Our Grand Tour, Part 7: In Search of BD

 While in Paris, we toured the Eiffel Tower, took a cruise down the Seine, visited Versailles, the Louvre, Musée D’Orsay, and the Legion of Honor. We also attended a fantastic after hours light show at Napoleon’s Tomb.

But priorities—I also visited comic book stores! 

In preparation, I Google mapped comics shops and bookmarked them before our trip. During that search, I came across the well known Forbidden Planet London Megastore and two stores in Paris’s Latin Quarter (which apparently is essentially a Frankified college town): Album Comics and nearby Pulp Comics. (By the way, the Paris stores are also within a stone’s throw of the English-language bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, founded in 1951, which took its  name from the one founded in 1919 at another location on the Left Bank, which closed in 1941. We stopped by there as well.)

All three are fantastic comic book stores with diverse selections, but surprisingly very focused on American mainstream comics. At Forbidden Planet in London, they were  well stocked with perennials like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns. And when I visited, Forbidden Planet was hopping! I was impressed by the number of young people there (both teens and young adults), often in groups, talking about comics they were reading. I also noticed parents with their children.

But I really wanted to check out the native country’s comics selections. At Album Comics, I did purchase some French language comics I found.

After leaving Album Comics, I then visited Pulp Comics only about a block away. Then as I left the latter store, across the street, I spotted by happenstance what turned out to be what I was truly looking for, a separate Album sister store that focused on French language comics: Momie BD! (BD stands for bande dessinee, the French name for comics. There is also a nearby Momie Manga store.) 

As you’ll see from my photos of my haul, I went a bit nuts there! My primary goal was to buy a Ric Hochet comics album—I posted about Ric Hochet awhile ago, originally a ‘60s-era world traveling journalist who encounters adventure and mystery, who also happens to coincidentally resemble my own lead character (or, rather, the other way around). New Ric Hochet adventures are being published, the first few being translated in English, which I purchased as Kindle books and loved. Sadly, they stopped issuing English editions only after a few issues, but I recently realized that I could use my iPhone’s native Translate app to read them (an app, I should add, came in handy on this trip).

Anyway, the other legacy comics series I picked up was a comics adaptation of Lupin (based on a Japanese manga and animated property that itself was partly inspired by an old French gentleman thief character) and Michel Vaillant, about the adventures of a race car driver that I also was familiar with. The rest were all new and unknown to me, but the art was terrific. (The draftsmanship and technical craft of European cartoonists are amazing.) In fact, after the first visit, I even returned the next day to buy more. Even my wife was impressed by the comics, and I purchased an album and some merch (a Tintin pin) that interested her.

On my second visit, I also realized that just next door was a small shop that specialized in vintage and collectible comics albums, called Aaapoum Bapoum—though American comics were well represented, they were all French language. (You’ll see a Will Eisner/Spirit section in the photos.) I asked if they carried any Terry and the Pirates, which the shopkeeper then pulled off a bookshelf for me to look at, which you'll also see in the photos.

As an aside, I initially planned to bring some of my own comics just to share with the stores. However, when I looked into it, there were some custom laws that I found a little daunting, particularly in England, that seemed to technically require me to declare that I was carrying commercial goods that might be subject to VAT tax. At the end of the day, although I believe I was below the taxable thresholds, I decided not to risk any trouble with customs. All that said, when we arrived in London and Paris, aside from normal security checks, we encountered no checks whatsoever entering the countries. In fact, having gone through TSA at LAX, there was no security check when we stepped off the plane in the U.K.—all us passengers were just waved through. I only planned to bring two or three copies of each of my trades and some issues; in retrospect, I probably could have done so without a problem. I did bring along some promotional postcards and business cards, and shared them at Momie BD.

Our Grand Tour 2026, Part 6: Paris is Burning

 After London, it was off to Paris!

We opted to take the Eurostar train into Paris rather than fly—my touchstone for this train was the first Mission:Impossible film lol. The ride was a lovely experience, but unfortunately, I encountered no espionage or nefariousness, only tourists and commuters. But it was cool to leave the UK and go through its passport exit controls at St. Pancras International Station, then walk 20 feet or so to enter France through its own border control and security. So once the Eurostar arrives in Paris at the Gare du Nord station, you just step off the train and you’re on your way! I wryly noted to my better half that our two-and-a-half hour trip took the allies nearly three months to travel in 1944. But of course we didn’t face hedgerows and the axis war machine.  

I’ll get straight to the first question people have asked about Paris—we felt perfectly safe and saw none of the clashes. We arrived the Sunday of the protests, so likely missed the worst of it. That said, we did meet other fellow Americans who told us that they saw some of the mishigas and encountered some closed venues. But I assume revolutionaries have to work during the week too!

Nevertheless, one of the areas we visited for dinner clearly had been part of the protests because we saw boarded up businesses, some police presence, defaced monuments, and lots of graffiti. (My wife noticed the acronym “ACAB” spray painted many places—she learned it stood for “All Cops Are B*stards.)

We later learned that we were staying in a somewhat posh part of Paris (Passy), and noticed a local Chanel store and some other businesses boarding up their windows, even though I don't believe we were anywhere near the protests. We realized afterwards they were doing so as a precaution in anticipation of this weekend’s protests.

And to bring it full circle, our tour guide at Versailles connected the present day protests to the 1789 French Revolution by noting that Versailles was partly built to take the government away from the intrigue and unrest of Paris—remarking that, politicians then and since, have learned, "Never piss off the Parisians!”

Our Grand Tour 2026, Part 5: London After Dark

Something to always keep in mind while in London when crossing the street is to always look to your right for oncoming cars since, in the U.S., they’re coming from the left. As you’ll see in the photos, a warning about this is stenciled on some street curbs—I asked our tour guide driver if that was for tourists or for everyone, and he said, “Everyone!”

On the Tube, exit signs read, “Way Out,” while “Mind the gap”  means, “Watch your step” (there was often a gap and step between the train platform and the carriage). This reminder was often announced when entering and exiting the train. Other recorded PSAs included reporting anything that needs to be sorted out—“See it; Say it; Sort it!”

I don’t mind tipping, so it was an adjustment being in a no-tip culture. We had private drivers for our hotel and transportation transfers, and none clearly expected a tip—our tour driver only asked for a good review. 

This was all for the good since everything was cashless—in fact, we ended up never needing or withdrawing any cash or British pound currency the entire trip!

Many of the streets were crazy narrow—in fact, sometimes we wondered based on the parked cars whether our driver was going down a one way street. It was amusing to see cars parked in opposite directions on the same side of the street as you’ll see in one of the photos.

Our Grand Tour 2026, Part 4: London Town

On our first free day in London, being a bit of a military history and World War II buff, I went off to visit the Imperial War Museum. My wife took the opportunity to catch up on sleep and later visit Harrod’s. We then met up at the London Eye, where my wife had reserved mid-afternoon tickets, which gave us spectacular views of London.

On the way, I made a stop at the Sherlock Holmes Museum at, yes, 221 Baker Street. Due to timing and the wait (a large group had just arrived, I opted to just visit the quaint adjacent gift shop where I chatted with the door greeter, a native London gal who happened to be Asian, dressed as Mrs. Hudson. 

While I took the Underground, and even took my first ride on one of London’s iconic double decker public buses to get around as directed by GoogleMaps, my wife ended up taking a black taxi ride to the London Eye, where she had a pro-Trump cabbie who, after learning she was American, went on a rant about how nice it was to have the power to jail people, when they encountered s protest that inconveniently slowed their ride lol. (To be fair, while she waited for me outside the St. Martin’s Theatre while I hit the loo, a British gentleman made wry comments about the president when she learned she was from the states.) My wife had gotten us timed tickets for the London Eye, so we got on fairly quickly. 

Afterwards, we visited Big Ben (officially now Elizabeth Tower) and Westminster Abbey. We’d seen Big Ben on our first day tour but hadn’t approached it from its iconic side, so walked over. A lot of street vendors selling cheap souvenirs lol

We considered visiting the National Portrait Gallery, but learned it was closing at 1 pm for a private event—there was a current exhibition of the Bayeux Tapestry on loan from France that I would have liked to see, since it’s often cited as an early example of a comic strip-like narrative. 

Our Grand Tour 2026, Part 3: Going Down to Liverpool

As a huge Beatles fan since childhood, like Sadina, we included on our schedule a day trip to Liverpool, about a 2-1/2 hour trip on one of the national rail service lines.

From the moment you step out of the Liverpool Lime Station (impressive in its own right, as the world’s oldest still-running main line railway station), you can see that Liverpool is a spectacular city. As an example, directly across the street from the train station is the huge neoclassical St. George’s Hall that directly faces the rail station. 

That said, Liverpool is also an incredibly diverse and modern city, and a well known cultural hub second only  to London. And, of course, it leans heavily into the city’s favorite sons, the Beatles, who obviously are the city’s main tourist draw.

We took the Magical Mystery Tour bus that included trips to the Beatles childhood homes, now well-kept middle class neighborhoods. Indeed, Liverpool appears to also be a vibrant college town, clearly serving students (we saw quite a bit of student housing). 

The tour culminates with a free visit to the Cavern Club, down narrow alleys of small clubs and Beatles museums. 

I’ve seen footage of Beatles’ performances there, so it was a revelation to see the layout of the club on person.

In fact, it is as still as much a working music venue and bar as it is a museum of the Beatles and the club’s history. I’ve seen the club in footage of the Beatles’ performances there, so it was a thrill to see the actual layout of the club’s floor. 

And even more fortunately, there was a live performance going on while we were there! The acoustics in the tiny bricked space was incredible, and it gave one a good sense of what it must have been like to hear the Beatles tearing up the space with their music and vocals. It actually was incredibly moving to hear music filling up the space, as the Beatles did more than 60 years ago.

In fact, it’s was amazing how many small clubs and venues we saw while strolling around, many with live music emanating from them. The tour was brief enough that we had some time on our own to explore the city and grab dinner before catching the train back. The restaurant where we ate was in a promenade that terminated at Liverpool’s Town Hall—this was on my bucket list to see because I remember seeing it in old black-and-white footage, when the Beatles were welcomed back to the city after conquering America, and stood on the second floor balcony waving to throngs of fans and proud Liverpool citizens.

Our Grand Tour 2026, Part 2: The Plays

We booked two plays for our visit to London: Agatha Christie’s drawing room murder mystery, “Mousetrap,” which is the world’s longest running play, and a production of Noel Coward’s 1924 play, “Hay Fever,” starring Richard Grant and Christine Baranski in her West End debut. (Keira Knightley is also presently performing in “The Lives of Others,” but tickets had already sold out for the days we’d be in town.)

Opening in 1952, Mousetrap has played at St. Martin’s Theatre, where we saw it, since the 1970s. We attended performance #30,740, which was dutifully stamped in the souvenir program. And even though it was a Thursday night, it was a full house!

The show was a total delight with terrific and hilarious performances featuring a boarding house full of suspects both eccentric and shady. At the curtain call at the end, the cast asks the audience to become their partners in crime and not reveal the ending to anyone—so my lips are sealed and you’ll have to see it yourself (and there’s no butler in the play).

”Hay Fever” is a comedy of manners, or more accurately, a comedy about an eccentric family with *no* manners, whose guests for the weekend become the sorry victims of their capricious, outsized and self-involved personalities.

It’s a high farce, full of scenery chewing performances, anchored by Richard Grant and Christine Baranski, who were born to play these parts. I was also delighted to realize that the cast also included actors Charles Edwards (Rings of Power and Holy Flying Circus, where he portrayed Michael Palin, bearing a slight resemblance to him) and Ophelia Lovibond (the lead in the underrated series, Minx, who my wife didn’t know was British until this show!)

We watched the play at the Wyndham Theatre, which staged its first show in 1899. Though we were in the balcony (we had seats at Mousetrap in the orchestra just five rows from the stage), like the theaters we experienced in New York last year, the theater is intimate and close to the stage, so even in the balcony, you feel like you’re right on top of the actors. My one regret is that I likely might have been able to get the actors to sign my program since the back stage entrance was very accessible in the alley in back, but it slipped my mind. At both shows we sat next to and chatted with fellow Yanks, and at Mousetrap, I helped a British couple sort out the name of the screenwriter of Taxi Driver lol (Paul Schrader).

Btw, we discovered that the Noel Coward Theatre was just next door to the Wyndham and hosting Into the Woods, so I made sure to make a quick visit. Afterwards, as we were in Leicester Square on the West End, we took in the hopping night life and grabbed a late dinner.

Our Grand Tour 2026, Part 1: London Calling

From October 13—23, after much planning, my wife and I embarked on a long-talked about trip to London and France. In this and the following posts, I'll be re-posting of my Facebook reports from our trip, some of the narratives expanded. Click through to the Facebook post for the photos. 

Yes, we’re across the pond!

On our first day, we had a private (electric) black cab tour that was a whirlwind of many of London’s iconic landmarks. We love history (and I was an English lit major), so this was right up our alley, and it helped to have a wonderfully knowledgeable and personable driver/guide.

That said, London is a vibrant, modern city full of charming neighborhoods—we love the old classic architecture mixed in with the new. And it is incredibly diverse, with so many accents and ethnicities. Being called “darling” by a young shopkeeper and speaking with people with lovely lilting Irish accents have been a thrill lol. I must admit I naively wondered if I’d be recognized as an American, but of course with all the mix of people here (plus tourists), no one bats an eye lol.

We quickly got the hang of the Underground subway and have already taken it many times. In addition to being a cheap, quick way to get around, it’s also a great way to experience London as a real city.

To top it all off, while at a well known open food market, Borough Market, we bumped into a former boss of mine, who I hadn’t seen in about 15 years!!! I recognized her from behind as she walked by and, when I called out her name and she turned, her jaw dropped when she saw us lol. What a reunion, of all places