Armchair Voyaging

Adam Gopnick, in his book Paris to the Moon, likes to contrast the monumental with the quirky particular. Deyrolle is one of his prime examples. The New York Times has an update on the strangest shop in Paris, which burned last February.

Deyrolle is a shop, but small museums are often the best for the bizarre and off beat. I've always wanted to visit the Musee de la Chasse, for example. And now there is a Soviet bunker theme park complete with gas masks and what looks like interrogations for masochistic Latvians.

Some people fantasize about life in a Soviet bunker. I fantasize about life in Argentina. Despite the grime economic news and dodgy politics, I bought a Rough Guide a few months back. El Ateneo bookstore in Buenos Aires looks amazing, however after finding this blog, with its beautiful photographs, I would consider skipping the big city for life in Patagonia.