The Café Society - Part 14 - The Writing's on...

Chloé, the Café Etienne's erstwhile historian, art student, focus group recruiter and, once-a-day, scribe, penning the lunch specials for the last time this Friday. Custom will doubtlessly fall.

Airports - Part 2 - Ben Gurion

Security at Ben Gurion doesn't appreciate picture taking and nor do Hassidim, hence the blur. Or perhaps it was the fact that the picture was snapped at 5 AM.

Israeli airport security is probably the tightest in the world -- it's certainly the one that spends the most time asking intrusive questions -- so it's interesting to note that Ben Gurion does not apply the rules regarding liquids and ziplock bags. Equally interesting, in a different sense, is how much personal information there appeared to be to read in the computers at security and passport control.

Hotel Rooms - Part 11 - The Sheraton Moriah.

The Sheraton Moriah is one of the countless soulless vertical dormitories dotting Tel Aviv's beachfront. It's not the newest of the beach hotels, but neither is it the most expensive.

All rooms are "sea-view," which means that one's view of the parking garage or highrise next door is slightly compromised by the Med. The Wifi is unreliable, and the lifts (including the Sabbath elevator) are frequently graced by Russian maidens free of most conventional virtues.

All in all, a typical Tel Aviv hotel.

Roma - Ne'er a Drop to Drink

Or so might ruefully reflect the Olympique Lyonnais having been expedited out of the Champion's League 2-0 by AS Roma. Lyon are as consistently unfortunate in C1 competition as they are successful in the French league, w five titles in five seasons.

Rome gave us La Dolce Vita, Paparazzo and the scene at the Trevis Fountain, which no doubt prefigured Ursula Andress' Venus-like emergence from the water in Dr. No.. The Trevis Fountain marked the last time that Fellini shot outside the sets at Cine Citta, as he struggled to keep the crowds out of the picture during the midnight shoot. Italian clubs also play behind closed doors sometimes.

The Café Society - Part 13 - Sentimental Lorient

The largest building in Lorient that is older than fifty years is the old German submarine base. With a concrete roof that was several metres thick, the building was impervious to even the largest Allied bombs. The Allied response was to inflict on Lorient a scorched earth strategy, razing almost the entire city to the ground.
Lorient is now a pretty university town, with a modest telecoms industry specialised in mobile TV. Across from the harbour is the village of Locmicquelic, where former sailor turned artist Zeramo presides over his quirky empire, the Cargo Sentimental. Added bonus: the food is actually quite good.

Waste Not Want Not

Whilst on the topic of appetising food...

Robin and Maxime have a very original (at least for teenagers) and effective eco-system to manage restaurant food.