A romantic Paris hotel is a sequestered cocoon from which we can conjure imaginative stories about our fellow travelers. These may or may not be true. Few would argue that there is no better place to be in the City of Light than a romantic Paris hotel with the one you love. The appeal would be far, far less without its temporary nature, of course. Others who share the space during your stay will move on, just as you. But for a brief interlude, you'll have something in common: a sequestered Continue Reading
High Speed Train Travel: Paris-Zurich Aboard TGV Lyria
TGV Lyria is the high speed train from Paris to Zurich We'd been looking forward to christening the train travel portion of our latest trip to Europe aboard TGV Lyria. This high speed train from Paris to Zurich was part of a transportation-packed day which ended in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse, literally "high speed train"), a subsidiary of the French National Railway system (SNCF), was envisioned in the 1970's. Over the next 30 years, high speed rail networks developed Continue Reading
Paris in Winter Has a Perfectly Lovely Patina
We had one full day in Paris in winter. Tempting as it would have been to load an agenda furiously full, we went unscripted. January had washed Paris in a misty sepia. We set out on the relatively short walk from our Trocadero hotel toward the Eiffel Tower, inhaling the city and saying very little. As we ascended the Tower, the patina of Paris in winter further softened. It lay before us like a painting, shrouded, mysterious, subdued. Along the Quai Continue Reading
European Luxury Hotels: A Month of Affordable Stays!
How could we afford a month in European luxury hotels? We're transitioning back to Kauai after over a month in Europe and Russia. More than one person has wondered just how could we afford a month, staying as we did at quite a few European luxury hotels, enjoying more than one comprehensive excursion, and traveling to a dozen countries or more? We most definitely are not wealthy, but that doesn't stop us from preferring the comforts associated with high end experiences. We're not the first Continue Reading
The Perfect Proposal
If a unique proposal is what you're looking for, then look no further than Las Vegas. Cheap flights to Las Vegas ensure that you have extra money to spend on choosing the perfect ring, hotel and dreaming up the perfect way to propose to your partner. Las Vegas is awash with simply amazing places in which to propose. Everything about it screams fantasy land. The lights on the famous Las Vegas Strip and the giant replicas of world landmarks just add to the magic of the place. However you choose Continue Reading
Bringing a Bit of Paris Back Home
This is a guest post from Catherine Lavinia. Are you a compulsive souvenir collector? Do you spend far too much of your holiday combing the visitor gift shops for souvenirs and presents to bring back for friends family and work colleagues? If so you have our sympathy; it is a very difficult habit to break. However many times we visit Paris there is always something we feel compelled to bring back home; though far too much of it seems to have an image of the Eiffel tower printed or embossed on Continue Reading