On arrival, like many of the characters in my WW2 spy novel–including Lord Mountbatten himself–I check-in at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon. Having written a first draft and read multitudes of books, I’ve come to discover their world. Despite modernization, much of the land remains as … Read more
View from Musée d’Orsay, Paris It would be our second time traveling Europe By Train, this time in spring to avoid the heat and crowds. We arrived in Rome early April. Like falling off a bicycle, I resumed my love affair with the Eternal City. http://dianarchambers.blogspot.com/2016/04/europe-by-train-these-roman-streets.html After a glorious week, we left Rome’s mammoth Termini railway … Read more
For our last stop, we chose Old Town Chambers, a comfortable and elegant apartment-hotel. It was nice to grocery shop and cook at “home.” Down the street from Castle Rock, this was a perfect base of exploration. Here is the view from one of our windows. The next day we set off up the Royal Mile, … Read more
Based on the recommendation of the Man in Seat 61, I was excited to take the Virgin train-ferry to Dublin. We left London’s Euston station around 9 a.m. and settled in for a three-hour ride to Holyhead, Wales. Soon we had left London behind and were passing through pastoral countryside. Before long we reached Wales…a … Read more
Horse of Selene, the Greek moon goddess, British Museum With Samuel Johnson’s famous quote in mind, I gorged on London museums, most free. I wanted to devour everything, an impossibly rich buffet. The British Museum is, simply, mind-boggling. With self-deprecating British humor, they state that here they display the best in the world, since the … Read more
Eurostar is a sweet way to travel. We left Gare du Nord mid-afternoon, and in less than three hours arrived at St. Pancras in the heart of London. Two Tube stops later, we reached Covent Garden, where we stayed with my brother. We came across this florist in our neighborhood, a nod to Eliza Doolittle … Read more
We were coming to the end of our Paris stay. I barely stopped those last few days, visiting and revisiting my favorite places, wanting to imprint everything in my heart. I had walked through the Luxembourg Gardens several times already, this would be my last. A brief stroll on a beautiful afternoon, the park incandescent. … Read more
The Promenade Plantée is an abandoned railway line transformed into one of the secret parks of Paris, passing over viaducts and through tunnels. I decided to walk the almost three mile trail from Place de la Bastille to Bois de Vincennes, the enormous park in eastern Paris. There are wonderful high angles on wonderful buildings. … Read more
One Sunday we took the train to Auvers-sur-Oise, a light-filled riverside village that drew many artists, including Cézanne, Pissarro–and Van Gogh. Vincent had moved to Auvers from Saint-Rémy to be closer to his brother, Theo, in nearby Paris. Here he spent the last seventy days of his life and painted seventy works of art. Outside … Read more
The Jardin du Luxembourg has its own corner in my heart. I used to live in Montparnasse and crossed this wondrous space several times a week. Today I would walk my old streets en route to the park. I began in the 14th arrondissement at the grand lion of Denfert-Rochereau, designed by August Bartholdi, creator … Read more