Destination: Paris

Rising Fuel Prices, the Paris Air Show and More

Rising Fuel Prices, the Paris Air Show and More Photo by Clinton Steeds, via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by Clinton Steeds, via Flickr (Creative Commons)

What’s the fuel bill to fly a 757-200 across the country, from New York to Los Angeles?

About $21,600.

That, at least, was the cost of the fuel burned on a recent transcontinental Delta flight I was on, according to the flight’s captain. Out of 7,500 gallons of fuel on board, we burned about 6,760 gallons.

Clearly, the price of fuel is hugely important for airlines. And rising prices aren’t helping.

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Paris, France

Paris, France REUTERS//Charles Platiau

A group of tourists pass by Les Invalides on a guided Segway tour of Paris

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The Book Bench: ‘Let’s all Move to Berlin’

The Book Bench: ‘Let’s all Move to Berlin’ Photo by wit via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by wit via Flickr (Creative Commons)

I’ve had a longtime fascination with the Parisian expat writers of the 1920s. Books like “A Moveable Feast” or “That Summer in Paris” never fail to make me wish I was sitting in a Left Bank cafe, making a cup of coffee last for hours while I wrestle with a short story or pause to chat with other struggling writers who’ve wandered by.

Of course, Paris is hardly the place for impoverished creative types anymore, but—say the New Yorker’s Book Bench bloggers—there’s a viable European alternative if I ever decide to attempt a modern-day recreation of my Hemingway daydreams: Berlin.

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Where Will Dan Brown Go Next?

Where Will Dan Brown Go Next? Publicity still from "Angels and Demons" (via IGN)
Publicity still from “Angels and Demons” (via IGN)

Looks like the bestselling author has been keeping busy. While we’ve been pondering the “Angels and Demons” boycotts and bus tours, Brown has been hard at work on his next novel—and now, his publisher has finally announced its impending release.

“The Lost Symbol” will hit stores in September with a staggering first print run of 5 million copies, the largest in Random House history. Naturally, Columbia Pictures—the studio behind the first two Brown adaptations—wasted no time snapping up the film rights.

But with all the excitement, I’m left wondering: what, exactly, are we waiting for? Where will Robert Langdon (and the resulting hordes of movie tourists) go next?

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What Can You Still See in Paris on $5 a Day?

What Can You Still See in Paris on $5 a Day? iStockPhoto

Doug Mack explores the City of Light with a classic 1960s Frommer's guidebook -- and a little willful ignorance

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Five Best Mood-Matching Museums

Five Best Mood-Matching Museums (c) Sam Buxton, courtesy Kinetica

What kind of art do you feel like today? Hayden Foreman-Smith knows where to go to match any mood.

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‘Le Sandwich’ on the Rise in Paris

‘Le Sandwich’ on the Rise in Paris Photo by ferminet via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Good news for Paris-bound travelers on a budget: tough times mean the lowly sandwich—never a French staple—is becoming more and more readily available. Writes This Just In’s Meg Zimbeck: “The French are finding it increasingly difficult to justify the time and expense of a sit-down lunch. Restaurant groups say that the sit-down trade has plummeted by about 20 percent, while ‘le sandwich ne connait pas la crise’—the sandwich knows no crisis.” The blog post includes a list of tasty (pear-walnut-Roquefort sandwich, anyone?) and affordable bakeries where you can get your budget lunching started.


Morning Links: Paris Celebrates Voids, Favellywood, the Travel Bug and More

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Morning Links: The Belgian Flair for Comics, New Orleans Street Theater and More

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One Traveling Man’s Weak-Dollar Dating Survival Kit

With superior dentistry and monolingual charm, you too can pick up women overseas. Rolf Potts gets all Maxim magazine.

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Morning Links: Paul Theroux Spits From Trains, Swimsuit Issue Locales and More

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John Baxter Likes Him Some ‘Poor Food’

In the latest issue of Food & Wine magazine, prolific author John Baxter waxes in the travel column about his history with “poor food,” taking us first to a long stew-filled meal at a rural tavern on a Greek island, then to his childhood in Australia, and Paris. The most unlikely experience: Christmas dinner at the Georgetown house of a government official who had lost his job due to a change in administrations. Baxter doesn’t say it—though I suppose it’s implied—but we don’t need a downturn in the economy to see that “poor food” has managed to quietly work its way into eaters’ appetites of all incomes these days. Which—in all its irony—is a good thing. Pub grub, soul food, most of the Italian food we know and love, and the current hankering for all things street food (being served at upscale restaurants around the country) all sprang from the same place: necessity. 


Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune

singapore Photo via yeowatzup via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo via yeowatzup via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Over at the Hotel Hotsheet, Kitty Bean Yancey is up in arms about the cost of a Singapore Sling at the Raffles in, er, Singapore. Kitty is making a larger point about “hotel sticker shock,” but for our purposes, a pricey Singapore Sling is a fine example of something that’s a struggle for any frequent traveler: the paradox of drinking at the bar of a landmark hotel. 

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Morning Links: ‘Killer Blueline Buses,’ the Idea of America and More

nathan's hot dog Photo by hellochris, via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by hellochris, via Flickr (Creative Commons)

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Seven Great Time-Lapse Travel Videos

Jim Benning sifts through YouTube's accelerated videos to find the seven best

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