Whales in the Med? It's True!

I had no idea there were whales in the Med! Or that you could get up close and personal with them on day cruises. So I was delighted to find out just recently that every Sunday between June 17 and October 31, Decouverte du Vivant offers Naturalist Discovery Cruises in the Med aboard the boat La Croix du Sud V. During the nine-hour voyage you're likely to see striped dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, Risso's dolphins, pilot whales, sperm whales and the second largest animal on the planet, the fin whale. You can also expect to encounter seabirds, sunfish, loggerhead turtles, bluefin tuna, bonito and swordfish. Cruises depart from Sanary sur Mer in the Var at 9:30 am and return at 6 pm. Prices: 55€ (under 12), 66€ (students, teens, groups of ten or more); 78€ (adult) per person.  

http://www.decouverteduvivant.fr/accueil.html
Sanary-sur-Mer ( just east of Bandol) is probably the sunniest place in France.

Paris Grand Palais - A Photo History and a Creme Cafe, Maybe?

Not that I am big on musuem restaurants or cafes, but at the Grand Palais, I must admit I do like the new cafe.Inside the Grand Palais, there is a brand new café,Starting with breakfast, the place serves food all day: at lunch try the 20€ prix-fixe menu (main, glass of wine, coffee), or nibble between 3-7pm on a range of indulgent snacks, such as a Foie gras, popcorn and caramel balsamic remoulade (7€), or the Upside-down lemon tart (7€). A la carte at lunch or dinner might propose prawns à la plancha or rumsteak (28€). But the restaurant’s magnificent stone terrace, decorated with elaborate columns and friezes, rivals that of the Café Marly, and competes with the cosmopolitan menu for your attention. Inside is sobre and spacious, brightened up with splashes of colorful cushions, and large spy holes through to the interior of the Grand Palais. After 11.30 the place turns into a ‘lounge’, a place to hang out and drink cocktails (12€-15€)

Here are some important updates if you are planning to visit Le Mont St. Michel and the Eiffel Tower this year and next:

Le Mont St Michel:
There are big changes here that you need to build quite a bit of extra time into your day. The parking area is a good 45-minute walk to the entrance, and the same for the way back. That makes it an hour and a half, in addition to the site visit. Also, there is a great deal of walking involved; if anyone has difficulty, then it will be a challenge... even if you are walking from the parking lot to the shuttle and then between the shuttle drop-off point and Le Mont St Michel. It’s about 300 yards each way.

The Eiffel Tower:
My latest information is that there is still only one working elevator. But, the good news is that tickets can once again be pre-booked... although there are fewer than normal because of the elevator situation. As of right now, tickets can be pre-booked until September 1 (June is sold out and much of July, as well). Please be sure to check the website regularly since things seem to be changing all the time. http://www.eiffel-tower.com
Attention: When you buy tickets for the very top of the Eiffel Tower, you will not be able to bypass the queue on the second floor for the elevator that takes you to the top.

A Secret Corner of Avignon to Find Some Serenity

                                 
Near the Palace of the Popes in Avignon (during the summer, in the heat of Avignon, the old city can be packed with hundreds and hundreds of tourists ), so just off the main square, there is a lovely little tea-room tucked away in a 15th century chapel and its garden next to the Musee du Petit Palais (you don't have to stump up the museum admission charge to get in.) It is a marvelous sea of tranquility a stone's throw from the tourist crowd. It is named Autour d'un Thé ( a journey over or around tea), They serve home-made patisserie and light lunches every day, apart from Tuesday,and the weekend Themed brunches here are terrific ( reservations required).
( there is also seating inside)

You're The Top - 1930's Musuem in Paris

The Thirties was a time of intense creations. Crazy years of economic prosperity and intense boiling of technics, industrials, socials, architechturals and artistics innovations.

Boulogne was the main place  in Paris for this time: The Thirties' Museum  ( musee des Annees 30) is a unique place that makes it possible to travel in this special world. In the 1930s, Boulogne was one of the most dynamic towns in France. It was here, just on the edge of the capital, that the film-makers Abel Gance, Marcel Carné and Jean Renoir and the architects Le Corbusier, Mallet Stevens and Tony Garnier came to live or work… It was also in Boulogne that several automobile and aeronautical industries based themselves, including Renault.
Based on souvenirs from this important period in the history of Boulogne – photos, posters, objects as well as paintings and sculptures – the Musée des Années 30 (Museum of the 1930s) attempts to retrace the artistic fervor and technological dynamism which marked the inter-war period in France.
Today, the museum holds about 1,500 sculptures, 800 paintings, and 20,000 drawings, plus furniture, ceramics, posters, and original records. It also contains a number of African and overseas works from the former Musée national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, as well as works by architects Le Corbusier, Tony Garnier, André Lurçat, Robert Mallet-Stevens, Auguste Perret, and Jean Prouvé; designers Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann and Js Leleu; and notable residents including André Malraux.
Who else in the world of Music and culture, personified that era better than songwriter Cole Porter.

Louis XIV railway carriages take to Paris-Versailles line

Possibly the most glamorous local railway carriages in the world started operating on Wednesday between Paris and Versailles. They may look like any old beat-up railway train on the outside but inside they are decorated with reproductions of interiors from the royal château of Versailles. For the modest price of a local network ticket passengers travelling to Versailles, just outside Paris, will have a décor fit for a king. The château’s world-famous royal apartments built by Louis XIV, Louis XVI’s library and similar sumptuous scenes started running Wednesday. The others will all be in operation by the end of the year. The line carries 550,000 passengers every day, 10 per cent of the regional network’s traffic, partly thanks to tourists visiting the Sun King’s palace. Unfortunately, its confusing layout means that many end up in Versailles’ other station, Versailles-Chantiers, which is some distance from the palace and its gardens, or even in the gritty northern outskirts of Paris, which have no known royal attributes.
So the local rail network has inserted the word Château into the name of the right station, Versailles Rive gauche and added the extra charm of carriages which are also travelling artistic reproductions. The decorations are not expected to satisfy complaints about the trains’ punctuality or overcrowding during rush hours but officials hope that their beauty will discourage vandalism. Just in case its doesn’t, their tag resistant and damaged panels should be replaced within two years.
The network’s employees will not be required to wear powdered wigs.

Sunday Dancing in Paris

For a real treat, get yourself down to Rue Mouffetard, for the weekly dancing that takes place on SUNDAYS at the lower end of the street, just in front of the Saint-Medard Church. If you don't want to kick up your heels, then just sing along as lyric sheets are passed out and then afterwards, have a cafe and take in the ' real' Paris.

Breaking News- Parisian Cat Runs Five Star Hotel Le Bristol

If you’ve got more than $1000 bucks a night to spend on a hotel in Paris, make it the Hotel le Bristol. Actually call me, as maybe I can get you a deal there. As Protravel is a preferred partner with the hotel.

For it’s there you’ll find Fa-Raon (French for Pharoah), the elegant Birman cat chat who runs the hotel. Fa-Raon has had more than his share of celebrity, having brushed paws with the likes of Angelina and Brad and Leonardo. But ever the proper Frenchcat, he treats everyone with the same measure of hauty disdain, moments before his purr rumbles to a roar and he dispenses the requisite head bonks.
Like most cats, Fa-Raon has a Blog:
bloghttp://lebristolparisconcierges.blogspot.com/search/label/Fa-raon%27s%20Diary
At the end of the day with blogging and guest-tending duties completed, you’ll find Fa-Raon chillaxin at the concierge’s desk:

Enter a Lactose Induced Coma at Bordier's Best Butter In France Shop

All of France agrees that the best butter by far is made in the historic port city of St Malo on the west coast of France by the irrepressible Breton chef, Jean-Yves BORDIER. You will find his butter at all the great restaurants in France. He makes it the old fashioned way and turns out many varieties (in fact his little bistro near his shop has a butter menu, but why should I tell you about it, when you can see him in the video first hand..

Paris is the most expensive city in the world for ordering a club sandwich

Although I love everything French, I am always exposed to be an American ( to my French friends) in my love (since is was 21 years old) for a cold Martini and a Club Sandwich. Not that I don't love Foie Gras with anything mind you, but 'put to the wall' Its the Club sandwich that is my first love when it comes to sandwiches.
According to a survey of 750 hotels in 26 countries, Paris is the most expensive city in the world for ordering a club sandwich. After surveying the price of the iconic triple-decker sandwich among three to five-star properties around the world, Paris, Geneva and Oslo emerged as the most expensive -- and therefore -- the priciest cities to visit, according to online booking site Hotels.com. Their Club Sandwich Index (CSI) is meant to serve as a barometer of travel costs for globetrotters planning their upcoming vacations. Here are the averages prices of a club sandwich -- a staple on nearly every hotel menu -- around the world: Country / City Average Club Sandwich Price (USD) France - Paris $33.10
 Switzerland - Geneva $32.56 Norway - Oslo $30.50 Japan - Tokyo $27.65 Italy - Rome $24.22 Finland - Helsinki $22.66 Sweden - Stockholm $22.14 Australia - Canberra $19.76 Denmark - Copenhagen $18.87 UK - London $18.71 Hong Kong $18.35 South Korea - Seoul $18.06 Germany - Berlin $17.77 Brazil - Brasilia $17.77 USA - New York $16.93 Holland - Amsterdam $16.64 Russia - Moscow $16.38 Spain - Madrid $16.20 Canada - Toronto $16.05 Ireland - Dublin $15.57 Singapore $14.79 China - Beijing $14.48 Colombia - Bogota $14.09 Argentina - Buenos Aires $10.71 Mexico - Mexico City $10.19 India - New Delhi $9.57