I don’t get much of a chance to dig into the soil in Paris. In fact, there are few places in the City of Light where one can even walk on the grass. Not that I was much of a gardener before moving to Paris, but I do recognize the pleasure, at least in theory, of crouching in the soil, digging, weeding, and watching things flower, grow, take form. My planting thumb, though rarely exercised, turns out to be inadvertently green to judge from the plants on the small balcony of my apartment in… Read more

By Lynn H. Miller The French Revolution and an American misunderstanding combined to produce the enduring name for a charming little New Jersey town on the Delaware River, 32 miles northwest of the state capital, Trenton, and 50 miles due north of Philadelphia. What today is Frenchtown began as a colonial-era transportation center. By the end of the 19th and well into the 20th centuries it was a humming little industrial town, like others along the river. As its industry declined so did… Read more

The sign at Johnny’s, the drive-up food shack at the John Picerno’s Valero gas station in Ewing Township, New Jersey, announces coffee and croissants along with hot Italian-leaning lunch fare, so I couldn’t resist stopping in the other day to try a croissant. Tony Cifelli runs the shack, which opened in September. About a year ago John Picerno, a friend of the family, told me he was going to build the shack and asked if I was interested in running it for him, but between you and me… Read more

I hate to contradict more spiritual travelers, but for me actual travel is not “all about the journey.” It’s about the people, the place, and me (or you) among and within them. It’s about being local. Travel local while you can and save “the journey” for when you’re reflecting on things back home. That’s what I say–or at least that’s what I find myself thinking this afternoon having traveled to Dunkin’ Donuts in West Trenton, New Jersey.   It’s a new Dunkin’ Donuts, across… Read more