Paris Valentine

VD is 2 weeks away and you haven't planned anything yet?? Here is a last minute promo for you romantics with the ability to get "way" away! Do something different!

Paris - roundtrip NYC-CDG: from $432/person
Airport transfers - arrive in style: $93
Hotel with free night in chic St Germain: $75/person/night with breakfast included
Special Valentine's Dinner Cruise on the Seine: $171

Now, if I lived on the east coast or within 5 hours of Paris, I'd be there! At this time of year, I'd probably go at least monthly because it is such a good deal. If you lived in London, this is STEAL as prices in Paris are much more affordable! Here are some details of the cruise:

Dinner Cruise on Valentine’s Day
Kir with “blancs de blancs” sparkling white wine
Duo of olive appetizers

followed by:
Marriage of foie gras and Indian Spices with toast

followed by:
Cushion of ginger-flavored veal, light polenta in the colors of love

followed by:
Fine Cheese

followed by:
An affair of passion fruit and soft chocolate

served with:
Champagne Pommery (one bottle for 2 people)
Or
Macon-Fuissé – Domaine JL Aegerter – 2005 (one bottle for 2 people)
Fronsac – Chateau Jeandeman – 2004 (one bottle for 2 people)

also included:
Mineral water, coffee

Optional Prices per person:
Service Etoile: $171
Service Select: $198
Service Premier: $222

Boarding starts at 7:30pm, departure at 8:30pm. Return to quay at 11pm, end of
evening at midnight. Entertainment by three musicians and one singer.

Going Carbon Neutral

Global warming - fact or fiction? No serious person with any knowledge on the matter doubts the validity of global warming as an occuring fact at this time. There may be some debate about exact causes and long term effects as well as irreversibility, but nobody can dispute that something needs to change with the way humans live on this planet. Carbon fuels are 19th century technology and are long past their prime. Changes in the way every human conducts his/her life are required - globally. People and businesses in the richest economies have to take the lead in order to develop alternative energies and alternative lifestyles. That is not to say that anyone has to give up a quality of life that the modern world has come to provide, just that a different way of thinking and living is now an imperative.

I think I could go on an on about this, but this is just a lead up to say that our company is putting up money to back up this talk. I personally live this way, but I have take the company one step further in 2007 and made the commitment to buy carbon offsets for the operation of our cycling and hiking tours that make them CARBON NEUTRAL. Ok, carbon contributions from a cycling and hiking tour are very small by comparison aren't they?! Of course, but in total we are buying $9000 worth of offsets to meet this objective and that isn't negligible in my book. (or in my pocketbook!)

We have hooked up with Sustainable Travel International www.sustainabletravelinternational.org to help us manage our carbon neutrality. On their website are show examples of projects funded by the carbon offset purchases.

We are doing this first as a responsible company, hopefully to help keep momentum going in this direction and to help increase awareness of what is possible other small businesses. A secondary objective - and it truly is secondary - is that more and more consumers are looking for this kind of company to do their business with. I encourage consumers to browse the STI website and other similar websites to know that your purchases are doing good for the future of our species.

Best,

L

New Cycling Tour in Holland for 2007

Cycling in Holland is as natural as yodeling in Switzerland; everyone does it! Actually, I have never yodeled, I'm not even sure that is a correct spelling. But, I have cycled in Holland and it is all that it is cracked up to be.

Throughout Holland, you will see bicycles wherever you look. This is not a strange phenomenon, knowing that 15 million people own approximately 12 million bicycles. The Dutch use the bicycle as a way of transportation rather than just for recreation. It is common to use the bike for daily shopping and to commute to work and school.

You will find clearly marked bicycle routes (direction pointers with red lettering on white backgrounds) throughout Holland. There are many special lanes and paths for cyclists with a total length of approximately 11,000 miles!

Special Routes for Cyclists: These lanes, recognizable by the round blue sign with a white bicycle in the middle, will take you through some of the most attractive regions of Holland. In many parts, you will find superbly indicated special routes for cyclists. Many companies specialize in the rent and repair of bicycles. Special events for cyclists are regularly organized. In short, Holland is a 'cyclist-friendly' country with a climate characterized by mild winters and comfortable summers.

Flat country: Another important aspect is that Holland is generally flat with only an occasional hill. This makes the country ideal for even longer tours and also allows the youngest and the oldest member of the family to participate. While cycling through Holland you will notice wide-open spaces like the polders, beautiful forests, colorful bulb fields, attractive towns and picturesque villages. En route there are plenty of opportunities to take a rest at terraces of restaurants and cafes, specially built picnic areas or anywhere along the side of the road.

Louvre Museum "Selling its Soul"

I forward the following article that was sent to me from a reader of Expatica.

Given that a lot of the art in the big western museums comes (taken?) from other places, I wonder why it is such a big deal to share it around a little? I am asking a rhetorical question of course!!



By Emma Charlton – PARIS
The head of the Paris Louvre was forced on Monday to fight off accusations that France's most prestigious museum is "selling its soul" by agreeing to loan out its prized collections overseas.
At the core of the row is a project to create a satellite of the Louvre in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi, to be built by 2012 on Saadiyat Island, the future site of a multi-billion dollar tourist resort.
For the right to use the Louvre's brand name, expertise and artwork, Abu Dhabi is reportedly poised to sign a 500-million-euro (650-million-dollar) contract with the French government in the coming weeks.
For some in France, alarmed to see their treasured heritage leaving the country following a string of overseas tie-ups by major French museums, the glitzy Abu Dhabi project was the last straw.
Under the title, "Museums are not for sale", three art world heavyweights including Francoise Cachin, head of France's national museum council, set the ball rolling with a fiery article in Le Monde newspaper last month.
By Monday, some 1,400 people including dozens of museum directors, curators and art historians had signed an online petition supporting the text, according to the French website La Tribune de L'Art (www.latribunedelart.com).
"Works belonging to our heritage are not consumer goods," the article read, dismissing the Abu Dhabi project as a gimmick for rich property developers that would deprive the Louvre's 7.3 million annual visitors in Paris.
The article also slammed the decision to loan out works, including by the 17th-century French painter Nicolas Poussin and the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, as part of a three-year partnership between the Louvre and the US city of Atlanta -- "the rich city of Coca-Cola".
But the real bone of contention is the Abu Dhabi Louvre, one of five museums to be built on Saadiyat island, a vast complex of 29 luxury hotels, two golf courses, three marinas and thousands of private villas, set for completion in 2018.
One museum will be a branch of New York's Guggenheim, which already operates five annexes, from Venice to Las Vegas, while the others will be a national musuem, and maritime and Islamic arts museums.
The French government -- which manages all of France's national museums -- has reportedly agreed to supply a series of complete exhibitions, drawn from the Louvre and other French museums, until the UAE has established its own collection, on which it plans to spend 1.5 billion dollars.
"Our political leaders went to offer up this royal and diplomatic gift, -- in exchange for close to one billion euros. Does that not amount to 'selling one's soul'?" the article asked.
The petitioners, who suspect the government of merely seeking to further French trade interests with Abu Dhabi, urged it to "stop treating French museums, and the Louvre in particular, as a reservoir of works that can be used for political, financial or financial ends."
But the Louvre's director Henri Loyrette defended the museum's overseas strategy on Monday, saying it could not afford to be left behind as other museums become increasingly global in outlook.
In addition to the Guggenheim, both the British Museum and London's Victoria and Albert Museum have created tie-ups with museums in China, and more and more French museums are following suit.
Paris's Pompidou centre contemporary art museum is to open an annex in Shanghai in the next few years, and the Rodin Museum is reported to be planning a branch in the Brazilian city of Salvador.
"I can't see what all the fuss is about," Loyrette said. "Money is important, but that is not what drives our actions."
He also insisted the Louvre did not take fees for lending out individual works -- despite the costs of doing so -- and only accepted money in certain cases when it is supplying a complete exhibition to an outside museum.
In the case of the Louvre Atlanta project, he said the loan fees of 5.5 million euros would be used to renovate the Louvre's decorative arts galleries.

Alpes Traverse

More and more people it seems are looking for big challenges - especially as they age. I'm no exception. It is because of this trend, that older people are stronger and more fit that Cycling Classics does so well. Our challenging tours are starting to be almost timid for some!

Consider this new route we are exploring to make into a guided or even self-guided tour:

Route des Grandes Alpes

From Thonon Les Bains on the shores of Lac Leman to the shores of Menthon on the Med; this route crosses:

18 mountain passes including Aravis, Galibier, Izoard, among others and travels 700 km. The sites lists some lodging stops as well, note it is in French, but the pictures tell the story. We should have a program to announce along this route in the coming months!

L

Paris "Sales" To Start Soon

This from our latest press release - interesting bit of info about the "sales season" in France. Very curious to many Americans and other nationalities I'm sure:

No time for the January blues to set in once the end-of-year holiday festivities have drawn to a close. In Paris, the sales season known simply as "les soldes" will be inaugurated on January 10 and you can be sure eager shoppers will be lined up in the Paris drizzle waiting to rush their favorite department store. What makes this French version of the after-Christmas sale so special? For one thing, sale events in France don't crop up at each holiday occasion, but instead get concentrated into a month in winter ("soldes d'hiver") and the better part of the month of July ("soldes d'été"). While some stores will run promotions at other times of the year, the word sale is not allowed into the French retail lexicon outside of these two defined periods, under threat of fine from governmental authorities. Most UK and US visitors shake their head in disbelief at the thought that Big Brother is meddling in everyday mercantile exchanges for items that remain in the realm of garments and household appliances. Yet, a State agency, with a name that goes something like General Directorate for Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control, is empowered to monitor that all shopkeepers and retailers strictly abide by these measures and it's up to the local prefects to decide on which date the sales must cease and how deep the discount can actually be, whether 30, 40 or 50% off. So much for the free market… You may think that all these shopping rules and regulations are in place out of a genuine, although overly-authoritarian, concern to protect the consumer, yet in reality France's read on consumerism is to make sure that luring customers does not breed disloyal competition to the detriment of smaller boutiques and shops. This governmental protection of the retailer goes hand in hand with legislation designed to safeguard small independent manufacturers and agricultural producers, both of whom provide a tremendous source of France's economic prestige. So my advice to American visitors is to stop shaking your head, embrace this everlasting French tradition and treat yourselves to the experience of "les grands magasins"…


A tour naturally starts with the boulevard Haussmann near the original Paris Opera House, where Les Galeries Lafayette with its chic Art Nouveau interior and two short blocks away Le Printemps reign with enough fashion for all budgets to rival Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Saks, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom's combined with a European flair all their own. Closer to the Seine, another Paris institution La Samaritaine offers shoppers a handsome late 19th-century setting to pick up something elegant and why not enjoy a snack or coffee from the store's rooftop terrace and take in one of the city's best views (be advised store renovation works are still underway). Rounding out the list of places where true Parisians shop would be the granddaddy of them all Le Bon Marché, the left bank's only major department store and renowned in addition to its apparel and decoration for a sumptuous food court. And then how could one pass up come sales time the occasion to stroll the world's most beautiful avenue, les Champs-Elysées, just a couple metro stops away.


Organizing Paris stays is Discover France's stock-in-trade. Resource people on the ground are continually updating our online databases with good value-for-money hotels offering typical Parisian charm. Our listings for day tours in and around the capital at affordable prices and ongoing availability of museum passes, metro tickets and comprehensive visitor services make us your gate to Paris, for shopping or any other travel desire.