Detail Diary, Vol #15
A dizzy Travel Diary (Paris, Cambridge, London, Amsterdam)
April 29 - May 13, 2024
Dear friend,
This fortnight has been a colorful, joyful, footsore one full of train journeys, flowers, friends, and art. Bookended by my usual Grenoble greenery (though nothing can truly be usual as long as there are seasons), in the last two weeks I trotted from Paris to Cambridge to London back to Paris to Amsterdam. These cities are dragons’ hoards of treasures of all kinds, visual, cultural, natural. What a privelege to bask a few days in their glow.
Unlike the last time I traveled extensively, I tried to keep up my Detail Diary notes in my rotating locations. So this volume of Detail Diary is more Travel Diary. Friends, I took so, so many photos. I rarely post the vast majority of my travel photos. In some ways, it was a useful practice just to choose a handful of photos from each day of travel so packed with images, prioritizing visual patterns over grammable tourist landmarks. (Still, I couldn’t resist including a few extras.) Enjoy!
Here is your usual reminder that this post is best viewed on the web or in the Substack app. (From email, click on the title of the post or “Read in app.”) Clicking on a Note will also take you to the browser/app to see its full text and sometimes additional photos. For an introduction to my Detail Diary, see here, or peruse past volumes.
First, a few days in Grenoble.
If entry #199 below isn’t showing photos of garnet-and-amber leaves, click on the note.
Let the travels begin…
En route to Cambridge (via Eurostar train), I spent a few hours in Paris (in which I narrowly avoided being caught between riot police and May Day protestors, and walked 5 km from Gare de Lyon to Gare du Nord with my bags because the canal was pretty).
Next stop: five idyllic days in my beloved Cambridge.
Before catching the Eurostar again, I spent a day in London, catching one friend, two art museums and a bookshop.
After overnighting in Paris between Eurostar journeys, I managed to catch two more art museums (Musee Rodin and Petit Palais).
Finally, I spent Ascenion Day and its Pont (the Friday “bridging” the jour férié and the weekend) in a bucket list city, Amsterdam. I won’t even try to list all the sights I packed into those lovely days. I didn’t see a single tulip, though. Missed that boat by a week or two.
Hidden gem: STRAAT street art museum in an old shipyard
Zaanse Schans (an open-air-museum-style village with working windmills) and Oude Kerk
Ok, ok, one more little photo dump from a bike ride:
Back in Grenoble, ready to rest.
You should come to Oxford it’s much better than London ;)
I think it always astounds us Americans just how quickly and easily you all can get from one Legendary Cultural Capital to another Legendary Cultural Capital across Europe. Is it that Europe is actually more densely packed with art and wonder and history? Or are we all just better at appreciating the relative unknown, without proper perspective on what we have here at home? Either way, thanks for capturing the fruits of your travel again!