On the day after Christmas 2007 we were in Brest, France, and found many of the restaurants closed for vacation. After a little searching, we found Les Caudalies (1 rue Malakoff, 29200 Brest), a 36-seat neighborhood/family restaurant.

Once we were seated, the host/waiter/owner brought the menu, written on a small chalkboard and listing four starters and five entrées.

Of the starters, one of us had the Marine salad (quarters of two kinds of crab, several small shrimp, a slice of...

During an April trip to Japan’s Honshu island, we visited the Nebuta-no-sato Museum, where some of the floats for the Nebuta-matsuri in Aomori are housed. (The festival takes place Aug. 2-7 each year; visit www.nebuta.jp/english/index_e.htm.)

Throngs of people attend this festival, the city’s most popular summer event. Origins of the Nebuta Festival are not clear. One legend has it that Tamuramaro, a ninth-century warrior who invaded Aomori, created huge, brightly colored lanterns...

Regarding transferring large numbers of slides to a CD or DVD, Linda Lander wrote, “I need a ‘previewer’ to sort out what I want to discard” (Oct. ’07, pg. 48).

I bought an “illuminated slide sorter” from B&H (New York, NY; 800/947-7785 or 212/444-6635, ext. 2055). It consists of a 12"x16" translucent plastic sheet with horizontal ridges every 2½ inches and is mounted on a cardboard stand behind which there is a 40-watt bulb. This is the description: Logan Electric, 12"x16" E-Z...