Abu Dhabi hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) for the first time this year, on Friday last. April 29, that is, as reported in The National. And the seemingly eternal summer of the Persian Gulf is under way. And how do we feel about that?

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  It seems only a few weeks ago that the Languedoc was mostly brown. A fecund brown, it looked, but one paused while it waited for more light and warmth. The thousands and thousands of vines were still dormant, in their rows and rows, earthy furrows dug out between many of them. Naked and slumbering […]

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  Over the past few decades, most humans came to grips with the reality that in exchange for “progress” we were going to have to breathe bad air. Life in nearly any megalopolis is an invitation to huff ozone and particulates. Conditions are particularly dire in the big cities of rising economies like China’s and […]

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Our little town in the Languedoc has just the one cafe. Across from the church, in the main place of the little town. Le Coin des Aromes. We tried it tonight, and liked it. Quite a bit. We even encountered a local wine that was quite good, ending our losing streak. Cost of dinner for […]

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