06.07.10
The new Ralph Lauren boutique in Paris is awe-inspiring by any measure: its combination of French artistocratic setting and American marketing savvy makes it a must-see. Not least of its accomplishments is the unveiling of a restaurant, right in the shadow of the Lipp, Flore and Deux Magots, that manages the dual feat of raising the bar on American cuisine in Paris and blossoming as a quintessentially French place to be—not unlike Harry’s Bar on the rue Daunou, or Joe Allen’s near the rue Montorgueil, but on a distinctly more fashionable plane.
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06.07.10
“What’s your sign,” may be the oldest (and cheesiest) pick-up line in the book, but according to travel website Tripbase.com, the stars can offer more than just a love match. The site, which uses artificial intelligence to match travelers with their ideal trip, is now applying its algorithms to the stars and “offering celestial guidance to travelers who know they need a vacation”—from Aquarius (go hiking and get physical this month!) to Sags (put on your party shoes and glam it up in another city!). Check out Tripbase.com/travelhoroscope for your on-the-go monthly chart.
June Tripbase Horoscopes
Gemini: Techie Geminis hate to part with their gadgets...even while on vacation. Hold off on that camping trip for another month. This June, head to a bustling metropolis where you post photos and blog about your adventure right from your mobile phone.
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06.04.10
On my way home from a recent trip to Taiwan, I found myself with a little bit of time to kill before boarding my plane at Taipei’s Taoyuan Airport. Knowing I had more than 14 hours to sit in a cramped airplane seat ahead of me, I did some exploring.
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06.04.10
Chicago Tribune (AP) | Low-cost airline easyJet PLC unveiled plans Friday to test infrared technology's ability to detect volcanic ash clouds and urged other airlines to help map the ash risk across Europe's skies.
The company said the devices—which are placed on an aircraft's tail fin and can detect ash clouds within 60 miles (100 kilometers)—are the first of their kind, calling them "essentially a weather radar for ash."
The airline is spending 1 million pounds ($1.46 million) developing and testing the technology with aircraft manufacturer Airbus and hopes to roll out the devices in a dozen planes by the end of the year. The devices aim to prevent a repeat of the five-day shutdown of European airspace in April caused by an erupting Icelandic volcano that affected 10 million passengers worldwide.
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06.03.10
Here at T+L, we’re fortunate enough to have the world’s most fascinating destinations on our radar at all times—but we still have to come back to reality, and our desks, eventually. So when I received a copy of The Lost Girls: Three Friends, Four Continents, One Conventional Detour Around the World recently, it felt a little eerie. Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett, and Amanda Pressner were three twentysomething Manhattan media types—including two magazine editors, just like me!—who plotted to leave their fast-paced careers and relationships to backpack around the world for a year. Were these girls really going to live my dream, then shove it in my face in an epic 591-page tome?
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06.03.10
Summer is officially here, so if you haven’t started planning a vacation yet, we ask, what are you waiting for? This week, hotel offers from Vacationist, a venture between Travel + Leisure and LuxuryLink.com, include a little something for everyone—island, jungle, and far-flung.
Spotlight sales this week:
St. James’s Club & Villas in St. Paul Antigua and Barbuda: From $244/night – 55% off
Riad Fes in Fes, Morocco: From $149/night – 34% off
Rancho Pacifico in Uvita, Costa Rica: From $178/night – 30% off
Our advice? Act now—there are only 6 days left to take advantage of these great prices. And in case you want to keep things closer to home, vacationist is offering rooms at the Gansevoort Miami Beach for just $141/night at (over 40% off standard rates!) until June 7.
Photo courtesy of Rancho Pacifico
06.02.10
CBS/AP | Giving up your airline seat may become a little less painful.
Federal officials are expected to announce this week a plan to raise the maximum amount that airlines must pay passengers who get bumped off an oversold flight, currently at $400 or $800 depending on how long a trip is delayed.
Bumpings rose in three of the past four years and jumped 10 percent to 762,422 in 2009, the highest total since 2002. They soared 17 percent in this year's first quarter.
The potential inconvenience is greater now, too. Airlines have cut back on flights and planes are more crowded, so bumped passengers could wait hours or even days to find alternate arrangements.
"It might not be hours, but days before you get to where you're going," Pauline Frommer, creator of Pauline Frommer Guidebooks, told CBS News correspondent White Johnson. "There simply aren't enough airplane seats out there for the number of people who want to fly."
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06.02.10
Thos. Moser, the furniture-making firm, many of whose handmade pieces have achieved American icon status, runs a Customer-in-Residence program that could make the perfect Father’s Day gift for the would-be woodworker in your family. Never mind bringing home an ashtray or lanyard from camp—graduates of this weeklong program come home with a piece of furniture that they’ve built under the tutelage of a master woodworker.
The lucky five carpenters accepted into each session (applications are considered and previous Moser customers are given preference on the waiting list) are put up at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, Maine, land of the outdoorsy outlet shop.
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06.01.10
"When oil washes ashore on a beach, you can always clean up the sand or truck in more," says George Barisich of the United Commercial Fisherman's Association, a non-profit dedicated to the preservation of Louisiana's fishing industry. "But it's impossible to extract from the mud in our marshes." When oil from the BP rig explosion seeps into the wetlands along the Gulf Coast, it can kill the roots of fragile marsh grasses that literally bind together a natural floodwater barrier that has already been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. In New Orleans, people are wearing their environmental conscience on their sleeves. You can order a "Protect Our Coast" T-shirt from Dirty Coast or donate XXL to America's Wetland.
Shane Mitchell is a special correspondent for Travel + Leisure.
Photo courtesy of Shane Mitchell.
06.01.10
The Sun Sentinel | They are nature's most powerful storms, able to wrench off roofs, blow out windows, rip down trees and otherwise ravage a large metropolitan area.
Major hurricanes—Categories 3, 4 and 5—produce sustained winds from 110 mph to as much as 185 mph and can generate storm surges more than 20 feet above normal tide levels.
With the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season starting today, experts say there is a significant chance one or more of these monsters will strike the U.S. coast over the next six months. The reason: It could be an extremely active year with up to 14 hurricanes, seven major, forecasters said.
"In general, more active seasons have more landfalling hurricanes.Therefore, the odds of a major hurricane making U.S. landfall increases," said Phil Klotzbach, the Colorado State University climatologist who develops seasonal outlooks with William Gray.
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