Champagne Drappier Is a Seven-Generation House with New Blood Coming In
In front of a crackling fireplace sat an 87-year-old Champagne maker and his son. We were at Champagne Drappier, in the country village of Urville, where this family has been making fine champagne and other wines since 1808, seven generations of family business. They’re one of the biggest family-owned producers […]
Making Mustard in Dijon
Mustard is a big deal here in Dijon. I met a women today who makes mustard every day, showing tourists and locals how to combine the seeds, some salt, and verjus, the juice of green grapes to make the perfect blend. At La Cuisine de Madeleine, Valerie Grandet showed […]
Dinner on a Barge in Dijon Sheds Light on France in 2013
There is no better way to get to know a country than to spend half a day with a group of tourism officials, especially if it involves sitting at a table with plenty of wine. Today among the things I learned about tourists and France is that there is a […]
“May I See Your Photos?” She Asked, while Burgundy France Whizzed By
I’m in my Dijon hotel room after a long journey starting in Boston and travel by car, TGV train and good old walking. I had some time to hang out at the Gare de Lyon in Paris after I took the Cars Air France bus from Charles de Gaulle Airport […]
Thought I Could Forego the Lighter Fluid on the Grill…But No
There are a lot of things swirling around in my head on this sultry May evening. First, I had to abandon my notion of a totally green barbecue when my plan to use newspaper and small twigs inside a can didn’t light the briquettes right. So I trudged over to […]
Ancient 1990s Technology Finally Gives Way on GoNOMAD Travel
I have made my living by publishing the GoNOMAD Travel website since 2005. It’s not something I fit into my life as a sideline or a hobby, it’s the main thing I do to bring bread to the table. When I bought the site in 2002, the travel articles were […]
Layaali and Life In the 413: Two Great Nights in the Big City
Two nights in the Big City: I enjoyed the same Old Speckled Hen lager at McLadden’s Irish Pub two nights in a row after two different nights out in Northampton. Both were memorable and say a lot about the quality of our local nightlife and the arts scene here in […]
Life in the 413: You’ve Gotta Live Here to Get It
I have lived in the Valley since 1978. Most of my best friends are also 30 or 35 year veterans of this old 413, so most of them will get a big kick out of the show that’s being performed on Saturday night at Theater 14 at Smith College. Life […]
France is Coming Up…Another Great Reason to Keep Travel Blogging
Regular blogging has its rewards. I am happy to report the fruits of my blogging that came through a couple of weeks ago. And this also speaks to the power of social media as a connecting glue that keeps people on other people’s minds. I say this because I am […]
The AP Will Cover a Local Speller –for a Fee
The Associated Press is teaming up with an outfit called eByline to offer paid editorial. Their email said that they could offer me 200 words about a local speller who is participating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee for $100. It’s going to be featured on the AP Wire, so […]
In Lewiston, It’s a Small, Small World
Maybe it’s because we carry notebooks and write things down. We are not sure what it is that makes the people in Lewiston so open and friendly, but it’s striking. Last night we realized that every person we’ve met during our time here over the past few days knows everyone […]
Lewiston, Maine: Full of Optimists and Big Dreamers
Jack and I arrived in Auburn yesterday and checked into the Hilton Garden Inn. Then we set out to explore this city, which combined with Auburn across the river has about 84,000 residents. The first thing we noticed were some of the biggest old mill buildings we’d ever seen. These […]
Porting is Such Sweet Sorrow
I don’t know about you, but my cable bill both annoys and worries me. It seems like the better the TVs get, and even though they keep going down in price AND getting bigger, there are little strings attached and they make the bill creep up month after month. Having […]
Reddit Keeps Me Reading Late Into the Night
Sometimes the most compelling and visited sites on the Internet are lacking in any kind of design sense, and simply provide the basic information that people are looking for. Two examples: Craig’s List and Reddit.com. Once I read a story about how all of these designers were pulling their hair […]
You Want a Book? A Really BIG Book? How About Genesis?
Ebooks, schmee books. That’s what Benedict Taschen, a Cologne Germany publisher must be thinking. Thinking Big. The latest publishing endeavor for Taschen’s company involves a gigantic tw0-volume behemoth series that will chronicle a Big Adventure into the wilds of the world. Sebastiao Salgado is a Brazilian photojournalist who for the […]
Stories at Parties
I love the stories that you hear when you’re thrown into a party with dozens of strangers and just a few oasises of people you know. I went to a rockin’ party last night and here are two of the stories. A woman said she was married for ten years, […]
Time to Dig a Garden…but How Big Should it Be?
Am I digging too big a hole? Too ambitious? Am I really going to take care of and weed this big a garden? Today I set out to start my garden. Last year I was pretty cautious, planting just five or six short rows, but as so often happens, now […]