Before the Eurostar: Remains of the Flying Rail Plane that Never Was

In a slight twist of fate, we might have been traveling between London and Paris in one of these thing-a-majigs– or more accurately, a propeller-driven ‘Flying Railplane‘. This fancy futurist contraption was invented by George Bennie and launched in 1930 as a prototype, designed for a more economical and rapid transport system between the two European capitals. The test track was…

The Great Parisian Waiters Race

If ever you’ve had an unpleasant experience with a French waiter (I’m guessing that’ll be just about everyone reading this), perhaps you might not be averse to some light entertainment at their expense. A bizarre sporting event that dates back more than a hundred years, the Waiters Race, better known to the French as the…

My New York City Beach Motel

Native New Yorkers are zoning in on a budding little beach community that’s re-awakening over at Rockaway Beach, gateway to Queens and home to the legendary old amusement park, Playland, which closed in the 1980s following the neighbourhood’s downturn during the 1960s. Since the beginning of the new millennium however, surfers have been bringing life back to Rockaway,…

The Vault

The Paris Motorcycle Cave, Secret of the Seine

On the banks of the Seine in the heart of Paris, with a front row seat to some of the city’s most beautiful landmarks and neoclassical architecture, there’s an unexpected little badass secret hiding in plain sight. Take a stroll alongside the charming houseboats next to the Pont de la Concorde, admire the view of the Eiffel Tower…

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13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. LXXIV)

1. If Jeep had made a Hippie Bus… 1958 Jeep FC-150 Passenger Van prototype, one of only three ever built. Found on Curbside Classic. 2. Forgotten Billboard Signs Full series found on Cargo Collective 3. Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, Seattle, early 1900s Found on Retronaut 4. The Brooks Brothers Needlepoint…

My Tiny Heart-Shaped Island (and yes, there’s a Hotel on it)

Today I learned that this photograph I often come across floating around the net, is not a fabrication of Photoshop. In fact, the sole purpose of this post is pretty much just to confirm that yes, such a place exists on Earth and hell yes, you can stay there– because if you’re going to stay on a dreamy…

The Moon Ballet: One Giant (graceful) Leap for Mankind

It’s too bad Neil Armstrong didn’t break into dance and literally take a giant (graceful) leap for mankind rather than one small step for man. Luckily for us however, there is the Moon Ballet. I dug up this curious little gem from the LIFE archives, photographed in 1950 by Allan Grant on what any sci-fi film…

The Lost Desert Libraries of Chinguetti

The sands of the Sahara have all but swallowed Chinguetti, a near ghost town found at the end of a harsh desert road in Mauritania, West Africa. Its majority of abandoned houses are open to the elements, lost to the dunes of a desert aggressively expanding southward at a rate of 30 miles per year.…

Let’s Sneak into California’s most Beautiful Art Deco Cinemas

The credits have rolled on the last late-night screening, the box office curtain is closed, the ushers have done their rounds and popcorn machines are turned off. Now is our chance; we emerge from our hiding place in the back row. The cinema is ours. This is the sort of private tour that French photographer Franck Bohot likes…

That Time When Parisians Used to Hang Out at the Morgue for Fun

Some thirty thousand people visit the Notre Dame de Paris everyday, but little-known to tourists or even to the Parisians that pass by it on their daily commute, there was once a much more popular yet sinister attraction that shared a backyard with the historic cathedral, capable of luring up to 40,000 visitors in a single day. That attraction was…