Bubbly for 50,000 euros: The world’s most expensive champagne

by Anna Brones on

It seems like trendy drinks are getting more and more expensive. First it was bottled water, then it was coffee made from animal dung. But if you thought water at $42 a bottle was expensive then you haven’t seen the latest bottles of Perrier-Jouet. The French champagne company is selling a limited edition 12-bottle box set for a mere 50,000 euros. That comes out to about 4,166 euros per bottle, or $6,485!

Who can afford such things? The “community of super rich consumers” of course. Marketing to this kind of consumer in the United States, Britain, Japan, China, Russia, Switzerland and France, Pierre-Jouet is pretty much offering the champagne chance of a lifetime. “We are going to sell these box-sets to 100 people around the world who will have a chance to customise their own champagne, the ultimate luxury,” said Perrier Olivier Cavil, head of communications at Perrier-Jouet. The boxed set wins the prize for the world’s most expensive champagne; the previous record was set by a limited edition Dom Perignon which went on sale in 2005 for 12,000 euros per three liter bottle.

Customers purchasing one of the 100 boxed sets will come to Epernay to meet one-on-one with the cellar master who will add in a liqueur to “personalize” the champagne. Sounds pretty luxurious. Better invite only the classiest of your friends to drink it with.

Earth Day Kite Flying: 10 suggestions

by Jamie Rhein on

Every year when the temperature warms and the wind picks up, we buy a cheap kite to fly for a day or two before we get too busy to head to an open field. As an Earth Day Celebration, what could be more environmentally friendly than kite flying? Except, of course, for the gas to get to a place with wind and enough space.

Open fields are among the best places to fly a kite if you live in an urban area. Think the middle of a high school track for one option. Look out for power lines, though. Kites and power lines are not a good combo. If you live near a coast or a large lake, head to the beach. Other places to consider are fields in city parks.

One thing I like about kite flying, once you have a kite, it’s free. It’s also participatory. What a great way to join in with humanity in environmentally friendly fun. Here are suggestions–some based on personal experience, what people have told me, or in this article, “The Ten Best Places Around the World to Go Fly a Kite”:

1. Central Park in New York City. There is an Earth Day Celebration on April 20, this Sunday, at Rumsey Playfield. Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder are on the line up of entertainment. The park is also on the Holden Caufield tour of New York City.

2. Fano Island, Denmark. With Denmark being the happiest country in the world, flying a kite can only make some one happier than happiest. The family I lived with, when I was a student in undergraduate school, took me here as part of a weekend trip. It was gorgeous.

3. Great Wall of China, China. With China as the country credited for the invention of kites, the Great Wall is an interesting option for kite flying. Here’s an account of one family who found this to be the case. When I went to the Great Wall, it had just snowed. Then it was a place for building snowmen and sliding down the steps on ones bottom.

4. Jaipur, India. Even though the kite festival happened in January, this is a wonderful city to spend some time. A place to launch a kite is from the top of a roof. It’s not uncommon for hotels to have a roof-top terrace restaurant. I never tried it, but I bet roof-top kite flying would be a conversation starter. India is one of those places where everything and nothing is out of the ordinary.

5. Long Beach, Washington. I posted a video taken at the Washington International Kite Flying Festival. It’s not until August, but kite-flying is good anytime.

6. Mission Bay Park and Mission Beach, San Diego, California. When I was walking the boardwalk at Mission Beach last month, the kite fliers were braving chilly weather to send their massive kites sailing. By now, I bet the temperature is perfect.

7. Nan-Liao, Taiwan. This harbor town, a bus ride from Hsinchu, where I used to live, is a popular weekend spot for kite flying. We did fly kites here and ate squid-on-a-stick that we bought at the nearby market. Andrew Zimmern gushed about this popular street food on the last Bizarre Foods episode on China.

8. Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. One of my cousins and his son bought a kite to fly here. When they stopped some place for lunch, they tied the kite to a bike rack so it would stay airborne. They left it behind so someone else could have it. While they shopped they could see it dipping and weaving.

9. Venice Beach, Venice, California. Also a great place to see kite-flying or fly one yourself in the midst of the cacophony of humanity. Check out the drum circle Neil wrote about when you are there.

And a place I haven’t been, but it was recommended in a comment on the 10 great kite-flying places article.

10. El Morro National Park in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. There is a kite flying festival here in March, although, the commenter said it has great kite flying conditions most of the year. As a bonus, this is also a World Heritage Site.

French Eurovision song causes trouble for using English lyrics

by Anna Brones on

The French language is incredibly important to those who speak it; so important that it even has its own academy established to do everything possible to protect it. So the fact that this year’s French entry for the Eurovision song contest uses English lyrics has caused a slight national upset.

Jacques Mynard, of the UMP party — the same party as President Nicolas Sarkozy — has urged France’s major TV networks to reconsider the choice of Sebastien Tellier’s song which combines both French and English lyrics. Mynard feels that a bilingual song does a bad job of representing the nation. “The French language is the tool of a huge industry in terms of cultural influence and if we French give up our language, what do you think the others will say?” said Mynar. This isn’t so surprising considering that earlier this year, Sarkozy himself asked for 100% French television broadcasts; when it comes to the French language, there is no kidding around.

Tellier however feels that he needs to use a combination of French and English to achieve his own artistic goals. “To explain the vision of French people of sexuality and of life and so, to be understood, I need to sing in English,” Tellier said. This will be the first time that France uses a non-French song as a Eurovision entry.

Countries that compete at Eurovision are free to sing in whatever language they choose. Sweden has a great way of getting around the language issue: for the contests leading up to the final decision of what song goes to Eurovision, the songs are sung in Swedish, but when the national winner goes on and competes at Eurovision, it is usually with with an English version. According to Eurovision, songs sung in English statistically have a better chance of winning. France will just have to decide whether it prefers to protect the language or have a better chance at coming home with the Eurovision title.

Hulk Hogan, Osama Bin Laden and a pair of Red Wings

by Jamie Rhein on

I heard part of an interview with Morgan Spurlock, the creator of the documentary, “Where in the World is Osama bin Laden” yesterday. The film, which opens today, sounds as if it might be more travelogue with a twist of the Middle East. Spurlock visits places as varied as Morocco, Pakistan, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan and chats with a variety of those countries’ citizens along the way in order to sort of find Osama bin Laden and take a look-see in the countries where he has been.

Spurlock’s interview comments about wresting reminded me of one of my husband’s encounters with Tibetan monks in Nepal. The interviewer and Spurlock talked about how people everywhere, no matter which country, know that championship wrestling is serious business. My husband, who wrestled in high school, attracts wrestling type fans wherever he travels.

As a rather large man with huge feet–size 14, he is unable to escape notice. People, particularly in countries like Vietnam, like to poke and prod him. Because he wears Red Wing work boots, his shoes gain notice. Fill one with cement and you’d have quite the doorstop. Even without the cement, it’s a doorstop. Anyway, when we were in Nepal and stopped by a Tibetan monastery outside of Pokhara, like always, my husband left his shoes outside the door while we went inside. When he came out, he saw a group of monks gathered around his boots.

One of the monks reached down to pick one up and seemed to be testing its weight, marveling. Another, who knew English, said, “Can we ask you a question?”

My husband leaned in thinking he might learn a bit about enlightenment,”Yes?” He waited for the pearl.

“Hulk Hogan? Is he real?”

“Sure,” said my husband, which produced a round of beaming smiles, nods and back slapping, as if my husband and Hulk are best buds. As for the pearl of wisdom? Here’s what I think. Sometimes, it doesn’t take much to please.

Photo of the Day (4/16/08)

by Jamie Rhein on

Although Andrew Zimmern didn’t eat any deer antlers on the broadcast version of Bizarre Foods when he went to Guangzhou, China, he mentions dried deer tail as a cure for back ailments in his blog. Willy Volk, who snapped this shot in Chinatown in San Francisco, says that antlers are viewed as an aphrodisiac.

I like that there’s nothing about this shot that places this display in the United States– except, possibly, the price on the sign. This is a reminder that sometimes you can wander into the unusual without traveling too far from home. What interesting images have you come across in your travels? Send them our way at Gadling’s Flickr photo pool.