I am not a scientist, confesses Erik Orsenna, I am a rover. ... It so happens that ever since childhood I have been in love with ocean currents, in love with those rivers hidden in the water. I love letting a current catch me up, and then drifting, as though I were on holiday: someone strong has suddenly taken you into the palm of his hand. All you have to do now is let yourself be carried along. In Portrait of the Gulf Stream Erik Orsenna embarks on a journey of discovery, to tease the secrets out of the Gulf Stream, who he calls the friend of my childhood , who he had a very special relationship to: In my family, Catholic by tradition, it was understood that some of our prayers should express gratitude to God (for all His works) and, a close second, gratitude to the Gulf Stream. Every time we emerged shaking and shivering from our icy Breton swims, a grandmother or an aunt would be there to exclaim: Now don t forget to thank the Gulf Stream! If not for the Gulf Stream, our ocean would be cold. Orsenna s journey of discovery leads him from Florida to Cape Hatteras, from the lush gardens of Scotland to the coast of Norway, where he experiences the frightening Malstrom.