Valentine’s Idea: Visit Valentine

by Willy Volk on

Believe it or not, there are actually a number of cities named Valentine. For example:

  • Valentine, Nebraska (“America’s Heart City”) is home to the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge. According to the website, the Heart City plans to host a Valentine’s Day event, although — like shy suitors — they haven’t expressed their feelings about it yet. In 2005, the town hosted a chili cook-off.
  • Right off Purple Heart Trail, there’s a Valentine, Arizona. Generally speaking, though, unless you’re a bit of an adventurer, I doubt this is where you’ll be spending your special day.
  • Only a few hundred people live in the west Texas town of Valentine.
  • There’s a Valentine Village in New Mexico.
  • Upper Austria seems to dislike the fact that it has a small village called Valentine.
  • France boasts Saint-Valentin — “The Lovers Village” — which also has a Garden of Lovers. Not surprisingly, thousands of couples marry in this village of 258 permanent residents each year.

It’s amazing to me that so few of these Valentines have taken advantage of the rather obvious brand management they could so easily monopolize.

What Does the Inside of the Louvre Look Like?

by Willy Volk on

I’ve had the honor of spending, oh, about 10 hours in Paris. During a lengthy layover, I rode the train into town, stood outside Notre Dame, ate lunch at an outdoor cafe, hopped a bus to the Eiffel Tower, trudged to the Louvre, returned to the train station, and then headed back to the airport. It was an exhausting day — man, I sure coulda used one of those free bikes! — but it was fun.

Unfortunately, although I got to see a lot of stuff from the outside, I didn’t get to see much from the inside. I never entered Notre Dame. I didn’t ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I only marveled at the architecture of the Louvre’s front door. Frankly, I was afraid to invest too heavily in any single activity for fear I’d miss out on something more fun — or miss my flight. On one hand, I’m glad I got to see so much of Paris, whirlwind though it was. On the other hand, if I could do it over, I might’ve chosen one activity, spent the whole day doing it right, and forsaken the others. Dunno. Nevertheless, I stumbled on this 9-minute clip shot (no doubt clandestinely) inside the Louvre. Now I see what I missed.

Did I make a mistake tackling Paris this way? Or was I wise to do what I did, given my time constraints?

Photo of the Day (1/6/07)

by Adrienne Wilson on


If I’m not mistaken I’ve posted some of Moody75’s delicious dining pictures in the past. Perhaps we share a common interest in photographing our plates and maybe I am just a little bit hungry when selecting them, but they really do give you a sense of place. Something like this could surely be found in a French restaurant in NY someone, but Moody75 was lucky enough to nosh and photograph the brunch while in Nice, France. All I can say is yum and I think I’ll be heading to my kitchen now.

Minicountry Skiing. Hello, Andorra!

by Iva Skoch on

Some people say that Spain is the California of Europe: you can beach it in the morning and ski in the afternoon. Not that Spaniards would ever try to attempt such a packed schedule…

While you can ski in the Spanish Pyrenees, some people say that skiing is better in Andorra, one of those tiny countries in Europe, stuck between France and Spain. It only has 60,000 people (and the world’s highest life expectancy). You could probably meet all of them on the slopes. Everyone else will be in the stores…Andorra is a tax haven and tourists like to come here to buy booze and cigs.

This site offers good information on skiing. Sounds pretty affordable, too. Plus, it adds another easy country to your list. Not that you care about lists, of course.

Brush Shoulders with the Hoi Polloi?

by Iva Skoch on

If the Holiday Inn near Disney World just won’t cut it this year, perhaps you can save up for a real hotel treat. The French Riviera beckons with some of the best real estate and hotel luxury in the world. The place to go is the Hotel du Cap Eden Roc.

Opened in 1870, over the years, this grand hotel near Cannes has hosted kings, presidents, and stars too numerous to mention, and even gangsters (in fact, chambermaids were troubled to follow the hotel’s dust-everything policy when it came to guests’ firearms, according to Julian Allason of the Financial Times). The sea-side swimming pool was such an attraction that it drew the likes of Charlie Chaplin and George Bernard Shaw, back in 1914. The hotel was the inspiration for the setting of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night.

Starting at a mere $600 USD a night (in the off-season, of course), you can indulge yourself in luxury. The 22-acre site has woods, two hotels, and villas situated on a small cape, sticking out into the Mediterranean. Amenities include water taxies out to your yacht, valet parking for your speedboat, magicians to entertain your children, spa treatments, and helicopter transportation to your private jet at the nearby Cannes airfield.

But you have some time to save up: the hotel opens for the season on April 6. Oh, and be sure to check out the great website to see the alphabetical list of celebrity guests.