It's been open for ten years, but a UK Times report has only just alerted us to the existence of the Cité de l'Espace or City of Space, a space-themed amusement park near Toulouse, France which sounds surprisingly well worth visiting.
Along with full scale models of the Mir space station and a couple of rockets, there are also heaps of different interactive exhibits that give you a better idea of how life is for astronauts in space. Children get to do astronaut training courses, you can drive a replica of an American space scooter and of course there's some suitably tasteless space food to try.
The Times reviewer also checked out the on-site restaurant, and was pleased that the French version of space had good wine, even if the food was a bit questionable. Luckily if you've had a couple of glasses of French vino, even space food tastes good.
How can we not keep thinkin' of love on Valentine's Day? We already figured out--a little sadly--that Paris is the ciy of arguments, if not a damn fine place to break up with your other half, at least for the British. But all is not lost with the we-thought-they-were-romantic French, because Singles Week at Avoriaz Ski Resort exists.
Yep, the UK Times checked out a special Singles Week in the French Alps. The travelers are all singles who've found out about the week through one of a variety of online dating sites, like the UK's Dating Direct.
Single you come, and single you might well leave unless you get really lucky, but in the middle of your week in France you definitely won't be lonely. Various games and activities are set up to help people get to know each other (there's a "musical snowball fight" for example), and big meals and plenty of booze help things along.
Being Europe, you may find yourself attracted to someone who doesn't speak your language--about two thirds of the last Singles Week participants were French-speakers--but the language of love is international, right?
Last week it was the New York Times suggesting we head to Italy to make tortellini in Bologna. And this week it's the UK Times pointing us in the direction of southwest France to brush up both our cooking and our language skills in the town of Brantôme.
Just like we've said, learning holidays seem like the big thing for 2008. And these cooking and language "escapes", as they call them, at La Borderie de la Cole, kill two birds with one stone. Three, maybe. Learn to cook, brush up your French skills and eat decadent French meals cooked by the chef who's trying to teach you how to make Hollandaise.
This is one of those cooking classes where the students follow the chef to the markets: In the Times story, the chef picks an eggplant half eaten by a slug, because he says that proves it is sweet and chemical-free. Ingredients in hand, you'll then all don aprons and hats to chop veges, peel apples and roll pastry. All the while looking out for eggplant-eating slugs, of course.
Starting today, the only places you can legally smoke in France are private homes and open-air public spaces. About 70 percent of the French public thinks the ban is a good idea. But there's at least one way around the prohibition.
Christophe Cadet, who owns Cafe 203 in Lyon, plans to flout the ban in the name of performance art. Patrons will be allowed to smoke, he says, between noon and 2 pm. He's put up a banner reading:
Cultural and social experimental zone: You are exposing yourself to the threat of second-hand smoke.
Cadet plans to endure the government fines--of up to $1,100--by selling ashtrays. Knowing how popular smoking is in French cafes, we're guessing he'll also rake in tons of sales for those two cig-friendly hours.
France isn't the only place kicking the habit in 2008. A wide-ranging indoor smoking ban Chicago--and the rest of Illinois--started at 12:01 am on January 1. While some locals don't like being told they can't smoke, others are loving it. One woman even came up with a new name for New Year's: "Happy no more smoking in bars day." Guess we shouldn't expect any civil disobedience from Chicago, then?
Our Eat 'n Sleep feature profiles a restaurant in a random city and a hotel nearby. It's kinda like that old show "Dinner and a Movie" but you know, with restaurants and hotels. And better jokes.
According to American study abroad students, Roule ma Poule is one of the best restaurants off the beaten path in Montpellier. The restaurant, set in a tranquil and sunny square, is ideal for warm fall afternoons. Inside, motorbike paraphernalia lines the walls. Visitors can choose from a selection of salads and other dishes. And with a mainly student/faculty clientele from the University of Montpellier, the food is cheap.
Our Eat 'n Sleep feature profiles a restaurant in a random city and a hotel nearby. It's kinda like that old show "Dinner and a Movie" but you know, with restaurants and hotels. And better jokes.
When one finds herself inside a city surrounded by cement walls, she tends to have only a small selection of eating and sleeping options. Of the three hotels in southern France's Carcassonne, the largest fortified city in Europe, we like Hotel de la Cite best. Because about three million tourists come to see this thriving town-in-a-box, the cost of a night's stay rivals larger cities' rates. Prices start at about €275 ($381) a night in low season for the basic rooms. Expect to pay about €1,025 a night for high-season suite.
Since the building is, oh, about a thousand years old, layouts and sizes of the 40 guestrooms and 21 suites vary, but all the guests usually lounge on the outdoor patios overlooking the city. Italy's Vanity Fair tells us Johnny Depp stayed there last year. Now there's one expat who knows his France.
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by amandak
