My favorite piece in the entire Musee des Beaux-Arts museum in Nice is on the ground floor in the sculpture gallery. Near the window, you’ll find the statue Femme voilée – Le Silence (Veiled woman – Silence) by Luigi Gugliemi. What makes this work so strikingly beautiful is the seemingly wispy, gossamer veil covering the woman’s […]
Looking south on Lake Tahoe toward Sand Harbor on a surprisingly warm and sunny day in mid-November. The newly constructed Tahoe East Shore Trail, a three-mile-long biking/walking path, runs from the Harbor up to Incline Village and will eventually connect up with various other existing and planned Tahoe trails to completely encircle the lake. In […]
View this post on Instagram Solitary kite surfer taking advantage of strong winds kicked up by an approaching storm front. Incline Beach, Lake Tahoe. Elevation 6,229ft (1,900m). Water temp: 43 F (6 C) Outside air temp: 39 F (4 C) Wind: Sustained at 25 mph (40 khm), gusting to 40 mph (64 kmh) Number of […]
Vivid colors and crisp daytime temperatures signal the onset of autumn at Lake Tahoe, California.
View this post on Instagram Lone surfer hitting the waters of Lake Tahoe at Incline Beach on Saturday, December 7, 2019. Elevation 6,229 feet. A strong storm front kicked up a sizeable wind swell – enough to be rideable. Water temp: 49F (9C) Air temp: 39F (4C) Wind: Steady at 20 mph (32 kph). For […]
Twenty-eight foot tall bronze statue of Grgur Ninski (Gregory of Nin) located in Split, Croatia. The statue was originally erected in 1929 within Split’s Diocletian’s Palace, but was moved in the mid-1950s to its current spot just outside the Old Town’s Golden Gate. The statue was created by Croatia’s most famous sculpture, Ivan Meštrović. Other […]
Pumpkins rioting at Rodoni Farms, Santa Cruz, California, October 2019. This photo shows the leaders of the mob trying to hotwire the farm’s pickup truck to make their escape. The uprising was apparently thwarted when the pumpkins realized they needed hands, eyes, and feet to drive. Rodoni Farms declined to comment on the incident, but […]
L’homme de Pierre (Stone Man) statue in the courtyard of the Chapelle-Saint-Elme in Villefranche-sur-mer. Created by artist Max Cartier, it is one of a number of stone men statues created in the late 1980s. Visitors who fly into Nice will have seen a similar statue, Le Voyageur (The Traveler), in the roundabout between Terminal 1 […]
Snow clouds building over the Gar Woods pier on Lake Tahoe at sunset. Located in Carnelian Bay on the northwest side of the lake, Gar Woods has an outdoor patio ideal for drinking and dining during the short but spectacular summer season.
Godzilla “walking” through Place Massena during Carnival in Nice (2018). The celebration is one of the largest carnival events in the world. Each year, over a million visitors come to cheer on the bands, gape at the floats, and marvel at the giant balloons during the festival’s 15-day run. The theme of Carnival changes each […]
Ceiling of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Consecrated in 1888 after 17 years of construction, this neo-gothic landmark now attracts over 50,000 visitors a year. The 116 stained glass windows, created by Carmelite nuns in Le Mans, France, add color, light, and airiness to […]
View out over County Wicklow, Ireland. Despite being just south of Dublin, which is experiencing a huge internet-fueled building boom, much of Wicklow remains undeveloped. Small towns and patchwork fields bounded by hand-built rock walls line the coast. Inland, wild scrubland prevails, with soft bracken and hearty gorse covering the gently rolling hills.
One of three large statues on the rooftop of the Musée d’Orsay, Paris looking across the Seine to the Louvre Museum. This statue, entitled Orleans, was created as an allegorical representation of the city of Orleans, which was one of three major cities served by the train line that originated in the building when it […]
View out over Nevada from the top of the 7,600 foot mountain ridge that forms the divide between California and the Silver State at the southern end of Lake Tahoe. Although the valley in view is only 1,500 feet lower than the lake, the Sierra Nevada mountains block much of the rain and snow that […]
Young skiers at Isola 2000 ski field, 60 miles (96 km) north of Nice, France. Set in a high valley inside Mercantour National Park on the dividing line between France and Italy, the ski field gets its name from its altitude (2000 meters/6560 feet) rather than from any association with the year 2000. For full […]
Canal and classically inspired buildings in the Souk Madinat Jumeirah, located just south of the landmark Burj Al Arab Jumeirah hotel. This relatively new souk is designed to look like a traditional Arabian market. In it you’ll find an eclectic mix of quirky shops, art galleries, antique stores, and high-end clothing boutiques. There are also […]
Sacre Coeur Basilica (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) in the northern suburbs of Paris. Completed in 1914, it’s the second most visited monument in town, with 10 million visitors a year. Only Notre Dame Cathedral had more last year (12 million). With Notre Dame closed for repair following the disastrous April 2019 fire that gutted […]
Marc Chagall’s mosaic Le prophète Elie (The Prophet Elijah) on the wall of the Musée Marc Chagall in Nice, France. Created in 1970 specifically for the outer wall of the museum, the mosaic depicts religious scenes relating to the many miracles God performed through Elijah. The beauty and simplicity of the work is enhanced when […]
Mgarr Harbor on the southern side of Gozo island, Malta. The 25-minute ferry service from the island of Malta runs between this small harbor and the town of Cirwekka.
Budapest skyline, showing Buda Castle on the western side of the Danube. The current castle and palace complex was constructed in the 18th century and is now home to the Budapest History Museum and the Hungarian National Gallery. Pedestrians coming from the Pest side of the river can get to the Castle by crossing the […]
Japanese sports drink Pocari Sweat on sale at a mini-market in Dubai, UAE. In addition to this unfortunately named beverage, Japanese consumers can also buy Calpis (which sounds like “Cow Piss” when pronounced by the Japanese) and Moocos (pronounced “Mucus”). Perhaps not as bad as the delicious Japanese chocolate treat Crunky Ball Nude.
Replica of the Statue of Liberty in Nice, France on the promenade behind the Nice Opera House. Erected in 2014, this miniature work commemorates the renovation of the Quai des Etats Unis. The quay, itself, is named after the United States (Etats Unis in French). The quay honors the role America played in helping France […]
Massive beaux-arts clock hanging inside the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, France. The clock dates to around 1898 and originally overlooked the passenger platforms when the building was used as a train station. When the space was converted into one of Paris’ best art museums in the mid-1980s, the clock was incorporated into the new layout. […]
Greatest hotel television remote ever. Seven buttons. No fuss. It doesn’t balance your checkbook, turn on your washing machine, or tell you where to go to get sushi at 3 a.m. It simply turns on and off your television and let’s you choose the channel and volume you want.
The Blue Lagoon on Comino Island, Malta. This photo is unretouched. The waters really are as vibrant and spectacular as they appear here. What’s not visible in the photo are the hundreds of tourists that decent on the lagoon each day. On the day this photo was taken, masses of stinging jellyfish kept everyone out […]