[photo by BG]

San Clemente CA Pier from Amtrak Surfliner

The Amtrak Surfliner —running from San Luis Obispo to San Diego via Santa Barbara and LA— is simply one of the great train rides in North America, among other things enabling a same-day LA-San Diego downtown-to-downtown round-trip without the hassles of driving.  Three hours each way.  Thirteen times a day.

True to its name, the train follows the Pacific coast much of the way, with views of sand, surf, surfers, palms and —when the coastal fog clears— sun.  Plus the occasional glimpse into community life, as seen above.

Northbound from LA, Santa Barbara is also a three-hour ride —but only five times daily, and to-and-from "San Luis," as locals call it, only twice.

Check it out here and enjoy the ride: Amtrak Pacific Surfliner

 

[photo by BG]

"Little Shop Of Kerouac"

Ozone Park · Queens NYC

It was on the second floor of this building that Jack Kerouac, living with his mother —though obviously not in her basement— during much of the 1940s, post-Columbia, post-Merchant Marine, wrote his first novel, the Thomas Wolfe-ian The Town And The City and apparently began planning what by 1957 would become On The Road.

To get there from Manhattan [or JFK], pull a Duke Ellington and take the A Train, getting off at Rockaway Boulevard [n.b., not Rockaway Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant] and walk less than a half-mile down Cross Bay Boulevard to the corner of 133rd Avenue

Kerouac historian Patrick Fenton notes that when the ground-floor store —once a flower shop, now a dance school— was a pharmacy, Kerouac worked there as a soda jerk.

Those wishing to drink even more deeply of the writer's legend could cross the boulevard to the Crossbay Sportsbar, the former Kerouac haunt McNulty's, later known as Glen Patrick's Pub.

[photo by BG]

Pasadena City Hall

Is this couple en route to getting married?

If so, do they have any idea what's in store for them?

 

[photo by BG]

Los Angeles: Getty Center | Maillol + Magritte

 

[Photo by BG]

Madrid: Homenaje a "La Maja Desnuda" de Goya  y El Hotel Ritz

 

[Photo by BG]

St. Louis: Lewis + Clark ″The Captain’s Return″ [2006]

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[Photo by BG]

Paris: La Cathédrale de Notre-Dame et Sa Grue

[Photo by BG]

Paris: La Grande Roue | Place de la Concorde

 

[photo © BG Street View]

Chicago: Sentinels Of The Gold Coast

 

[photo © BG Street View]

Paris 8e · La Place de Dublin

avec

Rue de Paris, Temps de Pluie [1877] —peint par Gustave Caillebotte

 

[photo © BG Street View]

Breakfast in Buenos Aires: Medialunas and Café at Florida Garden

In Argentina, they don't call 'em croissants.

Le Cimetière Américain de Colleville-sur-Mer 

[photo © BG Street View]

The Train To Caen

The Price Is Not Always The Same

[n.b.: That first phrase doesn't rhyme, and you should start with the French version of the SNCF website.]

The success of low-cost airlines in Europe has not eliminated train travel as a desirable option. If anything, travel by train is getting better all the time in many countries. France continues to expand its famous TGV service, with high-speed service to many parts of the hexagon and neighboring countries, and Spain's counterpart, the Tren AVE, has spread out in all directions from Madrid.

In this instance, I refer to a day trip to Caen, the coastal town in Normandy close to the D-Day landing beaches and home to Le Mémorial de Caen —a fascinating museum dedicated to the D-Day landings— as well as a jumping-off point for guided tours of the beaches themselves and a visit to the American WWII cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer.

From Paris, there are loads of trains, taking either about 2 hours or about an hour and forty-five minutes, and numerous fare deals [from 12.00-37.50€ one-way, with 1e classe available for as little as 18€, Billet non échangeable et non remboursable] available on http://www.sncf.fr.

The choices on the French national railway [SNCF] website can be dizzying and the procedure a bit tedious even if one understands French, but it's key to getting the best deal —provided one pays close attention.

Since I have no carte de fidelité, no abonnement or any other entitlement with SNCF,  I was initially puzzled by some of the choices in the little windows and pull-down menus, specifically regarding the Abonnement and Programme de fidélité items.  Moreover, it seemed at first that there was no "none of the above" choice, but I was somehow able on another try to bypass them simply by leaving them blank and proceeding, using as an example an aller simple for a theoretical date.

Aside from this one issue [which may not even be an issue], my only complaint with the SNCF site is that it's a bit slow, displaying lots of "merci de patienter" messages.

However, note that while on the French version of the SNCF website, make sure to choose France as "le pays de réception ou de retrait des billets," lest you be shunted over to the RailEurope site. You can then pick up your ticket at any SNCF station or travel agency —as I did, inside 30 seconds, with five minutes to go at the Gare de l'Est, in November 2007.

Also be aware that if you choose the English version of the website, you're shunted over to RailEurope from the start.  There the absolutely lowest fare is $38.00, not including an $18 "handling fee," making the cost greater than the highest SNCF price [31.20 €, which comes to about $37.00 before bank charges].

Most RailEurope starting prices for the trip are in the neighborhood of $50.00 not including fees.

Prices subject to change based on exchange rates.

 

You probably won't read this in the Tribune travel section.

 The Hemingway Memorial

[photo © BG Street View]

Trail Creek Road | Ketchum, Idaho

[Sun Valley]

installed 1966 | sculptor Robert Berks

Inscription:

Best of all he loved the fall

The leaves yellow on the cottonwoods

Leaves floating on the trout streams

and above the hills

The high blue wilderness skies

… Now he will be a part of them forever

[part of 1939 eulogy by Hemingway for local friend Gene Van Guilder]