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Another Month, Another French Transportation Strike

The week of your trip to Paris has finally arrived, and you’re fully packed and ready to go. There’s just one problem that might screw up your plans, as there might be a little bit of a transportation strike.

French unions are calling for a travel strike beginning today, but don’t worry, the country is still going to be open for business. It just might take a little more patience if you’re getting there by plane. The plan is a four-day strike across all sectors of the country’s aviation services, so that means back-up plans and deep breaths area required if you’re flying through or to spots like Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.

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Travel Snapshot / Paris Travel / France Travel / Eiffel Tower / Landmarks / Souvenirs / → All Tags

Paris Says Its, Uh, Monument is Bigger Than New York's

Someone's got issues.

That was our second thought when we saw this postcard in prime position at a Paris newsagent. Our first thought was "what the hell, is this a Vegas postcard or something?"

No, it seems that size really does matter to Parisians. Not only do they feel the need to boast about the size of their, uh, tower by plastering it in all its phallic glory over every piece of tourist tat, but also they're fully invested in the "our monument is more monumental than your monument" game, even though—yes—this Statue of Liberty does exist in Paris, though realistically on a far smaller scale. We can thank Photoshop for this fantasy depiction.

Poor old Lady Liberty. What we need now is for Dubai to make a similar postcard pitting Monsieur Eiffel up against the Burj Khalifa. That'll make the Parisian smugness wilt just a little.

[Photo: juliab]

Wish You Were Here / Paris Travel / France Travel / Travel Snapshot / → All Tags

Wish You Were Here: The Sixth Floor of the Pompidou Centre, Paris

Paris in the spring time may be lovely and all, but it's not all that. That's the opinion we formed spending this weekend experiencing Paris in the winter.

Cold it was—bitterly cold—for this level of Europe at least. On Saturday at least; yesterday, in reaction to Saturday, we wore eight (yes, eight) layers, and predictably, it warmed up enough to make five or six totally manageable.

But the upside of the chill was that there wasn't a cloud in the piercing blue sky, meaning the sun was able to flood the streets. The riverbanks too; check out the delightful walk we took along the Seine at lunchtime.

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Food Travel / Foreign Grocery Friday / Paris Travel / France Travel / → All Tags

Foreign Grocery Friday: The Spaghetti Bolognese Chips of Paris

Mmmm, chips. Mmmmm, spaghetti bolognese. Mmmm, spaghetti bolognese-flavoured chips. What?

Yes, spaghetti bolognese chips are what we found ourselves eating in Paris recently. Mainly out of morbid curiosity—we assumed they’d be inedible. But in fact…

The taste: Well we’re not going to say they were amazing. They weren’t. But hey, it’s very rare that a chip is inedible. We’ve had tomato-flavored chips before and these were similar, just with a kick of herbs, which actually wasn’t bad. Still, we won’t be rushing to buy them on our next trip. No, we’ll go for the cheeseburger or pepperoni pizza one next time. Mmm, cheeseburger chips.

The price: Cheap. Like 2-3 Euros for a full-size bag, to satisfy the snack appetites of several people.

Where to find them: Corner stores around Paris, likely next to the "fromage" flavor. They really aren't all that rare, but it does take a little open-mindedness to go for these over the more recognizable chip varieties.

[Photo: juliab]

The Jauntys / Jaunted Awards 2011 / Travel Awards 2011 / Movie Set Travel / Paris Travel / Owen Wilson / → All Tags

The Best Travel Movie of 2011 Is...

It's that time of the year again, the time when the year just plain ends. Alas, we can't just let 2011 go that easily, especially since travelers spent it both up in the air and up in arms over a crazy range of topics, encompassing everything from nudie scans to tarmac delays. Needless to say, we're ready for 2012, but first we're taking a brief look back at the best of 2011 with the Jaunted Travel Awards,—or as we fondly refer to them—The Jauntys.

With so many travel-centic movies hitting the big screen in 2011, like We Bought A Zoo, The Hangover 2, Contagion, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (which is part of a series that inspired not only an amusement park, but also a museum), and Tower Heist (which was filmed almost entirely in one of NYC's best hotels), it was hard to choose the Best Travel Movie of 2011, but in the end there was really only one ideal choice.

This year, the Best Travel Movie has to be Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. It's hard to watch a Woody Allen movie, whether it's one of his more recent projects like Vicky Cristina Barcelona or a classic like Manhattan, and not want to hop on the next flight to that city, and Midnight in Paris is no different.

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Paris Travel / Transportation / Taxis / Free Stuff / Cars / → All Tags

Tuk-Tuk Taxis Have Arrived in Paris (and They're Free)

There’s plenty of cheap—and electric—cars roaming the streets in and around Paris these days, but now there’s a new type of public transportation arriving in the City of Lights. Tuk-Tuk taxis are most common over in Southeast Asia, but a fleet of free-to-use vehicles are now available to tourists and locals alike.

An optimistic entrepreneur has brought 20 or so of the vehicles into town, and there’s like 150 different places to jump aboard around the city. The operation is newly up and running, and the taxis are scheduled to do their thing each and every day of the week.

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Museum Travel / Paris Travel / Video Game Travel / The Louvre / → All Tags

The Louvre's Newest Addition? The Nintendo 3DS.

Nintendo’s Game Boy has finally hit the big time, as the latest version of the handheld video game is getting a spot at the Louvre in Paris, but not in the way you'd think. The portable game system has evolved into a 3D version known as the Nintendo 3DS, and the museum is starting to hand out a few of them to visitors. Mario and Luigi aren’t exactly getting displayed next to creations from other Italian masters, but the Nintendo 3DS is being utilized as a sort of guide and map for the bigger than big art museum.

The museum wants to keep up with the technology demands of the 21st century, so beginning in March they’re getting rid of the traditional audio tour thingers in favor of the video game system. Nintendo has teamed up with the museum to start this program—they’re saying it’s the first in the world—and they’ll be like 5,000 of the devices available for use once things start up early next year.

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Car Sharing / Cars / Rental Cars / Autolib / Paris Travel / Green Travel / Velib / → All Tags

Autolib. It's Like Paris' Velib Bike Sharing, Just with Cars.

Back in October we heard that bike-sharing was turning into car-sharing thanks to the Velib spin-off—Autolib. Initially the rental cars were part of a test run, but the program has been pretty popular and now it’s time to go all-in.

The plan is to eventually add more than 3,000 emission-free cars to the streets of Paris, but for now new cars will be added each and every week. The system works just like the bikes—with a slight increase in cost—and you can pick your car up in one location and drop it off in another. The cars are all battery powered, but the Bluecar electric vehicles should be able to spin around for at least 150 miles before requiring another fill up of electricity.

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Foursquare's Three New City Badges for London, Paris and Istanbul are Only the Beginning

Yea, we're still addicted to Foursquare; follow us for tips here!

Just in time for the holiday season—and by "holiday" we mean taking holidays away from family—location-based social networking app Foursquare has finally introduced a suite of new, international badges. If you're traveling to London, Paris or Istanbul, you're going to want to make sure you're not only hitting the top spots in the city, but that you're checking into them as well.

The three badges are easy enough to get. First, follow 4sqCities, and just to be safe, it wouldn't hurt to also follow the individual city lists here: London, Paris, Istanbul. Then travel to one or all of the cities and clickety-click to check-in to the places on the recommended lists. Five places earns the badge.

Sure, this is pretty great for Foursquare users around the world clamoring for diversified badges, but what's even better is that Foursquare hints on their blog that these three are just the beginning of world cities with their own badges. Want to suggest the next? Do it here.

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Awesome Stuff / Eurostar / London Travel / Paris Travel / Travel News / Train Travel / Channel Tunnel / → All Tags

And Now, a Happy Eurostar Story to Warm Your Heart

It’s the nature of news to focus on the bad stuff, we suppose, which is why lovely stories like this make us go all warm in our tummies.

Picture the scene: it's last Monday, and our friend Mia is on the Eurostar returning home to London after a trip to Paris. During the journey, she reads a book—a hefty academic tome worth $120—that she has been asked to read and review for work.

Nearing London, she notices that a friend of hers is mentioned in the book, and puts it down to email her. She forgets to pick it up again, gets off the train, and assumes she’ll never see it again. She is, in her own words, “so annoyed” because not only was the book worth $120, but since it’s brand new it’s not in any libraries yet.

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Travel Deals / Paris Travel / OpenSkies / AIrfare Sales / Business Class Travel / British Airways / → All Tags

Leave Today! Business Class to Paris for Under $800 on OpenSkies

If you’re looking to get away this month, how about Paris? The only downer is that you’ll have to settle for business class—we know—that does sound like roughing it.

All-business-class carrier OpenSkies is pulling out of the Washington, DC area at the end of October, so that means they’re selling the last available seats for quite a deal. You’ll have to fly this month, and you’ll need to go between Washington-Dulles and Paris-Orly. However, if you can swing the dates and the destinations there might be flights available for as low as $750 roundtrip—and that includes taxes!

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Car Sharing / Cars / Rental Cars / Autolib / Paris Travel / Green Travel / → All Tags

Paris' Velib Bike Sharing Grows Up to Add Autolib Car Sharing

Late last year we heard that Paris was going to improve on its vehicle-sharing program by adding some electric cars. Well, that time is now, as it looks like Autolib—just like the Velib bikes—is ready to hit the streets.

Earlier this month the city rolled out the first couple of cars to launch the new electric car sharing system. The Bolloré BlueCars are part of a two-month trial program, but if all goes well there will be as many as 3,000 of the cars available for a quick jaunt by 2012. The initial rollout is already underway, with about 66 new cars spread across the city and its 33 rental stations.

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