It was while soaking in my aunt’s bath-like pool admiring a particularly handsome grouping of palm trees that I realized what most people don’t “get” about Los Angeles. It’s the micro, not the macro. The long drives to get everywhere can sure suck, but the buildings and spaces that await you at the end of your drive can be pretty sweet. Little paradises within the landscape of sprawl. The moment came last July when Melody and I and daughter Gwenna had just traversed the entire L.A. basin by freeway to get to my aunt and uncle’s house in Murrieta, and [...]

Forget the fourteen hour flights and the jetlag with the associated zombie naps. Forget the crummy value of the US dollar (improving lately, though.) Life is short and the siren song of Europe beckons. Melody and I invited our two kids (age 16 and 12) to come on our trip to France. I’m happy to report that we all got along pretty well in our funky French rental car. The trip was fun, it was expensive, at times it was downright beautiful. Plus I get a column out of it. When on foot, take interesting looking detours A favorite moment [...]