Free wi-fi all over Paris helps tourists stay connected
June 24, 2009
Travellers to Paris are never far from an internet hot spot
While Paris’ numerous parks are better known for flowers, statuary and PDA between young lovers than for technology, these days one is as likely to see couples surfing the internet as smooching in public. That’s because the city has taken the lead in internet technology for the masses and two years ago launched a campaign to get free internet hot spots (or wi-fi as the French call it, pronounded “wee-fee”) into parks and other public area in all 20 arrondissements of Paris. Long dotted with pay-as-you-go internet cafes, Paris now offers people all over town places ot get online for free.
This is bad news for the internet cafes, but great news for everyone else in Paris, especially tourists on a budget. For one thing, budget hotels may not have internet access, and some hotels that do still charge for it, profiting on the fact that many tourists don’t yet know about the free hot spots or prefer the convenience of 24/7 access in their rooms (the parks’ service generally runs between the hours of 7 AM and 11 PM).
Of course, being able to check your email while away is the most obvious application of wi-fi for tourists to Paris, but there are others that can both add to the enjoyment of the trip and save money as well. First, if you are staying in a hotel that charges for internet access, hold off paying at first and check the available networks. You may be located close enough to one of the free hot spots to be able to connect that way.
Savvy travellers can use the internet to map out routes to landmarks using Mapquest or Google maps, check the prices or menus at restaurants, double check the opening hours, admission rates and current exhibits of museums, and find out what’s on right now in Paris to make the most of their trip. Also, why wait to share those photos of your vacation until you get home? With free internet access, you can upload photos from your camera during your trip to your blog or email to friends back home (just don’t forget to pack your camera’s USB cable!).
Best of all, free wi-fi can cut your telephone costs to little or nothing. using VOIP services such as Skype, travellers can save big by paying only pennies to call landline phones back home, and zero to call other Skype members. They can even save on local phone calls in France, as well as get a “local” number in any city in the world for incoming calls, so people calling them will not be charged for an overseas call. And since you will not obviously spend all your time in front of your computer taking calls, Skype offers voicemail at a nominal charge. Compared to paying for mobile phone service while travelling, using your laptop to connect for free can save travellers over a dollar per minute.
Naturally, all this will be a lot easier for travellers to France with the right technology. You’ll need an international adapter to charge your laptop, and if you plan to use Skype or another VOIP service, headphones or earbuds are a must (the ones you use for your ipod or even the giveaways from your flight will work) or a headset with microphone if your computer does not have a built-in mike. Lighter laptops such as the Macbook air are obviously easier to carry around with your while touring Paris than a 6-pound or more dead weight. And once again, remember to put any necessary cables that connect to your camera or other devices on your packing list. You may also want to bring a mobile phone that can work overseas so that you can be reached fast in case of emergencies, even if you use a free service like Skype for non-urgent commuication.
If you must be connected to the office while you travel, you could do worse that to be sitting in a lovely park with a view of Ntore Dame as you do it. Thanks to the Mairie de Paris, staying online is easy and free for everyone. Click here to find the free hot spots in Paris.
Top restaurants in France offering their own versions of fast food
June 19, 2009
Michelin chefs fight recession in France by cutting costs, serving sandwiches and opening snack bars
As the economic climate in France worsens and restaurant diners are watching the tie-clock and tightening belts, many French chefs are adapting, serving up sandwiches to go instead of steaks. “For the past six or seven years, consumers have been unhappy about the high prices practised in certain restaurants. Add to that the current financial crisis and the fact that lifestyles are changing and people want to eat more and more quickly, ” said food consultant Bernard Boutboul at a recent gastronomy conference in Paris.
Even French celebrity chef Paul Bocuse finds himself making sandwiches these days. A year ago Bocuse expanded his more than 40-year-old three-star empire with a fast food joint, Ouest Express, offering
meals between 10 to 14 euros ($14- $19) as well as sandwiches and hamburgers for the equivalent of around $6 – $10.
And other star chefs in France are following Bocuse’s recession recipe. Guy Martin, the chef who runs the high-end Grand Vefour in Paris, recently opened a snack food counter. And Helene Darroze,
another distinguished French chef with two Michelin stars and who now works in at the Connaught in London, is offering a 25-euro (around $34) tapas lunch that serves up specialites like baby broccoli soup, lobster ravioli and scallops “a la plancha.”
“The three key words in the restaurant business today in France are fast, good and not too expensive” said Yves Pinard, the chef of Le Grand Louvre, the busy Paris brasserie. There are fewer and fewer diners today, whether French or tourists to France, who are willing to drop 300 euros ($407) or so for a good meal. As those sorts of customers dwindle and grow older, French restaurateurs are scrambling to attract the 40-something foodie who will still pay a little extra for quality, even if he is watching his wallet and his watch.
According to Boutboul, fast food and restaurants have much to learn from each other and will be borrowing from each other’s cookbooks for business success. He says that while fast food outlets are headed for rapid explansion, they will need to improve on atmosphere, decor and service. For example, Flunch, the French self-serve chain, has hired a top chef as a consultant and offers health-conscious diners five to seven different vegetables a meal.
By contrast, higher end restaurants, he said, will also need to continue reaching out to consumers by offering cheaper, faster “snack” options and take-out meals.
People in France sleep and eat the most, says OECD
June 17, 2009
The French win for most time spent at the table and in bed, according to international study
A recent study by the OECD showed that compared to other societies, the French spend the most time eating and sleeping.
On average, the French get 8.8 hours of sleep each night, enjoying more rest than Americans and even Spaniards. (Perhaps some of them still get a siesta during the day.) Compared to the French, the Japanese and South Koreans both sleep a full hour less.
The French also devote nearly double the time to meals than do Americans, Britons or Mexicans. Meals in France are still culturally important rituals, the advent of globalization and fast food notwithstanding.
The effects of these habits are, on the surface, surprising. While the French spend much more time at the table than Americans, for example, they do not suffer from obesity at anything like the rate that has reached near-epidemic proportions in the US. This is because they do not actually consume more food during their time at the table, which would suggest that the French might eat less than Americans, and certainly eat more slowly. Eating slowly and deliberately is a practice that is often cited as a habit that favors healthy weight and weight loss. The French diet consists of more fresh food, and less processed foods, than the American diet, another contributing factor.
Other recent studies in the US have also linked sleep and weight; those who sleep at least 8 hours per night are less likely to be obese than those who sleep less. So again, the French have one more reason to be thinner than Americans, despite spending less time awake and more time at the dinner table.
French wine slips from perch as number one exported wines worldwide
June 9, 2009
Wines from Italy, Spain and Australia ending up on more menus and more tables around the globe
Once considered far and away the undisputed best and market-leading wines in the world, wines from France have been battling stiff competition from other countries in the past couple of decades. However, it always retained the number one spot, in terms of both perception and reality, with more French wines being exported than wines from any other country.
But all this is changing. While wine production in France is declining, it is increasing in other countries that are known wine producers, such as Australia, Spain, Italy and the US. Once considered inferior to French vintages, wines from these countries routinely take home prizes in competitions. And there are new players coming to the field: Argentina and Chile, and even China and India.
France has been slow to acknowledge the changing landscape and slow to react. Marketing has not traditionally been a French forte, and it must not have seemed necessary in industries in which France has been historically predominant, such as wine and high fashion. Indeed, for many years, French output in these areas spoke for itself, becoming world-famous and sought-after virtually without any marketing efforts. The reputation French wines enjoyed around the world was largely unchallenged.
But now, with globalization a reality, French winemakers are starting to realize that that world is changing, and that not only do they not have a corner on the market, that they may not have much of a market at all if they don’t get out there and hustle, as gauche as it must seem. Competition has brought prices down, and more people are consuming wines, both inexpensive table wines and more costly wines as well. Besides not being marketed as aggressively as wines from other countries, wines from France suffer from other disadvantages where the average and less sophisticated consumer is concerned.
The long traditions that have made French wines great are also a barrier to their popularity overseas. For example, other countries, including the US, while often mentioning the region of origin, label their wines based on the type of grapes used. This gives the consumer, especially one without an extensive education in the history or wine, a much better idea of what to expect than the French system. French wines are all labeled based on appellation, or area of origin, what the French call “terroir”. Terroir refers not only to the location but also to the conditions of the climate and the soil in the area, and many other subtle factors may also contribute. These do affect the grapes and the wine produced from them, and fierce battles are fought among French vintners over who may or may not call their wine a Chablis premier cru based on whether vines grow in a patch of dirt a few hundred feet in one direction or the other. Many different types of grapes may be grown in the the same AOC region (appellation of origin), yielding different wines that are nonetheless labeled with the name of the place rather than the varietal. But while wine enthusiasts in France and small coterie of connoiseurs in other countries understand this language, most consumers are lost when reading a French wine label. But they know what they are getting with a Spanish Rioja, an Australian Shiraz or a Napa Valley Chardonnay. And this clarity is contributing to sales as much or more than any actual preference for what’s inside the bottle, especially for supermarket shoppers
The idea that French wines should follow the lead of the rest of the world and be labeled by grape variety for purposes of marketing is met by horror by most in the French wine business. Certainly, those who have defended for years, perhaps centuries, the right to a certain appellation are the most vociferous opponents to change. And those who know France know that no change, especially in a heavily regulated industry, ever comes quickly in France, even if some people may desire it. There are a few in the French wine industry who see the writing on the wall (or the label) and have made the case that French AOC rules are too complicated for anyone to understand. Some propose retaining appellations but also adding the grape varieties to the labels.
It remains to be seen whether a compromise will ever be reached, and if that happens before wines from France all but disappear from all but the most discerning tables in other countries.