By the time you read this, the Mac I wrote these words on is safely tucked away in a container awaiting delivery in Brussels by the end of August. That means I have something in common with the woman in the image as I’m homeless this summer. Luckily, for me that doesn’t mean sleeping on Rue de Rivoli. We’ll be spending our nights in hotels in Brussels, Sweden and Tuscany instead while this blog will be having a siesta. So here’s wishing you all a wonderful summer and see you in September!

While this might at first glance look like a fashion shoot, complete with props such as a derelict caravan, the harsh reality is that this 17 year old girl, recently recovered from tuberculosis, lives with her parents and two brothers in a cardboard shack just a few kilometers north of posh Paris in the hope of finding a better future here than back in Romania. You can read more about her in the summer edition of Wordt Vervolgd, the Dutch monthly of Amnesty International, in a feature on the dark side of major tourist attractions.

As I promised some time ago, I finally present you a revamped website! From now on everyone can comment on each post I dump on the unsuspecting visitor. Hope you like it and drop me a note if you run into any problems. On another note, I met the cute girl above in a dirt-poor village on the North coast of Bali. I thought I’d give her at least a small part of her 15 minutes of fame over here…

I’ve said it before: Paris is a lovely city… but it’s got its problems. Apart from a recent rash of bicycle riders (more on that in the future), I’m talking about the ever increasing number of beggars that line the streets of this, somewhat socialist, Western paradise. Lured by richness, a lot of people find poverty instead. “A rash on the face of society”, someone before me said a long time ago. She (British author Charlotte Bingham) was referring to virginity, in 1966. The world has changed since, hasn’t it?

Ok, so I live in a big city. And big cities are full of street artists, so they don’t surprise me any more. Or do they? This elderly couple, playing violin on a bridge over the Seine river, certainly managed to draw a lot of attention and left me wondering about France’s pension system. On the other hand, they might own a castle and this could actually be a genuine Stradivarius…

Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. And then there’s always a ‘but’… But it ain’t always pretty: homeless people flock the streets like this man sleeping on the pavement next to the Bon Marche, one of Paris’ most expensive warehouses. One can only hope the next president can change some of France’s social problems, to start with this one.