FastDeal 17619
12 nights departing June 27, 2011 on
Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam
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ITINERARY
DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART
Mon Jun 27 Venice, Italy Embark
Tue Jun 28 Venice, Italy 1:00pm
Wed Jun 29 Dubrovnik, Croatia 10:00am 6:00pm
Thu Jun 30 Corfu, Greece 10:00am 8:00pm
Fri Jul 1 Argostoli, Greece 7:00am 4:00pm
Sat Jul 2 Santorini, Greece 11:00am 6:00pm
Sun Jul 3 At Sea
Mon Jul 4 Catania, Sicily, Italy / Cruising Strait Of Messina 8:00am 5:00pm
Tue Jul 5 Naples (Capri), Italy 8:00am 6:00pm
Wed Jul 6 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00am 8:00pm
Thu Jul 7 Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy 7:00am 8:00pm
Fri Jul 8 Barcelona, Spain 6:00pm
Sat Jul 9 Barcelona, Spain 7:00am
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
FastDeal 11494
FastDeal 11494
12 nights departing May 26, 2011 on
Celebrity's Celebrity Solstice
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Important Note: Visas are required for this itinerary.
ITINERARY
DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART
Thu May 26 Barcelona, Spain 6:00pm
Fri May 27 At Sea
Sat May 28 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm
Sun May 29 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm
Mon May 30 At Sea
Tue May 31 Santorini, Greece 9:00am 7:00pm
Wed Jun 1 Ephesus / Kusadasi, Turkey 8:00am 6:00pm
Thu Jun 2 Mykonos, Greece 7:00am 5:00pm
Fri Jun 3 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 7:00am 6:00pm
Sat Jun 4 At Sea
Sun Jun 5 Valletta, Malta 7:00am 3:30pm
Mon Jun 6 At Sea
Tue Jun 7 Barcelona, Spain 6:00am
12 nights departing May 26, 2011 on
Celebrity's Celebrity Solstice
Brochure Inside $2,099
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ITINERARY
DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART
Thu May 26 Barcelona, Spain 6:00pm
Fri May 27 At Sea
Sat May 28 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm
Sun May 29 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm
Mon May 30 At Sea
Tue May 31 Santorini, Greece 9:00am 7:00pm
Wed Jun 1 Ephesus / Kusadasi, Turkey 8:00am 6:00pm
Thu Jun 2 Mykonos, Greece 7:00am 5:00pm
Fri Jun 3 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 7:00am 6:00pm
Sat Jun 4 At Sea
Sun Jun 5 Valletta, Malta 7:00am 3:30pm
Mon Jun 6 At Sea
Tue Jun 7 Barcelona, Spain 6:00am
FastDeal 17581
FastDeal 17581
12 nights departing June 15, 2011 on
Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam
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ITINERARY
DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART
Wed Jun 15 Barcelona, Spain
Thu Jun 16 Barcelona, Spain 4:00pm
Fri Jun 17 Monte Carlo, Monaco Noon 10:00pm
Sat Jun 18 Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy 7:00am 8:00pm
Sun Jun 19 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00am 8:00pm
Mon Jun 20 At Sea (Tyrrhenian Sea)
Mon Jun 20 Naples (Capri), Italy 8:00am 6:00pm
Tue Jun 21 At Sea
Wed Jun 22 Nauplion, Greece 8:00am 4:00pm
Thu Jun 23 Olympia (Katakolon), Greece 8:00am 5:00pm
Fri Jun 24 Corfu, Greece 8:00am 5:00pm
Sat Jun 25 Dubrovnik, Croatia 7:00am 4:00pm
Sun Jun 26 Venice, Italy 1:00pm
Mon Jun 27 Venice, Italy Disembark
12 nights departing June 15, 2011 on
Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam
Brochure Inside $3,299
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ITINERARY
DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART
Wed Jun 15 Barcelona, Spain
Thu Jun 16 Barcelona, Spain 4:00pm
Fri Jun 17 Monte Carlo, Monaco Noon 10:00pm
Sat Jun 18 Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy 7:00am 8:00pm
Sun Jun 19 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00am 8:00pm
Mon Jun 20 At Sea (Tyrrhenian Sea)
Mon Jun 20 Naples (Capri), Italy 8:00am 6:00pm
Tue Jun 21 At Sea
Wed Jun 22 Nauplion, Greece 8:00am 4:00pm
Thu Jun 23 Olympia (Katakolon), Greece 8:00am 5:00pm
Fri Jun 24 Corfu, Greece 8:00am 5:00pm
Sat Jun 25 Dubrovnik, Croatia 7:00am 4:00pm
Sun Jun 26 Venice, Italy 1:00pm
Mon Jun 27 Venice, Italy Disembark
FastDeal 23903
12 nights departing June 9, 2011 on
Princess' Ruby Princess
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Important Note: Visas are required for this itinerary.
ITINERARY
DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART
Thu Jun 9 Barcelona, Spain 7:00pm
Fri Jun 10 Monte Carlo, Monaco 11:00am 7:00pm
Sat Jun 11 Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy 6:00am 7:00pm
Sun Jun 12 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 6:00am 7:00pm
Mon Jun 13 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm
Tue Jun 14 At Sea
Wed Jun 15 Mykonos, Greece 7:00am 2:00pm
Thu Jun 16 Istanbul, Turkey 8:00am 6:00pm
Fri Jun 17 Ephesus / Kusadasi, Turkey Noon 7:00pm
Sat Jun 18 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 6:00am 5:30pm
Sun Jun 19 At Sea
Mon Jun 20 Venice, Italy 1:00pm
Tue Jun 21 Venice, Italy Disembark
Princess' Ruby Princess
Brochure Inside $2,290
Our Inside $1,105
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Brochure Oceanview $2,590
Our Oceanview $1,205
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Promotions may not be combinable with all fares.
The prices shown are US dollars per person, based on double occupancy, and subject to availability. They include port charges but do not include airfare or (where applicable) airport or government taxes or fees.
Important Note: Visas are required for this itinerary.
ITINERARY
DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART
Thu Jun 9 Barcelona, Spain 7:00pm
Fri Jun 10 Monte Carlo, Monaco 11:00am 7:00pm
Sat Jun 11 Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy 6:00am 7:00pm
Sun Jun 12 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 6:00am 7:00pm
Mon Jun 13 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm
Tue Jun 14 At Sea
Wed Jun 15 Mykonos, Greece 7:00am 2:00pm
Thu Jun 16 Istanbul, Turkey 8:00am 6:00pm
Fri Jun 17 Ephesus / Kusadasi, Turkey Noon 7:00pm
Sat Jun 18 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 6:00am 5:30pm
Sun Jun 19 At Sea
Mon Jun 20 Venice, Italy 1:00pm
Tue Jun 21 Venice, Italy Disembark
Monday, 2 May 2011
林行止
珠寶琳瑯 民膏民脂
一、
終於去了或因私事或因與美國衝突有惡化之象而數度耽擱行期的伊朗，順道遊敍利亞和因「貪玩」陪遊伴再去約旦；這些「文明古國」既有五六千年有「物證」的本土文化，復有千多年前羅馬統治（伊朗還有阿拉伯入侵）遺下的古跡，那些早成斷牆殘垣的神廟宮殿，不少被聯合國列為人類文化遺產，成為最佳的「旅遊景點」，不管太陽多猛溫度多高風沙多大，終日遊人如鯽，是貼切寫實的形容。
雖然行色匆促，由於規劃者花長時間做了大量工夫，行程安排得當，那些「值得參觀」的勝景、古跡，都在旅遊路線之中；古建築不論已成廢墟或仍被刻意保存原貌，俱多姿多采，各具特色，盡顯古羅馬、波斯和阿拉伯人特別是回教徒的智慧，然而，筆者不希望寫如旅遊小冊子般的「景點」介紹，亦不想翻查典籍縷述其疑真疑幻的歷史；對於那些羅馬、波斯和回教風格的文化遺產，除了對少數留下深刻印象的輕寫幾筆，其餘便不逐一描述了。
筆者留下深刻印象的古建築—憑印象而不根據日程—有修建於十六世紀中葉德黑蘭近郊卡山（Kashan）的芬納花園（Bagh-e Fin），為最具波斯風格的園林建築，其噴泉更世界知名；此園本為首相府邸，一八五二年的住客與當朝沙王「意見不合」且「死不悔改」，終被沙王派來的刺客刺斃於浴室之中，點綴着這類歷史事故（歷史上如廁沐浴時被謀殺的名人不在少數，筆者多年前寫「便便系列」時說之頗詳），芬納花園吸引力大增，不在話下。
文化古都伊斯法罕（Esfahan）的三十三孔橋（Soi-se-pul）和哈鳩橋（Khajou），各擅勝場，可以一遊。市內還有旺克阿美尼亞大教堂（Cathedral of Vank）和四十柱殿（The Chehel Sotoun Forty Column Palace），後者因殿前長方形水池旁在二十根松木巨柱的倒影而得名；二十柱倒影成四十柱的景色，並非「十全十美」，亦非旅遊小冊子所寫的「奇觀」，不過，順道一遊還是值得的。
德黑蘭的國家珠寶博物館（State Jewels Museum），據說最多遊客參觀，以展品琳瑯滿目，珠寶之多只能以車量斗載來形容，鑲滿鑽石寶石的皇冠、王座（包括聞名的孔雀王座〔Peacock Throne〕）、權杖及首飾以至鎮館之寶一百八十二卡的「光之海」巨鑽，令人目不暇給、連聲興歎。古代帝皇將相如此搜刮民脂民膏、窮奢極侈，其為人民起義推翻，是古今中外皆然的必然終局。此博物館位於中央銀行地牢，實際上是一大保險庫，由於開放時間有限，雖然保安檢查極之煩人且門券並不廉宜，仍然人山人海，因此並無瀏覽博物館展覽會的閒適。
二、
其他足以展示古（波斯和阿拉伯）人輝煌成就瑰麗璀璨的建築，值得參觀的有位於名城設拉子（Shiraz，這應為民初的譯名，今人的譯法肯定不同）以北七、八十里處在如今已是荒漠中聳立的波斯居魯士大帝（Cyrus the Great，公元前五九九—五三○；在位期為五四九—五三○）的陵墓，其他城堡、清真寺、花園（在阿拉伯世界有天堂的寓意）以至百貨雜陳應有盡有香料氣味瀰漫的市集，都可一遊，以其異國情調，大開眼界。基督徒當然得去「聖城」麥達巴（Madaba）及尼波山（Nebo），前者有興建於拜占廷時期的東正教堂（聖佐治堂），堂前左側的馬賽克（Mosaic）「壁畫」—細工鑲嵌巴勒斯坦多個「聖城」的地圖，製於公元六世紀，為存世最古老的地圖；後者為摩西「升天」（死後由天使帶上天堂因此無墳墓！）之地。上述二地皆在約旦，而約旦還有意大利以外最宏偉在Jerash的古羅馬建築群，由數十巨柱排列成橢圓形的「門廊」，教人歎為觀止。羅馬人征服一地，便以當地人民為奴隸，大興土木、大鑿石山取材，建築巍峨宏偉的城堡教堂宮殿府邸，以彰顯羅馬帝國的大國威風。這些當年是勞民傷財的「形象工程」，如今都成為創滙中心—遊客從四方八面湧入的旅遊景點，當然大出羅馬人意外，是「非預期結果」（unintended consequence）的典型。
還有，約旦的「月谷」（Wadi Rum），更非一去不可，一九六二年的荷里活電影《沙漠梟雄》在此取景，演阿拉伯羅蘭斯（Lawrence of Arabia）的彼德奧圖便在此地騎駱駝奔馳，其壯麗景觀，影迷大多記憶猶新；不過，「月谷」雖大，其像月球表面的逼真性，卻遠遜智利沙漠地帶的「月谷」（Valle de la luna），在此荒涼無人煙的「月谷」，遊人有在月球上步行的感覺，以地面的沙紋及沙丘頗似想像中（或電視所見）的月球表層。約旦的勝在褚紅大漠一望無涯，丘陵起伏有致之外，輕風拂起細沙有如薄紗，尤為壯麗，還有山形狀似七瓣柚子直豎的蘭姆山（Rum），此地因阿拉伯羅蘭斯而出名，是旅客必遊的景點，而七瓣山被羅蘭斯稱為「智慧七柱」（他的傳世自傳式巨構便以之為名《Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph》；大約一年前本報副刊「阿麥太功課簿」對此書的評語是：「文采如其人，精悍而沉鬱，銳利而不失幽默，就如一位牛津的老學究」），這齣電影和這本書大大提高其知名度，此地雖遠離塵囂且酷熱難耐，亦見遊人穿梭不息。
中東三國記小．五之一
珠寶琳瑯 民膏民脂
一、
終於去了或因私事或因與美國衝突有惡化之象而數度耽擱行期的伊朗，順道遊敍利亞和因「貪玩」陪遊伴再去約旦；這些「文明古國」既有五六千年有「物證」的本土文化，復有千多年前羅馬統治（伊朗還有阿拉伯入侵）遺下的古跡，那些早成斷牆殘垣的神廟宮殿，不少被聯合國列為人類文化遺產，成為最佳的「旅遊景點」，不管太陽多猛溫度多高風沙多大，終日遊人如鯽，是貼切寫實的形容。
雖然行色匆促，由於規劃者花長時間做了大量工夫，行程安排得當，那些「值得參觀」的勝景、古跡，都在旅遊路線之中；古建築不論已成廢墟或仍被刻意保存原貌，俱多姿多采，各具特色，盡顯古羅馬、波斯和阿拉伯人特別是回教徒的智慧，然而，筆者不希望寫如旅遊小冊子般的「景點」介紹，亦不想翻查典籍縷述其疑真疑幻的歷史；對於那些羅馬、波斯和回教風格的文化遺產，除了對少數留下深刻印象的輕寫幾筆，其餘便不逐一描述了。
筆者留下深刻印象的古建築—憑印象而不根據日程—有修建於十六世紀中葉德黑蘭近郊卡山（Kashan）的芬納花園（Bagh-e Fin），為最具波斯風格的園林建築，其噴泉更世界知名；此園本為首相府邸，一八五二年的住客與當朝沙王「意見不合」且「死不悔改」，終被沙王派來的刺客刺斃於浴室之中，點綴着這類歷史事故（歷史上如廁沐浴時被謀殺的名人不在少數，筆者多年前寫「便便系列」時說之頗詳），芬納花園吸引力大增，不在話下。
文化古都伊斯法罕（Esfahan）的三十三孔橋（Soi-se-pul）和哈鳩橋（Khajou），各擅勝場，可以一遊。市內還有旺克阿美尼亞大教堂（Cathedral of Vank）和四十柱殿（The Chehel Sotoun Forty Column Palace），後者因殿前長方形水池旁在二十根松木巨柱的倒影而得名；二十柱倒影成四十柱的景色，並非「十全十美」，亦非旅遊小冊子所寫的「奇觀」，不過，順道一遊還是值得的。
德黑蘭的國家珠寶博物館（State Jewels Museum），據說最多遊客參觀，以展品琳瑯滿目，珠寶之多只能以車量斗載來形容，鑲滿鑽石寶石的皇冠、王座（包括聞名的孔雀王座〔Peacock Throne〕）、權杖及首飾以至鎮館之寶一百八十二卡的「光之海」巨鑽，令人目不暇給、連聲興歎。古代帝皇將相如此搜刮民脂民膏、窮奢極侈，其為人民起義推翻，是古今中外皆然的必然終局。此博物館位於中央銀行地牢，實際上是一大保險庫，由於開放時間有限，雖然保安檢查極之煩人且門券並不廉宜，仍然人山人海，因此並無瀏覽博物館展覽會的閒適。
二、
其他足以展示古（波斯和阿拉伯）人輝煌成就瑰麗璀璨的建築，值得參觀的有位於名城設拉子（Shiraz，這應為民初的譯名，今人的譯法肯定不同）以北七、八十里處在如今已是荒漠中聳立的波斯居魯士大帝（Cyrus the Great，公元前五九九—五三○；在位期為五四九—五三○）的陵墓，其他城堡、清真寺、花園（在阿拉伯世界有天堂的寓意）以至百貨雜陳應有盡有香料氣味瀰漫的市集，都可一遊，以其異國情調，大開眼界。基督徒當然得去「聖城」麥達巴（Madaba）及尼波山（Nebo），前者有興建於拜占廷時期的東正教堂（聖佐治堂），堂前左側的馬賽克（Mosaic）「壁畫」—細工鑲嵌巴勒斯坦多個「聖城」的地圖，製於公元六世紀，為存世最古老的地圖；後者為摩西「升天」（死後由天使帶上天堂因此無墳墓！）之地。上述二地皆在約旦，而約旦還有意大利以外最宏偉在Jerash的古羅馬建築群，由數十巨柱排列成橢圓形的「門廊」，教人歎為觀止。羅馬人征服一地，便以當地人民為奴隸，大興土木、大鑿石山取材，建築巍峨宏偉的城堡教堂宮殿府邸，以彰顯羅馬帝國的大國威風。這些當年是勞民傷財的「形象工程」，如今都成為創滙中心—遊客從四方八面湧入的旅遊景點，當然大出羅馬人意外，是「非預期結果」（unintended consequence）的典型。
還有，約旦的「月谷」（Wadi Rum），更非一去不可，一九六二年的荷里活電影《沙漠梟雄》在此取景，演阿拉伯羅蘭斯（Lawrence of Arabia）的彼德奧圖便在此地騎駱駝奔馳，其壯麗景觀，影迷大多記憶猶新；不過，「月谷」雖大，其像月球表面的逼真性，卻遠遜智利沙漠地帶的「月谷」（Valle de la luna），在此荒涼無人煙的「月谷」，遊人有在月球上步行的感覺，以地面的沙紋及沙丘頗似想像中（或電視所見）的月球表層。約旦的勝在褚紅大漠一望無涯，丘陵起伏有致之外，輕風拂起細沙有如薄紗，尤為壯麗，還有山形狀似七瓣柚子直豎的蘭姆山（Rum），此地因阿拉伯羅蘭斯而出名，是旅客必遊的景點，而七瓣山被羅蘭斯稱為「智慧七柱」（他的傳世自傳式巨構便以之為名《Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph》；大約一年前本報副刊「阿麥太功課簿」對此書的評語是：「文采如其人，精悍而沉鬱，銳利而不失幽默，就如一位牛津的老學究」），這齣電影和這本書大大提高其知名度，此地雖遠離塵囂且酷熱難耐，亦見遊人穿梭不息。
中東三國記小．五之一
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Tuscany bed & breakfast accommodation
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country: Italy
location: Tuscany
price: From €55 - €95 per person per night, depending on accommodation chosen, available March - November. US $40 surcharge on all bookings
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Italy holidays
Tuscany holidays
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Holiday Details 2 reviews
Tuscany bed & breakfast accommodation
We have a 1,100 acre organic agricultural estate and cultural centre near Siena, part of the Riserva Naturale Alto Merse, and a unique historical property and multicultural community. We offer B&B and self-catering accommodation - the estate produces organic wine, olive oil, vegetables, fruit, honey, grains, and pasta, and serves dinner nightly to residents and guests if desired.
Located 1 hour from Florence and 45 minutes from San Gimignano, this is an ideal base for exploring the Tuscan countryside. Or stay on the property and relax by the pool, take a hike, or read on the terrace.
The Villa , from €70 (£48) - €95 (£65) per night (7 double rooms), B&B
The Villa on the Estate is the original aristocratic dwelling on the property. Built by the Spannocchi family between 1300 and 1885, and then purchased by the Cinelli family in 1925, the Villa is furnished with many original antiques, paintings and family heirlooms. There are 7 well-appointed rooms with private baths available on a nightly basis, and breakfast including many organic products from Spannocchia’s farm, is included. Each room has a lovely view of the Villa gardens, the fruit and olive orchard, and our vineyards in the distance.
Guests at the Villa are encouraged to use the library, living room, and terrace, and pool during their stay. Both the living room and library have large fireplaces, and the terrace offers sweeping views of the property and is the gathering site for our daily gathering of guests and residents, to have a glass of wine and watch the sunset before dinner. A traditional herb garden is located in the back courtyard where dinner is served outside in the summer months, and a recently restored section of the garden, called the “Giardino Segreto” (Secret Garden), is currently being restored for use as an outdoor education site for guests and day visitors to learn more about the flora and fauna of Spannocchia.
There is a common kitchen, with space for storing snacks and basic kitchen amenities for preparing meals when not out exploring the Tuscan countryside.
The Fattoria , from €55 (£38) - €80 (£55) per night (7 double rooms, 1 triple room), B&B
The Fattoria is the original farm dwelling on the property. Built by the Spannocchi family between 1300 and 1600, and then purchased by the Cinelli family in 1925, the Fattoria offers large and simply decorated rooms - many with recently restored historic and decorative painting.
There are 7 rooms sharing 4 baths with showers available on a nightly basis, and 1 triple room has a private bath with shower. Breakfast including many organic products from our farm, is included in the price. Each room has a lovely view of the Fattoria courtyard, where much of the activity on the Estate takes place - the cantina, the pizza oven, the woodworking shop, the archeology museum, the shop and guest office, and the farm office
Guests at the Fattoria are encouraged to use the common room, dining room, swimming pool and terrace during their stay. The common room has a large fireplace, and the terrace offers sweeping views of the property and is the gathering site for our daily gathering of guests and residents, to have a glass of wine and watch the sunset before dinner. There is a common kitchen, with space for storing snacks and basic kitchen amenities for preparing meals when not out exploring the Tuscan countryside.
Family friendly: Yes, while we do not offer specific activities for children, we find that it is an ideal location for families, due to the safety of the location, the varied outdoor activities, and ample space available in our accommodations. Kids love see our pigs, chickens, cows, sheep, and ponies, and we also have many hiking trails and a pool.
Baby friendly: We offer cribs for people with infants under the age of three.
special things to do and see here
Pool, dining available onsite featuring organic products and traditional Tuscan recipes, hiking, cooking classes, language/arts classes, farm tours, product tastings, products available for sale onsite
how to find us
The estate is located 4 km southwest of Rosia near the intersection of SS 541 and SS 73, about 20 minutes south of Siena. The nearest airport is Florence (1 hour).
traveller reviews for Tuscany bed & breakfast accommodation
The best part was undoubtedly the food. Practically everything on your plate comes from the estate, whether it be pork from their rare breed pigs or wild boar, vegetables from the garden or olive oil from the olive groves. (more)
rooms, food and facilities
Swimming pool, studio and classroom space, full service guest office, dining room open for dinner Monday-Friday, shared telephone, shared internet hookup for guests, shop featuring farm products, professional kitchen for cooking classes.
We encourage guests to order a harvest basket of organic vegetables from our garden or to try our own organic wine, olive oil, honey, or pasta when creating their own versions of a Tuscan dinner.
how this holiday makes a difference
We are committed to being a good steward of the land and the surrounding community. By farming organically, recycling, using renewable resources for utility needs when possible, and encouraging our guests to be conscious of their resource usage, we protect our land from non-sustainable use.
By supporting local artisanal producers, providing a supportive workplace for our employees, and encouraging our guests to be sensitive to local culture, and opening our property for public use on hiking trails, we benefit the local community in many ways that traditional hotels are not able to.
We aspire to be a vacation destination that provides an opportunity for guests to be engaged, to participate in our community, to learn about sustainability, and take that knowledge home and apply it to their own community.
Bed and Breakfast guests have an opportunity to stay right in the heart of the activity plus they get to stay in a facility that has a self-contained heating and hot water system that only uses sustainably harvested wood from the property. They also get to sample some of our best organic products at breakfast – honey, farro, breads made with Spannocchia whole wheat, and jams and jellies made from our figs, plums, and persimmons. What we don’t produce on site, we try to buy locally.
country: Italy
location: Tuscany
price: From €55 - €95 per person per night, depending on accommodation chosen, available March - November. US $40 surcharge on all bookings
check out similar holiday ideas...
Italy holidays
Tuscany holidays
B&B accommodation
Holiday Details 2 reviews
Tuscany bed & breakfast accommodation
We have a 1,100 acre organic agricultural estate and cultural centre near Siena, part of the Riserva Naturale Alto Merse, and a unique historical property and multicultural community. We offer B&B and self-catering accommodation - the estate produces organic wine, olive oil, vegetables, fruit, honey, grains, and pasta, and serves dinner nightly to residents and guests if desired.
Located 1 hour from Florence and 45 minutes from San Gimignano, this is an ideal base for exploring the Tuscan countryside. Or stay on the property and relax by the pool, take a hike, or read on the terrace.
The Villa , from €70 (£48) - €95 (£65) per night (7 double rooms), B&B
The Villa on the Estate is the original aristocratic dwelling on the property. Built by the Spannocchi family between 1300 and 1885, and then purchased by the Cinelli family in 1925, the Villa is furnished with many original antiques, paintings and family heirlooms. There are 7 well-appointed rooms with private baths available on a nightly basis, and breakfast including many organic products from Spannocchia’s farm, is included. Each room has a lovely view of the Villa gardens, the fruit and olive orchard, and our vineyards in the distance.
Guests at the Villa are encouraged to use the library, living room, and terrace, and pool during their stay. Both the living room and library have large fireplaces, and the terrace offers sweeping views of the property and is the gathering site for our daily gathering of guests and residents, to have a glass of wine and watch the sunset before dinner. A traditional herb garden is located in the back courtyard where dinner is served outside in the summer months, and a recently restored section of the garden, called the “Giardino Segreto” (Secret Garden), is currently being restored for use as an outdoor education site for guests and day visitors to learn more about the flora and fauna of Spannocchia.
There is a common kitchen, with space for storing snacks and basic kitchen amenities for preparing meals when not out exploring the Tuscan countryside.
The Fattoria , from €55 (£38) - €80 (£55) per night (7 double rooms, 1 triple room), B&B
The Fattoria is the original farm dwelling on the property. Built by the Spannocchi family between 1300 and 1600, and then purchased by the Cinelli family in 1925, the Fattoria offers large and simply decorated rooms - many with recently restored historic and decorative painting.
There are 7 rooms sharing 4 baths with showers available on a nightly basis, and 1 triple room has a private bath with shower. Breakfast including many organic products from our farm, is included in the price. Each room has a lovely view of the Fattoria courtyard, where much of the activity on the Estate takes place - the cantina, the pizza oven, the woodworking shop, the archeology museum, the shop and guest office, and the farm office
Guests at the Fattoria are encouraged to use the common room, dining room, swimming pool and terrace during their stay. The common room has a large fireplace, and the terrace offers sweeping views of the property and is the gathering site for our daily gathering of guests and residents, to have a glass of wine and watch the sunset before dinner. There is a common kitchen, with space for storing snacks and basic kitchen amenities for preparing meals when not out exploring the Tuscan countryside.
Family friendly: Yes, while we do not offer specific activities for children, we find that it is an ideal location for families, due to the safety of the location, the varied outdoor activities, and ample space available in our accommodations. Kids love see our pigs, chickens, cows, sheep, and ponies, and we also have many hiking trails and a pool.
Baby friendly: We offer cribs for people with infants under the age of three.
special things to do and see here
Pool, dining available onsite featuring organic products and traditional Tuscan recipes, hiking, cooking classes, language/arts classes, farm tours, product tastings, products available for sale onsite
how to find us
The estate is located 4 km southwest of Rosia near the intersection of SS 541 and SS 73, about 20 minutes south of Siena. The nearest airport is Florence (1 hour).
traveller reviews for Tuscany bed & breakfast accommodation
The best part was undoubtedly the food. Practically everything on your plate comes from the estate, whether it be pork from their rare breed pigs or wild boar, vegetables from the garden or olive oil from the olive groves. (more)
rooms, food and facilities
Swimming pool, studio and classroom space, full service guest office, dining room open for dinner Monday-Friday, shared telephone, shared internet hookup for guests, shop featuring farm products, professional kitchen for cooking classes.
We encourage guests to order a harvest basket of organic vegetables from our garden or to try our own organic wine, olive oil, honey, or pasta when creating their own versions of a Tuscan dinner.
how this holiday makes a difference
We are committed to being a good steward of the land and the surrounding community. By farming organically, recycling, using renewable resources for utility needs when possible, and encouraging our guests to be conscious of their resource usage, we protect our land from non-sustainable use.
By supporting local artisanal producers, providing a supportive workplace for our employees, and encouraging our guests to be sensitive to local culture, and opening our property for public use on hiking trails, we benefit the local community in many ways that traditional hotels are not able to.
We aspire to be a vacation destination that provides an opportunity for guests to be engaged, to participate in our community, to learn about sustainability, and take that knowledge home and apply it to their own community.
Bed and Breakfast guests have an opportunity to stay right in the heart of the activity plus they get to stay in a facility that has a self-contained heating and hot water system that only uses sustainably harvested wood from the property. They also get to sample some of our best organic products at breakfast – honey, farro, breads made with Spannocchia whole wheat, and jams and jellies made from our figs, plums, and persimmons. What we don’t produce on site, we try to buy locally.
Sunday, 25 July 2010
20 great things to do in Paris
By Time Out editors and Sulakshana Gupter
1. Picnic under the Eiffel Tower
Don't just buy the keyring, visiting Paris without taking a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower is unthinkable. Built for the 1889 World Fair and centenary of the French Revolution, the 300-metre (985 feet) tower is a radical feat of engineering. At its top, your line of vision may stretch for over 65km (40 miles) on a good day. To elevate your style, visit the Jules Verne restaurant run by Alain Ducasse, whose scallops are legendary. If the weather is warm, take a baguette, pâté and a bottle of red wine to the grassy area beneath the tower for an impromptu picnic. This is best done in the evening, when the tower is illuminated for five minutes every hour by 20,000 light bulbs.
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2. Get lost at the Louvre
You could spend all weekend in Paris and only see the Louvre. With around 35,000 works of art on display, from Greek and Roman antiquities to Egyptian objects and Renaissance paintings, the museum covers a vast spectrum of civilisation. It's an unmissable attraction, for which it's worth braving gallery fatigue. After entering through the light-filled atrium of IM Pei's glass pyramid, you'll find the art is housed in three wings: Denon, Sully and Richelieu. Must-sees include the Marly horses, Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, Rubens's paintings for the Medici cycle, Vermeer's Lacemaker and, of course, Da Vinci's Mona Lisa – if you can bear the crowds.
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3. Join the craze for concept stores
Paris’s concept stores can help even the most jaded style hunter fall in love with shopping again. Diverse, select and authoritatively fashionable, the seduce in a way that department stores can only dream of. Through clever presentation and seductive editing of consumer goods, they make things sparkle with a hypnotic je ne sais quoi.
The capital’s concept kings have very different personalities. There’s cosmopolitan, metropolitan, glamorous but down-with-the-kids Colette; bobo I-probably-care-more-about-my-home-than-my-wardrobe Merci; sophisticated, avant-garde L’Eclaireur. But what they all have in common is a product range which is entertainingly diverse and seductively scarce.
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Read more about shopping in Paris
4. Slurp an ice-cream at Notre-Dame
Paris's Gothic masterpiece is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame. Constructed between 1163 and 1334, but damaged during the French Revolution, the cathedral has been restored to magnificent effect. Its twin towers achieve a perfect balance, the rose window is beautiful and the west façade's three doorways with rows of saints and sculpted tympanums are inspired. Climb from the north tower to the south to appreciate the masonry, and get a close-up view of the gallery of chimeras, the fantastic birds and beasts gazing over the balustrade. Afterwards, cross the road to Berthillon, where you can sample the most celebrated ice-cream in town. Its reputation has been growing since 1954 thanks to natural ingredients, lashings of cream and a host of delicious flavours.
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5. Lose yourself in the legendary jazz scene
Paris is jazz central, with a rich host of venues at which to see live gigs. Sprinkled across the left bank are traditional clubs like the Caveau de la Huchette – a medieval cellar that has been a mainstay on the jazz scene for 60 years. Across the river, in Les Halles, you'll find the legendary Au Duc des Lombards. This wood-panelled, yellow-walled club is lined with posters of some of the greats who have played here: Kenny Burrell, Johnny Griffin, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. As well as international stars, it brings in plenty of local talent. For cutting-edge jazz, visit the New Morning, which embraces chanson, blues and world music.
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6. Take an Impressionists masterclass
At the Musée d'Orsay, you can discover the factors that shaped Impressionism: the birth of the railway, the Barbizon school and the glorious open air. Housed in a former train station, designed to coincide with the 1900 Exposition Universelle, the collection is arranged in a chronological order, from 1848 to 1914. On the ground floor, you can see The Artist's Studio by Courbet and the landscapes of Corot, Daubigny and Millet, forerunners of the Impressionists. Here you'll find provocative works such as Manet's Olympia, which shocked the art establishment, but paved the way for the liberal paintings of Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh in the upper galleries. After sampling the works, get some fresh air and a picture of the city by stepping onto the coffered roof.
Musee de l'Orangerie is a Monet showcase, displaying eight, tapestry-sized Nymphéas (water lillies) paintings housed in two plain oval rooms.
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7. Max out the plastic in the Marais
The Marais's reputation for great shopping is rising thanks to the young designers who have set up their atelier galleries in its golden triangle, delineated by rues Charlot, Poitou and Turenne. Among the best are former Lacoste Creative Director Christophe Lemaire’s self-named boutique, which stocks his own-label high-tech Japanese textiles; the fashion editors’ favourite, Iro, where designers Laurent and Arik Bitton sell what they call their 'basic deluxe' range – skinny knits, skinny jeans and the 'perfecto' mini leather jacket; and Laeticia Ivanez’s installation space/boutique Les Prairies de Paris, which gives over the whole of the ground floor to art shows, gigs and happenings, while downstairs showcases the disco-glam separates and cute children’s collection.
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8. Dig some bones
'Stop! This is the empire of death!' This isn't the door policy at Paris's premier heavy metal club, but the inscription above the entrance of Les Catacombes. Its origins lie in the eighteenth-century Parisians' response to an accommodation crisis in the cemeteries. In the era of Revolutionary terror, they dug deep into miles of unused subterranean passages that had existed since Roman times and transferred the remains of six million people to the catacombs. The bones of Marat and Robespierre and their fellow citizens are all here. Bear in mind that you have to climb down a 20 metre (66 foot) staircase to reach the mass of bones. It's an extraordinary sight, but can be disturbing, especially it you have AC/DC on your iPod.
Another worthwhile dead end is Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, Paris's most famous cemetery, which provides a home to illustrious corpses galore, from Molière to Morrison.
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9. Dine on only the finest French cuisine
As you would expect, there is a multitude of ‘French’ restaurants in Paris, but only a handful are truly exceptional: L’Ardoise, one of the city's finest modern bistros, attracts gourmets eager to sample Pierre Jay's reliably delicious cooking; Grégory Lemarchand honed his craft with Jamie Oliver in London before opening his loft-style bistro, Frenchie, next to the market street rue Montorgueil; Chef Sylvain Sendra played to a full house every night at his little bistro Le Temps au Temps near the Bastille before moving to the larger space, Itinéraires, near Notre Dame; Jean-Luc André is as inspired a decorator as he is a cook, and the quirky charm of his dining room, Pétrelle, has made it popular with fashion designers and film stars; and last, but, most-definitely not least, where do Michelin inspectors go on their day off? To Spring, where young American chef Daniel Rose has wowed the critics since opening this sleek 16-seat bistro a few years ago.
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10. Remember 'Life is a cabaret, my friend'
The year the Eiffel Tower raised its final girders (1889), the Moulin Rouge was raising something of its own: skirts. These days, cabaret is an all-evening extravaganza. Male dancers and magicians compliment the foxy foxtrot; the dancing is perfectly synchronised, the costumes beautiful and the whole caboodle perfectly respectable.
Toulouse-Lautrec posters, glittery lampposts and fake trees lend tacky charm to the Moulin Rouge, while 60 Doriss dancers cavort with faultless synchronisation. Costumes are flamboyant and the entr’acte acts funny. On stageat Le Lido, 60 Bluebell Girls and a set of hunky dancers slink around, shaking their bodies with sequinned panache in breathtaking scenes. For a special treat, opt for the brand new 'behind the scenes' tour. Paradis Latin is the most authentic of the cabarets, not only because it's family-run, but also because the clientele is mostly French.
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11. Corner cutting-edge cultural centres
Paris's brilliant cultural centres will encourage you to look with fresh eyes. The trendsetter is the Centre Pompidou. Designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, its glass envelope with coloured service pipes holds a modern art museum, library, performance space and repertory cinema. More recently, Jean Nouvel has built the Musée du Quai Branly to house a 300,000-strong collection of Arts Premiers from Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas. With adventurous displays, a prime riverside site near the Eiffel Tower, lush gardens and an open-air amphitheatre, it transports you into a series of new worlds. The museums are among the venues that open for free on the pan-European, biannual Night of Museums (www.nuitdesmusees.culture.fr).
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12. Have a hammam at the Paris Mosque
For an authentic hamman experience, visit Hammam de la Grande Mosquée, a beautiful 1920s building, with a stunning green-and-white tiled square minaret inspired by the Alhambra. You can enjoy a steam session at a number of different temperatures in the exquisitely tiled interior of the domed hamman. Bear in mind that swimwear is compulsory, though your fellow Parisiennes may happily lounge around in bikinis. After you have sweated away some of your impurities, get scrubbed up with a gommage (an exfoliation), and then a massage. Afterwards, you can relax at a mosaic table beneath green foliage in the pretty courtyard of the mosque's café and even smoke sheesha. The hamman has become very popular with the locals, so avoid the weekends because they might be particularly busy.
13. Stroll around St-Sulpice and the Luxembourg
For a slice of civilized Paris, visit the quarter south of St-Germain-des-Prés, between Odéon and Luxembourg. Nestling amid the historic buildings, fashion boutiques, patisseries and antiquarian bookshops is the Eglise St-Sulpice. Construction of the beautiful church began in 1646, but took 120 years and six architects to complete: the Italianate façade was designed by Jean-Baptiste Servandoni, but he died before the second tower could be finished, leaving it five metres shorter than the other. Art buffs should check out the three murals by Delacroix in the first chapel. Close by is the Jardin du Luxembourg, which offers both a stylish place to relax and a playground for the children. They can enjoy the traditional merry-go-round, ride ponies and sail toy boats across the lake.
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14. Visit the literary landmarks of Paris
If you're a book lover, then you'll be in heaven. This is the resting place of many literary ghosts, whose great works you'll find lining the shelves of atmospheric bookshops and cafés. To the south, in the Cimetière du Montparnasse, you can take an atmospheric stroll amid the headstones of famous writers: the philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir are buried side by side, and Baudelaire, Beckett and Guy de Maupassant can also be found beneath the trees. Meanwhile, in St-Germain-des-Prés on the Left Bank, there are cafés where you can follow in their footsteps, including Café de Flore, Les Deux Magots and Les Editeurs. The shops La Hune and Galignani offer a wide selection of French literature, and the super cool Librairie 7L proffers a cosmopolitan range of photography titles.
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15. House hunt with Le Corbusier
You can literally tick off some of Corb's five points of Modern architecture as you walk around this stunning house and garden designed for a Swiss art collector in 1923: the Villa La Roche. Is the house elevated by pilotis? Check. Does it have a free plan that you can easily move around? Check. Are there ocean-liner, horizontal strip windows? Check. Alongside the architecture and built-in furniture, you can also see all the drawings, plans, notes, objects and artworks that he bequeathed to the Fondation Le Corbusier (the Villas La Roche and Jeanneret) on his death in 1965. The collection offers a fascinating insight into the life of this visionary Modern architect.
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16. Get yourself invited to a secret dinner party
A cross between a private dinner party and a restaurant, ‘clandestine restaurants’ are springing up around Paris. There is no more insider lunch address in Paris than Lunch in the Loft (www.lunchintheloft.com, €50 per head): the exact location is revealed only once you sign up for the party for eight at the home of Claude Cabri. An artist who loves to cook, Claude widened her sphere of guests a year ago when she started emailing food bloggers under the mysterious name of ‘Miss Lunch’.
A more professional atmosphere can be found at the Hidden Kitchen (www.hkmenus.com, €80 per head) in the Haussmannian apartment of young American chef Brad Perkins and his partner Laura Adrian. At their dinner parties, 12 guests sit down to a candlelit ten-course meal accompanied by four carefully chosen wines. The quality of the food at the Hidden Kitchen is astounding, and true gastronomes should not miss it, but you’ll probably have more fun chez Claude.
See all restaurants & cafés in Paris
17. Rummage at the flea markets
Paris flea markets are full of curiosities, from stained glass windows to Philippe Starck pieces and Eames chairs and even three-metre clock faces. Key stops on the market trail are the sprawling Marché aux Puces de Clignancourt, the quiet, tree-lined Marché aux Puces de Vanves and the contemporary design market Les Puces du Design. One of the few remaining flea markets where you can uncover gems at bargain prices on bric-à-brac stalls is the Marché d'Aligre. It's where all the serious dealers go when on the hunt for original antiquities from across the country. But watch out for overpriced books and kitchenware. At the adjacent Marché Beauvau, you can stock up on fresh fruit and veg, groceries and meats to prepare a rustic French meal.
See all markets in Paris
Read more about shopping in Paris
18. Catch a film at La Cinémathèque Française
Take a stroll to the leafy fringes of Parc de Bercy, where you'll discover a Frank Gehry building housing the new Cinémathèque Française. The institute assumes a place at the heart of French film culture: founded in 1936 to conserve films, it was a meeting place for Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) directors of the 1950s and 60s such as François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette and Eric Rohmer. Following its relocation to Bercy, it now boasts four screens, a bookshop, a restaurant, exhibition space and the Musée du Cinéma. In the spirit of its visionary founder, Henry Langlois, the institute hosts major retrospectives, cult movies, classics and experimental cinema, along with Q&A sessions for all budding film directors and aficionados of French cinema.
See all cinemas in Paris
Read more about film & cinema in Paris
19. Worship the Sun King at Versailles
Centuries of makeovers have made Versailles the most sumptuously clad château in the world, so it needs a full day to do it justice. The palace we know today was largely designed under the reign of Louis XIV: the two splendid wings of the Cour des Ministres and the Chapelle Royale so pleased the Sun King that he moved his court to Versailles, then rarely set foot in Paris. In the late eighteenth-century, Louis XV added the sumptuous Opéra Royal, used for concerts by the Centre de Musique Baroque. Summer weekends are the best time to see the garden, when the fountains play to music. Indoors, the highlight is the Hall of Mirrors; composed of 357 of them, it's literally dazzling.
Read more about museums & attractions in Paris
20. Visit the new star of the art scene
Described as a 'space for artistic creation', CentQuatre 104 occupies a vast 19th-century building on the rue d'Aubervilliers, which used to house Paris's municipal undertakers. Known as the 'factory of grief', its walls bore witness to the final journey of masses of Parisians. Now they conceal the practice of artists who are renewing the creative spirit of Montmartre, which was once a popular haunt of modern artists like Picasso, Ezra Pound and Getrude Stein. The Memory Room shows black and white footage of events there, while the restaurant celebrates the multi-cultural cuisine of the local community and the Atelier le Balto is a green space that will be landscaped by resident gardeners each year. Among the artists working here in 2009 were Tania Bruguera, who involves migrants in her performances, and Anri Sala, who times his films with the weather. The resident artists will change each year and show their finished pieces in four annual festivals.
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1. Picnic under the Eiffel Tower
Don't just buy the keyring, visiting Paris without taking a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower is unthinkable. Built for the 1889 World Fair and centenary of the French Revolution, the 300-metre (985 feet) tower is a radical feat of engineering. At its top, your line of vision may stretch for over 65km (40 miles) on a good day. To elevate your style, visit the Jules Verne restaurant run by Alain Ducasse, whose scallops are legendary. If the weather is warm, take a baguette, pâté and a bottle of red wine to the grassy area beneath the tower for an impromptu picnic. This is best done in the evening, when the tower is illuminated for five minutes every hour by 20,000 light bulbs.
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2. Get lost at the Louvre
You could spend all weekend in Paris and only see the Louvre. With around 35,000 works of art on display, from Greek and Roman antiquities to Egyptian objects and Renaissance paintings, the museum covers a vast spectrum of civilisation. It's an unmissable attraction, for which it's worth braving gallery fatigue. After entering through the light-filled atrium of IM Pei's glass pyramid, you'll find the art is housed in three wings: Denon, Sully and Richelieu. Must-sees include the Marly horses, Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, Rubens's paintings for the Medici cycle, Vermeer's Lacemaker and, of course, Da Vinci's Mona Lisa – if you can bear the crowds.
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3. Join the craze for concept stores
Paris’s concept stores can help even the most jaded style hunter fall in love with shopping again. Diverse, select and authoritatively fashionable, the seduce in a way that department stores can only dream of. Through clever presentation and seductive editing of consumer goods, they make things sparkle with a hypnotic je ne sais quoi.
The capital’s concept kings have very different personalities. There’s cosmopolitan, metropolitan, glamorous but down-with-the-kids Colette; bobo I-probably-care-more-about-my-home-than-my-wardrobe Merci; sophisticated, avant-garde L’Eclaireur. But what they all have in common is a product range which is entertainingly diverse and seductively scarce.
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4. Slurp an ice-cream at Notre-Dame
Paris's Gothic masterpiece is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame. Constructed between 1163 and 1334, but damaged during the French Revolution, the cathedral has been restored to magnificent effect. Its twin towers achieve a perfect balance, the rose window is beautiful and the west façade's three doorways with rows of saints and sculpted tympanums are inspired. Climb from the north tower to the south to appreciate the masonry, and get a close-up view of the gallery of chimeras, the fantastic birds and beasts gazing over the balustrade. Afterwards, cross the road to Berthillon, where you can sample the most celebrated ice-cream in town. Its reputation has been growing since 1954 thanks to natural ingredients, lashings of cream and a host of delicious flavours.
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5. Lose yourself in the legendary jazz scene
Paris is jazz central, with a rich host of venues at which to see live gigs. Sprinkled across the left bank are traditional clubs like the Caveau de la Huchette – a medieval cellar that has been a mainstay on the jazz scene for 60 years. Across the river, in Les Halles, you'll find the legendary Au Duc des Lombards. This wood-panelled, yellow-walled club is lined with posters of some of the greats who have played here: Kenny Burrell, Johnny Griffin, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. As well as international stars, it brings in plenty of local talent. For cutting-edge jazz, visit the New Morning, which embraces chanson, blues and world music.
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6. Take an Impressionists masterclass
At the Musée d'Orsay, you can discover the factors that shaped Impressionism: the birth of the railway, the Barbizon school and the glorious open air. Housed in a former train station, designed to coincide with the 1900 Exposition Universelle, the collection is arranged in a chronological order, from 1848 to 1914. On the ground floor, you can see The Artist's Studio by Courbet and the landscapes of Corot, Daubigny and Millet, forerunners of the Impressionists. Here you'll find provocative works such as Manet's Olympia, which shocked the art establishment, but paved the way for the liberal paintings of Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh in the upper galleries. After sampling the works, get some fresh air and a picture of the city by stepping onto the coffered roof.
Musee de l'Orangerie is a Monet showcase, displaying eight, tapestry-sized Nymphéas (water lillies) paintings housed in two plain oval rooms.
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7. Max out the plastic in the Marais
The Marais's reputation for great shopping is rising thanks to the young designers who have set up their atelier galleries in its golden triangle, delineated by rues Charlot, Poitou and Turenne. Among the best are former Lacoste Creative Director Christophe Lemaire’s self-named boutique, which stocks his own-label high-tech Japanese textiles; the fashion editors’ favourite, Iro, where designers Laurent and Arik Bitton sell what they call their 'basic deluxe' range – skinny knits, skinny jeans and the 'perfecto' mini leather jacket; and Laeticia Ivanez’s installation space/boutique Les Prairies de Paris, which gives over the whole of the ground floor to art shows, gigs and happenings, while downstairs showcases the disco-glam separates and cute children’s collection.
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8. Dig some bones
'Stop! This is the empire of death!' This isn't the door policy at Paris's premier heavy metal club, but the inscription above the entrance of Les Catacombes. Its origins lie in the eighteenth-century Parisians' response to an accommodation crisis in the cemeteries. In the era of Revolutionary terror, they dug deep into miles of unused subterranean passages that had existed since Roman times and transferred the remains of six million people to the catacombs. The bones of Marat and Robespierre and their fellow citizens are all here. Bear in mind that you have to climb down a 20 metre (66 foot) staircase to reach the mass of bones. It's an extraordinary sight, but can be disturbing, especially it you have AC/DC on your iPod.
Another worthwhile dead end is Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, Paris's most famous cemetery, which provides a home to illustrious corpses galore, from Molière to Morrison.
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9. Dine on only the finest French cuisine
As you would expect, there is a multitude of ‘French’ restaurants in Paris, but only a handful are truly exceptional: L’Ardoise, one of the city's finest modern bistros, attracts gourmets eager to sample Pierre Jay's reliably delicious cooking; Grégory Lemarchand honed his craft with Jamie Oliver in London before opening his loft-style bistro, Frenchie, next to the market street rue Montorgueil; Chef Sylvain Sendra played to a full house every night at his little bistro Le Temps au Temps near the Bastille before moving to the larger space, Itinéraires, near Notre Dame; Jean-Luc André is as inspired a decorator as he is a cook, and the quirky charm of his dining room, Pétrelle, has made it popular with fashion designers and film stars; and last, but, most-definitely not least, where do Michelin inspectors go on their day off? To Spring, where young American chef Daniel Rose has wowed the critics since opening this sleek 16-seat bistro a few years ago.
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10. Remember 'Life is a cabaret, my friend'
The year the Eiffel Tower raised its final girders (1889), the Moulin Rouge was raising something of its own: skirts. These days, cabaret is an all-evening extravaganza. Male dancers and magicians compliment the foxy foxtrot; the dancing is perfectly synchronised, the costumes beautiful and the whole caboodle perfectly respectable.
Toulouse-Lautrec posters, glittery lampposts and fake trees lend tacky charm to the Moulin Rouge, while 60 Doriss dancers cavort with faultless synchronisation. Costumes are flamboyant and the entr’acte acts funny. On stageat Le Lido, 60 Bluebell Girls and a set of hunky dancers slink around, shaking their bodies with sequinned panache in breathtaking scenes. For a special treat, opt for the brand new 'behind the scenes' tour. Paradis Latin is the most authentic of the cabarets, not only because it's family-run, but also because the clientele is mostly French.
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11. Corner cutting-edge cultural centres
Paris's brilliant cultural centres will encourage you to look with fresh eyes. The trendsetter is the Centre Pompidou. Designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, its glass envelope with coloured service pipes holds a modern art museum, library, performance space and repertory cinema. More recently, Jean Nouvel has built the Musée du Quai Branly to house a 300,000-strong collection of Arts Premiers from Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas. With adventurous displays, a prime riverside site near the Eiffel Tower, lush gardens and an open-air amphitheatre, it transports you into a series of new worlds. The museums are among the venues that open for free on the pan-European, biannual Night of Museums (www.nuitdesmusees.culture.fr).
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12. Have a hammam at the Paris Mosque
For an authentic hamman experience, visit Hammam de la Grande Mosquée, a beautiful 1920s building, with a stunning green-and-white tiled square minaret inspired by the Alhambra. You can enjoy a steam session at a number of different temperatures in the exquisitely tiled interior of the domed hamman. Bear in mind that swimwear is compulsory, though your fellow Parisiennes may happily lounge around in bikinis. After you have sweated away some of your impurities, get scrubbed up with a gommage (an exfoliation), and then a massage. Afterwards, you can relax at a mosaic table beneath green foliage in the pretty courtyard of the mosque's café and even smoke sheesha. The hamman has become very popular with the locals, so avoid the weekends because they might be particularly busy.
13. Stroll around St-Sulpice and the Luxembourg
For a slice of civilized Paris, visit the quarter south of St-Germain-des-Prés, between Odéon and Luxembourg. Nestling amid the historic buildings, fashion boutiques, patisseries and antiquarian bookshops is the Eglise St-Sulpice. Construction of the beautiful church began in 1646, but took 120 years and six architects to complete: the Italianate façade was designed by Jean-Baptiste Servandoni, but he died before the second tower could be finished, leaving it five metres shorter than the other. Art buffs should check out the three murals by Delacroix in the first chapel. Close by is the Jardin du Luxembourg, which offers both a stylish place to relax and a playground for the children. They can enjoy the traditional merry-go-round, ride ponies and sail toy boats across the lake.
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14. Visit the literary landmarks of Paris
If you're a book lover, then you'll be in heaven. This is the resting place of many literary ghosts, whose great works you'll find lining the shelves of atmospheric bookshops and cafés. To the south, in the Cimetière du Montparnasse, you can take an atmospheric stroll amid the headstones of famous writers: the philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir are buried side by side, and Baudelaire, Beckett and Guy de Maupassant can also be found beneath the trees. Meanwhile, in St-Germain-des-Prés on the Left Bank, there are cafés where you can follow in their footsteps, including Café de Flore, Les Deux Magots and Les Editeurs. The shops La Hune and Galignani offer a wide selection of French literature, and the super cool Librairie 7L proffers a cosmopolitan range of photography titles.
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15. House hunt with Le Corbusier
You can literally tick off some of Corb's five points of Modern architecture as you walk around this stunning house and garden designed for a Swiss art collector in 1923: the Villa La Roche. Is the house elevated by pilotis? Check. Does it have a free plan that you can easily move around? Check. Are there ocean-liner, horizontal strip windows? Check. Alongside the architecture and built-in furniture, you can also see all the drawings, plans, notes, objects and artworks that he bequeathed to the Fondation Le Corbusier (the Villas La Roche and Jeanneret) on his death in 1965. The collection offers a fascinating insight into the life of this visionary Modern architect.
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16. Get yourself invited to a secret dinner party
A cross between a private dinner party and a restaurant, ‘clandestine restaurants’ are springing up around Paris. There is no more insider lunch address in Paris than Lunch in the Loft (www.lunchintheloft.com, €50 per head): the exact location is revealed only once you sign up for the party for eight at the home of Claude Cabri. An artist who loves to cook, Claude widened her sphere of guests a year ago when she started emailing food bloggers under the mysterious name of ‘Miss Lunch’.
A more professional atmosphere can be found at the Hidden Kitchen (www.hkmenus.com, €80 per head) in the Haussmannian apartment of young American chef Brad Perkins and his partner Laura Adrian. At their dinner parties, 12 guests sit down to a candlelit ten-course meal accompanied by four carefully chosen wines. The quality of the food at the Hidden Kitchen is astounding, and true gastronomes should not miss it, but you’ll probably have more fun chez Claude.
See all restaurants & cafés in Paris
17. Rummage at the flea markets
Paris flea markets are full of curiosities, from stained glass windows to Philippe Starck pieces and Eames chairs and even three-metre clock faces. Key stops on the market trail are the sprawling Marché aux Puces de Clignancourt, the quiet, tree-lined Marché aux Puces de Vanves and the contemporary design market Les Puces du Design. One of the few remaining flea markets where you can uncover gems at bargain prices on bric-à-brac stalls is the Marché d'Aligre. It's where all the serious dealers go when on the hunt for original antiquities from across the country. But watch out for overpriced books and kitchenware. At the adjacent Marché Beauvau, you can stock up on fresh fruit and veg, groceries and meats to prepare a rustic French meal.
See all markets in Paris
Read more about shopping in Paris
18. Catch a film at La Cinémathèque Française
Take a stroll to the leafy fringes of Parc de Bercy, where you'll discover a Frank Gehry building housing the new Cinémathèque Française. The institute assumes a place at the heart of French film culture: founded in 1936 to conserve films, it was a meeting place for Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) directors of the 1950s and 60s such as François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette and Eric Rohmer. Following its relocation to Bercy, it now boasts four screens, a bookshop, a restaurant, exhibition space and the Musée du Cinéma. In the spirit of its visionary founder, Henry Langlois, the institute hosts major retrospectives, cult movies, classics and experimental cinema, along with Q&A sessions for all budding film directors and aficionados of French cinema.
See all cinemas in Paris
Read more about film & cinema in Paris
19. Worship the Sun King at Versailles
Centuries of makeovers have made Versailles the most sumptuously clad château in the world, so it needs a full day to do it justice. The palace we know today was largely designed under the reign of Louis XIV: the two splendid wings of the Cour des Ministres and the Chapelle Royale so pleased the Sun King that he moved his court to Versailles, then rarely set foot in Paris. In the late eighteenth-century, Louis XV added the sumptuous Opéra Royal, used for concerts by the Centre de Musique Baroque. Summer weekends are the best time to see the garden, when the fountains play to music. Indoors, the highlight is the Hall of Mirrors; composed of 357 of them, it's literally dazzling.
Read more about museums & attractions in Paris
20. Visit the new star of the art scene
Described as a 'space for artistic creation', CentQuatre 104 occupies a vast 19th-century building on the rue d'Aubervilliers, which used to house Paris's municipal undertakers. Known as the 'factory of grief', its walls bore witness to the final journey of masses of Parisians. Now they conceal the practice of artists who are renewing the creative spirit of Montmartre, which was once a popular haunt of modern artists like Picasso, Ezra Pound and Getrude Stein. The Memory Room shows black and white footage of events there, while the restaurant celebrates the multi-cultural cuisine of the local community and the Atelier le Balto is a green space that will be landscaped by resident gardeners each year. Among the artists working here in 2009 were Tania Bruguera, who involves migrants in her performances, and Anri Sala, who times his films with the weather. The resident artists will change each year and show their finished pieces in four annual festivals.
See all art spaces in Paris
Read more about art in Paris
See all venues in Paris
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