Category: History
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Passports 11: Morris Dancing: Another Way for the English to be Silly or an Ancient Cultural Tradition?
I had my hand on the door handle of the Antiquarian Book Store in Moretonhampstead village. In a moment, I would be lost among my dear friends, the arcane tomes and dusty volumes of local history and regional literature. My thumb was on the latch. I pressed down. It gave way under my pressure. The…
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Passports 9: Guests and Ghosts in an English Hotel
We chose to be guests at the George & Pilgrim Hotel in Glastonbury, England. What we did not choose was that a few other guests were quite dead. Yes, there were a fair number of living travelers that night but occupying the same space and the same time, were the resident ghosts. What else would…
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Passports 7: Last Thoughts on Listening to “Bohemian Rhapsody” in Pere La Chaise Cemetery
I find Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody to be a sad song of life, mistakes, loss and death. Freddie Mercury was a beautiful man who died too young. His vocals are pure and haunting: Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? When you wander Paris and take time to look, really look around, you find…
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Passports 6: The Quiet Skulls Beneath Paris
A small quiet square, Place Denfert-Rochereau, in the 14th Arrondissement of Paris looks like so many such places. Beautiful and expensive apartments line the streets that radiate out from the plaza. Small gardens and vest-pocket parks abound. The locals and tourists hurry along…heading into the Metro or hailing a taxi, catching a bus…or simply strolling…
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Low Tide at Mont Saint-Michel
There was a time when you needed to watch the rising sea water if you found yourself on the Mount of St. Michael. The abbey and village were situated on the tidal flats of the second largest bay in the world, off the coast of Brittany. You would cross to the abbey during low tide,…
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Passports 3: Passing Through the Fields of Death
We left Paris on a crisp bright May morning. This was the only day-long excursion we booked in advance. We were going to visit Mont St. Michele in Brittany. The trip would take us four hours one way, in a northwest direction to this 850 year old Abbey mountain. Our route took us through the…
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