Mark K November 5th, 2007
The following are some reflections on the trip that my wife and I took to France in late October. We spent three nights in Paris and then continued to a small city of Limoux, in the Languedoc region of southern France. Heidi served as the host of a culinary tour and we stayed at a small hotel, owned by a couple from California. If you’re interested in knowing more about the hotel and the tours that they offer, you can visit their website at montfaucontours.com.
Tags: Limoux, Montfaucon
Mark K June 9th, 2007
The French actually have a name for the art of strolling – they call it flanerie and the person who strolls is a flaneur. The idea of flanerie is to stroll or wander with the intention of being curious about and open to all that you encounter, but without having any particular goal. It’s hard to find an adequate English translation for flanerie – loitering is one possiblity – but in this country we post signs warning that this is a potentially criminal activity!
In his book The Flaneur, Edmund White states the opinion that Americans are particularly ill-suited to be flaneurs, because we are so driven towards self-improvement. So, I’m left with a bit of a quandry – is it possible to work at being a better flaneur?
Tags: Edmund White, flanerie, flaneur
Mark K September 20th, 2006
What if you traveled to another country, left the airport, and just started wandering? Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration of what I’m up to here, but ever since I read John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charlie”, I’ve had a bit of wanderlust that I just have to get out of my system. Back in the ’60′s, Steinbeck loaded his pickup truck and camper and, together with his dog Charlie, set out to explore the U.S., trying to get an idea what the country and the people were all about. Now he did have something of an itinerary – taking a lap around the U.S. and avoiding interstate highways and major cities, but it made me start fantasizing about a trip with no itinerary. What if you loaded up the camper and just started driving each day, letting your intuition be your travel guide? I fell in love with that idea and thought that I would like to try it one of these days.
So what does that have to do with wandering in Spain? My wife and I will be leaving for Spain shortly and we do have something of an itinerary. We’ll be spending a week in Madrid and Barcelona. We own a Mediterranean restaurant here in California, so I’m sure that we’ll spend a good deal of time exploring the restaurants and tapas bars of those two cities. We have a little difference of opinion on the merits of visiting churches, museums and historical sites, but I’m sure that we can strike some sort of a compromise on that matter. Our main goal will be to just soak up the Spanish culture and ambiance and see how far we can get with our high school Spanish.
After a week, Heidi heads back to California and I begin my wanderings. I’ve read the guidebooks and will do some last minute cramming, but I’m treating that week as an experiment in the art of wandering. What if I resist the urge to create a plan and just see what’s there each day and let intuition and serendipity rule the day?
So, I’m hoping that you’ll come along with me on this little journey, or experiment in traveling, if you will. Post your comments – share your travel experiences and theories about how “traveling should be done”! – Mark
