Photo of the day (9.9.10)

by Meg Nesterov on



Few things are more pleasant than tooling around in a slow boat and taking in a landscape via water. This photo by Flickr user Giovanni Fusco (whose photostream captures more than a few “wow” moments) taken in Dordogne, France shows a beautiful balance of the tranquility of the river with the rocky cliffs above. Just looking at it makes you feel peaceful and tempted to hop off for a farmhouse picnic, visit to a winery, or just stay aboard and enjoy the scenery.

Add your beautiful views to Gadling’s Flickr pool and it could be tomorrow’s Photo of the Day.

Daily Pampering: Luxury ski chalets for the ultimate winter retreat

by Melanie Nayer on

Have a few hundred thousand dollars to spare and want to do something special this winter? You’re in luck! The Abercrombie & Kent group just added 18 new luxury ski chalets to its already grandiose offerings and starting this December, they’re available for you.

Enjoy the very best in private ski accommodations in the French and Swiss Alps, including your own personal chefs, housekeeping and private chauffeurs. Intrigued? So are we, so we’ve highlighted a few for today’s ultimate Daily Pampering:

France:

Chalet Montana sleeps 15 and occupies arguably the best spot in Les Carats, the most exclusive enclave in Val d’Isére at the heart of Espace Killy. Fabulous for experienced ski enthusiasts, Chalet Montana faces the black ‘Face de Bellevarde’ ski run, scene of the men’s downhill in the Winter Olympics of 1992.

Cool and slightly crazy, Chalet Himalaya is located on the piste in the hameau of La Daille in Val d’Isere. A former 17th century monastery, Chalet Himalaya sleeps 12 and is full of quirky features and facilities, such as the ancient stone window seats and the part-indoor, part-outdoor swimming pool which has an adjustable depth. Each of the bedrooms has an en-suite bathroom with vast bath which doubles as a steam room. Guests are catered for by a Mosimann’s chef.

The Shemshak Lodge is brand new for the 2010/2011 season and also sleeps 12. The lodge sits on the piste within walking distance of the resort of Courchevel 1850 in the Trois Vallees.Switzerland:

Chalet Kernow is stylishly furnished with antiques and contemporary pieces collected from around the world. The chalet sleeps 12, comes with billiard table, Sky Sports, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation2, networked Linn music system, outdoor Jacuzzi and ground floor mini spa with team room, sauna and massage room. Chalet Kernow is located within walking distance of the Medran ski lift and the facilities of Verbier’s shops, bars and restaurants.

Contemporary-rustic in style, Chalet Les Esserts is set over the ground floor of Chalet Sagittaire with access to its shared leisure facilities. The modern chalet sleeps 6 and features up-to-date sound and vision entertainment systems that compliment the traditional Swiss antiques.

The cost? The villas will be available in December at a starting price of $8,257 (Les Esserts in Swiss Alps in low season weeks) and will go as high as $122,685 (Shemshak Lodge in Courchevel French Alps).

Want more? Get your daily dose of pampering right here.


[Photo credit: Chalet Montana, Ross Woodhall]

Parisian teenagers flash, steal cash

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Let’s start with the lesson first: if you’re going to Paris, take out all the cash you need at home. There’s a new scam at work … using the oldest trick in the book.

Think about the last time you went to a gentlemen’s club. As breasts went bare, men parted with their money. It’s utterly predictable. Now, assume you have two girls who can’t dance – and aren’t old enough to become strippers. How could they employ this technique for financial gain?

Two 14-year-olds in Paris figured out a way.

In the Sixth Arrondissement, the duo set out to distract ATM users and swipe their cash. After waving a newspaper at one person, according to a Reuters report, one of the criminal masterminds “allegedly opened her shirt and grabbed his [the user’s] genital area, while her accomplice took the 300 euros (about $385) that the machine spit out.”

And this isn’t the first time they used the technique. They did the same thing to lift 500 euros from a female ATM user. Taking the scam to a new low, however, they enlisted the help of an even younger accomplice.

While USA Today offers a handful of tips for avoiding ATM-related theft in Europe, here’s a good one: keep your eyes off the jailbait.

[photo by jonklinger via Flickr]

Photo of the day (8.20.10)

by Alex Robertson Textor on


Rainbows are the stuff of childhood drawings and goopy romance. They’re everywhere and they’re corny. The thing is, they’re also pretty awesome. They pop up in unexpected places and can’t help but delight most viewers. This image of a rainbow in the Haute-Savoie region of France, snapped by Moody75, allows its multicolored arc to reign supreme over a vast and apparently well-tended string of countryside hamlets. France’s alpine department of Haute-Savoie is no stranger to dramatic scenery. It shares Mont Blanc with the Italian region of Aosta.

Got an image of a rainbow lying around? Or perhaps another figment of childhood fantasy with adult appeal? Add it to the Gadling Flickr pool. If we fall in love with it we just might feature it as a Photo of the Day.

Parisians fight male nudity, rest of France fine for bare chests

by Tom Johansmeyer on

France used to be cool. City officials across the country used to turn a blind eye when it came to going topless … though I think a few of them were probably peeking. Now, they’re making people cover up and even throwing in some fine. Going bare from the waist up will set you back €38, money you could have used to buy a t-shirt to accomplish the same result.

Perpignan is the latest city to get on board with this trend, which started in resort towns like Cannes and St Tropez before working its way inward. “Hygiene,” “standing” and “public decency” are cited as the reasons.

According to the Independent:

“We’re not saying there’s been a general moral decline, but some people have complained,” Perpignan’s local security chief, Pierre Parrat, told Midi Libre. The law calls for “human dignity, decency, morality and protection of the young”.

Now, you’ve probably been thinking this rule has been limited to the ladies, but it’s equal-opportunity. Even men have to cover up:

Mr [Pierre] Parrat [local security chief] said the citizens of Perpignan found it shocking to see the naked chests of some men, in particular a group of English rugby supporters who stripped off while in the city for a recent match.

In fact, Parisians have taken the fight against public nudity to the counterintuitive extreme. According to a waiter in the Pigalle neighborhood, “A girl in a bikini in the centre of town is lovely, but children should not have to see hairy chests.”

[photo by adactio via Flickr]