France on two feet a day

We chose a route from Figeac to Les Eyzies, a journey of eight days and seven nights, with six days of walking. Each day's walk ranged from 16 to 26 kilometers (about 10 to 16 miles) for a total of 131 kilometers, or 81.4 miles. The cost for the walk itself was about $675 each. Add to that your round-trip flight to Paris and $440 per person ($220 each way) for train transportation to and from the walking route, which is located five hours to the south. My sister Lucy lives in Paris, so we had a free place to stay for a couple of nights before and after our walking tour. (Sorry, but you'll have to get your own Parisian relative to enjoy this advantage.) Incidental expenses were minimal: a matter of a few dollars for lunch, wine (not included) with dinner and any souvenirs we couldn't resist.

No Chip, No Bike In Paris

Interesting thing about those cool, new rental bikes in Paris. Turns out, you can't use your standard American credit cards to rent them. As Budget Travel Online points out, the rental bike kiosks accept only credit cards with microchips. These are common in Europe, but not in the United States. This is becoming an increasing problem for Americans trying to use unattended machines to buy gasoline, train tickets and other services in some parts of Europe.

Rochet: Launching L'Avion - France’s first all-premium carrier

For Marc Rochet, the opportunity to launch France’s first all-premium carrier was simply too “interesting” to pass up. The former chief executive of AOM-Air Liberté was happily working on various projects as a consultant, including a study for proposed all-business carrier Elysair, when he was asked last August by the start-up’s shareholders to be its chief executive.

Rail Travel To The Alps Increasing

Despite the clamour of media and politicians for us all to do more to reduce our contribution to climate change, the evidence of a wholesale shift in travel patterns is yet to appear and rail travel to the Alps, originally the main way of getting to the mountains for winter sports, continues to make up only a tiny fraction of the ski tourism market.

Savory Chef Goes to France

The staff of Savory Chef is conducting a six day tour of the south of France where staff will take participating clients to Provence, Cannes, Nice and other French cities. Included is a five-week series of cooking classes at Savory Chef’s cooking school in preparation for the trip. Teacher Shelley Stokely has traveled extensively throughout France and Italy and will share the recipes and methods she has already learned.

Bike renting in Paris

It looks like Velib, the new bike rental service which started this past Sunday(July 15) is getting good feedback from both tourists and Parisians alike, according to news reports in Le Parisien (July 16) and also in the New York Times (July 16) (Katrin Bennhold A New French Revolution’s Creed: Let Them Ride Bikes)

Tour de France Now For The Rest Of Us

The race, which started July 8 in London, still has three weeks to go. The group just crossed through several Alpine passes in Tignes, France. Today they rest, and tomorrow the remaining cyclists head from Val d'Isere to Briancon. The race ends at the Champs Elysees in Paris.

How to see Europe on the cheap

Frequent travelers to Europe know to cut expenses by traveling in the off-season, choosing buses over taxis and prowling supermarket aisles for lunchtime fare. Here are other tried-and-true tips from travel agents, tour guides and frequent travelers for cutting costs in Europe without having to resort to hostel bunk beds, fast food and shared baths.

Air France's fabulous summer fare sale

- Detroit (DTW) to Paris Charles De Gaulle (CDG) $437
- New York Kennedy to Frankfurt (FRA) $405
- New York Kennedy (JFK) to Paris Charles De Gaulle $437
- New York Kennedy to Marseille (MRS) $447
- Boston to Barcelona (BCN) $458
- Boston (BOS) to Paris Charles De Gaulle $488
- Boston to Athens (ATH) $580
- Washington, DC Dulles to Madrid (MAD) $458
- Washington, DC Dulles (IAD) to Nice (NCE) $566

Paris looks forward to strong number of Middle East travellers for Bastille day

Paris, a city favourite by Arab national travellers and the world’s number one tourist destination, is looking forward to a strong number of visitors from the Middle East region for France’s Bastille Day on the 14th of July. Middle East travellers to Paris can now experience the ultimate luxury holiday at the award-winning Park Hyatt Paris – Vendome while taking part in the festivities celebrating France’s national holiday

Tour de France - Today at the Tour

THE STAGE:

Waregem to Compiegne - 235.5km

KEY MOMENTS:

33.5km - Intermediate Sprint 1 - Tournai

104.5km - Intermediate Sprint 2 - Fontaine-Au-Bois

167.5km - Intermediate Sprint 3 - Achery

202.5km - Category 4 Climb - Côte de Blérancourt -

The French way Try drinking fresh wine not so far from the source

But one thing truly interrupts the enjoyment of its scenic locales — the French. If there ever was a group of people who seemed to thrive on complaining and cribbing, the French would surely beat them all to it! Imagine being in a lovely little town, bright warm sun, a clean scenic marketplace in the centre of the city which is restricted to all sorts of motor vehicles and you decide to grab some late breakfast. Only in France will the person be not only impolite and oblivious to your needs but will also ask you to sit in the sun because he is setting the tables for lunch later that noon.

Tour de France to capital

A celebration of the Tour de France and cycling in London began with the Mayor officially opening the Tour de France Permanence and Press Centre at the ExCeL Centre in London’s Docklands.

South of France is the place for summer travel fashion trend setting.

Eva Longoria and Tony Parker are getting married at Vaux-le Vicomte castle in Maincy, near Paris France on July 7th. To prep for their castle wedding the couple decided to have a joint pre-wedding party in St. Tropez.

What Is the Tour de France?

But the Tour de France hasn't been the same since seven-time winner and cycling legend Lance Armstrong retired to a life without the bike. The vacuum Lance has left behind has been huge. Instead of a confident group of contenders in the 2006 Tour, the race was marred by drug scandals (still continuing), and a general sense of disarray, including in Lance's former Discovery Team itself.