Destination: France
Stalking the Best Boulangeries in Paris
by Jim Benning | 04.30.07 | 1:19 PM ET
I’ve never met a chocolate croissant I didn’t like, but even I, a mere croissant dilettante, recognize that some are better than others. Travel + Leisure offers a look at the best boulangeries in Paris, covering top spots for croissants, baguettes, sourdough loaves and other starchy treats. Maison Kayser in the Latin Quarter is one of the shops earning rave reviews. Among other qualities, their croissants have a “meltingly tender center,” the magazine maintains. Meanwhile, elsewhere in town, Boulangerie Bechu offers pain au chocolate orange, which the magazine calls “an addictive variation on the classic treat.”
Photo by stu_spivack via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
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Yahoo! BuzzThe World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: The Road to Adventure
by Michael Yessis | 04.27.07 | 9:10 AM ET
This week travelers were drawn to roads in California, Vietnam and danger zones throughout the world. Italy, France, Hong Kong and a discount startup airline were also top of mind. Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Puglia: Italy’s Heel Has It All, Except Tourists
Most E-mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Practical Traveler: As Hotel Prices Rise, a Villa May Be a Bargain
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
Top 5 Most Dangerous Roads of the World
* The photos will make your stomach churn.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
U.S. Highway 395: California’s ‘Mother Road’
* Here’s the accompanying photo gallery.
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
‘American Shaolin’: Interview with Matthew Polly
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
Fodor’s French for Travelers
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
French Train Clocks In At 357.2 MPH*
by Michael Yessis | 04.04.07 | 8:20 AM ET
That’s 547.8 kph, and it’s a record speed for rail travel. (A Japanese “non-conventional magnetically levitated” train hit 361 mph in 2003.) Ingrid Rousseau was on the 25,000-horsepower V150 in France yesterday, and she filed a report about the speed trial.
U.S. Sees Drop in Travelers from Germany, Japan, France and United Kingdom
by Michael Yessis | 03.27.07 | 6:30 AM ET
Commerce Department figures reveal a five-percent drop from those four countries in 2006, which has alarmed an already concerned U.S. tourism industry. Germany, Japan, France and the United Kingdom “typically supply almost half of all the foreign tourists visiting the USA,” writes USA Today’s Barbara De Lollis, and it’s the first decline in any of those core countries since 2003. Some say it’s because the U.S. has become one of the least friendly countries for travelers.
Chinese Traveler Spends Record 23,000 Euros in Duty-Free Spree
by Michael Yessis | 03.22.07 | 7:08 AM ET
His haul in Paris included a bottle of 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, a Cotes de Rhone Hermitage la Chapelle 1978 and “a bottle of 1806 cognac that might have slipped through the fingers of Emperor Napoleon,” according to Reuters. Aeroports de Paris Shops, where the unnamed Chinese traveler made his purchases, says it has started to carry luxury items to cater to rich travelers from China, Japan and Russia. I’m sure the traveler had the good sense to avoid this mess in Miami on his way back to Beijing.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Moonwalkers, Stardust and the End of the Earth
by Michael Yessis | 03.16.07 | 8:02 AM ET
We’ve done the math: This week, travelers have professed their interest in the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, India, Venice, Antarctica and hotels with a certain “je ne sais quoi de geek.” Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Best Geek Hotels in the World
* Yes, that’s an equation-covered bed cover at Boston’s Hotel @ MIT.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Hey, Sin City Top This: Grand Canyon West’s New Skywalk
* Moonwalker Buzz Aldren will take the ceremonial first walk Monday. We still ask: What Would Edward Abbey Think?
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph (current)
Getting It Om In India
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Stardust Blown to Dust
* Of course there’s video.
Most Blogged Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Making a Pilgrimage to Cathedrals of Commerce
* It’s all about the 19th-century shopping arcades of Paris.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Miss Manners’ Venice: In a Word, Civilized
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
Antarctica: The Crystal Desert
* More on Antarctica: A Brief and Awkward Tour of the End of the Earth
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
Most Read Story
World Hum (this week)
Stephanie Elizondo Griest: ‘100 Places Every Woman Should Go’
‘Desert Louvre’ Plans Cause Uproar in France
by Michael Yessis | 03.12.07 | 7:41 AM ET
What can $1.3 billion buy? For Abu Dhabi, it’s the rights “to borrow the Louvre’s name and hundreds of its artworks, as well as treasures from the Picasso Museum, Pompidou Center, Chateau de Versailles and other French museums,” according to the Washington Post. It’s also a way for Abu Dhabi to compete with neighboring Dubai for tourists. For France, however, the transaction has brought on a heated national discussion about how to handle its renowned cultural assets.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Interstate Highways, Hot Destinations and the Mile-High Club
by Michael Yessis | 02.09.07 | 8:34 AM ET
We’re going to France and we’re learning the language. Excellent. Other stops in this week’s Zeitgeist include Spain, Morocco, Cuba, Hawaii and Hot-lanta.
Most Popular Country for Travelers
Reuters/French Tourism Ministry (2006)
France
* 78 million people visited the country last year.
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
Fodor’s French for Travelers
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
‘Significant Steps’ Taken in Quest for Morocco-Spain Tunnel
Best Place in the U.S. for a Value Vacation
Hotwire.com Travel Value Index (2007)
Atlanta, Georgia
* Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Orlando-Daytona Beach, Florida; and Kansas City, Missouri round out the top five.
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Interstate Highway System Simplified
* The U.S. Interstates rendered in the style of a metro-system map. Its designer calls it “map-porn.”
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
* We still like this book.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
In Cuba, Finding a Tiny Corner of Jewish Life
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (current)
How to ... Join the Mile-High Club
* The Guardian suggests this.
Most Read Weblog Category
World Hum (this week)
Planet Theme Park
* This story helped it rise to the top.
‘Paris Syndrome’: The New York City Strain?
by Michael Yessis | 01.23.07 | 1:00 PM ET
The New York Post had some fun with a recent story about Japanese tourists in France who succumb to Paris Syndrome. The paper titled its piece Paris Leaves Japanese French Fried. Now the New Yorker’s Lauren Collins is on the case, wondering if there’s a New York City version of the syndrome that leaves travelers to the City of Light overwhelmed and in need of psychological treatment. An officer at the Japanese Consulate “does not believe in the existence of Paris syndrome, or, for that matter, a New York strain,” Collins writes, but she does report that Japanese visitors to the Big Apple do have certain traits.
R.I.P. Art Buchwald
by Jim Benning | 01.18.07 | 12:08 PM ET
The famed humorist, who died Wednesday at the age of 81, got his start writing abroad. He once wrote a column called “Paris After Dark” that featured “scraps of offbeat information about Parisian nightlife” for the New York Herald Tribune. His goodbye video (“Hi, I’m Art Buchwald, and I just died”) is up on the New York Times website.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Paris and ‘The Places in Between’
by Michael Yessis | 12.22.06 | 8:02 AM ET
It’s a week of classics—and perhaps emerging classics—here at the Zeitgeist. This week, we travelers are showing our love for Paris, Irish pubs, the Hawaiian islands, the wonders of the world and Rory Stewart’s walk across war-torn Afghanistan.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Paris: 36 Hours
Most Viewed Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Belgium has a ‘War of the Worlds’ Moment
Most Popular Travel Podcast
PodcastAlley (December)
808Talk: Hawaii’s Premier Podcast
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
The Places in Between by Rory Stewart
* The New York Times selected it as one of the top-10 books of 2006, and it’s back on top after Bill Bryson’s nine-week reign.
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (current)
SeatGuru
Most Viewed Story
World Hum (this week)
How to Down a Pint in a Real Irish Pub
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Most Dugg “Travel” Story
Digg (current)
The World’s Top 100 Wonders: How Many Have You Seen?
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (current)
How to Complain Effectively
* Solid advice for holiday travelers.
Most Read Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Storm Snarls Holiday Travel
The Google “I’m Feeling Lucky” Button Travel Zeitgeist Search
And for those who, like me, will be driving for the holidays this weekend, here’s how to survive a blizzard. Safe travels and happy holidays.
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The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Great Wall, Good Grief!
by Michael Yessis | 12.01.06 | 8:50 AM ET
Is the world falling apart? Travelers this week seem concerned that it is, as crumbling attractions in China, England and Cambodia have grabbed our attention. Don’t worry. A man in India has some duct tape, and if he can fix a plane with it, surely he could be handy with it elsewhere. Here’s your Zeitgeist.
Most Viewed Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
The Great Wall, Siem Reap, Stonehenge Getting Too Much Love
Most Blogged Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Saving the Great Wall From Being Loved to Death
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Ski Europe: The Best of the Alps
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (current)
Paris by Night
* A slow-loading but spectacular panorama of the City of Light.
No. 1 World Music Album
iTunes (current)
Loreena McKennitt’s An Ancient Muse
Most Dugg “Travel” Story
Digg (current)
Why Americans Should Never Be Allowed To Travel
* A collection of ridiculous things travel agents have heard from travelers. How ridiculous? This ridiculous: “I had someone ask for an aisle seats so that his or her hair wouldn’t get messed up by being near the window.”
Most Popular Travel Podcast
PodcastAlley (November)
808Talk: Hawaii’s Premier Podcast
Potts: “I Resolved to Explore the Louvre by Seeking Out Every Baby Jesus in the Building”
by Michael Yessis | 11.07.06 | 7:58 AM ET
“Silly as this may sound,” Rolf Potts writes in his latest Traveling Light column on Yahoo!, “it was a fascinating way to ponder the idiosyncrasies of world-class art.” And an alternative to the usual way of seeing the Louvre: making a beeline to the Mona Lisa.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Skimpy Skirts and Thunderbolts
by Michael Yessis | 10.27.06 | 11:30 AM ET
There’s a hint of fear in the air, but, as always, we’re still hitting the road. This week the Zeitgeist leads to Paris, Dubai, Iowa, Mexico City and the most scenic toilet in the world. Let’s go.
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Japanese Tourists Succumb to “Paris Syndrome”
* I’ve seen a bit of coverage of this story this week, and the New York Post gets the best headline award: Paris Leaves Japanese French Fried.
World’s Least Favorite Airline
TripAdvisor (survey)
Ryanair
Most Blogged Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Beyond Skimpy Skirts, a Rare Debate on Identity
* Hassan M. Fattah’s story explores the limits of multiculturalism in Dubai.
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir
* Two weeks in a row at the top for Bryson’s memoir of growing up in 1950s Iowa.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Hotels Ditch Imposing Desks for Friendly ‘Pods’
* Three reasons why: To lure younger customers, to improve employee productivity and, of course, to increase revenue.
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (current)
Farecast
Most Dugg “Travel” Story
Digg (current)
Apple’s Gift to Travelers: Magsafe Airline Power Adapter
Japanese Tourists Succumb to ‘Paris Syndrome’
by Michael Yessis | 10.24.06 | 8:09 AM ET
Or, as the New York Post headline goes, “Paris Leaves Japanese French Fried.” Funny headline for an amusing story—amusing, at least, for everyone but the Japanese travelers who get “Paris Syndrome.” The Post and Reuters, among others, are relaying a story from the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, which claims that “a dozen Japanese tourists a year need psychological treatment after visiting Paris as the reality of unfriendly locals and scruffy streets clashes with their expectations.” Paris Syndrome was first reported in 2004 in a psychiatric journal. According to AA Gill, there is a cure. He writes in the Times: “The cure is called Rome, though there are side effects: it’s very addictive.”