Admiring the Trees of Paris

As a Paris resident, I scarcely paid attention to the city’s tree-scape until a few years ago, when I stumbled upon an arresting scene of a young man stretched out in the elbow of a low-lying branch of a Japanese pagoda tree, its leaves skimming the pond at Buttes-Chaumont Park in the 19th arrondissement. From…

Travel Troubles

For many travelers, cancellations and other snags have made this summer especially frustrating. To help you understand how we got here and how to make the most of your own trips, two Times travel experts — Niraj Chokshi, who covers transportation, and Heather Murphy, who reports on how people travel — answered reader questions. Why…

How Heat Waves are Changing Tourism in Europe

It was the middle of July, peak summer travel season, and the news from Europe wasn’t looking good: A heat-induced “surface defect” briefly closed the runway at London’s Luton Airport. Trains were delayed or canceled across Britain because of overheated tracks. More than two dozen weather stations in France recorded their highest-ever temperatures. And wildfires…

Things to Do in Washington, D.C.

Visitors are back in Washington, for all the reasons they came before. Gaggles of school groups and tour buses are on the National Mall, enjoying the green space and the museums. Demonstrators are marching. Convention centers have 19 large-scale events scheduled this year, with the largest — booked by the Association of the United States…

Read Your Way Through Cairo

In the same vein is Albert Cossery’s “The Colors of Infamy.” A very fast read, the book follows a well-mannered pickpocket and serves as a guide of sorts to the dynamics of the city’s ancient markets — the swindling, the bargaining, the haggling for a deal. Once you set foot in the Khan el-Khalili bazaar,…

I Collect Souvenir Spoons. I Can Explain.

In the United States, souvenir-spoon-collecting dates back to the mid-1800s (the first American souvenir spoon, produced in the late 1800s, was outfitted with George Washington’s profile). By the time the Chicago World’s Fair arrived, in 1893, with its 27 million visitors, spoon-collecting had become a pastime. It’s impossible to say what people collecting spoons a…