Mature Flaneur: Slow Travel Through Portugal, France, Italy and Norway

Book excerpt: 'Whimsical, unexpected, frequently revelatory, exquisitely observed (and written), this is vintage Tim Ward–I loved it.' Ian Weir, author of The Death and Life of Strother Purcell In the aftermath of the pandemic, author Tim Ward and his wife, Teresa, decided to leave their home and professional careers in the US to spend a year in Europe as flâneurs. The French word "flâneur" means one who “wanders without purpose, observing society.” As the French literary critic Sainte-Beuve explained it, to flâne “is the very opposite of doing nothing.” Indeed, it is to give yourself the gift of time: permission to live an unstructured life and, by so doing, discover something about the world, and about yourself.