Sightseeing in the Mindfields
Escape to New York, 3: Two Museums, No Waiting, 17 April 2026
June 05, 2026
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Though it would be difficult for me to choose a favorite among my beloved, familiar New York museums, I reserve a particular affection for the Frick Collection. It was one of the places where I would meet my friends frequently when I was a girl. As an undergraduate, I would walk to Fifth Avenue to spend a few hours between classes at The Frick. It...
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Escape to New York 2: The Cherry Blossom Festival, 16 April 2026
May 26, 2026
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The strength of our resolution to have a reunion with our friends in Brooklyn was directly proportional to the inconvenience that making it happen entailed. These friends were fearful of infection, and had a particular horror of contracting Covid. It is not an irrational phobia among New Yorkers, especially those managing chronic illness. So we agr...
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Escape to New York 1: Repaving Memory Lane, 16 April 2026
May 18, 2026
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Our latest trip to New York was as impromptu as anything in our lives can be, given the constraints of the calendar and the increasing complexity of our corporeal maintenance. HL and I contrived to spend a week in our native city between the end of Passover and a series of familial events in May. It was thanks to a dear friend's kindness that we co...
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Eurostarstruck: The Louvre, 3 October 2026
April 22, 2026
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In choosing to allot our last full day in Paris to visiting The Louvre, we were not making a conscious decision to save the best for last. We were certain, however, that we would be spending hours among many of the most spectacular works of visual art ever created.
The world’s largest museum originated as a medieval fortress. Very little remains...
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Eurostarstruck: The Musée d’Orsay, 2 October 2025
April 12, 2026
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I require minimal encouragement to go to Paris at any time, and the prospect of attending a show of Sargent’s paintings at the Musée d’Orsay made the idea irresistible. John Singer Sargent was as prolific as he was successful as a portraitist.
His precocious talent brought him to the attention of the European art establishment. From 1874 until 188...
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Eurostarstruck: Père-Lachaise, 1 October 2025
April 04, 2026
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It was with some trepidation that I approached the famed cemetery of Père-Lachaise, as I had been the one to propose that we spend one of our precious Paris days there. HL was accustomed to my fondness for graveyards, but I did not want to tax Miri’s patience with my enthusiasm for exploring this particular landmark. Situated in the 20th Arrondisse...
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Eurostarstruck: The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, 30 September 2025
March 28, 2026
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It is likely that you recall how, in 2019, a fire consumed much of the city’s premier Gothic cathedral. That title does not disparage the Gothic magnificence of Sainte-Chapelle, owing to a technicality: a cathedral is the seat of a bishop, and that status belongs to Notre Dame de Paris. Sainte-Chapelle was a private chapel, perhaps the most gloriou...
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Eurostarstruck: Sainte-Chapelle, 30 September 2025
March 20, 2026
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The Ile de la Cité is the island in the Seine River where Paris’ history began. It was a tribal center even before the Romans established a garrison there. As the earliest seat of the French monarchy, the island was the obvious choice when King Louis IX wanted to erect the most prestigious religious edifice in his realm. That was Sainte-Chapelle, o...
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Eurostarstruck: The Chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte, 29 September 2025
March 12, 2026
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Vaux-le-Vicomte was the second chateau on our tour. It was half a hour’s bus ride from Fontainebleau. I had wanted to go there because it had been the predecessor of the immense Palace of Versailles. I had read that it had comparable aesthetic merit. And I was reluctant to brave the crowds at Versailles. That is a site that I had once explored, lon...
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Eurostarstruck: The Chateau of Fontainebleau, 29 September 2025
March 04, 2026
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During our week in Paris, we made only one excursion outside the city limits. In the course of a single day, we visited two chateaux, Fontainebleau and the less celebrated Vaux-le-Vicomte.
A tour bus conveyed us about 60 kilometers south of Paris, to the entrance of the palace that had served the French monarchs as a country retreat for hundreds o...
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© Star Arts by Tamar