FEAST OR FAMINE

  There was a fire at the Notre-Dame-des Champs Church on the Boulevard du Montparnasse in the 6 th  arrondissement of Paris on 23 July 2025. I saw some smoke rising from the inside of the church – the doors were open and the firefighters brought the blaze under control very quickly.    The mayor of the 6 th  arrondissement, Jean-Pierre Lecoq, praised the efforts of the emergency services for rapidly extinguishing the flames using water hoses and fans to dissipate the smoke. He added that the cause was not yet known and neither was the extent of the damage. There were no casualties.    The Notre-Dame-des Champs Church, a Catholic Church, is an historic building built between 1867 and 1876. 

In a wing of the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi, Georgia, is a hall that showcases the brilliance of a craft passed from hand to hand for centuries. The exhibit "The Art of Silver Mastership in 4th to 19th Century Georgia" includes jewelry, weapons, and tableware.   From finely etched wine vessels to royal pendant crosses, from ceremonial weapons to delicate earrings and temple rings, the silver objects on show are more than decorative. They commemorate weddings, wars, coronations, and everyday home life.   Silver mastery in Georgia dates to the late Bronze Age, but the exhibition focuses on the 4th to 19th centuries, tracing an unbroken line of artisanship through shifting empires, trade routes, and religious traditions.   In Georgian culture, silver was not just a medium; it was also a message of national identity, personal status, and sacred symbolism. The exhibit pairs actual artifacts with frescoes and portraits of Georgian nobility where silver jewelry adorned ...

Nestled between the Black and Caspian Seas, where Europe and Asia meet, the Caucasus Mountains gives rise to some of the world’s most incredible biodiversity. During my visit to the Museum of History in Tbilisi, I was struck by the wild, breathing world of the animal kingdom. In the Museum of History in Tbilisi, Georgia, the wildlife of the region is shown in life-like forms.    In a small wing of the museum, an exhibition on the biodiversity of the Caucasus region reveals wolves and lynx, eagles and ibex, insects, and wildflowers, all rendered in glass cases or detailed dioramas – ecologically rich and rare.   The Caucasus is considered one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, home to over 6,500 plant species; hundreds of mammals, birds, and reptiles; and a high rate of endemism (species that exist nowhere else).   This is due to the region’s dramatic topography and varied climate: alpine meadows, lowland forests, wetlands, and semi-desert plains all exist within a...