One day in Paris, favorite places

A number of slowmoves posts mention passing through Paris, mainly from London on the way to somewhere else in Europe. Of course slowmoves means making the most of the places or are on route. There's a fun article we found about one day in Paris, it might give you some ideas if you are looking to spend a bit of time in Paris before heading on.

Aside, I highlight a couple of personal favourite things in Paris (without detailing the number one and known Musee D'Orsay):

• Lots of tourists swarm the island in Paris, home of Notre Dame Cathedral. But far too many overlook its adorable little sister, the quaint Ile Saint Louis just a few steps away. Read more
• Pass through the hidden doors of the La Mosquee Hammam and the culture and heritage
  of the Byzantine era presents itself. Read more

If you have any favorite things to do for a day or night in Paris, we would be delighted to hear from you.

[George]

Picture from: http://cache.virtualtourist.com/4393277-Ile_Saint_Louis-Paris.jpg

Rural retreats in Italy; the home of 'slow'

The slow movement began back in the 1980's in Italy to counteract fast food and fast life and promote local, traditional food culture and a slower pace of life. Guido, the owner of Barbialla Nuova guesthouse (pictured) in the Tuscan countryside sums up his devotion to slow living:

"We are Slow through and through: we wait for just the right moment to collect truffles; we raise our cattle in a leisurely way, giving them all the time they need to grow naturally. We run our agriturismo in a way that we feel helps our guests to leave behind the stresses of modern life."

As I read this, I thought; 'when's my next holiday? I'm going to Tuscany'. I couldn't have come across a more relevant article for slowmoves as I flicked through last weekend's Observer and read an article about rural retreats in Italy called 'A slow traveler's guide to Italy'. Alaistar Sawday has just published a new book called 'Go Slow Italy' and he's hand-picked a selection of the places to stay for the Observer. They all have a focus on home-grown products, the pleasures of the communal table, abide to social and environmentally-sound practices.

Here is a selection of the wonderfully dreamy and inspiring places... let me know if you ever have the pleasure of making your way to any of them, I would love to hear about it.

Locanda Casanuova, Tuscany (pictured below)

Locanda Casanuova is a place of contemplation - and always has been, for it began life as a monastery. Bedrooms are almost monastically simple, but have splashes of colour and style to introduce a perfect measure of modernity.

The 23 hectares of vineyards and olives produce 7,000 litres of wine and a lot of olive oil; there is an organic vegetable garden too. It is an intensely personal place. It was 20 years ago that they came here and resolved to rescue it. They have done so much more: Ursula practises yoga in the early mornings - you are welcome to join her - and is a superb cook; meals are wonderfully convivial affairs in the refectory, off which is a library where you can pore over trekking maps at a big round table.

• Locanda Casanuova, near Figline Valdarno (00 39 055 950 0027; casanuova.info). Twelve doubles, two suites, four singles - from €70 per person half board. Two apartments, from €75 a night for two. Nearest train station: Figline Valdarno

I Mandorli Agriturismo, Umbria

Wanda is the overseer of this 45-hectare estate. With her three daughters, Maria, Alessandra and Sara, and their daughters, you have the privilege of seeing Italian family life in action. I Mandorli is a higgledy-piggledy house with little steps here and there leading to rooms and apartments, outhouses, lofts and old olive mills. Flowers tumble from pots, capers scale stone walls and fruit and cypress trees give shade in the garden. Bedrooms are simple affairs with wrought-iron beds and pale homemade patchwork quilts; the small bathrooms are spotless. The vineyard is managed organically; vegetables and sunflowers are grown and there is a little outlet for the estate's produce; you can buy wine, lentils, oils and jams to take home.

Guests can wander the land, pick herbs, help with the olive harvest, take cookery lessons, cycle, walk and go rafting. Children will love the wooden slide and seesaw, the old pathways and steps on this shallow hillside, the new pool - wonderful to return to after outings to Assisi and Spoleto.

• I Mandorli Agriturismo, near Trevi (00 39 0742 78669; agriturismoimandorli.com). One twin/double, two triples, from €40. Three apartments: one for two; two for four, from €65 a night. Nearest train station: Trevi

CouchSurfing your way around the world

Driving a few extra hours to avoid spending a night in a shady motel; an uncomfortable overnight stop-over at an airport because you wouldn’t know where to go; too little money on the last leg of a trip to be able to enjoy it; or leaving a city with mixed feelings because the tourist spots didn’t do it for you. Those are situations that we have all been exposed to at one point or another during our travels.



I wish I had known about CouchSurfing during those ‘hitches’. CouchSurfing is a website connecting people throughout the world by sparing their extra bed or couch (for free!), thereby offering an affordable way to plan your itinerary but the real attraction of this website is the cultural exchanges taking place between guests and hosts who often go out of their way to provide a meal or offer a guided tour of their city with a local perspective.

Safety features have also been planned out to minimize misadventures and consist mainly of member referrals as well as a system to verify names and addresses. And it all seems to work fine.

The first random search led me to the following referral of a female UK traveler to Santiago de Chile:

“If Carlos ever gets tired of the day job he should become a tour guide (or a bartender thanks to his excellent pisco sours!)! He gave me a wonderful and very thorough tour around Santiago when I surfed his couch there, and I enjoyed every minute of it. He´s a very friendly, informed and easy-going person - thanks so much, Carlos, for your hospitality and help in Chile.”

To date, CouchSurfing has over 1 million members across 232 countries and is growing by the day. All there is left to do now is dig out a map and hit the road! Happy surfing!

Website: www.couchsurfing.com

[Jerome]

Cycling and wine tasting in Burgundy

I've always had a vision of cycling through vineyards and stopping in little wine villages to go wine-tasting. Well that's exactly what I did last week in the wonderful region of Burgundy in France with my boyfriend. Burgundy, the region known for wine, mustard, Cassis, and meat was an easy sell, and the fact that it was only 2 hours from Paris made it all the more attractive.

We took the Eurostar from Kings Cross St Pancras in London and 2 hours later we were having an (expensive) coffee at a typical french cafe across from Gare du Nord in Paris. We spent a couple of days exploring Paris before heading east to Beaune, a picturesque town in the middle of Burgundy. You can catch the TGV from Gare de Lyon to Beaune via Dijon which takes about 2 and a half hours in total.



Where we stayed...
A lovely bed & breakfast about 20km from Beaune and right near a famous wine village called Nuits-Saint-Georges. Val de Vergy is a massive old country house build of stone, that has 4 unique bedrooms, a swimming pool and breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside and neighbouring horses. It meets all the criteria that I listed in my previous post about unique places to stay. The house was built in 1680 by a wine-maker. The current owners, Brigitte and Dominique, have been living there for 40 years, having bought it as young newlyweds when it was just a ruin without running water or electricity. You can read all about their inspiring story in the memory book they made for all the guests to read in the breakfast room.



Our room was absolutely lovely, with wooden beams and a huge bathroom with free-standing bath. Brigitte laid out a yummy breakfast of farmhouse baguette, homemade jams and honey and fromage frais every morning in the common room where all the guests eat together.

The cycling bit...
On the first day, I was determined to fulfill my vision of cycling through the vineyards and that's just what we did. We headed into Beaune and rented bikes across from the train station (watch out, EVERYTHING is closed between 12 and 2!) and off we went on the 'velo-route' through the vineyards. The bike route was 22km there and 22km back, on special roads through the vines and going through the famous wine villages of Pommard, Volnay, Meursault. It was stunning scenery and we kept thinking it would be even better at the height of spring or during harvest season. I would recommend bringing a picnic and stopping off for a bite amidst the vines.

The wine bit...
So now on to the wonders of wine-tasting. We decided not to combine wine-tasting with cycling as we may never have gotten back to Beaune! We did a wine course at Sensation Vin in Beaune which was really eye-opening. I've loved red wine for a while now but I have to admit I don't know much about it: the different grapes, regions, appellations, etc. In an hour, the teacher managed to cram in all the basics and had us try ('deguster') 6 different wines. By the end, we understood the different 'Appellation d'origine controllees' (AOCs) which ranged from Grand Cru to more regional appellations. We could also distinguish between the different tastes, smells, and colours and start to understand the reasons behind them.

This gave us a good basis for our real wine-tasting experience at the oldest wine cellars in Beaune 'Patriarche' which span for 5km underground. Just imagine 5km of wine bottles ranging from 1904 to today. We wandered through the dark corridors lined with thousands of perfectly arranged bottles to find the tasting area where we sampled all of 13 wines. I had to learn the art of 'deguster' (spitting out the wine after you taste it), otherwise I don't think I would have come back up.



The last night we went to eat at a real local restaurant in Villars-Fontaine 'L'auberge du Coteau' and had an amazingly tender Cote de Boeuf and of course some local wine. It was quite hilarious because we bumped into everyone that night: our hosts at the b&b, 2 of the restaurant owners where we ate on the other nights and the other guests in our b&b. That's when we knew we were eating at the right place.

[Anouk]

Unique places to lay our heads

At slowmoves, as we start thinking of our next escapade, we look for slightly unusual independent and personalised places to stay. They can be family-run bed & breakfasts or working farms or anywhere that has a large dose of charm. We take pleasure in finding a gem that we can later share with our friends and family (or write about on this blog).

What makes a place special?

• Often a historical or period building that fits in with the local area
  
• Set in beautiful surroundings: some of my favourites are set in the middle of the countryside or in a sleepy rural village. But it could be in a quirky part of a city or town
• The owners are friendly and welcoming and real ‘locals’. They know the area inside out and can recommend the best local haunts
• A non-commercial or manufactured feel to it. Every room has an individual personality. You feel like you’re staying at someone’s house rather than a chain hotel
• It isn't everyone to their own. You integrate with the hosts and other guests at breakfast or tea time
• Local, seasonal food where possible. I have great memories of seasonal fruits at breakfast and homemade jams and breads

Here are a few of the gems that I discovered in 2008 right here in the UK:

Bopeep Farmhouse, Alciston, East Sussex
Set at the foot of the south downs so perfect for walking. About half an hour walk from the gorgeous village Alfriston which has cozy pubs and cafes and one the best independent bookshops in England 'Much ado books'














Faerystone Bed & Breakfast, Carbis Bay, Cornwall
The highlight here was the amazing view from the balcony overlooking the sea. We had breakfast every morning on our balcony in our complementary robes. Perfect for a romantic getaway.

Fields Cottage, Bisley, Gloucestershire
The hosts were lovely and welcoming. They came to pick us up from the station, served tea and homemade cookies on arrival. In fact they made everything homemade which made the house smell amazing. So quiet and nothing to do but walk, walk, eat and sleep.


If you want a little help finding a special place to stay in the UK or anywhere in the world, a great resource is Sawday’s special places to stay website. He has a real knack for finding charming, unique and slightly odd places to stay.

We'd love to hear about the gems that you've found on your travels, so do get in touch and leave comments.

[Anouk]

Discovering London by foot

London is vast. It covers 1, 700 square kilometres. It's comprised of 32 boroughs with their own sights, parks, squares and character. Living in London could seem hellish to some, but there is a lot of green space in London. There are 8 royal parks covering 5000 acres of land. There are a multitude of other open spaces and parks in London including my favourite, Hampstead Heath, the largest ancient parkland and one of the highest points in London which allows for the most breathtaking views of London from Parliament Hill.















In my opinion London is a great city for walking. When it's decent weather, I walk everywhere. I just start walking from my house without a map and if (when) I get lost I'll just ask for directions. I always get some funny looks when I say "yes I really am walking to Regent's park from Angel". We have 2 legs, why not use them.

TFL and the London Boroughs have teamed up to promote 6 major walking routes in London as part of Walk London. The website gives us details of numerous walks you can do and includes downloadable maps with clear instructions and nice places to explore along the way. They also offer a range of guided walks you can do with groups of people around different themes: nature, culture, heritage, health. One of the walks is the Green Chain Walk which involves walking through dozens of woodlands and open spaces that cover south east london. One of these is from the Thames Barrier to Oxteas Meadows. All the routes are also accessible by public transport so you can walk as little or as much as you want.












Whether you've been living in London for years or you're visiting for the first time, these walks or indeed walking generally, is a great way to discover the wonderful city that is London.

[Anouk]

Wwoofing

Following on from my previous post about making travel fair, one way to give something back to the country you're visiting is to wwoof. No, not the sound a dog makes but 'World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms'. You help out on the farm doing anything from planting, weeding, fishing and cooking in exchange for a meal and a bed for the night. But beyond this, it's also a fantastic way to live with a local family, learn about organic farming and do some outdoorsy manual work. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but there's definitely something tobe said about going abroad (or somewhere else in the UK) and not spending any money - especially in this climate.















Photo from www.transitionsabroad.com

My sister had a incredible experience wwoofing around New Zealand a couple of years ago. She'd send photos of her and the family kids on a boat with the catch of the day, of the other wwoofers working together in the garden, of everyone sharing a meal in the evening. What's great is that you work a few hours and the rest is your own time to explore the area, take a dip in the sea, go for a nice long walk, eat the strawberries that you've picked.

Check out www.wwoof.org for more information and all the participating organic farms around the world.

[Anouk]

Make Travel Fair

While looking through the weekend papers or picking up a holiday brochure, we drift away from our everyday realities. We are enticed with images of far-off destinations: pristine beaches in the Maldives, ancient temples in Cambodia or safaris in Botswana... We start thinking about when we can pack our suitcases and head off for that life-changing adventure.

But there is another side to these wonderful, exotic holidays. What about the people living in these faraway places, how does our travel bug affect their lives? And what kind of initiatives are on offer to maximise the positive impact of tourism? Make travel fair is an online resource bringing together a myriad of articles with the hope of educating and engaging us to make travel fair.













Photo of Maldives by Leap Local

There are regular contributions from the people at Tourism Concern, Survival International and Tribewanted, amongst others. But anyone with an interesting perspective on social, economical or environmental issues around global travel are invited to contribute as well. Some of the articles that caught my attention were:

- New presidency in the Maldives? Can paradise be restored?
- 6 lessons we can learn from the Bedouin Culture
- Hunter-gathering lifestyle is an archaic fantasy

At slowmoves we want to put more thought into our holiday destinations. What are some of the local issues people are faced with? And how can our holiday have a positive impact on their culture? And what better way to find out than to talk to locals - over breakfast at a family-run guesthouse in Mozambique, or from a local guide while trekking in the Atlas Mountains...

[Anouk]

Like a local

Strolling along the streets of a foreign city, I'm more alert, open to sounds, people, buildings and sights. I love observing locals in their everyday routines, which may seem banal to them but to me are totally engrossing. I often wonder what kind of lives they lead, jobs they do and houses they live in. I always enjoy staying with friends when I visit a new place (when I can) to get to know their favourite haunts, their neighbourhood, their friends.



like-a-local is a brilliant website that connects you to residents in various cities across the world to get a more personal and local perspective. It gives recommendations on where to eat, where to stay and offers personalised itineraries by local residents.

"...enjoy home-cooked meals, private home-stays and specially-tailored itineraries..."

You can embark on a bike tour of Amsterdam with a local through the different districts in Amsterdam, passing the famous canals, the local markets, and the chic Old South. Or if architecture floats your boat, you can join local architect Björn on his tour of Antwerp's Northern district. You can savour the varied Portugese cuisine (and get to know the hidden treasures) with locals Yve & Mario in Lisbon at their dining table.

This certainly beats guide books and tourist information centres. Why not hear it directly from someone who lives and breathes the city everyday?

[Anouk]

Springfield park & marina

Springfield park is officially my new favourite park in London. I still love my 'local' Clissold park of course, but there's something really enchanting about Springfield park. A 10 minute cycle ride from Stoke Newington, the park is in Upper Clapton and sits alongside the river Lea. As you near the park, there's a steep hill with great views of the park on your right and Springfield marina straight ahead. I always feel like I'm on holiday somewhere (for some reason it makes me think of San Francisco?!) as I cycle down this hill.



The park has lots of different levels, tennis courts, weeping willows, great views of the river and surrounding marshes and a great cafe with yummy healthy food (I had a Moroccan salad). As you walk down to the marina, there's another cafe, a rowing club and endless walking routes along the river. If you cross the bridge and take a right, you can walk through Hackney marshes (you would never believe you were in London) until you reach a huge green with the largest collection of football pitches in Europe.



[Anouk]

A hidden gem in Jaipur

I have recently returned from a two week trip to India in which I stayed at a variety of hotels and guesthouses. Our specifications were basic – bed and air conditioning (it was hot hot hot!) – and as expected so was the standard of the accommodation. However there was one guesthouse, Pearl Palace in Jaipur Rajastan, that stood out because of the warm welcome and homely feeling they worked hard at creating.

On arrival I was handed a brilliantly crafted and carefully considered guidebook to the hotel and city entitled ‘An Alien’s guide to Jaipur’. It was created by the staff with the input from past guests. In slowmoves style, the guesthouse consider guests as pearls – being at the heart of the business. The slogan is engraved on the door of every room.

Most impressive is a beautifully designed roof terrace for guests to escape from the hectic pace of the bustling city below and leave your worries behind. The hotel features an elegant common room/ lounge where you can check emails, recline on a sofa, marvel the décor or read a book from their well stocked library.

Unlike other hotels we stayed at they enforce a policy not to tip individual members of staff. Instead they ask for you to donate in a communal pot at the end of your stay – a much less corrupt way of working and less stress for the guests!

http://www.hotelpearlpalace.com/

[Amy]