Air New Zealand has once again captured the title of safest airline in the world.
16.12.2023 - 23:53 / euronews.com
There’s a joke in certain circles, that whenever something goes wrong in Paris, we blame Emily. I think you know of whom I speak.
Ever since the Netflix hit show ‘Emily in Paris’ portrayed the city as some sort of picture-perfect paradise, airbrushed to within an inch of its life, it’s been one thing after another. In short, Emily jinxed us.
From strikes and bedbugs to bomb hoaxes, travellers could be forgiven for wanting to give the city a miss just now. But would they be right to do so? I live in the city - here’s why I argue not.
First up this year, there were the strikes. To be fair, there are always strikes in Paris. But those in the spring, expressing understandable frustration at Macron’s controversial pension reform, were particularly full-on. While many people sympathised with the cause, it was less easy to be enthusiastic about streets swamped with rubbish. The chic surrounds of Savoir this was not.
Then, no sooner had all that died down, there was bedbug-gate - when the world succumbed to some sort of media-fuelled mass hysteria akin to a moral panic. It’s true, there were some bedbug outbreaks, and some schools and cinemas were closed for a bit. But as several experts pointed out, bedbugs are on the rise everywhere - not only in Paris - and now everyone here seems to have pretty much forgotten all about it.
Still, all that pales in comparison to the wider concerns over security. As well as the usual protests (and occasional riot) there is the ongoing threat of terrorism in Paris - with France's national threat alert recently raised to the highest level possible.
And that’s not to mention the spate of bomb hoaxes in October. During that time, schools, airports and tourist sites such as the Louvre were all targeted - with the Palace of Versailles forced to close its doors several times in one week.
It's true that Paris hasn’t had the best year. But in the same way that the capital will never live up to Emily’s beret-wearing, bouquet-buying utopia, it also hasn’t been anything like as bad as the media has made out.
For the most part, life has gone on pretty much as normal throughout all of this. As I write, the bin lorry is rumbling past, an argument is unfolding over a cyclist jumping a red light and a dog just pooped on the pavement.
Judging by the data so far, it seems that visitors haven’t been put off either - quashing rumours that American tourists had been cancelling their trips to the capital.
According to the city’s tourist office, now known as ‘Paris je t’aime’, the impact to date has been very limited, with the various indicators (flight bookings, searches etc.) remaining stable compared with last year’s results.
This may have been given a boost by the Rugby World Cup, which saw the
Air New Zealand has once again captured the title of safest airline in the world.
Accor isn't always top of mind for U.S. travelers considering where to book a hotel stay.
Saying that social media videos aren’t always trustworthy feels like the biggest no brainer of the century. But in an era of AI, videography tricks, and influencers trying literally anything to garner attention, it bears remembering that when it comes to TikTok, not everything is as it seems. Take this video of a train journey through Skagway, Alaska.
Who’s the Wizard of Oz? As far as parents in our group are concerned, his name is Pierre Paret-Solet — a locally born ski instructor who can wrangle frozen boot bindings with the flick of a wrist, scoop up myriad lost poles while skiing backwards and cajole wilful children without remotely raising his voice. And if, say, just as you sit down to lunch a snowboard happens to shoot off the side of a slope because the kids were using it as a sledge, he can retrieve it before your tartiflette hits the table. And all with a genuine smile.
From Venice to Athens, Europe’s most popular destinations are buckling under the weight of unsustainable tourist numbers.
Saying that social media videos aren’t always trustworthy feels like the biggest no brainer of the century. But in an era of AI, videography tricks, and influencers trying literally anything to garner attention, it bears remembering that when it comes to TikTok, not everything is as it seems. Take this video of a train journey through Skagway, Alaska.
Silver Airways made its inaugural flight to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands on Monday, December 18th, 2023. The airline will operate twice-weekly flights non-stop from Fort Lauderdale to Providenciales.
The breadth of Panama is so slender you can cross it in about an hour by car, but that doesn't mean this Central American gem isn't packed full of attractions. It’s one of the most biologically diverse places on earth, yet small enough to fit inside the state of South Carolina.
From rubbish comes rhythm, trash turned into tunes. At La Halle de la Machine in Toulouse, I watch Ignacio Herrero, one of La Halle’s staff members, make music out of recycled bits of junk. This hangar-like space in the southern district of Montaudran is best known as the home for the giant animatronic Minotaur Asterion and its equally enormous spider companion Ariane. However, exhibits demonstrated by staff also include a makeshift orchestra: old klaxons turned into an organ, a huge pinwheel of abandoned guitars, a cascade of battered drum cymbals, an accordion powered by a contraption that in a previous life operated windscreen wipers. The ingenuity, innovation and whimsy of it all are enchanting – music and engineering harmoniously coming together in a way that would have had Heath Robinson bursting into song.
Snow is falling around me in large, cinematic flakes. It’s 8.45 on a Tuesday morning in mid-January. I’m sitting at the top of a wide empty ski slope, ready to strap into my snowboard. Within minutes, I’m schussing down the powder-soft run, then back to the resort, ready to open my laptop and start a day of work.
When I was eight, Christmas was ballistically exciting and worth dragging my parents out of bed at 4am for. Over my 32 years since, a combination of atheism, credit card bills and John Lewis-branded Venus flytrap monsters has made me more cynical than excitable about the holiday.
Do you already have 2024 New Year’s Eve plans? What if you could celebrate the ball dropping twice in one day? The Napa Valley Wine Train is partnering with the legendary Grgich Hills winery for “Midnight In Paris: A Legacy NYE Celebration” to commemorate not only the new year but also to honor Winemaker Miljenko “Mike” Grgich who recently passed away at the age of 100.