Letters: Finding Malacca past and present

We enjoyed reading Susan Spano’s account of visiting Malacca [“A Startling Spirit Thrives,” Nov. 27]. My wife and I spent several days in Malacca several years ago. We drove a rental car from Kuala Lumpur down the coast to Malacca. As we approached the city, I looked for a sign that said “Welcome to Malacca.” We were in a long line of stopped cars on a very busy street. I was next to a car driven by a Chinese gentleman, so I rolled down the car window and asked, “How far to Malacca?” The man had a puzzled look on his face when he said, “You are in Malacca!” The point of this is that many parts of Malacca look like any modern city: traffic jams, malls, gas stations, high-rise buildings, etc. Spano’s great article tells of finding Malacca’s history and what is left of it, just as we did.

Robert H. Schrynemakers

Torrance

Wheelchair help

Regarding On the Spot [“Travel Buddies,” by Catharine Hamm, Nov. 27]: I suggest to my elderly clients or their families that they get wheelchair assistance from the airlines. Not only does it save them long, tiring walks, the airline personnel ensure that they are at the right gates and assist in getting them to the baggage area, where a family member will be waiting. There is no cost.

Sandee Litwin

Litwin Travel

Los Angeles

Cooking in Italy

I thoroughly enjoyed the article by Amanda Jones and her efforts to learn to cook, and I laughed out loud several times [“A Heaping Plate of Culture,” Nov. 20]. I especially appreciate that she visited locations that would be affordable to “common folk.” Thank you for the humor and fine writing.

Deborah Johnson

Palm Desert

Paris bakeries

We took great delight in reading about macarons in Paris [“In Paris, Let Them Eat Macarons,” by Karen Leland, Nov. 20]. We booked a tour of Gérard Mulot’s macaron bakery in the St-Germain-des-Prés district. To see the options for tours of local businesses, go to https://www.meetingthefrench.com, where you can book tours online prior to a visit to Paris. We had only five people on our visit and enjoyed sampling and watching the bakers in action. This was a definite highlight of our trip to Paris.

Mel and Kathy Bowen

Marv and Nancy Kirkeby

Palm Desert

That Pierre Hermé, Lenôtre and Gérard Mulot are great Paris macaron patisseries is news to no one except Karen Leland, who chose them as the basis of her recent Times piece. Every Paris pastry article of the past 10 years includes them.

Even more egregious, Leland’s article makes no mention of Ladurée, the 140-year-old jewel box of a patisserie where the Paris macaron was created. Ladurée’s macarons remain the favorite of many Parisians.

Like stirring Sweet ‘N Low into a single-estate-roast espresso, Leland takes a rich and luscious topic and manages to make it banal. She may as well have written about fast food in Glendale. She would have wasted less jet fuel.

D.J. Kronen

Los Angeles

Two can play that game

Regarding On the Spot [“The Tanks They Get,” by Catharine Hamm, Nov. 20]: Because some rental car companies expect a receipt at return verifying that a gas tank is full, renters should expect the same at time of rental.

Bob Mason

Redlands