Little Black Guidebook

Constant Comment Tea Tag (Back), originally uploaded by Alien Spouse.

Ok, saving for Europe spending challenge #2 was to get through our most routine money spending event “grocery shopping” without spending unnecessarily. Results were mixed.

I love tea and usually splurge on loose leaf good stuff, but I did manage to settle for some Bigelow Tea Constant Comment this week. I also made a menu and a list and I stuck to it where food was concerned.

But then I got to the personal products aisle. My favorite shampoo/conditioner, which I can actually feel the difference after I use it was on sale. Ahem, it was $7 instead of $10 for beautiful, organic, makes my hair lay straight and smell like heaven shampoo. I could have bought Dove for $2 per bottle and been fine, but I had been so good with my food purchases and it was 30% off so it snuck its way home with me. Deduct $10 from Europe trip savings.

I find saving money to be like dieting for me, it just doesn’t work if I feel like I am depriving myself. I come up with justifications, cheats, and can turn a bad day into a bad week/month/etc and suddenly I’m having a garage sale and wondering “Where did all this stuff come from?”.

Dieting is something I have given up. I have dieted and lost the same 40 lbs twice in my life. But I have also lost 25 lbs the right way, slowly over the last two years, where it was not a diet, but truly a lifestyle change and I know how good it feels to not be lecturing myself, but to be thinking about things in the context of taking care of my body.

If I approach money with more of the attitude that I now approach food with I may be healthier overall. So I’m going to change all my self lecturing over my shampoo to a quality vs. price decision. It is just worth it to me and I’ll find another creative way to replace the $10 in the Europe fund.

This morning I’m thinking of Paris. I know that our trip is really about new places and I should be excited about that, but Paris has a special place in my heart as the first city in Europe I visited and since we are flying into and out of there I know I’ll be able to carve out a little time to see some new places.

When I saw this teacup nestled among the photographer Elena’s favorite things it made me think of the book “Paris: Made by Hand: 50 Shops Where Decorators and Stylists Source the Chic & Unique.” It is by a fellow blogger and offers a different perspective on one of my favorite cities. I may just have to read it before we leave in August.

This video and post on the Around the World in 80 Mays blog on “How to start learning Italian” had one especially good tip for practicing a new language. Create a twitter account and practice your language of choice with quick 140 character updates. The kind of things people post to their twitter account are usually very conversational and to the point. I think this is a great idea.

I’m thinking of creating a similar post of language resources for languages I have attempted to actually learn in depth, Russian and French. Before traveling to any new country I get travel fluent. Travel fluent means that I’m not scared if nobody speaks English because I know just enough of whatever the language is to get by. I may not remember much of the three-weeks of Italian cramming  now, but I could reactivate what little I do know on the plane next time I go back. I have attempted to get travel fluent in Italian, Spanish, Croatian and Chinese. In South America and Italy I was really glad I did this, but other places I was mostly just less freaked out and found someone who spoke English quickly so it didn’t matter. It was nice to know that if necessary with a lot of gestures and my “travel fluency” I can get by.

In Chile my travel spanish saved me 50% off the cab ride from the airport to the hotel. The English only speakers paid double what I did. Of course the fluent spanish speakers paid even less than I did, but I counted it a small victory.

I feel like I’m the only Russian studies major who hasn’t actually been to Russia. After 5 years of studying the language and getting my Bachelor of Arts in Russian Studies, countless culture, language and literature classes, my most exposure to Russia/Russians since I graduated was haggling over a TV stand at my garage sale this weekend. Russia is at the very top of my wishlist of places to go. But on my own dime I rarely go anywhere other than to see family so it may be awhile. I feel like my Russian fluency is fading and I need to find a way to reactivate and maintain it. In the meantime I keep dreaming by reading articles on Russia, Russian news and best of all Russian travel and keep up with my Russian literature appreciate with a steadily growing collection of Russian language books salvaged from used bookstores. This week I was disjointed to find this article on: “Should People of Color Go to Russia?” I am not surprised by this article at all. My Russian literature professor was from Bangladesh and even 20 years ago when she went to school she dealt with hooligans and Russian nationalistic attitudes. In some ways since the fall of the USSR the issues with Aryan supremacy have become worse. I know I am glad of my blonde hair and blue/green eyes when going through customs in most countries and only think it would serve me more in Russia. In South America I hate my hair because I get unwanted advances constantly, but I think it would make me more comfortable in Russia.

This packing list from the One Bag One World forums has me wondering if this woman is packing for Sudan or Europe and 6 months or 18 days. Really, does she think you can’t buy feminine hygiene products there if she needs them? Very survivalist in my opinion. I’m more of the type where I say: “Pack it if you absolutely know you’ll need it, otherwise buy it there.” Unless she’s hiking in Europe and not going to any cities she is going to stick out so much its not funny. Oh well, to each their own. 18 days in Europe will be wonderful no matter what you bring or look like, I’m jealous.

Camera Obscura French Navy

This reminds me of our anniversary trip last year only in reverse. We started in Rome and went through Paris to London. It’s giving me the travel bug. I want to return to Paris so much. Oh well, we’ll have to content ourselves with Hong Kong and Singapore for our anniversary this year. I’ll find a way to get back to Paris later. It is truly one of the most magical places I have ever been.

Een gewone brug in Amsterdam, originally uploaded by Breno Peck.

I am currently looking at plane tickets for a trip this summer for our fifth wedding anniversary. Wow, I can’t believe its been that long. I am daydreaming of Amsterdam, Paris, Zagreb and Barcelona, but we’ll probably narrow my list of like 40 places down to 2 based on airfares. I’m finding tons of fantastic fares. Some business class seats are less than coach, just because NOBODY searches for them assuming they are thousands of dollars. Well they are usually. But I can get me and hubby to Amsterdam from New York business class on British airways for less than $500 which is pretty amazing. And I can get us to New York on miles. Soooo tempted… I found even better deals through delta which is having 57% many of their European routes right now for economy class, but I really hate flying American owned airlines for more than 12 hours, the service just isn’t the same.

One airline I won’t be flying is Alitalia. Even though I can get San Francisco to Rome for $89! Long time readers understand my beef with the Italian train system. I have only posted so far about Me vs. Trenitalia and their booking system. The actual trip was even more of a hassle and ended up costing me a chocolate tour of Paris we had booked! Maybe I’ll tell that story later. Well here is further proof that nationally owned transportation systems aren’t always the most reliable, because honestly, they don’t have to make a profit, they are bureaucracies that aren’t accountable to share holders. Famous traveler and photographer/journalist Michael Totten has a blog where he posted just 2 weeks ago about his joys with traveling on Alitalia. My jaw was on the floor from nodding so hard. Cheap is good, but do your research, fare compare may get you a good deal, but go to the Flyer Talk forums to get real advice from the road warriors who aren’t trying to sell you anything.

We’ll be braving the bank holiday traffic today as we head from Paris to London on the Eurostar. Perhaps we’ll hit some sites while all the locals are off at the Nottingham Carnivale. In the meantime we leave you with a few of our favorite ideas of free things to do in London. The full list is on the National Geographic website.

From David Bowie and Beckham to Charles Darwin and Dickens, London has captured the world with legendary figures since its founding in the first century A.D. But it’s not only the city’s celebrities rising to the top—the British pound is rising, too. Don’t get knackered looking for cheap deals across the pond—London has heaps of free museums, attractions, and activities to delight all types of travelers, from posh, to business, to budget.

It’s impossible to see all 330,000 pieces at the National Portrait Gallery at one time, but the museum’s free admission is a good excuse to go back again and again. See classic portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, 207 portraits of Queen Victoria, 38 portraits of Paul McCartney, and 44 portraits of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Tate Britain houses British works from 1500 to the present. Admire works by Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), William Blake (1757-1827), George Mason (1818-1872), and Francis Bacon (1909-1992). Best of all, visitors can see them all for free. Check out “Late at Tate” on the first Friday of every month, when the gallery is open until 10 p.m. (free), and admission to special exhibitions is half price. Plus, peruse the Tate Modern’s free collection of world-class contemporary masterpieces—including works by Picasso, Matisse, Dalí, Miro, Pollock, and Warhol.

Since first opening on January 15, 1759, with 71,000 objects collected by Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753), the British Museum has only closed its doors twice (during the two World Wars) in almost 250 years. Today the museum houses thousands of artifacts, from ancient Mesopotamian jewelry to Chinese jade from 5000 B.C. Admission to the museum’s collections is free (fee for some special exhibits).

Don’t miss the Ceremony of the Keys, a 700-year-old tradition in the Tower of London. Every evening, the Chief Yeoman Warner locks the main gate to the tower and brings the keys to the Resident Governor. Plan ahead: Tickets are free but should be booked at least two months in advance. Apply for tickets by writing to the Tower of London (see website for specific instructions).

The crowd-pleasing Changing the Guard has been a British tradition since Henry VII (1485-1509). The handover is accompanied by music as the red-tunic-and-bearskin-hat-clad guards change shifts around Buckingham Palace. Best of all, visitors and passersby can watch at no charge. See the Guard Mounting at 11:30 a.m. daily May-July, and on alternating days August-April. To avoid the crowds at Buckingham Palace, see the Changing the Guard at Horse Guards Arch on Horse Guards Parade (11 a.m. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. on Sundays) or at Windsor Castle (11 a.m. Monday-Saturday April-July, and on alternate days, except Sunday, the rest of the year).

Learn about Britain’s involvement in war at the Imperial War Museum on Lambeth Road. Highlights include permanent exhibits on the Holocaust, World War I, and World War II. Check out the Secret War exhibition, which details the Special Operations Executive and secret government agencies MI5 and MI6 from pre-World War I to the present (think invisible ink used by German spies, codebooks, and secret radios). Admission to the permanent exhibitions is free.

If you can plan ahead, check out the BBC and apply for free tickets to tapings of radio (Hear and Now, BBC Symphony Orchestra) and television (Coming of Age, Strictly Come Dancing) shows. Our favorite BBC show Top Gear was booked for tickets 3 years in advance so we won’t be sitting in on the taping. Perhaps we should book now and hope to return near the Olympics?

Overseas visitors can catch a debate and question time in both houses of the U.K. Parliament. Free tickets are given to U.K. residents to see the House of Commons, but overseas visitors can wait in line (up to two hours outside the St. Stephen’s entrance) to be admitted for free if there is space available during the “summer opening.” The Commons has a very lively Prime Minister’s Question Time that is well worth the wait (especially to political enthusiasts and to those wanting to hear some of the best British profanities).

Used as hunting grounds by Henry VIII in 1536, the free 350-acre (142-hectare) Hyde Park now has a playground, sports facilities, and the Lookout, an education center where kids can learn about nature. Be sure to stop at the Diana Memorial Fountain, erected in 2004. The design of the fountain reflects the Princess of Wales’s life: The fountain’s water flows in two directions before it meets a calm pool.

On a sunny day, stop by the 18th-century Kenwood House by Hampstead Heath. The house served as Lord Mansfield’s home during the 18th century, and its lavish gardens are worth a visit. While there is a fee to take the guided tour, exploring the house and grounds on your own is free. Pathways wind through butterfly gardens, and the site’s woods are home to ancient trees, woodpeckers, and rare species of insects.The Romans built the London Wall around their port town of Londinium when they occupied Britannia from A.D. 50 to 410. Parts of the wall are still standing and can be seen (at no cost) near the Museum of London, Tower Hill, and Barbican Estate.

Today we arrive in Paris, city of lights. We’ll most likely be train-lagged from our overnight train from Rome last night. But, before we even get to our hotel, we’ll be hitting the ground running taking a Chocolate Tour to discover why Paris is famous for dark chocolate. Since we’re far too busy stuffing ourselves silly to post, we’ll leave you with our list of favorite free things to do in Paris. A full list can be found on the National Geographic website.

Even though traipsing around pricey Paris might sound like serious damage to your wallet, not to mention your holiday joie de vivre, that’s only if you don’t know where to look (and when to go). Indulge in some of the City of Light’s sweetest luxuries—gratuit—from hidden nooks of authenticity to world-class museums and sights.

Admission is waived at the Louvre, Mona Lisa’s home—and one of the most well-known buildings in the world—the first Sunday of each month as well as Bastille Day (July 14). Guests 25 and under get in free on Friday nights from 6 to 9:45 p.m. (except for exhibitions in the Hall Napoléon). Bear in mind: The Louvre is a popular attraction, and lines on free days are predictably extra long.

Explore the greatest hits of Impressionism at the Musée d’Orsay, a tourist-favorite art museum housed in a former train station facing the Seine, for free on first Sundays (always free for kids under 18). On the top level, navigate the crowds to discover world-class paintings by Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas, Manet, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Seurat, and Matisse.

Centre Pompidou, a gaudy architectural exclamation point designed to look like a building turned inside out first opened in 1977 and reopened in 2000 after an extensive renovation. Free first Sundays for everyone and always for those under 18, the Pompidou Center’s huge collection spans the 20th century and is a must-see for contemporary and modern art lovers. Plus, the adjacent square by the quirky Stravinsky Fountain is a dynamic spot to bask in Paris’s sprawling cross-section of culture.

France’s centenarian department store at Galeries Lafayette holds free weekly fashion shows on the seventh floor. Paris is teeming with aspiring artists who are more than happy to display their works to you free of charge, both on the streets and in beautiful art galleries. Art lovers need look no further than the streets surrounding major museums, especially in Montmartre and near the Musée Picasso and Centre Pompidou in the Marais. A few highlights: Galerie Yvon Lambert (108 rue Vieille-du-Temple, tel. +33 [0]1 42 71 09 33 ) for minimalism and conceptual art; and Galerie Maeght (42 rue du Bac, tel. +33 [0]1 45 48 45 15 ) for more traditional art in St-Germain-des-Près. Revel in French fashion Fridays at 3 p.m., March through December, on the seventh floor of France’s centenarian department store at Galeries Lafayette’s weekly free fashion shows. A team of models flaunt the latest high-couture trends during a 30-minute presentation. Reservations required (e-mail welcome@galerieslafayette.com, tel. +33 [0]1 42 82 36 40 ).

Just across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris exhibits art movements from the 20th and 21st centuries—including Fauvism, cubism, Dadaism, surrealism, abstractionism, and more—in the free permanent collection that boasts works by Matisse, Picasso, and Chagall.

Each first Sunday of the month, Auguste Rodin’s famous bronze and marble sculptures, including The Thinker and The Kiss, are on display free of charge at the Musée Rodin in the quiet 18th-century Hôtel Biron and its manicured garden.

The free Musée Cernuschi, in a recently expanded and renovated mansion, houses ancient Asian pottery, jade, bronzes, and more bequeathed to the city of Paris by philanthropist Cernuschi in the late 19th century.

Scaling the Eiffel Tower, Paris’s most famous icon, has a price, but the view from below is spectacular in its own right, and a perfect backdrop to a leisurely picnic in the surrounding grassy area. Be sure to visit the tower at night when it sparkles each hour with an awe-inspiring ten-minute display of 20,000 glittering white lights.

Cinching Paris in the midsection is the Seine River, which divides the city into the Left and Right Banks. For true romance, slowly stroll the riverbank; for quirky souvenirs, browse the book stalls that line the Left Bank on street-level.

Notre Dame Cathedral (6 Parvis Notre Dame, Place Jean-Paul II, tel. +33 [0]1 42 34 56 10 ) is the historic heart of Paris. All distances from Paris to elsewhere in France are measured from the square in front of the basilica. Snap a photo of your feet planted on the plaque at point zero before entering the cathedral, the masterpiece of French Gothic architecture and one of the most-visited sites in Paris (no admission charged). Be sure to walk the perimeter to glimpse the flying buttresses that support the structure as well as the famous gargoyles. On each first Sunday from October through March there’s no fee charged to climb the 387 steps of the North Tower.

Tucked behind the walls of the Palais de Justice on the Île de la Cité, the awe-inspiring Gothic Sainte-Chapelle’s walls consist of 15 exquisite panels of stained glass and a large rose window. Admission waived on the first Sunday of the month from November through March and always for kids under 18.

In the shadow of the Sacré-Coeur basilica and near where Picasso lived and worked, Montmartre’s Place du Tertre square is a lively spectacle teeming with aspiring artists selling souvenir-ready artwork and drawing tourists’ portraits.

In the Marais, Paris’s impressive Hôtel de Ville (City Hall, 29 rue de Rivoli, tel. +33 [0]1 42 76 43 43 ) features a fountain-laden square and free admission. Much of the grandiose building is off-limits for security reasons, but Parisian exhibits and free information are available in the lobby. See the city from the Promenade Plantée, an elevated railway viaduct leading east from near the Bastille, which is one of the few such linear parks in the world. Steps along the path lead to tiny parks and arcades with public art, people playing sports, and gardens.

Located in the heart of the Latin Quarter, the domed Panthéon was commissioned by Louis XV in the 18th century as a church, but the landmark was converted into a secular mausoleum dedicated to the great men of the French liberation and is known best for its dark marble interior and Corinthian columns. Admission is free first Sundays October through March.

Blow off steam in one of the city’s public parks, where grassy knolls are sprinkled with playgrounds and carousels, like the Park André Citroën, Jardin des Tuileries, Jardin du Luxembourg, Parc Monceau, Square Willette (in front of Sacre-Coeur), and Jardin des Plantes. Le Petit Ney (10 avenue de la Porte Montmartre, tel. +33 [0]1 42 62 00 00 ), a literary café in Montmartre, organizes a board-game night the first Saturday of the month starting at 7 p.m. Most games are for teenagers and adults, but they always have something appropriate for little tykes as well. No cover charge.

Plot your path through the Père-Lachaise Cemetery with the online virtual tour of the graveyard’s celebrity residents, from Oscar Wilde’s lipstick-smudged grave to Jim Morrison’s modest plot.Established in 1798, the Montmartre Cemetery (20 av. Rachel, tel. +33 [0]1 53 42 36 30 ) hosts the graves of artist Edgar Degas, film director Francois Truffaut, and many more. Pick up a free map near the entrance.

Walk through Montparnasse Cemetery (3 blvd. Edgar Quinet, tel. +33 [0]1 44 10 86 50 ), established in the 1700s, and wend your way past the final resting places of philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, writer Simone de Beauvoir, and car maker André Citroën. Free maps are available at the main entrance.

The sprawling grounds of Jardin du Luxembourg, a landscaped garden in the Latin Quarter in the 6th arrondissement, features an 1861 Medicis fountain, several 19th-century statues, and locals relaxing on pleasant afternoons.

Grab a free copy of the bicycling map, “Carte Vélo à Paris,” at any tourism office and most bike rental agencies. The map provides help in navigating the city’s maze of bike lanes and establishing the most scenic routes.Paris Rando Velo leads free Friday night bike tours of the city, meeting at 9:30 p.m. in front of the Hotel de Ville. Each ride lasts from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. The group also hosts similar rides on the third Sunday of the month at 10:30 a.m.