Diane Pernet (aShadedViewonFashion.com)

Diane Pernet's blog attracts 160,000 readers a month with reports and commentary on all things fashion. The former designer and European style arbiter also recently launched a traveling fashion film festival, "You Wear It Well."

9 a.m. Diane needs new business cards, so we meet at Stern Graveur, the centuries-old engraver to, among others, Jean Cocteau and several kings of Morocco. "If Madame Stern doesn't like you, she won't help you." Pernet whispers.

11 a.m. Off to the atelier of furniture designer and Comme des Garçons perfumer Christian Astuguevieille. "I had a coup de coeur over a chair Christian made out of gilt cotton rope that I saw at a boutique in Bilbao," Pernet says. "I knew we had to meet."

12:30 p.m. Ben Gorham is in town from Stockholm to present his new collection of five scents, so we have a sniff at the Hotel Bourg-Tibourg, in the Marais, followed by lunch à trois at teahouse Mariage Frères.

3 p.m. "It's only here that you'll ever see me try on colors," Pernet says as she models an exquisite 1950's panther topcoat in Sixth Arrondissement Ragtime. "This is the best vintage store in Paris."

4:30 p.m. Pernet lists private sales on her site. Since Anne Valérie Hash is preparing one, we survey the racks at her showroom, which glitters with 19th-century mosaics and mirrors. "Sure, there are some days I spend more time in front of the computer." Happily for us, today was not one of them.

Pernet's favorite blog: ShowStudio.com.

—Alexandra Marshall

Ben Leventhal (Eater.com)

Erstwhile VH1 producer and longtime urban foodie Leventhal blogs about New York's cliquey restaurant scene, posting reports of openings, closings, feuds, and partnerships on the two-year-old Eater. "We don't do reviews," he explains. "Eater is about picking heroes—and villains—and tracking their stories."

5:30 p.m. Leventhal is a pavement-pounder. After scouring New York's neighborhoods for hints of change, he'll hit up as many as five new restaurants and bars in an evening. Our first stop is Morandi, Keith McNally's newest bistro in the West Village. "When I find a chef or owner who's passionate, the energy of the place is intoxicating," Leventhal says.

6:15 p.m. We hop a cab to PDT (Please Don't Tell), an East Village speakeasy accessed from a faux telephone booth inside a hot dog shop. The cocktail menu was created by mixologist Jim Meehan (of Gramercy Tavern). Leventhal makes a point of keeping up with his moves.

7:45 p.m. Join nightlife impresario David Rabin in Chelsea for a tasting at Sueños, owned by chef Sue Torres. Leventhal introduced the two, and now Torres is slated to run Rabin's latest venture, Los Dados, opening at the end of July.

10 p.m. Back to the West Village, where Harold Dieterle, a winner on Bravo's Top Chef, has opened Perilla. "You get a real sense of tone just by observing the bar." We claim front-row seats.

12 a.m. Cap off at Resto, a Belgian bistro, for a crispy pig's head sandwich (available off-menu)—our third meal of the night. "I guess I'm hardwired to explore," Leventhal says.

Leventhal's favorite blog: VillageVoice.com/blogs/food.

—Sara Reistad-Long

Jean Snow (JeanSnow.net)

Canadian expat, design aficionado, and freelance writer Jean Snow spends most mornings sifting through hundreds of e-mails and RSS feeds (see left) about new art exhibitions, design shops, and pop-culture happenings. Afternoons, he hits the sidewalks to see them for himself.

3 p.m. "The new trend is for artists and stores or cafés to collaborate," Snow explains. On the fifth floor of an office building in Aoyama, we visit A to Z Café, a joint project of Pop artist Yoshitomo Nara and design firm Graf Media.

3:30 p.m. An Agnès B. store across the street is touting a collaboration with California-based illustrator Shepard Fairey. "In Tokyo, the boutiques are almost galleries themselves, they're curated so meticulously," Snow says. Holding his camera at his waist, he discreetly takes a few shots of Fairey's paintings. "Japanese are very press-shy."

4:30 p.m. "I also find out about openings through magazines," Snow says. At the bookstore Nadiff, Snow picks up Paper Sky, OK Fred, Casa Brutus, and Pen.

4:45 p.m. The Ginza, known for expensive shops, also has a clutch of graphic-design galleries. We stop in at the Ginza Graphic Gallery; it's filled with creative product packaging and far-out typography.

6 p.m. On the seventh floor of the Matsuya department store, between women's nightgowns and stuffed animals, the tiny Design Gallery has a show of humorous print ads. "This is one of the things I love about Tokyo," Snow says. "You just never know where you'll find something really cool."

Snow's favorite blog: BoingBoing.net.

—Michael Endelman

If you come across an online review that looks too good to be true, it might be. Below, our annotated guide to parsing ginned-up praise.
By Scott Brown

In all my years on this earth, I've never experienced affordably elegant serenity that even comes close to the (1) affordably elegant serenity of the Hotel Potemkin Villa. I first stayed here on a family and business trip I took for work and pleasure. The Potemkin met (2) my broad range of needs, no matter what they were! The concierge helped me navigate the city and environs, from fine restaurants to snazzy shops.

What's more, the fabulous (3) accommodations were spacious and our delightful suite was fitted with all the latest and greatest amenities: If those walls could talk, they would say, (4) "We're made of carbon-infused NoRot mold-resistant drywall and studs attached with nails, not glue."

I remember turning to my wife and (5) 2.5 children and saying, "How affordably elegant and serene is this, you guys?" They answered (and I remember this like it was yesterday): "Surprisingly affordable, considering the fine (6) Kiehl's products on offer in the spotless, spacious bathroom with Moroccan babytooth tile*****." My six-year-old, Trudy, added, "This blows so-called luxury hotels of comparable price out of the water."

I can't say this enough: this property reeks of affordable elegance and fine Kiehl's products.*

*We exaggerate, of course. But only a little.

Key

(1) Beware ad-copy clichés. Nonindustry people do not talk or think this way.

(2) Watch out for vague praise. An actual guest is more likely to mention a particular event.

(3) Industry jargon alert! No real guest is going to deploy this kind of argot.

(4) If it's a feature only a hotelier would know about, chances are it's the hotelier praising it.

(5) The poster, like a campaign speechwriter, is trying to be excessively average.

(6) Unnecessary name-checking, although increasingly common among civilians, is still a sure tip-off.

Ever wonder what an African festival sounds like?Or wanted to hear a street musician in Lisbon?Tune into these ten one-minute audio clips recorded in cities throughout the world, and be transported.

Rome beats Milan 2-1 in a football game at Milan's San Sira stadium. Recorded by Stephen Piccolo. Listen to the audio.

A sunrise boat ride on the Ganges, along the shore of the holy Indian city, Varanasi. Recorded by Tara Anderson. Listen to the audio.

A local woman sings Fado, a haunting strain of Portugese folk music, near the Castelo de Sao Jorge in Lisbon's Alfama district. Recorded by Kurt Tidmore. Listen to the audio.

The notes of a private piano lesson mingle with the buzz of cicadas south of the Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto, Japan. Recorded by Samantha Van Gerbig. Listen to the audio.

In Benin, West Africa, an ice cream vendor's horn cuts through the din of a Voodoo Festival. Recorded by Lena Strayhorn and Chris Miller. Listen to the audio.

Two Chinese operas are performed in neighboring houses one evening in San Francisco's Chinatown. Recorded by Thomas Sturm. Listen to the audio.

A local man plays a wooden crank organ in the quaint main square of Warsaw's old town. Recorded by Sean O'Neill. Listen to the audio.

Wind blows off the sea and through the World Wind Organ—strategically placed cluster of hollow bamboo pipes—in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. Recorded by Michiel de Boer. Listen to the audio.

In the Turkish city of Konya, during the holy city of Ramadan, children play while a nearby mosque broadcasts a Qu'ranic recitation. Recorded by Matthew Sansom. Listen to the audio.

An organ reverberates through a cathedral in Siena, Italy, on a summer day. Recorded by Michael Peters. Listen to the audio.

To listen to hundreds of other audio clips—or to submit your own—visit the contribution-based One-Minute Vacation project at oneminutevacation.org.

—Bree Sposato