Read

I really like the Irish Farmette--it has a mystical feel to it, a lost in the magical woods scenario that you want to find yourself in.

I love the poetry and photos of HerriottGrace, it almost makes you think of the most brilliant poems of e.e. cummings.

I love to scroll through the famous SmittenKitchen and VickiArcher, it's like a glossy magazine to think about. And CupofJoe is fun to read, they have great links. Katie'sPencilBox is really fun to look through, it's like a real life, bright Eloise style art-focused pottery barn catalogue but with even better photos, lovely.

For a buy-able pottery barn read, try Coco+Kelley, which is great, you get to see so many options--it's like reading multiple aesthetics at once, a real time saver [and fun to see!]. In the interesting reading vein, RueRude is a look at France that's neat because it's on things you wouldn't guess about daily life.

Montreal Travel

On the East Coast, there are only a few options for high intensity city vacations: NYC and Montreal. For the outdoors types, there's Maine. While reading the big Paris blog and the Médoc blog are a must, don't forget your required reading before crossing the border" F---NoMontreal.

I love the racing flags strung up between buildings in Old Montreal [as in below from here], though it's hard to just slow down and walk slowly through any part of Montreal.

Be sure to go to:
--Au Kouign Amann for the incredible raspberry fruit mix drink, sold in little cups
--Big in Japan bar on St Laurent for the Jamaican mule after going to Patata Patati for poutine or a slider
--McGill Music school free concerts
--Chai Tea Lounge on Parc for the raspberry scones and poppy flower extract macarons [called coquelicot in French, a rather unique thing to the culture]
--Wilensky for their famous sandwich and homemade cherry cola
--To see churches like Notre Dame, Mary Queen of the World, St John the Baptist, St Michael's Polish Byzantine church
--Go to the museum by the water for changing exhibitions on ancient world artifacts and the see the Paul Peel painting in the Museum of Fine Arts while you look through which exhibits are on currently
--Mamie Clafoutis by MetroSherbrooke for its apricotine, Breton canelé, pistachio-choc croissant and clafoutis
--Going through the vintage stuff at Eva B
--Getting an almond cookie in Chinatown, looking at the Kawaii store and the Chinese clothes/tea set/statue stores, getting a watermelon bubble tea, going to the new fancy Chinese pastry place for coconut-filled 'melon pan' buns, seeing the downstairs fish tanks and great little altar at the fish store
--Looking at the many Asian statue/decor stores in Old Montreal
--Getting a rosemary bagel at St Viateur Bagels
--Get cucumber sandwiches and a scone at Salon Cardinal Tea Room

Art

If you love Cambodia, Khmer ancient art or Angkor Wat -- or the Tomb Raider films with Angelina Jolie -- be sure to read the excellent art record of Angkor Wat from 1927. A 23 year old French girl in Cambodia recorded in clear drawings many of the female spirits/nymphs [called 'devatas' by the French at the time or more commonly 'apsara' Sanskrit: अप्सरा] carved on the walls. It's an incredible book, with so many drawings and details it could be used by a film costumer to get a project started.

The book is called Khmer Costumes and Ornaments of the Devatas of Angkor Wat by Sappho Marchal. Below is a typical photograph of Angkor Wat, the enormous complex of stone temples and buildings in Cambodia [it's even represented on the country's flag].

A fun little film about Khmer ancient myths [in this case of Preah Thong [also named King Kaundinya I] and his eventual wife the minor goddess/naga Neang Neak [also named Soma] is Pras Toung Neang Neak. To try Cambodian traditional dance, revived in the mid-1900s by Princess Bopa Devi, watch the long dance performance of Preah Thong Neang Neak.

Tv

If you like The Great Gatsby, Nero Wolfe, or Boardwalk Empire, be sure to try Miss Fisher's Mysteries, a '20s period piece with a female detective. It's quite fun and is streaming on Netflix -- and there are books to read if you prefer, all by Kerry Greenwood. If you enjoy jazz or 1920s music, you'll love their scores: there are THREE soundtracks so far! All on itunes.

To see stills and gifs from the series look at MissFisher'sMurderMysteries, for photos see too MissFisher'sCaps.

Be sure NOT to watch the pilot episode first, which is more 'cute and quirky' than the rest of the 2 seasons of the series. I prefer the other episodes to the first. Miss Fisher is a fun, moving series with a great sensibility and great love stories, as well as a type of modern, Bechdel test passing quality that many people will enjoy. There is a broad spectrum of characters, it's not just flappers only. The quality of 1920s fashion in the show is great and really fun -- the costumes are truly a cut above, quite beautiful.

India

Some great places to see photos of India are IndiaIncredible and Vintage India [for older photos, this is a great one]. Here are some Sept. 2014 Bollywood songs, always fun to listen to and see if any favorites emerge, and the excellent song collection here to try--including the opening 2014 song Devil's 'Yaar Naa Miley' and the famous, fast older 'Munni Badnam' at min. mark 8:41, and at mark 17:36 is the very infamous, lively older song 'Sheila Ki Jawaani'.

For older, more traditional music try Anoushka Shankar - Indian Classical Raga.

The image below is Vinayaka [another name for Ganesha, with his elephant head is in the center] with his consorts in the temple, from a book by P. V. Jagadisa Ayyar (from 1920), South Indian shrines: illustrated. [On wiki images]

Trips

In America it is sometimes easy to overlook our own country for Europe. There are a host of natural wonders here, however, from North Carolina's Black River [with moss-covered cypress trees looming everywhere, for the spooky and gothic among us] to Maine's Acadia National Park. And of course there's Boston's art museums and Italian palazzo [housing a public library collection].

New York City too has unique places by the dozens, as does nearby Montreal. Don't forget to check out local food festivals, cultural celebrations, Oktoberfests and Scottish games. It's easy to focus on distant locales and miss out on regional extravaganzas.

Food

Food is very personal and subject to time period and culture, region. Still, one can venture out and try some simple sushi, some poutine, some mango bubble tea. Two things to potentially try are falafel and almond marzipan horns [they look like horseshoes].

Falafel mix [the ground chickpeas already mixed with spices] is often in the imported food section of grocery stores, and can come from many countries. It's easy to simply bake it all in a pan instead of frying it. Falafel is a great way to add both spicy food and vegetables into your meals, and you can eat it with cucumber slices and some yogurt or sauce to balance out the spiciness. People who don't like the typical blandness of vegetables will love it.

Another interesting world cuisine find is Germanic/Bavarian almond horns. They are covered in sliced almonds and are made of marzipan in a type of almond cookie result. If you like red Italian almond cookies [shaped like a circle with a little cherry in the middle sometimes], try these. They are easy to find in local bakeries, give them a search. You may have already tried them at area Oktoberfests.

Harp

Be sure to try some harp music, especially as it is sometimes underrepresented in classical music. A good place to start is the classic and beautiful "Concerto No. 6 for Harp and Orchestra, op. 9" by Jean-Baptiste Krumpholtz [1742-1790]. He was an important Czech composer and harpist. He played all over Europe and in Hungary.

Art

There are often classic artists that Westerners still haven't been truly exposed to. One such painter is Mikhail Nesterov [М. Нестеровой] [1862-1942], a famous Symbolist Russian painter. This painting "The girl in the headdress" [Девушка в кокошнике] is from 1885. He has many, many incredible pieces. His work makes you want to watch the incredible 2002 time travel, mostly 1800s-focused art film Russian Ark [Русский ковчег, said 'Russkij Kovcheg'] again--it was done in one take! It's truly unique and interesting. It's shot all at the Winter Palace at the Russian Hermitage Museum by famous director Alexander Sokurov.

Japan

This is a great piece, and it is also a good one to start someone on Asian or Japanese art history. It's quite gorgeous--it's 'Maiko Playing Shuttlecock' by  長谷川貞信三代  ie. Sadanobu III Hasegawa [1881-1963]; related artists/schools.

Roundup

Best photography blog perhaps of all time: Cereal Magazine's Journal. I think I fell into one the photos and am now on the other side of the world. What excellent work! They have such an interesting art magazine, someone please either buy me a subscription or let me work for them <3

If you're tired of the heat and can't wait for fall and winter, find a place with a/c and listen to Albano Berberi's great performance of 'Greensleeves', which he adapted for the harpsichord. You can almost imagine the crisp air that's coming. The seasons are immutable, and sometimes that's a positive.

The painting is Louis Welden Hawkin's [1849-1910] Les jardin de la pension Laurent, a usually Symbolist painter. This one is more old fashioned. Symbolism was a reaction in part to Impressionism, it focused on metaphor, fantasy and the unexplainable, like magic.

French

If you read French or love food photography with a exquisite French bent, be sure to look at the amazing, almost minimalist in loveliness photographs at Griottes. It's the place for gourmets.

You can also use it to practice your reading comprehension... or just scroll to see the next set of incredible photos. It's almost like an art installation, but most of the materials are either food, things from nature or china.

Gauguin

Gauguin [1848-1903] was a different, interesting painter whose work spans several areas. Look through his work here as it changed through time--he painted landscapes and people in a typical, pre-Impressionism 1880s style. He did more and more landscapes that seem to echo Van Gogh. He's worth looking at in depth, he didn't just paint nudes of Tahitians--he captures many peoples in many types of scenes. Gauguin was someone who painted in his own Post-Impressionist style, who went his own way. His hot, tropical use of color inspired some Symbolists to use the same.

Gauguin went to French Polynesia in 1891 because he was tired of the West. He lived in Tahiti particularly, and painted many scenes of the island and its people. Summer is a great time to be introduced to him because the use of hot colors seems more natural and inviting to people who don't live in a hot climate year round.

One of my favorite pieces of his work is his Trois Tahitiens, ou Conversation [1899], 'Three Tahitians, or Conversation'. It's lovely and has a real beauty to it.

Sweet

One of the best mood lifting things you can do is look at sweet, cute photos or read exquisite, delicate gourmet and culinary blogs. If you've read too much Verlaine [1844-1896] recently, ie. the French symbolist poet, don't overload on nihilistic poetry, relax and take a break.

For food and desserts, with recipes and photographs, the best is definitely BossaCafez--it has such a high level of detail, perfection and delicacy it makes you want to simply move and buy the food each day! Truly gorgeous.

Another truly excellent food and culinary blog is UneGamineDansLaCuisine. The photos are a cut above any other place online, and the writing is beautiful. It's quite poetic and has great ideas for a gourmet or a cook.

Two great cute, relaxing collections of adorable photos are CutestFood and KawaiiOnly, they are both sweet and light.

Tasty

Summer loves:
-Maine blueberry pie [you can often buy Maine pie blueberry filling in expansive grocery stores], it makes me want to see the Atlantic coast in Acadia National Park by Bar Harbor, all huge dark green trees and ocean

-Sweet coconut-filled buns with a thin top layer of cookie [called メロンパン or 'melonpan' [Japan] or 菠蘿包 or 'bo luo bao', pineapple buns [China]], you can buy them in Montreal's Chinatown; the best are in Patisserie Harmonie [85 Rue de la Gauchetiere O.] Despite the nomenclature, there is no melon or pineapple involved most of the time.

-Pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice coffee, you can easily put pumpkin spice in with your coffee grounds [or cut open a kcup, just wipe off the grounds that escape after]; before autumn it often is even more refreshing and feels like a sweet blast of cool breezes from the future

Photos

I love I like I wear for fashion photos, it makes me want to visit a big city just to see the sartorial splendor. It's like being in Florence. For flowers, frogs, crocs, animals, snakes and reptiles check out the inimitable photo blog MonitorKeeper. If you love modern, simple art that's lovely, there's often a lot of it on Curate1k. The watercolors of flowers are beautiful and reminiscent of Impressionism's best facets.

ThreeEyed has great nature photos, they're excellent. Especially the water and the sky. They make you want to go hiking.

Precise, almost geometrical food and interior photos from Montreal are found at MtlGangster. There's almost an essence of Bach within some of them.

Mind

Light reading is something close to my heart. I always recommend the rural French countryside of My French Country Home, which has incredible photos--they truly let you feel like you're there. Another one I always check with is the classic Paris blog from traveler/gourmet David Lebovitz.

A new one I love is Sam is Home, on fashion and lovely photographs of nature/places etc. One I was just reading is A Montrealer Abroad--they were linking to the best Montreal photography instagrams and I was hooked. The best for Montreal is Inayali, there are some excellent street/nature photos there that capture what Montreal is like.

For food photography, be sure go through Myfatguyprobs, who is a gourmet that loves Montreal. It's truly a mecca for food. A few of those photos and you're already planning your next vacation up there! If you're an urban explorer, you'll prefer Jfsavaria.

There are big, colorful city and landscape photos at LiveMontreal, they really show the great scope of the place. They're huge, excellent pieces. If you love flowers and sweet lovely photos, try Montreal360, which has quiet, intimate detail photos. GuillaumeBoily has a neat bike heavy perspective of the city.

And the song of the summer is: Tiesto's "Wasted [Ummet Ozcan Remix]", if you love dance music, edm, fast-paced stuff, this is great.

Trees

Montreal is a unique gem of a city, with surprises everywhere. This huge tree installation was spotted just a little while ago, it was even more beautiful in real life. We were just there, walking through the ancient stone streets of Old town, it's like being in France. The city often has the air of Vivaldi's 1725 Four Seasons piece "Spring" [it's "1. Allegro" from "La primavera" Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269]. In many places, in Montreal's special obscure churches this seems to hum behind you through the power lines.

But when you rush through the masses shopping gaily in the summer breezes, there's the low key emotion of the foxtrot 1920s style The Great Gatsby "Young and Beautiful", the version mixed from Lana del Rey's work.

You can hike up from Chinatown to several main shopping areas, all of which have great French delicacy shops and clothes boutiques in every niche category. And of course Oglivy's is fun, downstairs be sure to see the crazy big, extravagant Godiva counters and then go to Holt Renfrew to glide past the Prada and Chanel. They have an enormous Jo Malone counter for perfume buffs.

You also have to hike through the mountain, it's nature paradise. Truly beautiful. This summer many famous, jeweled Fabergé eggs will be at the museum, we're going.

But really, you need no excuse to go. It's that good.

Reading

Blogs are written in many styles--two that are in the anecdote, picture load category are the great My French Country Home from rural Normandy and Dry Paddocks from a nature-focused life in New Zealand.

Usually I steer clear of heavily photographed blogs, but these have photos that allow yourself to 'see' everything. It's almost as if you're there. That's a quite unique effect. They are both fun, simple reads, and the pictures elevate them to excellence.

Tv Rewatch

One show worth re-watching, especially for the autumn scenes in grey, sweater dotted Paris near the Seine river, is Highlander. Every episode with Hugh Fitzcairn [famous singer Roger Daltrey from The Who], or Methos, or Amanda too is gold. The show has some over the top moments, but it's easy to forgive them their few mistakes. The scenery itself is quite interesting--you don't often see Paris in grey, cold autumn unless you're reading David Lebovitz's blog about living there, even through the cold seasons.

The flashbacks to other time periods make this show a real alternative for people who enjoy shows that deal with the temporal immortal reality of, say, vampires, ie. history flashback moments. Sometimes Methos is not done subtly, but even then you can imagine 'what is he really thinking?'--this is someone who could have been taught by Sun Tzu. What is the real import of his actions?