Destination: Paris
John Baxter Likes Him Some ‘Poor Food’
by David Farley | 01.28.09 | 11:07 AM ET
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.
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Yahoo! BuzzSlings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune
by Alexander Basek | 01.23.09 | 2:31 PM ET
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.
Morning Links: ‘Killer Blueline Buses,’ the Idea of America and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.22.09 | 8:07 AM ET
- Revealed: confessions of a hotel housekeeper.
- No little bottle of lotion in your hotel room? No fruit in your breakfast buffet? Blame the economy. Hotels are.
- “Killer blueline buses” pose a dilemma in Delhi: They’re dangerous, but they’re needed.
- MediaShift looks at Phil Balboni’s vision for GlobalPost.
- GlobalPost asks its correspondents “What does the idea of America mean to the world?”
- Newley Purnell posts about Matt Gross and multimedia travel journalism—with a World Hum shout out, too.
- Theodore Dalrymple on the “disturbing reality at a Paris Metro stop.”
- Nathan’s says its flagship hot dog shop will remain in Coney Island. Glad to hear the site of some great childhood memories is being preserved.
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Seven Great Time-Lapse Travel Videos
by Jim Benning | 01.13.09 | 9:09 AM ET
Jim Benning sifts through YouTube's accelerated videos to find the seven best
Europe’s Deep Freeze
by World Hum | 01.09.09 | 2:46 PM ET
REUTERS/Alexandra Beier Winter weather blasted across Europe this past week, creating frigid scenes across the continent.
See the full photo slideshow »
The Three Literary Capitals of the World?
by Eva Holland | 12.22.08 | 12:00 PM ET
Conde Nast Traveler has chosen Berlin, Dublin and Boston as its three best cities for bookworms. They’re all worthy choices, but still, I have to ask: Was this list originally titled, “Three Best Cities for Bookworms, Not Counting Paris and London”?
Happy 100th Birthday, Claude Levi-Strauss
by Jim Benning | 11.25.08 | 2:01 PM ET
The great structural anthropologist celebrates the big 1-0-0 on Friday in Paris. Travel lit readers know him in part from his 1955 travel memoir of sorts, Tristes Tropiques, which begins with the memorable line, “I hate travelling and explorers.” More importantly, as NPR points out, Levi-Strauss “changed the world’s perception of so-called ‘primitive’ tribes in Asia, Africa and America.”
Louvre to Display Abstract Sculpture by TV’s Wally Cleaver?
by Michael Yessis | 11.18.08 | 9:20 AM ET
The AP reports that Tony Dow, Beaver’s brother on the iconic television show “Leave it to Beaver,” will show a piece of his art at the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts exhibition in Paris. San Francisco Chronicle pop culture critic Peter Hartlaub follows up and says Dow’s work will actually be on display at the Carrousel du Louvre Dec. 11-14.
Flushed Down the Toilet: One Passenger’s Arm
by Valerie Conners | 10.28.08 | 8:18 AM ET
A man riding a high speed train in France had to be rescued by emergency workers after dropping his cell phone down the train’s toilet, reaching in to extract it and having his arm trapped by the suction system. Said one witness, “He came out on a stretcher, with his hand still jammed in the toilet bowl, which they had to saw clean off.” Wow.
Paris and Amsterdam Airports Sign Alliance Deal
by Valerie Conners | 10.22.08 | 11:55 AM ET
What will that mean for travelers? By operating as dual-hub airports, they can now offer passengers more flights to more destinations. Of course, Aeroports de Paris—owners of Charles de Gaulle and Orly—and the Schiphol Group made the deal primarily to combat their own financial struggles.
Photo of Charles de Gaulle airport terminal by andrewcparnell via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Louvre, Pompidou Expanding in France and Overseas
by Eva Holland | 10.15.08 | 3:47 PM ET
The two prominent Paris museums have both announced plans for provincial annexes, in Lens and Metz respectively. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi’s “Louvre of the Sands” (which we’ve mentioned before) remains in the works, and a Pompidou outpost will also be popping up in Shanghai.
Photo by ruiwen via Flickr (Creative Commons)
The Paris Greeters: Helping Dispell Notions of ‘Inhospitable Locals’
by Valerie Conners | 10.06.08 | 3:40 PM ET
Ignorant stereotypes, be damned! The Paris Greeters—a group of Parisians intent on showing foreigners that the French are, in fact, friendly—have been spreading warm fuzzies for tourists by providing free tours of the City of Light in nine languages, English included.
Bee Colonies Thrive in Paris. Really, That’s a Good Thing.
by Valerie Conners | 10.03.08 | 12:33 PM ET
A French program to promote beekeeping in cities has yielded at least 300 bee colonies in Paris, some in the unlikeliest of places—like the roofs of hotels and the Paris Opera House.
Singing the Praises of Belleville, Edith Piaf’s Paris
by Jim Benning | 09.12.08 | 11:20 AM ET
Many travelers know Belleville as the Paris neighborhood where they can find Pere Lachaise cemetery. I recall riding the metro out there more than a decade ago, like every other college kid with a Let’s Go, to check out the tombstones of Jim Morrison and Gertrude Stein. But what I didn’t appreciate at the time was that Belleville was also once the home of singer Edith Piaf.
Carry-On? Check. Passport? Check. Dancing Shoes? Er, Check.
by Valerie Conners | 08.06.08 | 5:09 PM ET
Think airport travel is nothing but security lines and baggage nightmares? Not in Paris’s airports, where dance lessons in terminals may soon become de riguer, reports the International Herald Tribune. Aeroports de France has announced that 15-minute dance lessons complete with music and vocal instruction are now offered on summer weekends. Heading to Cuba? Learn to salsa. Buenos Aires? Tango is on the menu, as well.