Posts

31 Jul 2026
12:04 » A brief update
13 Mar 2026
08:14 » Road trip to Rocamadour » 6
5 Mar 2026
12:46 » As I’ve said before, one of the drawbacks of writing a blog and also writing the software the blog uses is that I can’t do both at the same …
17 Dec 2025
12:33 » I’ve been back in Phoenix since Saturday afternoon, after a relatively uneventful series of flights that included another automated landing …
1 Dec 2025
06:52 » A halal butcher shop, IKEA, and ChatGPT saved Thanksgiving. This is the second year in a row that I spent Thanksgiving in Montpellier by … » 4
15 Nov 2025
10:04 » To follow up on my in September, there was indeed a paper bill waiting for me in our mailbox when I arrived Sunday. I received nothing by …
9 Nov 2025
10:40 » I’ve landed in Paris. Usually, when I’m taking an overnight flight across the Atlantic, I prepare by having several beers at the airport …
8 Nov 2025
20:32 » It’s been over a month since my last post, and I’m writing this from an airport lounge in Phoenix, waiting for my flight to Paris. As a …
23 Sep 2025
10:17 » This past Saturday, I enjoyed a lovely sunrise hike up Pic Saint-Loup with some of the parishioners from the Latin Mass group here in … » 2
16 Sep 2025
08:05 » It’s been over two weeks since I arrived in Montpellier, and I’m just past the halfway point for this stay. I’ve been increasingly trying … » 3
1 Sep 2025
09:28 » I didn’t write a follow-up to my last post because, honestly, I didn’t have much of a chance. Now that I have about two hours to kill … » 2
22 Aug 2025
20:36 » It’s been a long time since I’ve been at Sky Harbor to travel anywhere other than France. Today, I’m heading to Seattle to spend a long …
12 Jun 2025
13:58 » After Kathryn and I had a relatively late night out, having dinner with two other couples, I dragged myself out of bed an hour before first …
20 May 2025
14:11 » Now that I’m back in Phoenix for probably the next three months, I’ve started thinking again about the direction I want to take the …
19 May 2025
14:18 » We returned safely to Phoenix this past Saturday evening after a long, bumpy day of air travel. The last several days in Montpellier were … » 2
13 May 2025
11:38 » Just a quick follow-up on our rail journey on Sunday. Our scheduled route had three connections, one of which, in Nice, was only 12 …
11 May 2025
09:10 » The final day — we hope — of our rail journey is underway, after what amounted to little more than a technical stop in Milan. The route … » 5
10 May 2025
07:53 » Now that we’ve left Prague, our goal is to get back to Montpellier. It’s a long way from Prague to Montpellier by train, so we’re splitting … » 5
07:20 » Before leaving Prague, the news came out of Rome about the election of the new pope. Shortly after the white smoke went up, every church …
9 May 2025
12:13 » We’re back on the train from Prague after the intervening bus connection. A gentleman who rides the route frequently took us under his wing … » 11
08:50 » Kathryn and I are riding the rails again after two nights in Prague. We weren’t able to reserve seats for this train to Linz, but we …
7 May 2025
13:02 » Kathryn and I are on our third and final train for the day. Unfortunately, this ride will last roughly as long as the previous two …
07:48 » We had a very short connection in Zurich, but we made it with about two minutes to spare. We made sure we were standing at the door when …
06:08 » Kathryn and I are on the move again after two great nights in Lausanne. Since hotels are so expensive in Switzerland anyway, we splurged a … » 4
5 May 2025
10:37 » After two fabulous days in Paris, Kathryn and I are starting stage two of our rail journey on another TGV, this time heading to …
3 May 2025
06:18 » Kathryn and I are right now aboard a TGV heading to Paris. Last summer, we hosted a French high school student at our place in Phoenix for … » 1
1 May 2025
11:40 » Today is a public holiday in France — it’s Labor Day here, like in so much of the rest of the world — so we’re using it as a bit of a …
29 Apr 2025
07:53 » After arriving in Montpellier, I usually write a short post saying how uneventful the trip was. This time, it was at least somewhat …
26 Apr 2025
14:11 » Once again, it’s time to head back to France for a few weeks. I’m especially delighted that Kathryn is coming with me this time, the first …
2 Apr 2025
14:51 » After Mass this past Sunday, one of my fellow parishioners asked a question about this blog. I thought I’d share the answer for anyone else …
13 Mar 2025
12:48 » I’ve been back in Arizona since Saturday. My last 24 hours in Montpellier were a bit frantic, trying to take care of last-minute things I …
6 Mar 2025
09:04 » Yesterday afternoon, I had a heating technician come to our place in Montpellier to do an annual inspection and cleaning, part of a …
23 Feb 2025
18:47 » I’ve been in Montpellier for three weeks today, and until last night, I hadn’t done anything I’d really call fun. The last few times I’ve … » 3
6 Feb 2025
10:07 » When I arrived in Montpellier Sunday afternoon, I was a bit more exhausted than usual, which is the main reason I haven’t posted in several … » 1
1 Feb 2025
22:42 » I’ve boarded the flight. This is my view for a while. » 1
20:44 » Somehow, for the first time ever, I managed to get a boarding pass through the Air France app. Mind you, the boarding pass arrived by … » 1
12:29 » As I’m preparing for another trip to our place in France, I’m seeing a pattern: Every time I make this trip, I bring less with me. Last …
7 Dec 2024
07:19 » Last stop before Phoenix, I hope. I’m in the Air France Salon at Paris Charles de Gaulle, loading up on proteins and animal fats so that I …
04:20 » The trip back to Phoenix is underway. I had an Uber at the apartment at 4:20 am for my 6:00 am flight from Montpellier to Paris, after …
5 Dec 2024
09:18 » My stay in Montpellier is drawing to a close. In about 48 hours, if all goes according to plan, I’ll have boarded my flight back to … » 6
18 Nov 2024
16:09 » It’s now a routine. I arrive in Montpellier on a Sunday afternoon after leaving Phoenix in the middle of the day Saturday, so I still … » 1
17 Nov 2024
09:55 » If everyone is fleeing the United States after the recent elections, it surely wasn’t evident on my flight to Paris. The economy cabin …
16 Nov 2024
21:18 » Since my flight today isn’t until the middle of the afternoon, I decided to wait until this morning to pack. I had set out a small, … » 1
12:35 » It’s been over four months since I last posted anything on this blog, but it is far from abandoned. In fact, I’ve spent a lot of that time …
30 Jun 2024
14:36 » At last weekend’s dinner party, having just gotten back to the U.S. from France a few hours earlier, one of my friends asked me whether I …
29 Jun 2024
13:36 » I haven’t gotten a lot of exercise since I got home from France a week ago, so this morning I decided to take a pre-dawn stroll in my fine …
26 Jun 2024
14:28 » I’ve been back in Phoenix for a few days now, and the questions I’ve been most asked by friends and colleagues are “How was the flight?” … » 1
22 Jun 2024
06:39 » This is a new one for me. Right now, I’m waiting for my flight back to Phoenix. As usual, I had outbound border formalities here in Paris. …
18 Jun 2024
11:26 » From time to time, people ask me about the difference between how much things cost here in France and the United States. Naturally, it’s a …
9 Jun 2024
17:49 » After Mass this morning, I was chatting with a gentleman who asked me whether owning an apartment in France gives me the right to vote in …
2 Jun 2024
15:47 » I heard from the heating contractor on Monday, and luckily I was able to get on their schedule for Thursday. The technician was on time — … » 1
25 May 2024
18:33 » It amuses me how often people ask me for directions here in Montpellier. I do exactly nothing to blend in. Yes, I speak French when I’m … » 1
23 May 2024
10:01 » It has come to my attention that some readers have not been receiving e-mail digests recently sent from this blog. I did some …
16 May 2024
13:09 » I’ve been in Montpellier for almost four days now. The final flight here arrived only a few minutes later than expected, just enough for me … » 2
12 May 2024
08:57 » For what it’s worth, my last post was written about 18 hours ago, but I forgot to push the publish button at the time. You’d think I’d be …
08:37 » I’m off again, heading back to Montpellier, this time for six weeks if all goes well. It feels a little different this time, not only …
9 May 2024
21:05 » I haven’t posted anything in a while, so just for fun, here are some food photos from last weekend’s road trip to Las Vegas. Overindulging … » 5
2 Feb 2024
14:02 » In light of today being Candlemas, I’ll share a few photos of the crèche displayed at the Chapel of the White Penitents in Montpellier … » 5
13 Jan 2024
23:33 » It’s already been two weeks since my last post, and I’m almost home again. This time, a very long layover in Salt Lake City, caused by a … » 1
28 Dec 2023
17:31 » It’s been a while, but I’m back. Today, Kathryn and I are on the way to our place in Montpellier. Kathryn was there with a friend in …
18 Aug 2023
21:41 » Because the landscape is so big and open and rolling in this part of the country, I find it difficult to frame a good photo. To put it in … » 1
17 Aug 2023
15:34 » Along with my friend and his mother, I spent the last two nights at a hotel in Spearfish, South Dakota. The property my friend inherited is … » 2
15:33 » Fix one thing, break another. Apparently my recent fix for rendering legacy photo captions has broken new captions from rendering …
15 Aug 2023
18:32 » Last week, I was at a reception where I saw some friends I hadn’t seen in a while, one of whom mentioned how much better she liked my old … » 1
29 Jun 2023
14:46 » I’ve been back in Phoenix for ten days now, and it already seems like forever. Not much has really changed, except that it’s considerably … » 7
9 Jun 2023
11:44 » I’ve been safely back in Montpellier for a week now, and it’s perhaps no surprise that I haven’t done a whole lot. Kathryn arrived barely … » 2
2 Jun 2023
00:20 » Today I’m experiencing the joys of European intercity bus travel. After enjoying 14 hours of sauna-like conditions on the bus from Santiago … » 1
31 May 2023
08:23 » Just a quick post to say I’ve arrived in Santiago de Compostela. I made a strategic decision to go directly to the pilgrim office before … » 2
30 May 2023
17:17 » A few days after starting this stage of my Camino pilgrimage in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, my wife wrote me a message that, at the rate I was … » 5
29 May 2023
16:10 » Today’s walk was mostly about keeping my head down and focusing on the trail in front of me, one step at a time. I didn’t take many … » 4
28 May 2023
19:35 » If I could sum up the last two days in two words, it would be these: poor judgment. It was poor judgment to underestimate the effects of … » 10
26 May 2023
16:07 » Be careful what you wish for. Three days ago I was whining about how unvarying the scenery had been for nearly two weeks. Then two days ago … » 7
25 May 2023
16:17 » Compared to yesterday’s long, knee-crushing downhill slog, today should have been a piece of cake. The reality is that I spent today … » 5
24 May 2023
17:57 » When I got home from the first phase of this pilgrimage last year — an amazing, uplifting, spiritually edifying four weeks — I told my … » 5
23 May 2023
14:14 » Today was one of the more enjoyable days of walking for the past week. The terrain started to become a bit more varied, with rolling hills … » 6
22 May 2023
20:13 » So this happened. There weren’t a lot of people taking dinner at the albergue this evening. Rather than sitting by myself, I decided to sit …
14:28 » The best part of today’s walk was enjoying the early morning light as I left León, a city I could see myself visiting again with my wife. … » 3
14:16 » Yesterday’s walk from El Burgo Ranero to León started out as boring as the previous days. However, a couple hours away from León, the … » 6
06:32 » For years I’ve been joking to my wife that, when I passed through León, I would stay at the five-star Hotel Parador. Of course, I did not. … » 1
20 May 2023
19:43 » Beautiful walking weather today, even if the scenery was a little dull. Cool, some clouds, and the insufferable winds of the previous two … » 6
19 May 2023
18:34 » Many of the pilgrim menus I’ve had over the last 13 days have been pretty bad, enough so that I’ve started avoiding them. However, if … » 3
15:50 » My bed tonight is a mattress on a floor, and I’m grateful to have it. It was the last mattress in the village. Today wasn’t my longest day … » 5
18 May 2023
16:20 » In my few previous travels in Spain — usually to major cities like Madrid or Barcelona — I remember how difficult it was to have dinner … » 5
17 May 2023
16:04 » For what it’s worth, for me personally, this shorter-form blog posting is working well. Even though my posts are often still several …
15:50 » I was getting ready to write a post yesterday after a long walk from San Juan de Ortega through Burgos to Tardajos. Then two women walked … » 7
15 May 2023
13:31 » After leaving Belorado this morning, the trail started quickly gaining some altitude, and it worked its way into the first real forest I’ve … » 4
14 May 2023
14:59 » I’ve walked about 65 miles since I left the comfortable hotel room in Los Arcos three mornings ago. The weather has been unseasonably cold, … » 9
13 May 2023
19:47 » I’ve spent the last two days taking advantage of the unseasonably cool and cloudy weather to put some distance behind me, so my recent life … » 1
11 May 2023
18:34 » Cool and windy walk today from Lorca to Los Arcos. I decided it was time for a hotel room for a night, so I’m at a … » 6
08:11 » The rumors are true: There is a wine fountain on the Camino de Santiago. I thought it was a lot closer to Santiago de Compostela, so I was … » 2
10 May 2023
16:50 » As I mentioned in a post before I left Montpellier, my new blog software was short of features before going live. Among the missing …
15:22 » I’m spending the night in Lorca, again not one of the usual stages. I’m in a small albergue, only 12 beds, with very friendly hosts. At … » 11
9 May 2023
19:52 » Today I walked to Zariquiegui, which I have no idea how to pronounce. I’m still in Basque country, and a lot of place names reflect that. … » 10
13:09 » I’m in Pamplona right now. It seems my plan to avoid the throngs of pilgrims worked. I’ve been walking for about four hours, and I’ve … » 1
8 May 2023
16:56 » Today’s route was a lot easier than yesterday’s, even though it was longer. There were a lot of clouds at the start, and although it was … » 9
7 May 2023
14:47 » I can say, without any qualification, that today was the most challenging day of my Camino. I started in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, … » 8
08:50 » It’s official. I’m in Spain.
04:32 » A few photos from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port before I hit the trail. » 3
6 May 2023
15:39 » I arrived in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port about two hours ago. I checked into the gîte and had a nap for a little while. I woke up hungry and … » 1
11:48 » Arrived in Bayonne. I had a really good hamburger near this train station last year on my way home from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. My … » 2
09:48 » Apparently the train to Bayonne passes through Lourdes. I had no idea until I boarded. Kathryn and I drove from Montpellier to Lourdes when … » 1
08:16 » Brief connection here in Toulouse. The next train is to Bayonne, which will be the longest segment of the trip. The train was already in … » 1
05:09 » I left the apartment 20 minutes before the scheduled departure time for my first train, which will take me to Toulouse. It was 15 minutes … » 3
5 May 2023
16:32 » I thought I uploaded this photo of a take-out pizza I had for dinner shortly after I arrived in Montpellier three days ago. I didn’t, so I … » 1
16:29 » It’s been a relatively boring 72 hours in Montpellier. Putting together furniture and buying last-minute trail supplies is hardly worthy of … » 1
2 May 2023
15:57 » The flight to Montpellier also departed late, but I suspect this delay was due in part to an air traffic controller strike. After giving no … » 1
09:24 » I’m safely on the ground in Paris, waiting for my next flight. I wrote my last post from Atlanta too soon. The aircraft had some mechanical … » 2
1 May 2023
21:45 » So far, so good. I have a relatively short layover in Atlanta. Boarding should start in just a few minutes. They were making a generous …
15:22 » I’m going to try to post more, shorter posts this year, rather than a feature-length article every few days like I did last year. Some … » 1
15:20 » Since our church is only a few minutes from the airport, and since there’s a convenient 6:30 am Mass, my journey today started there with …
28 Apr 2023
14:59 » A few photos from my early morning hike in the Sonoran Preserve, Phoenix. » 3
27 Apr 2023
16:02 » I hard-coded a reply address for e-mails for a new feature I was testing. Unfortunately I left it there went the code went into production. …
26 Apr 2023
20:40 » My house is down there somewhere, I think. Shaw Butte, this morning. Shaw Butte, 4.4 miles. » 2