Photo of the Day (11.28.10)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Beach volleyball might seem like a laid-back sport – it’s played on the beach, right? But as Flickr user Flavio@Flickr demonstrates in today’s beach photo from Israel, those casual volleyball matches can get downright heated. The whirls of sand beneath the players’ feet, their frozen-in-air poses and the low upward-looking angle of this photo all lend a vibrant sense of motion and activity to this dramatic scene. I wonder who’s winning?

Have any great travel photos you’d like to share with the world? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Literary-themed Paris hotel Le Pavillon des Lettres opens

by Melanie Nayer on

What do Shakespeare, Baudelaire and Rousseau have in common? Aside from being some of the most revered authors and playwrights, these famous literary types now grace the walls of the newest Paris hotel, Le Pavillon des Lettres.

A classic Haussman townhouse in the 8th arrondissement, the boutique hotel, Le Pavillon des Lettres, features 26 rooms – each devoted to a letter of the alphabet and an international writer corresponding to that letter. Shakespeare, Baudelaire and Rousseau are among the authors whose quotes are elegantly scrawled on the walls en Français.

For English translations, boot up the room’s dedicated iPad, which is stocked with international bestsellers and daily newspapers, as well as jazz and classical music. The hotel’s library is stocked with the works of all 26 featured authors, and more.

Just in time for the holiday season, the hotel’s opening rates start at €300 (approximately $397 USD) through February 28, 2011 and include breakfast, complimentary Champagne from 6 -8pm, and a special gift of a caddy of the “2000 ans d’écriture” tea from the exclusive French tea house, Le Thé des Écrivains.

And if Paris‘ quintessential charm isn’t enough, here are some reasons to visit the City of Light:

  • The Marché du No el is set up along Champs Elysée from November 19-December 28
  • Swan Lake is playing at the Opéra-Bastille from November 29- January 5
  • Antiquity Rediscovered is the new exhibit at the Louvre from December 3-February 14
  • The state-regulated winter “soldes” are from January 12-February 15
  • Madame Butterfly is playing at the Opéra-Bastille from January 16-February 14

Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco Chicago throws week long gift exchange for charity

by Melanie Nayer on

We love the holiday season, not just for the fun of the decorations and excitement of Santa’s arrival, but for the innate kindness that seems to seep from people this time of year. Couple that kindness with the efforts of hotels partnering with charitable organizations and you’ve got the making for a great holiday season.

To celebrate the holiday season and show just how fun the spirit of giving can be, Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco will host a week long White Elephant Charity Gift Exchange with proceeds to benefit Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital (CCMH).

Holiday givers are invited to bring an unwrapped gift to the lobby of Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco Chicago; in exchange, the holiday giver will then choose their own present from among those previously exchanged. For each gift exchanged, the Monaco Chicago will make a $2 donation to CCMH. In addition to the monetary donation, the Monaco Chicago will also hold a drive to collect gift cards for families at CCMH, a welcomed surprise for families in need during the holiday season.The Monaco Chicago has decided to shake things up and throw in a few exciting gifts of its own, including airfare and accommodations to any Kimpton hotel in the country.

Here’s how the exchange works:

  • The holiday giver brings in an unwrapped, unopened gift (price range $10 to $20) to the Hotel Monaco Chicago lobby during specified times. A Monaco team member will then review the gift and wrap the present.
  • The holiday giver selects a different gift from among those previously exchanged. The giver can choose to accept that gift or select ONE final other. If rejected, the first gift is placed back with the other gifts.
  • Hint: Individuals who donate a gift card will receive one more round at the gift exchange.
  • For each gift provided, the Hotel Monaco will donate $2 to Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital.
  • Every holiday giver has an equal chance to win any Kimpton hotel around the country.

Doesn’t giving feel good?

Daily gear deals: $12 travel speakers, 20% Scottevest discounts and more

by Scott Carmichael on

Here are the hottest daily gear deals for today, Sunday November 28, 2010. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today’s first deal is for a set of Philips USB computer speakers. These compact speakers feature a cord that stores in the underside and driver free plug and play operation. On sale for $11.99. Click here for this deal.

Next up is a solar powered battery backup pack. With the included power tips, you can charge most portable gadgets, and once the battery pack is empty, you can recharge it using any USB power source, or with its solar panels. On sale for $7.99 at 1saleaday.

To celebrate Cyber Monday, Scottevest has put an assortment of their most popular products on sale. The lineup includes their new Carry-On Coat and their popular Cargo Pants. After applying coupon code CYBER20, prices drop by 20%. To see the sales page and products included, check out the Scottevest Cyber Monday page.

And finally in today’s lineup is (once again) the Kensington iPhone/iPod accessory kit. We last featured this kit when it dropped to $55, but that apparently was not cheap enough – because it just dropped to an insanely low $27.17. In the kit, you get a dock/charge base, backup battery pack, windshield mount, USB sync cable, Micro car charger, AC charger and nightstand travel charge base. Normal price is $90 – so you are saving a ton on this bundle. Click here for this deal.

Search for Air France 447 to resume

by Kraig Becker on

French air accident investigators announced yesterday that search teams will return to a remote region of the Atlantic to resume the search for Air France Flight 447 in early 2011. Officials from the airline and the investigative agency recently met with families of the passengers on board that flight, who urged them to continue the search for the missing plane. Those families have lingering questions about what happened to their loved ones and why the plane went down under mysterious circumstances.

On June 1st, 2009, Flight 447 took off from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on a trip to Paris, France. While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the Airbus A330-200 encountered stormy weather and was never heard from again. There were 228 passengers on board at the time of the crash. The planes two flight recorders have never been recovered and little wreckage was ever found either.

This will be the fourth search team sent to the region where the plane is believed to have gone down. Previous searches have garnered few results in part because of the remote nature of the crash site. It will take two to four days by ship just to get to the location where the plane is believed to have gone down. Past searches have been hampered by underwater mountains, deep trenches, and thousands of miles of ocean.

The search is scheduled to resume in February of next year with investigators hoping to not only discover the wreckage, but also solve the mystery of why the plane crashed in the first place.

[Photo credit: Pawel Kierzkowski via WikiMedia]