On the road to nowhere

　　That’s it.
　　Holiday over.
　　No thanks to that fucker Roger though.
　　If you look at a map of France and try to plot a route from Anger to Caen, there are two obvious routes. The East route is via the motorway which is very fast and very bloody boring. To the West there is an alternate route using the Route Nationales, which are really motorways in all but name. Now which route do you think Roger chose?
　　Wrong.
　　He chose neither.
　　For some reason which I cannot fathom he decided to compromise and bring us on a route between the two.
　　I presume this was his warped sense of humour but in fact it backfired on him as we had a very pleasant trip meandering along back roads and passing through very beautiful villages. We stopped off in one of the towns for a very nice cuppa coffee [or three], and eventually arrived in Caen.
　　I thought that would be the end of it.
　　I was wrong.
　　Without thinking I let Roger do the navigation after we arrived in Ireland. Fucking hell, but he did it again. I have no idea what got into him, but before long we were driving down roads that had grass growing down the middle. Other roads obviously hadn’t been repaired in the last fifty years. I constantly had visions of us arriving at a farm gate with no further progress. He did eventually bring us back to the N11 somewhere around Gorey, after showing us some parts of Ireland I never knew existed.
　　We arrived in the end, but I’m still not quite sure how.
　　I’m going to have to have severe words with Roger before the next trip.
　　If there is a next trip.

Take a Pleasant Trip to the Largest City in South Africa, Johannesburg

　　Johannesburg, usually referred to as “Jo’burg” is the largest and youngest city in South Africa. The city has taken very little time to develop itself into a highly commercial and wealthy region. Johannesburg boasts of having 74 percent of multinational headquarters and is the economic hub of the entire African continent.
The second largest city in Africa has inhabitants accounting to about 3 million. The city is also home to the top four conference centres, with each hosting more than 5000 people! Explore the wonders of Johannesburg and its ravishing tourist spots through Johannesburg travel packages offered by tour operators in the city. Johannesburg is very famous for its museums. There are a whole lot of museums located around the city, including the SA National Museum of Military History, sited near the Johannesburg Zoo. There are other museums like James Hall Museum of Transport in La Rochelle, SA National Railway & Steam Museum, Bensusan Museum of Photography, Bernard Price Institute Palaeontology Museum, Barnberg Fashion Museum, Madiba Freedom Museum, Museum Africa and the most popular Apartheid Museum. A visit to the historical Apartheid Museum will surely be a powerful and vivid experience. This museum is set out through its graphical portrayal of the apartheid theory including film footage, newspaper clippings, artifacts and enlarged photos. The visitors get the feel of the apartheid era as they stroll through the museum, which measures nearly 65,000 sq.ft.
The city offers a perfect retreat for adventure lovers. Once you are in Johannesburg, you can go on an African adventure tour package, which includes canoeing, river rafting, micro light flying, game viewing, bird watching, hiking, fly-fishing and mountain biking. Apart from these adventures, you can also choose to visit jewel gardens, nature trails, flora farms, animal farms, bird parks, and take country rides, game drives as well as game walks. The city has a multitude of things in store to entertain its tourists thoroughly and offer them with exciting and enthralling experiences.
Plan your trip to the city to take a break from your hectic lifestyle and have a wonderful vacation with your loved ones by exploring the exotic city of Johannesburg. Travel through cheap flights to Johannesburg and choose any travel package that seems interesting to you. Book your plane tickets online and try to find the cheap flight ticket through travel sites. There are many airline companies that operate Johannesburg flights that connect the city to many other important cities across the world. So get set to visit Johannesburg to have superb holiday getaway and comprehensively enjoy all the special things the city has to offer and entertain all its tourists.

Pleasant Trip To Krabi Hotels

A lot of people include Thailand in their adventure trips around the world, and it really is only wise to find Krabi hotels that will make their experience memorable. The Aonang Cliff beach hotel has 98 rooms divided into exciting accommodation places such as the deluxe front double room, family deluxe, superior cliff and superior front twin room amongst others. It is close to the National Park and there is an onsite restaurant that meets the guests’ standards for Thai dishes.
Furthermore, there exists a fitness center, massage parlor and a gym, as well as a children’s swimming pool, which are important services for guests in Krabi hotels. Car parking can be found on site and guests will also have web connection in the hotel. The rooms have a mini bar, satellite TV for PC, shower, in room safe, coffee as well as tea maker and also ac. Baby sitting services may also be offered and in case of business group tours, they can catch up with the business actions in the convention room. The superior front room costs $126 while the superior cliff requires $140. Other classy Krabi hotels include the Natra de Deluxe hotel. It has 21 rooms with titles such as the deluxe villa, pool villa and suite villa. There is room service for all those guests, laundry service, a bathtub, ac, satellite television and a mini bar. Furthermore, if you want to visit the remaining city, the hotel has a bicycle leasing facility to ease your joy ride needs. Much more, there is an outdoor pool, private beach and a spa. This tends to make it a great venue if you want to keep your presence in that city a secret. You can also park your car within the hotel in the car park or get valet parking. Other amenities include a balcony or terrace to give you a scenic view of the area, a working desk in every room and complementary bottled water. The suite villa with breakfast included cost between $114 and $163, while the deluxe villa requires between $83 and $123.
If you’re vacationing with children or as a couple on your honeymoon, the Amari Vogue hotel has got the perfect facilities. The 57 rooms are divided into the deluxe room that has a balcony, ocean villa, guest room and the honeymoon deluxe. Some of the services include babysitting services, on site restaurant, room service, safety deposit boxes, a poolside bar, laundry services and a gym. Furthermore, this hotel has no cigarette smoking rooms as most of the Krabi hotels and there is a private beach, satellite television, internet connection and car park. The honeymoon deluxe costs $396 while the royal deluxe costs $350.

Memory Lane – Pleasant Trip or Journey through Hell?

Taking a stroll down Memory Lane can often be a warm and fuzzy nostalgic experience – think old family stories, vacation snapshots, or baby pictures. It can be a minefield of embarassing moments – think high school yearbooks,

21st birthday memories, and ex dramas. It can be a wonderful trip to visit people you’ve lost – think Grandma’s kitchen or late night ice cream runs with the friend who has passed. And it can be a painful and uncomfortable journey that will slice you in half – think wedding photos from your failed marriage or newspaper clippings of the relative you lost in the car crash.Memory Lane can be a tricky road to navigate.
I have been moving a lot of my belongings into storage in the hopes that the house will sell soon. In packing, I have opened those old boxes and odd bags filled with the flotsam and jetsam of a decade of Maryland living. This has been an amazing experience, as I have found myself able to part easily with some of those items that I once thought were invaluable. Of course, there have also been a lot of smiles and laughs as I’ve revisited some happy memories (my first trip to Ocean City, my bachelorette party, the first museum exhibit I did here, the Frederick Douglass driving tour, etc.) and some truly funny times with friends and family (fire department banquets, surprise birthday parties, visits home, picnics). And, yes, this particular trip down Memory Lane also featured some truly upsetting moments – finding the first Valentine’s card from my new husband promising to “love me forever,” pictures from my bridal shower that featured my friend Liz who we lost less than a year later to leukemia, the program from our wedding, the original real estate listing for my house. I admit to tears and a slicing sense of grief – but also a sense of peace that these moments are behind me. I have lived through the hurts and survived and now am ready for life to go on.
I have taken some grief from my girlfriends for having recently posted some wedding photos I discovered while cleaning these boxes out. I can’t clearly verbalize WHY I wanted to or needed to post these photos – other than to claim a part of myself. That was one of the happiest days of my life (not to mention the only day in which I was remotely photogenic) and is a part of my history. I can’t deny my past and I can’t pretend my marriage didn’t happen – the only way I can begin to put it behind me is to accept the facts. And one of those facts is that I loved my husband deeply on that day and, maybe for that one sparkling moment in time, he loved me. I want to remember that, God help me, no matter how much it hurts. So I am embracing those pictures, those moments, and that history.
Memory Lane is a tricky road to navigate – like a winding, bumpy, dusty dirt road – often messy, frequently twisted, and usually full of potholes. But I think I’m strong enough to do it. And I’m going to cherish those moments that have made me into who I am – redneck roots and all. Jason Aldean, country star and future husband of my ‘sister’ Becky, says it best:
Memory lane up in the headlights,
It’s got me reminiscing on them good times.
I’m turning off of real life, drivin’ that’s right,
I’m hittin’ easy street on mud tires.
I’m putting the mud tires on and embracing the past. I have no other choice. And, despite the tears, my history has been a rich one – and a good one. So I’ll hit the dirt road of Memory Lane with a smile on my face – and love in my heart.

Cabo San Lucas – Your guide to a pleasant trip

Medano Beach - The best place to sun bathe and go for a swim in Cabo San Lucas.

I just got back from a one week trip to Cabo San Lucas.  It was my first time in Mexico and I’m more than thrilled to be back in America.  I wish I did more research before booking my flight/hotel through expedia.com.  I think my experience would have been much better if I did.  I’m going to share with you all the knowledge I’ve gained from my first visit in case you were ever thinking of going there.

I’ll start off with my perception of Cabo first.  I imagined the entire place to look like the picture to my left.  Coconut drinks would be free flowing and it would be an inexpensive paradise.  If you’ve never been there and lived in the USA, you probably have the same image in your head.  I was in for a rude awakening.

Cabo Highway - Look both ways when you cross

The funny thing is there are no Coconuts grown in Cabo.  I did have a few pina colada’s, but what my girlfriend and I really wanted was to drink real coconut fruit.  They do grow mangoes so the mango-on-a-stick sold by beach vendors is a pleasant treat.  And boy, it isn’t cheap at all in Cabo.  The prices for everything was as or more expensive than the United States!  I paid $5 USD for a bottle of water and the average lunch or dinner bill was around $50-$60.  Oh, and try to stay away from American food there.  I suggest sticking with Mexican food, as not surprisingly, my girlfriend and I found that Mexican food tasted the best.  To really get any value on prices, you need to get away from the tourist areas, but to do that you need to travel with someone who speaks Spanish fluently and knows the area.  If you are dealing with a street vendor, remember to always haggle.  You can always get it cheaper than what they ask.  My advice on haggling is to have a set maximum price you’d pay for the item and walk away when they don’t agree.  90% of the time they relent when you start to walk.

Cabo is really a desert.  I realized this once we landed.  It looks like you are flying into Las Vegas.  There’s nice buildings along the beach, but sand is everywhere else.  There are two parts –  Cabo San Lucas and San Jose de Cabo.  These two parts are connected by a highway.  There are no crosswalks or overpasses on the highway so you need to carefully walk across while cars zoom by at 70+ mph.  As you can see on the image on the right, there are bus stops along the highway.  The bus system is probably the nicest surprise I had on my entire trip.

There are 2 types of buses.  As shown in the picture below, there is a ghetto white looking one and a nicer big city bus.  The coolest thing is all buses will stop for you on the road if you wave at them, regardless of if you’re near a bus stop.  That’s something that never happens in San Francisco.  They also drop you off at the exact spot you tell them.  The smaller bus only travels locally while the bigger bus goes all the way from Cabo San Lucas through San Jose de Cabo and to the airport.  It’s really a cheap way to travel.  It’s 80 pesos or about 70 cents to travel locally and it only costs 29 pesos or about $2.50 to get all the way to the airport.  Compare that to the flat $50 the cabs charge you to get to the airport.  It’s about 30 miles from Cabo San Lucas to the airport and it took me about an hour and a half to get to the airport via bus.  We took the taxi when we first landed because we didn’t know any better and it cost $50 and took about half an hour.

If you don’t speak English and aren’t staying at a nice hotel (which I didn’t), stick to hanging out in Cabo San Lucas.  It’s pretty much the only tourist area.  My girlfriend and I
took the bus to San Jose de Cabo thinking there was tourist stuff to do there, but we spent an hour lost and no one spoke a word of English.  It was also pretty sketchy looking and I’m glad we weren’t there at night.

If you plan on going to Cabo, 4-5 days is plenty.  Spending a week there is overkill.  As mentioned previously, it is basically one tourist area called the Marina Fiesta that has a mall, movie theater and restaurants.  By the end of the trip, my girlfriend and I probably walked that strip 15 times and were missing home by the third or fourth day.

Finally, eat before you go to the airport!!  The airport in Cabo is very small and there’s only 2 places to eat.  One food stand is Sbarro and the other is kitchen that serves burgers/fries.  Sbarro closed early and the food at the kitchen looked so unappealing that we didn’t eat until we got back at 10PM last night.

Here’s a quick recap of what you need to do in Cabo:

• WATCH OUT FOR TIMESHARES!!  These timeshare people have booths at the airport and almost convinced me to go to their presentation.  They offer all these free activities for attending, but if you google Mexican timeshare, you’ll know it’s a total scam and you can waste an entire day telling them you don’t want to buy.  On eBay, there are people trying to get rid of their timeshares for $1 just so they don’t have to pay the maintenance fees anymore.  The timeshare are only for their “target markets” so they typically go after people over the age of 30 or couples that look married.  I just got used to saying I was only 25 to get them to go away.
• Learn to take the bus or stay at a resort in Cabo San Lucas or cab rides will add up
• There’s a Walmart along the highway that you can go to stock up on water and other supplies.  If you tell the bus Walmart, they will drop you off right in front of it.
• Bring SUNSCREEN and reapply it every 4 hours – I didn’t re-apply and got sunburned twice.
• If you are with a significant other, do the Margarita Cruise on the Cabo Rey.  You can haggle down to $35 each at an activity vendor and it’s a romantic 2.5 hour ride.  Make sure it’s the Cabo Rey ship.  There are various types of “sunset cruises” offered with different boats.  All the other ships look ghetto in comparison.  $45 each is the retail price.  I heard the dinner cruise on the Cabo Rey wasn’t worth it as it retails for $89 and the food isn’t very tasty.  Most people stay on the top of the ship with the Margarita cruise people since that has the best view anyway.
• If you want to try the Waverunners, you can haggle down to $30 for 30 minutes or $60 for an hour.  They normally ask for $40 for half an hour and $80 for an hour.  I suggest only doing it for 30 minutes as I bought one hour and ended up getting somewhat bored after 45 minutes.  Also be sure to take pictures of your Waverunner before you take it out.  They make you sign a liability waiver because they don’t carry insurance on it and they will charge you for any dings.  Some of the charges are exorbitant and there are some horror stories I found on google where they people were hit with a big fee.
• Try out ATVing, it’s fun riding along the coast if you’ve never done it before.  I have confirmed you can haggle this down to $70 a person and it’s about 2.5 hours.  Unlike for the waverunners, they offer $10 insurance on these so you don’t have to worry about damages.  Retail is $85 to $100, depending on vendor.
• For nightlife, we went to Cabo Wabo, the Pink Kitty and Squid Roe.  Cabo Wabo was generally an older crowd with rock music, Pinky Kitty was a younger crowd with a more modern Vegas club feel and Squid Roe was a younger crowd with top 40′s music.  Out of the three, I would recommend going to Squid Roe as it’s the most unique.  There’s 3 levels you can see all the action from.  They have a guy in the center of the place with a microphone who’s sole job is to keep the energy alive.
• I never got to go Snorkeling or Ziplining, but I heard both were a good experience from people who have done it.  My girlfriend can’t swim and didn’t want to zipline so we didn’t do either.

My Mexican experience, as you can probably tell, wasn’t the greatest.  I missed being able to walk the street without being harassed with offers for a massage, taxi or weed every 5 minutes.  I’m going to Hawaii in a couple of weeks so I’ll be sure to share my experience there as well.  Til’ next time.

Travel Safety And also Pleasant Trip

Toronto is among the most stunning and most popular cities across the world. The whole city is subsisting whole day and evening. Habitants on this city are rarely spend no cost time, they always run their life behind their daily enterprise. If you are a beginner for enterprise, vacation or any other purposes you might be passing go by means of massive rush. Probably the most typical difficulty to get a beginner in Toronto is travelling. Mainly when visitors are at the Toronto airport they face serious difficulty to get a taxi cab, sometimes they also face difficulty with unskilled taxi cab driver. If you are about to pay a visit to Toronto, finding a Toronto airport taxi cab might be a massive difficulty, but you can find some taxi cab company like Airliftservice can remedy your difficulty.
Making your reservation for a taxi from Toronto airport well in advance of your appearance is extremely essential as Toronto airport is the most popular location in Canada where finding an immediate taxi cab is not straightforward, so it keep you stress no cost and soon after appearance at the airport you’ll be able to reach your destination comfortably by Pearson airport taxi, you will feel you might be traveling by your own vehicle.
Airliftservice is among the most well known taxi cab providers in Toronto airport. They have a lot of well educated chauffeurs that are reliable, and can serve for the fulfillment of consumers. There are many Toronto airport taxis but you’ll be able to separate their support from other people if you once take their service. They by no means compromise safety and time of passengers. If you are visiting Toronto for sightseeing you should take a tour guide, but you ought to know having tour guide in Toronto is extremely costly. Nevertheless, you take Airliftservice, you’ll be able to enjoy whole Toronto too outside with expert driver who can also serve as a tour guide. They could demonstrate all of the gorgeous locations in Toronto and its suburb with detail details.
Finally, never forget to organize travel strategy just before coming to Toronto simply because an unplanned journey could be extremely hazardous as opposed to having enjoyable in the course of your journey and you ought to also remember, in your plan, booking Toronto airport taxi cab needs to be prioritized together with hotel booking, scheduled and list of location where you’d like to pay a visit to.

Tips for a pleasant trip with children

 

Traveling with children is often many times a drawback as it is known by all of us who get to have a very special when you want to be fanciful. What should be a relaxing trip can become a whole mess of tears and tantrums full, so very few see some activity ideas for children’s travel, which will eventually be one less headache for parents.
To begin, a desired destination that go at least find out first if it has any entertainment space for children such as theme parks, and the time you are in that space have to choose to have a special day of fun dedicated to them in this way will cause an expectation on them. You might also find a hotel that has childcare, resulting perhaps this much fun in activities that have to walk through cities that do not cause much visual or historic interest. Finally, with time before you can motivate them you are interested in different locations to be visited on the trip, creating excitement in them.
Among some destinations that can encourage you to visit with children find the town of Santa Claus in Finnish Lapland, in the Arctic Circle. Children can make reindeer sleigh rides and visit the official residence of Santa Claus.
You can also travel to Copenhagen in Denmark, where we find Legoland, the game world of building blocks.
No doubt Disney is a favorite destination of children, whether in Florida and California in the United States and either Japan or Paris.

The World’s Most Tech-Savvy Boutique Hotels

Some travelers want to go back to pre-crackberry times when they’re on vacation. But plugged-in travelers toting the latest it gadget often search out hotels that are ahead of the curve, technologically speaking.
Complimentary WiFi? You better do better than that. Digital check-ins, fully loaded bedside iPads, and flatscreen TVs in the bathroom? We’re getting there. How about touch-screen atmosphere controls, geothermal power plants and iMacs and iPhones for everyone?!
For this list we teamed up with boutique hotel experts at Mr & Mrs Smith, a trusted travel publisher and boutique hotel booking service based in London, UK whose iPhone app werecently reviewed and Jetsetter, Gilt’s exclusive site for travel sales. [Read our interview with Jetsetter's CEO Drew Patterson here.]
The Upper House
Hong Kong, China




Some of the most tech savvy hotels in the world can be found in Hong Kong. The Upper House, dreamed up by designer Andre Fu, has a desk-free check-in with the aid of a tablet PC, which gives you a hint of things to come. All guests at this virtually paperless hotel are supplied with an iPod Touch touch preloaded with games, music and everything you need to know about the hotel and its environs. As you’d expect, there’s free and unlimited broadband access; even the hotel’s cars (Lexus RX450H hybrid models) are equipped with Wi-Fi. Video-on-demand provides an extensive choice of movies for watching on the massive 42” LCD TVs. There’s a smaller one in the bathroom too, so you can relax in the tub while watching John Woo’s spectacular Hard Boiled. Double rooms from $514. Book here.
Kube
Paris, France




See that bed? It’s glowing. Kube is a temple to all things futuristic hidden behind a traditional 19th-century façade. Sci-fi flourish includes finger-print technology to access your boudoir. Rooms take the ‘cube’ theme seriously, juxtaposing gadgetry with comfort in all-white spaces. Further geeky pleasures come courtesy of multimedia plasma screens and pre-loaded iPods. Double rooms from $268. Book here.
Nine Zero
Boston, USA




At Nine Zero, the 19th-floor penthouse suite requires a retinal scan to unlock the door. Biometrics in place of key cards? Very 007. Queen beds start at $299. Book here.
Establishment Hotel
Sydney, Australia




This hotel is set in the heart of Sydney’s business district featuring a very hip design and gadgets like touch-screen room controls and iPads by each bed. Guests can stream games, music and movies to the room’s Apple TV or keep things, um, ‘old-school’ with the Bose entertainment system. Digital editions of international newspapers are available daily on your bedside iPad. Double rooms from $239. Book here.
Las Alcobas
Mexico City, Mexico




As the Internet continues to penetrate Mexico, this hotel is accustomed to a jetsetting laptop-loving crowd that means business, with most guests toting smart-case enclosed tablets. Rooms in Las Alcobas in Polanco include a single controller which rings your butler, orders room service, draws the shades and sets the alarm. Double rooms from $275. Book here.
Kameha Grand Bonn
Bonn, Germany




Futuristic” isn’t a word that’s used accurately to describe a hotel very often. Enter the Kameha Grand Bonn, a curved glass and steel creation on the banks of the Rhine. The Alice in Wonderland–meets–Salvador Dalì psychedelic interior is the work of superstar designer du jour Marcel Wanders (of Mondrian South Beach Miami fame), known for his trippy layouts, flowered prints and illusionist’s eye. And with a geothermal power plant churning out 70% of the hotel’s energy, this sensory homage to psychedelic art manages to not only be cutting-edge trendy but also very green. Lastly, German hotel has social media brilliance to complement its tech flair. Facebook, Twitter, Blog and YouTube pages? It’s got them all. Standard rooms start at €185. Book here.
Tenface
Bangkok, Thailand




Tosakan, the story goes, was a 10-faced giant who hid his heart in a box in a bid for immortality. Open the Tosakan’s Heart Box presented at check-in and you’ll find nothing so gruesome: a Skytrain pass, sim card, shopping tips, maps and an iPod to play the hotel’s video podcasts. A suggested soundtrack with recommended bands is also included, bonus! Double rooms from $110. Book here.
Le Parker Meridien
New York, New York



Le Parker Meridien in NYC takes high-tech fitness even higher with a Wii exercise room in its health club, so guests can play tennis with virtual partners at any level. And if you’re suffering from Wii tennis elbow? Why not go for a jog in nearby Central Park? King beds start at $415. Book here.
Blow Up Hall
Poznan, Poland




Blow Up Hall is described as an electronic art hotel. Renowned artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer created an intriguing video installation around which the design of the hotel is based. The moment you step inside, you’re a performer in the video being played in the lobby comprising 2,400 tiny images gathered from as many cameras inside the hotel. No keys or door numbers here, just iPhones. Every guest is supplied with an Apple iPhone which, through recognition tech, you use to gain access to your room. And of course you can also use it to call your concierge, surf the net and view preloaded local tourist info. Rooms start at 880.00 PLN. Bookhere.
Mama Shelter
Paris, France




Once a parking garage and now a Philippe Starck-designed boutique hotel, Mama Shelter has a 24-inch iMac in each one of its 172 rooms, which serves as your entertainment center. Something else the rooms at Mama Shelter have that you won’t find in most other hotels is a microwave oven. Who knows when you might want to heat up your poulet rôti en cocotte. In the dining area you’ll find a number of digital tables, which are basically horizontal TVs broadcasting various channels, and there’s even an iMac photo booth where you can take your picture and watch as it’s projected to screens all around the restaurant. Rooms start at €149. Book here.
So what does your favorite tech-savvy hotel offer? Let us know in the comments!

Hire A Car For A Pleasant Trip Around France

The country
Frances very rich history is not the only reason why you may need to consider France as your preferred travel destination during your next holiday; the country has a lot to offer in terms of art, culture, literature and fashion. Add on to these the straightforwardness of the French and you have a perfect holiday destination. Contrary to what many people say about the French, they are not rude as such; they are simply straightforward when dealing with visitors who misinterpret straightforwardness to mean rudeness. The French, made up of the Celtics, Latin and Franco-Germans are very kind at heart and very helpful. This makes visiting France very enjoyable as you will always find help when necessary.
Getting into France
You can enter France through various means, depending on your location. Road using a Car Hire Tours, sea and rail transport is possible if you are in Frances neighboring countries, which happen to members of EU, the same organization that France belongs. You can also come in by air from major and minor cities. The currently also has several international airports that serve major international airlines. While you can move around France using public road or rail transport, renting a car from Car Hire Tours Airport is your best option. You can actually rent a car at the various airports upon your arrival. Contrary to popular belief, Car Hire Tours Airport in France is very affordable, especially if you engage the services of a reputable Car Hire Tours company. To have a memorable experience, you are advised to book one through anycarhire.com
Travel documents
You can easily enter France from other European Union countries either as a citizen of those countries or travelling through. In addition, being a citizen of US, New Zealand, Canada and Australia means that you do not need to have a visa to enter the country. Although you have easy access into the country, such is limited to a maximum of 90 days, upon which you are obligated to seek for a visor or other relevant stay document. Visitors from other countries are required to have valid passport and visa, which are available at local France embassies. Note that your travel documents will help you a great deal in securing a rental car at Car Hire Tours.
France attractions
France has various attractions that you can only sample effectively by the use of a rented car at Car Hire Tours Airport. Apart from the beautiful scenery, you can drive down to La Rochelle port and take a free bike to ride through the time. Alternatively, you can relax on the beautiful beaches and sample various seafood. You can definitely not afford to sample the glamorous France Alps. You will need to drive to Annecy town, Turquoise Lake and life on Paris streets. You will also need to drive to such locations as Toulouse City for memorable historic experiences.
Driving on France roads
France has an extensive road network that provides you with best opportunity to sample the countrys beauty. While the roads are of very high standards, you need to stick to indicated speed limits, which are different depending on classes of roads. Always drive on the right, restricting children under the age of 10 to the back seats. Drink driving is prohibited and can attract stiff penalties if you are caught. Wearing of seatbelt is compulsory while driving.

ITA-POWERED GOOGLE TRAVEL LAUNCHES; KAYAK SAYS ITS FLIGHT SEARCH IS ‘SUPERIOR’

We heard a few months ago that Google is planning to launch an ITA integrated-flight search product. For background, the DOJ finally approvedGoogle’s $700 million acquisition of airfare software company ITA in April, and Google officially closed the acquisition days later. The deal was being investigated as potentially being anti-competitive to the online travel search industry, as ITA’s software is used by many of Google’s rivals in travel search including Microsoft, Kayak, and Expedia. Today, Google has unveiled its flight search portal, Google Travel.

Basically, you enter your origin and your destination, dates, price parameters, durations and more. You can also set filters for for number of stops, airlines, connections, outbound and inbound times and more.

Results appear within the same page, in a grid like format below a map showing the route and fares. You can lick on your selected flight, choose a desired return flight, and book the flight via the airline website.

It’s a fairly simple web interface, and Search Engine Land says that Google will also be experimenting with advertising. And the portal doesn’t feature one-way or multi-city fares. For now, travel search just focuses on flights but it should be interesting to see if Google will add hotels, and more to the search site.

The big question is how Google meaningfully entering the travel search market (armed with ITA Software) will impact its competitors like Kayak, Expedia and others. Kayak and Expedia currently offer more feature-rich search portals. But Google is a giant in the search space, so it’s not unreasonable to think that the company could capture serious market share in travel search.

Kayak issued this statement in response to Google’s travel portal. We’re confident in our ability to compete, and we believe our flight search technology is superior. We recognize Google is a formidable competitor but they haven’t been successful in every vertical they’ve entered. We use multiple data sources and proprietary technology, all of which helps us in our efforts to provide people with comprehensive, fast and accurate answers to their flight search needs


This article is from http://traveltool.blog.com/

The freedom of travel

Freedom is almost synonymous with movement: fast cars, migrating birds, wind – if it moves, it’s a metaphor for freedom. And so it goes that travel is also associated with freedom and its partner-in-crime, escape. But escape from what?

Travel is an escape from the everyday. The everyday is that which I no longer see, feel, interrogate. Things in my daily life become so common to me that they disappear. The colour of my desk at work I cannot recall, the smell of my shampoo I do not notice, etc. Everything familiar becomes hidden to me. I become numb to the world around me, just as prisoners become numbed by the walls of their cells. My routines are the walls of my cell. To alleviate this daze I purchase new clothes, books, seek out new cafes, take on new hobbies, but these too are quickly absorbed by the everyday.

So how do we get outside of the everyday?

In Christian countries during the Middle Ages, special days (Saints’ days, for example) were marked in the Church Calendar with red ink to distinguish them from normal days (the everyday). As a consequence these celebratory occasions were called Red Letter Days. The last Tuesday before Lent (Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday) was particularly festive, often resulting in roles/rules being reversed: fools becoming lords, lords becoming fools. The freedom from the everyday in these holy days is still visible in the UK, Australasia and Canada where a vacation is called a holiday.

Image by Prefeitura de Olinda

There is still something sacred about travel. Arriving in an unfamiliar culture I find wonderment in everything, from the smallest details to the largest vistas. But it is the festive feeling that dominates. Where at home I found the common things boring and international diplomacy intriguing, while travelling I find politics trivial and the lives of the locals important.

Image by Bohari Adventures

This sense continues for a short period when I return home. Places and people I knew before I left are both familiar and strange. They have become uncanny, or what Freud calls unheimlich (unhomely). It produces a distance between myself and my life. And this is the true freedom of travel. It allows me to interrogate my situation. As Marcel Proust writes: ‘the only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes’.

The freedom of travel

Freedom is almost synonymous with movement: fast cars, migrating birds, wind – if it moves, it’s a metaphor for freedom. And so it goes that travel is also associated with freedom and its partner-in-crime, escape. But escape from what?

Travel is an escape from the everyday. The everyday is that which I no longer see, feel, interrogate. Things in my daily life become so common to me that they disappear. The colour of my desk at work I cannot recall, the smell of my shampoo I do not notice, etc. Everything familiar becomes hidden to me. I become numb to the world around me, just as prisoners become numbed by the walls of their cells. My routines are the walls of my cell. To alleviate this daze I purchase new clothes, books, seek out new cafes, take on new hobbies, but these too are quickly absorbed by the everyday.

So how do we get outside of the everyday?

In Christian countries during the Middle Ages, special days (Saints’ days, for example) were marked in the Church Calendar with red ink to distinguish them from normal days (the everyday). As a consequence these celebratory occasions were called Red Letter Days. The last Tuesday before Lent (Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday) was particularly festive, often resulting in roles/rules being reversed: fools becoming lords, lords becoming fools. The freedom from the everyday in these holy days is still visible in the UK, Australasia and Canada where a vacation is called a holiday.

Image by Prefeitura de Olinda

There is still something sacred about travel. Arriving in an unfamiliar culture I find wonderment in everything, from the smallest details to the largest vistas. But it is the festive feeling that dominates. Where at home I found the common things boring and international diplomacy intriguing, while travelling I find politics trivial and the lives of the locals important.

Image by Bohari Adventures

This sense continues for a short period when I return home. Places and people I knew before I left are both familiar and strange. They have become uncanny, or what Freud calls unheimlich (unhomely). It produces a distance between myself and my life. And this is the true freedom of travel. It allows me to interrogate my situation. As Marcel Proust writes: ‘the only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes’.

GLACIER PERITO MORENO ESCAPADE – SANTA CRUZ (EL CALAFATE) – ARGENTINA

Visiting the Perito Moreno glacier (not to be confused with Perito Moreno ski center close to El Bolson) can be a humbling experience. Not only its beauty is awesome, but also its size and surroundings make this an unforgettable trip. Approaching this region from the east will let the visitor see how the geographical transition from a fairly flat landscape turns into a magnificient surrounding of peaks and mountains known as “pre-cordillera” and how the low waters are transformed into powerful streams that cut through forests and rocks.

The center of the action happens in El Calafate and a nearby town called El Chalten where thousands of trekking enthusiasts visit each year. From El Calafate there are tours to the glaciers almost all year round. If you prefer outdoor action as opposed to views of incredible nature, make sure to visit the Mendoza vacation package.

All domestic flights included, departing from Buenos Aires

ALL TRANSFERS INCLUDED

3 nights with daily breakfast

Tours included

FULL DAY visit to Perito Moreno glacier

Visit to ranch EL GALPON with special patagonian dinner (cordero patagonico)

FULL DAY visit to glaciers Upsala and Oneli y spegazzini – bilingual guides

Hotel Kapenke or similar (3 stars)

Itinerary: Buenos Aires – El Calafate – Buenos Aires. Departing everyday.

( double occupancy).

Expedition – Trekking on the glacier

The excursion starts from the pier located in the bay called “Bajo de las sombras”, from where visitors cross Lago Rico to reach the south-east coast. After disembarking, everybody gathers at a refuge where Professional Guides organize groups. Trekking starts on the shores of the Lake, about 20′ walk before getting to the Glaciers. Once near the ice, Guides help participants to put on crampons and give some basic advice on how to walk on ice. People trekk for about 2 hours.

Walking is moderate, the surface is irregular but firm. Once the walk os over all groups return to the refuge crossing patagonian forests. There is also a minibus service available for those who would like some rest. Guides are bilingual and trekking takes place daily during the season. It is recommended to use sports shoes. High heels, Gum boots, Ski boots are not permitted. Bring lunch as well as sunglasses, a coat, protective lotions for the Sun, windproof jackets. For ages over 60 or under 10 please inquire.

Questions? Please write to us

3 nights: USD $1040 PER PERSON

Includes local taxes and roundtrip air tickets

* Holidays (Easter, etc) may carry different rates

DISCLAIMER: All pricing is subject to change without notice and is meant to serve only as a reference. Better hotels may result in an increase in price. Due to continued fluctuations in offer and demand we can NOT guarantee the above price so we recommend you contact us for more current pricing.

ONLINE PAYMENTS FORM

Schedule of payments: 20% downpayment to initiate bookings.

Remaining balance to be paid in full prior to departure.

VOUCHERS: either faxed to you or presented at the airport upon arrival

Travel Insurance Mandatory: (not included)

Usually covers cancellation, interruption, delays, baggage loss, baggage delay, emergency medical expenses, rental car damage, evacuation and repatriation, emergency cash transfer, lost ticket, passport advice. You must get this on your own.

Cancellation policies strictly enforced. Protect your trip with an insurance.

Manage your vacation as any other asset.

International Flights: We recommend that you buy your incoming international flights with your local agent or try to use your mileage program. But you can always contact us if you have any questions about such flights. We can provide quotes on the spot. Still unaware of Where is Argentina?

One question we get asked a lot is in regards to the weather in this part of Argentina. We have compiled historical data for this region. To know more about weather in Calafate please follow the link.

Punta Tombo and the penguins in Peninsula Valdes

Peninsula Valdes is one of the richest wild animal reservoirs in the world. Whales, penguins, sea lions, birds, marine mammals, all get together in a magnificent display of wild life. Surrounded by two gulfs (San Jose and Nuevo) the peninsula connects to mainland to its closest city -Puerto Madryn- which serves as a beach head for those interested in visiting the area. Puerto Madryn fishing industry is very strong and it has one of the main deep water ports in Patagonia. From Puerto Madryn vistors only have to travel anywhere from 130 to 280 miles to cover the entire Peninsula and its outstanding attractions. It does take an entire day but many people have chosen to stay in Puerto Madryn for up to a week to come back to the Peninsula every day. The best time of the year to take a whale watching trip is around September / October when there is the greatest concentration of them which also coincides with the birth of the new baby whales. Whales first appear in the area around end of May and by the end of December they are all gone back to deep ocean waters. To watch sea-lions, it is best to consider October as this is the time of procreation and there as many males as females. By December / January most males are gone and it is common to see the younger ones changing their skins. When it comes to penguins, the best time of the year for a visit is around November when there is an explosion of newborns. Penguins first arrive to the peninsula by the end of August, beginning of September. During October, penguins are busy nesting and by end of March they migrate to more tropical waters in southern Brazil.
Check the current weather in Trelew and study the historical weather pattern in Puerto Madryn before you engage in your trip. If Puerto Madryn is not your cup of tea you may want to look into Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the planet!

New London 2012 travel tool to help ticket holders get to the Games

         With less than one year to go to the Games, London 2012 ticket holders can now plan their journeys to venues and book travel with the help of a new online travel tool.

　　London 2012 is aiming for a ‘public transport’ Games, with a variety of travel options available.
　　The London 2012 spectator journey planner and the accompanying travel pagesare a first in Olympic and Paralympic history. They allow spectators to plot their routes to Olympic and Paralympic venues from anywhere in Great Britain – by rail, coach, bus, river or Tube.
　　Walking and cycling routes are also available and, from early next year, users will be able to plan their journeys to park-and-ride and Blue Badge parking sites. In addition, spectators with accessibility requirements can plan journeys via stations with lifts or ramps, and make use of the other dedicated advice and informationavailable.
　　The spectator journey planner was created in partnership between the ODA, the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG), the Department for Transport (DfT) and official Games technology partner ATOS.
　　It is similar to existing journey planners but has added benefits for Games ticket holders, including:
　　Recommended routes and predicted journey times to and from London 2012 venues from anywhere in Great Britain
　　Predicted walking and cycling times to and from recommended stations to venues
　　Timetable information up to one year in advance – previously unheard of in the UK
　　Links to travel booking sites once users have planned and selected the most suitable journey
　　LOCOG Chair Seb Coe said: ‘Getting spectators to events on time and back home again is going to make a huge difference to how people remember the Games in years to come. Next summer will be incredibly busy, and as much as possible is being done to make London 2012 a public transport Games. This spectator journey planner will be a really useful tool and help people decide on the best ways of travelling next summer.’
　　Hugh Sumner, ODA Director of Transport, said: ‘The nation’s transport networks will be extremely busy on routes leading to Games venues next summer and we have worked closely with travel providers to ensure people will be able to get to their events while maintaining background services.
　　‘The next step is for spectators to start planning their journeys and booking their travel now they know what event tickets they have got. The creation of the spectator journey planner will mean people are given all the options before making their choice.