonifacio. In 1969, the same year I went there for the first time, the master took a series of black-and-white pictures of Corsica.
Not much to do in Kathmandu? On the doorstep of a Hindu temple, these Nepalese men seemed on the verge of following the dog’s example.
In New Orleans, we were granted access to a warehouse where they keep the papier-mâché heads of the famous figures destined for the Mardi Gras floats. Granted, Reagan is pretty well done. We were stumped on the one in the middle; as for the one on the right, if we had been in France, I […]
The Sidobre mountainous forest in central France, studded with massive, weirdly shaped rocks, is unique in Europe. And though, contrary to Stonehenge’s standing stones or Brittany’s menhirs, man had nothing to do with these geological formations, the place has also inspired many legends and tales — and allowed my daughter Cécile to pretend she was […]
The valleys of south Ecuador are lush, and the Andean foothills impressive. But 22 years ago, it was better to look up, not down because the amount of plastic waste along the roads was simply astonishing.
When we first visited Tunisia, the tourism industry was just starting to take off in the country, although most of the economy still relied on farming. Here in the oasis of Tozeur, it was the harvest of dates.
In the barren Hungarian puszta, livestock dehorning is out of the question — unlike in my native France, for instance. That’s lucky for the Hungarian Grey cattle, with their long slender horns.
Elephants, symbols of steadfastness and mental strength in Buddhist culture, are a recurring motif in Sri Lankan sculpture. Some of the finest examples can be found in Anuradhapura, the former center of Theravada Buddhism.
The Stari Most (“Old Bridge”) was infamously destroyed in 1993 during the Croat–Bosnian War. Twenty years later, thanks to UNESCO funds, it was rebuilt with its notable arched Ottoman design. Motivated both by the architecture and recent historical events, I made sure to make my own crossing.
Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the Basque country of southwestern France is mostly known now as a popular tourist destination for both French and Spanish summer vacationers. But back when I visited it was still primarily a busy fishing port. This sunny summer day was a mix of both, as we stumbled upon an international Amateur Tuna Fishing […]
Following British colonial influence, India drives on the left-hand side of the road. That is, in principle. Drivers in a rush tend to occupy the middle of the narrow ribbon of asphalt they call a road in some parts of Rajasthan — only swerving at the very last moment to avoid oncoming traffic. Every 10 […]
In the early 1990s, Salvador began to clean up and restore its historical center Pelourinho. My grandson and partner-in-crime for this series was there last year on his honeymoon, and found it a bit too touristy. But back when I was there as the restoration began, it was nothing more and nothing less than one […]
Before you ask: Yes, I also have the tourist shots of my wife and daughter pretending to hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But this one catches it in a much different light, both in space and in time.
On our way to Ürgüp and its strange rocks, we drove past a couple of field workers. The whole scene threw me back to my childhood, when I would watch farmers harvest in eastern France.
Sure, I could tell you about Ouro Preto’s rich mining past, its baroque churches, its wonderful Mineralogy Museum (that both me and my grandson got to visit, 22 years apart), its failed revolution, its noble colonial architecture … but really: The word pipimóvel (“peepeemobile”) just makes me chuckle.
Suzhou is often called “the Venice of China” because of its many canals and stone bridges. The city’s lush classical gardens are part of the UNESCO World Heritage list, making it a major tourist attraction in the region — and leading to very colorful displays of “folklore” …
I should remember how commanding Chartres Cathedral is with its noble façades, Gothic grandeur and hundreds of delicately sculpted figures. But 44 years later, what I remember most is that while we were visiting the cathedral, some idiot scratched my car!
In 1967 the rugged road from Tromsø did not go any further than the village of Hammerfest, where reindeer were strolling freely in people’s backyards.
My wife Claudine was taking a break from the vigorous April sun, resting under the lush azaleas bording the steps that lead to the top of Rome“s Capitoline Hill.
On Saturdays, the whole town of Otavalo becomes a gigantic market famous for its textiles, handicrafts, leather goods and spices. It draws people — and pigs — from the whole country and, together with the capital Quito and the Galapagos Islands, is one of Ecuador’s most popular tourist destinations.
I like Don Quixote enough to dress as him for Carnival. But unlike Miguel de Cervantes’ character, I don’t go about attacking windmills, which is lucky, considering we’ve encountered quite a few during our travels.
Balinese woodcarvings are exquisitely refined. I brought one back from the village of Mas, in southern Indonesia, and hung it in my study.
Though it’s closer to the Italian Peninsula, the island of Corsica belongs to France. But the words that come to my mind when I look at this panorama are in Italian: Che pace! (“Such peace!”)
The owners of these bicycles were having a picnic nearby, enjoying the view of the famous 19 windmills at Kinderdijk. The place was still pretty quiet in 1964, some 33 years before it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“Le Ventre de Paris,” as French writer Émile Zola called it, has changed considerably during the past century. The Halles de Paris, this gigantic cast iron and glass food market right in the middle of the capital, was demolished in the early 1970s and replaced with the questionable Forum des Halles shopping mall. Today it […]
Lake Titicaca is located on the border of Peru and Bolivia. I’ve already shown you what the Peruvian side looks like, so this is me standing on the Bolivian shore of the lake — for once in front of the camera and not behind it.
This footbridge between two of the Thousand Islands in the Saint Lawrence River is often hailed as being the “shortest international bridge in the world.” The border that separates Canada from the U.S. is said to pass exactly between Zavikon Island and Little Zavikon Island, making for a great anecdote told by many tour guides. […]
Don’t let it fool you: The roads that lead to the Reunion Island“s Piton de la Fournaise (in the background) may be barren and stunningly quiet — but the volcano is one of the most active in the world. Just two years before we went there, the March 1998 eruption lasted 196 days, and le […]
Who needs a moving truck?
The Italian Renaissance Trinità dei Monti church, at the top of the famous Spanish Steps in Piazza di Spagna, was a little bit like a home away from home for us French travellers. “La Trinité-des-Monts,” as we call it, was built by a French king and has been under French responsibility ever since — together […]
Same brand, different technique: These Ecuadorian women were washing their clothes using Ariel, a brand of laundry detergent popular both in Latin America and Europe. Their washing machine was just slightly bigger than ours — the Ambato River, a stream that ultimately empties into the Atlantic Ocean via the Amazon.