Feb

Into Armchair Travel? Try the Wheredunit of Mystery Books

by Joyce McGreevy on February 23, 2021

Coastal Sicily, the home of fictional detective Montalbano, is a popular destination for armchair travelers who read mystery novels. (Image by Giuseppe Costanza/ Pxhere)

1. Which Sicilian detective begins his day with espresso and a sunrise swim?
(Answers below the post)
Giuseppe Costanza/ Pxhere

Follow the Clues Around the World!

Pandemically speaking, today’s most favored mode of transport is armchair travel. But must safety rule out excitement? Not when you travel via mystery books. These page-turners whisk you away to virtually any corner of the world.

Stereotypes persist about mystery books. Like the idea that they’re merely puzzles. That the author presents a lineup of suspects, then interposes an obstacle course between the reader and the Big Reveal. You know, cryptic messages, red herrings, butlers arching an eyebrow, bodies falling out of closets, that sort of thing.

As comedian Michael Ian Black says of mystery books, “They make me too anxious. . . . Just tell me who did it.”

But for many fans, the whodunit is secondary to the wheredunit. Mysteries spring from particular places, and the best mysteries evoke those places with a vibrancy that turns reading into an immersive experience.

Botswana, the home of fictional detective Precious Romatswe, is a popular destination for armchair travelers who read mystery novels. (IPublic domain image)

2. Who sells a herd of cattle to launch her detective agency in Botswana?

You’d Never Suspect . . .

As mystery fans, we appear to our unsuspecting families to be reading. We sit there sedately as Whistler’s Mother.

Actually, we’re at a casino in Rio De Janeiro with Inspector Espinosa, sailing the coast of Ghana with Detective Darko Dawson, on a stakeout in San Francisco with P.I. Izzy Spellman, or backstage at the opera in Venice with Commissario Brunetti.

And oh my, the eating and drinking we get up to: Bouef Bourguignon in the Perigord with Police Chief Bruno, pasta ‘ncasciata in Sicily with Montalbano, every Québecois dessert on the menu with Armande Gamache.

We’re the first ones to crack open a bottle of Black Label with V.I. Warshawski in Chicago, the last ones to close the bar in Mario Conde’s Havana. And we’d never say no to another Bell’s whisky in Edinburgh with Inspector Rebus.

Havana, Cuba, the home of fictional detective Lieutenant Mario Conde, is a popular destination for armchair travelers who read mystery novels. (Image by nextvoyage/ Pixabay)

3. Which fictional lieutenant knows every bar and bookshop in Havana?
nextvoyage/ Pixabay

Destination: Everywhere

A great mystery is not only a passport to everywhere from Australia to the Arctic, it’s an all-access pass. It lets you inside the velvet rope, under the yellow caution tape, and through doors marked Do Not Enter. It’s a sun-warmed beach in Biarritz on a rainy day in Seattle; a nimble cliff walk in Devon despite one’s fear of heights; a closed community in India sharing its secrets over cups of chai.

Oh, I see: Great mysteries engage our senses, take us behind the scenes, give us insight into cultures, and reveal human geography.

As the genre most often read in-flight or on a commuter train, the mystery novel taps into modes of travel. From Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express to Ruth Ware’s The Woman in Cabin 10, mysteries don’t just take us places. They punch our ticket along the way. Whether these journeys are glamorous, harrowing, or both, we’re totally on board.

Perigord, France, the home of fictional police chief Bruno Courreges, is a popular destination for armchair travelers who read mystery novels. (Image by DomyD/ Pixabay)

4. Which fictional police chief hunts truffles and crooks in France’s Perigord?
DomyD/ Pixabay

The Curious Case of the Dive-Bombing Book

My favorite mystery series took armchair travel to a whole different level. One winter in Chicago, I was parked in a comfy chair at a bookstore, minding my own business (for once), when a paperback leapt (leapt, I tell you) from the top of a tall bookshelf. The book executed a perfect swan-dive into the open tote bag at my side.

On the cusp of mortification (one of my favorite places, apparently), I grabbed said book, and rising to my feet, held it aloft as if I were the Statue of Liberty bearing the Torch of Enlightenment.

“Why yes,” I announced in a booming voice. “This is exactly the book I want to PURCHASE.”

Not until I had taken my sneak-attack book into custody did I look at the title: The Shortest Way to Hades.

Indeed, I thought, and put off reading it, instead enjoying the reaction of guests who noticed it among my how-to books.

The next winter, sick of snow and stuck at home with flu, I finally read Sarah Caudwell’s mystery. Then another, and another. Thus began some of my favorite adventures in armchair travel. Not to Hades, thank goodness, but to London, Venice, Greece, Guernsey, and the isle of Sark.

Besides evoking a sense of place, her novels restored my sense of humor. Caudwell’s wit is drier and more stylish than the lining of a Burberry raincoat.

San Francisco the home of a fictional family of private investigators, the Spellmans, is a popular destination for armchair travelers who read mystery novels. (Image by der wiki/ Pixabay)

5. Which family of San Francisco detectives keeps case files on each other?
derwiki/ Pixabay

Another Mystery Tour Begins!

As a genre, the mystery book resembles the ideal carry-on bag: it’s compact yet holds a world of travel essentials. And like carry-ons, good mysteries come in all designs: suspenseful, comical, realistic, historical, cozy, hard-boiled, satirical, and more.

So, whatever type of armchair traveler you are, whatever style of transport you prefer, there’s a mystery-novel itinerary that’s perfect for you. To miss it would be a crime.

Ready for takeoff? Don’t forget to pack this free and extensive resource from OIC Moments—a dozen pages of recommendations and interactive experiences:

Name that detective! ANSWERS:
1. Salvo Montalbano 2. Precious Ramotswe 3. Mario Conde 4. Bruno Courrèges 5. The Spellmans.

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy Comments

Art of Travel/Literary World/Worldwide Sites

Jan

Art Discoveries: The Mystery in the Ceiling

by Meredith Mullins on January 25, 2021

A Humbert painting unveiled via curtain, showing art discovers that can inspire travels to the past. (Image © Meredith Mullins and Charlie Meagher.)

What treasure is hidden in this Paris ceiling?
© Meredith Mullins/Charlie Meagher

Follow the Clues & Travel Through History

The world loves stories about surprising art discoveries—treasures that are unearthed via bizarre circumstances and that send the finder on a compelling journey, perhaps including travels through history.

In 1940, four teenagers followed their dog down a narrow cavern and found cave walls filled with hundreds of prehistoric paintings—the now famous Lascaux caves in France.

Cave painting of a horse from the Lascaux caves, showing that art discoveries can lead to new adventures and travels to the past. (Image courtesy of the French Ministry of Culture.)

A dog discovered the famous Lascaux cave paintings.
(Photo courtesy of the French Ministry of Culture)

An Arizona man sorted through things as he was getting ready to move to a retirement home. He found a few posters that he thought might be valuable and invited an appraiser to take a look. The appraiser’s eye wandered to a painting in the corner that had belonged to the man’s sister, a New York art collector. The discovery—a Jackson Pollock—perhaps worth millions once authenticated.
The photographic talent of eccentric nanny Vivian Maier was discovered when a storage locker was auctioned off after her death. It was filled with negatives she had never shared with anyone—street photography of New York and Chicago that captured the stark and beautiful reality of an unposed world.

Unexpected Surprises Close to Home

Often for such rewarding journeys, there’s no place like home.

Douglas and Claudie Hawes were about to move into a house that had been built in 1854 in the New Athens area of Paris.

This corner of the 9^tharrondissement was an upscale neighborhood with Greek-inspired mansions established around 1820 on the slope of the Montmartre hill. The area gained fame for celebrity inhabitants, including George Sand, Chopin, Delacroix, and Gustav Moreau.

As part of the house remodeling project, Claudie’s son removed a large white plastic sheet from the ceiling of the bedroom.

The uncovering revealed a sweeping overhead painting of a nude woman, reclining somewhere between earth and heaven, painted in the romantic realism style of the late 1800s. The painting had been hidden by the previous tenants—an order of monks.

A ceiling painting by Ferdinand Humbert in Paris, showing that art discoveries can lead to new adventures and travels to the past. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The mystery painting in the ceiling
© Meredith Mullins

The signature in the corner of the painting was barely visible, so the artist remained a mystery—a puzzle to be solved years later by a local gallerist who confirmed the signature as F. Humbert. Not a familiar name . . . but an open door to an adventure of discovery.

The ethereal Venus had landed in the right house. The Hawes were an inherently curious couple. They loved the art of research—where each fact discovered leads to several new paths. Where puzzle pieces begin to fit together. Where, as with today’s internet rabbit holes and hours lost in click-frenzied treasure hunts, a dramatic story can unfold and characters emerge.

Claudie and Douglas Hawes, showing that art discoveries can lead to new adventures and travels to the past. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Claudie and Douglas Hawes embark on new adventures in their search
to discover more about Humbert.
© Meredith Mullins

Discovering Humbert: A Noted Artist of His Time

A google search of Ferdinand-Jacques Humbert (1842–1934) does not reveal much. Such a short bio seems strange for an artist whose work was commissioned for some of the most famous buildings in Paris.

Ferdinand Humbert Self-Portrait
(Public Domain)

This lack of documentation made the Hawes’ research more difficult but also inspired them to write a book that would pay tribute to his contributions. They felt he was unjustly forgotten.

Pantheon Panels by Ferdinand Humbert, proving the value of art discoveries. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Pro Patria, commissioned murals by Ferdinand Humbert in the Paris Pantheon
© Meredith Mullins

Humbert’s eight panels in the Pantheon are in a place of honor. He captures the history and spirit of the Republic in the work titled Pro Patria (For the Homeland). The paintings took more than 25 years to finish, completed in 1900, because Humbert had to change the designs multiple times to meet the government’s changing priorities.

Idée de Famille, One of the Humbert murals in the Pantheon in Paris, proving the value of art discoveries. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Idée de Famille (Idea of the Family)—One of the Humbert murals in the Pantheon
© Meredith Mullins

Humbert reaches great heights in the Petit Palais, with two triumphant ceiling paintings—“The Triumph of Paris” and “The Triumph of the Intellectual.” This project took many years as well, interrupted by WW I. He completed the project when he was 81, with the help of his artist son André.

Paintings by Ferdinand Humbert in the Petit Palais in Paris, showing that art discoveries can lead to new adventures and travels to the past. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Humbert’s paintings reach new heights in the Petit Palais.
© Meredith Mullins

Humbert’s paintings also oversee marriage after marriage in the Salle de Mariage in the Mairie of the 15^tharrondissement in Paris (the City Hall of the 15th arrondissement).

A painting by Ferdinand Humbert in the Salle de Mariage of the 15th arrondissement in Paris, showing that art discoveries can lead to new adventures and travels to the past. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The Salle de Mariage in the Mairie of the 15th arrondissement of Paris
© Meredith Mullins

More Art Discoveries: The Women in Humbert’s Life

The Hawes continued their research and discovered Humbert’s talent for painting portraits of women as well as his unique teaching role as a supporter of women artists (not so common in the early 20^thcentury), including students Marie Laurencin and Marguerite Carpentier.

As the Hawes worked to identify the subjects of the portraits, they met a gallerist who knew the goddaughter of one of the most frequent subjects. They visited the goddaughter, Monique Bouvier, in the Loire Valley and learned the story of her godmother Geneviève Dehelly, a well-known pianist.

Portrait of Geneviève Dehelly by Humbert
© Meredith Mullins

Monique provided photographs and letters showing the friendship of Dehelly and Humbert. In true soap opera form, Humbert was in love with Dehelly, but Dehelly loved another.

A old photograph in the foreground and Douglas Hawes in the background, showing that art discoveries can lead to new adventures and travels to the past. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Finding clues in old letters and photographs
© Meredith Mullins

Dehelly’s soulmate was the poetess Jehanne d’Orliac. They worked together as a creative literature/music team, writing and performing together. They are buried together in Tours.

Another piece of the puzzle arrived in the form of the play “La Massière” (Translation: “The Treasurer”). The playwright Frédérick Lemaître was a good friend of Humbert. He wrote about Humbert’s artistic life and added insight into his character (if the dramatic interpretation is to be seen as based on some truth).

Portrait of Genevieve Dehelly with dramatic hat by Ferdinand Humbert, showing how art discoveries can lead to new adventures and travels to the past. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Humbert’s tribute to his love and favorite portrait subject
© Meredith Mullins

The Mystery Portrait

The Hawes interest in Humbert grew with each new discovery, so they decided to acquire their own original work. A portrait, “Young Woman with Pipe,” came up for auction in Germany. The Hawes were the winning bidders.

They believed the model to be perhaps a prominent subject for painters of the day. But who is it? The mystery, for the moment, remains.

Young Woman with Pipe by Ferdinand Humbert in France, showing that art discoveries can lead to new adventures and travels to the past. (Image © Douglas Hawes.)

“Young Woman with Pipe” is now a part of the Hawes collection.
© Douglas Hawes

The Adventure Continues

The Hawes continue with their treasure hunt, but will bring these first chapters to a close as they finish their book for publication this year.

Ferdinand Humbert's painting on the ceiling of the Salle de Mariage of the 15th arrondissement, showing how art discoveries can lead to new adventures and travels to the past. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Ferdinand Humbert’s painting on the ceiling of the Salle de Mariage
of the 15th arrondissement
© Meredith Mullins

Oh, I see. As proven here, art discoveries can spark a journey and can open up worlds that have not yet been explored.

With that inspiring goal, let’s celebrate the start of 2021. Here’s to a new year, full of adventures, intriguing discoveries, and exploration both virtual and real.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 6 Comments

France/France (Paris)/Travels to the Past

Nov

Gaining Perspective in a Chaotic World

by Meredith Mullins on November 17, 2020

Time to shake things up?
© Meredith Mullins

The Rewards of Seeing from Varied Angles

How often does your perspective change these days? Can you think of times when you expanded your view of a situation or of the world just by changing your point of reference?

Perhaps when you summited a mountain and the 360-degree vista expanded exponentially while distant objects became flattened miniatures that suddenly seemed small in the grander scheme of things?
Or, when you looked down and found a detail in the street that you’d never seen before even though you’d walked over it a thousand times?
Or, maybe when you crawled through that narrow opening between cave rocks and discovered a cathedral ceiling of stalactites in an underworld worthy of Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Hidden treasures through just a crack in the rocks
Photo courtesy of PxHere

Changing how you see the world is important whether you’re traveling with eyes and mind wide open or sheltering in place during a pandemic.

A constant shift is the key to gaining perspective in a chaotic world. As French writer Anaïs Nin said, “We do not see things as they are, but rather as we are.”

What do you see here?
© Meredith Mullins

The Time Is Right for Gaining Perspective

The timing could not be more urgent for gaining perspective. We are living in stressful times—a global pandemic, domestic and international terrorism, and elections with significant consequences in a divided USA.

It might be time to shake things up . . . to explore some examples of how to change one’s view, such as turning the world upside down and varying your points of reference. There are many interesting ways to gain perspective as we travel through these chaotic times.

Embrace Matanozoki

Matanozoki is the Japanese word for peeking between your legs to turn the world upside down. A creative way to change perspective.

One of the premier viewing spots for ultimate matanozoki is the isthmus of Amanohashidate in Kyoto Prefecture.

When you look between your legs, the sky becomes sea and the pine-tree covered sandbar looks like a dragon reaching to the heavens. (Granted, to see said dragon, you have to let your mind wander imaginatively . . . but, why not?)

Turn the world upside down from time to time.

When in Doubt, Climb Things

A favorite way to change perspective is to go aerial. Climb things. Fly over things. See the forest rather than the trees.

Travelers love to climb things or to rise above ground level to see the “bigger picture,” to take pride in summiting, or just to make sure that they have the best selfie that adventure can buy.

The Empire State Building. The Eiffel Tower. The Seattle Space Needle. The Sydney Harbor Bridge. Mount Kilimanjaro. Mount Everest. The Great Wall of China. Angkor Wat. Machu Picchu. Christ The Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro. Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

All of these places provide a new perspective, worth climbing to the top to see the world on high.

The tallest building in the world: Dubai’s Burj Khalifa
Courtesy of PxHere

Give Ugly (Different?) a Chance

Speaking of tall things that monopolize a skyline, structures like the Eiffel Tower in Paris were not always popular. When the Eiffel Tower was first built, artists and writers called it “a truly tragic street lamp,” “an ungainly skeleton,” and “the metal asparagus.”

Writer Guy de Maupassant ate lunch every day at the tower because, he claimed, it was the only place where he couldn’t see the offensive structure.

As we now know, most have accepted the tower as a Paris icon and a striking, long-lasting piece of structural art. Time heals wounds.

Another such structure in Paris is the Montparnasse Tower, completed in 1973, with most everyone wondering who gave permission for a 59-story monstrosity to be built in the center of the romantic City of Light.

The monolithic Montparnasse Tower
Courtesy of PxHere

I doubt if many people will ever come to treasure the appearance of the Montparnasse Tower. It rises like an angry giant and can be seen from just about every Paris neighborhood. When you photograph the Eiffel Tower from the north, the Montparnasse Tower is always lurking in the background.

However, once inside, at the restaurant Ciel de Paris, the views are breathtaking. (Ciel in French can mean sky or heaven. In either case, it seems to be true.)

Do the ends justify the means? You be the judge.

Look Up

As life-changing as being “at the top of the world” might be, you can also learn from hitting the ground and looking up. We are used to observing at eye level, so remembering to alter viewing perspective or to look up from time to time often offers rewards.

Like improv comedians or jazz musicians, it’s important to build on the possibilities of the moment. Pushing the boundaries and varying the view works well to see things more completely.

See the Details

Whether you believe “The devil is in the details,” or the original quote, “God is in the details,” the point is well taken. Noticing details is rewarding, but you have to slow down and change your perspective in order to really see.

Try On Different Shoes

No, this isn’t an ad for the ample shoe closets of the Sex in the City characters. This is a call to occasionally put yourself in the shoes of others.

Become a child again. Feel the freedom of reckless abandon or the pure joy of skipping down the street. Let imagination run wild.

Empathy is also a key way to gaining perspective. What exactly is the other person saying or thinking? How might understanding their perspective change your own point of view?

After the U.S. election, several key figures suggested we put ourselves in the shoes of our political adversaries, in the hope that it might help to unify the divide. The time is right for this kind of healing. (But if you read some of the twitter threads in response to these suggestions, you probably noted that some challenges lie ahead.)

Gaining Perspective from Einstein

As we think about how to adapt during these challenging times—Einstein’s words seem a timely message.

You cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that was used to create that problem.

Oh, I see. The time is right to shift our points of reference—to change the way we see. Gaining perspective in a chaotic world is key to a brighter future.