See the Southwest of France in style in your own private chauffeur-driven limo
August 31, 2009
Renting a chauffered limousine is a cost-effective and comfortable way to get around France’s great Southwest
Getting around the Southwest region of France without knowing your way can be a challenge. Dealing with maps, rental cars and the language barrier can really add time and stress to your business trip or vacation.
A chauffered limousine rental service, available 24/7, will take you everywhere you want to go in the region in style and comfort. Atlantique Berlines offers a fleet of outstanding vehicles: Mercedes Class S and Class E sedans, as well as luxury minivans for larger groups. You will be greeted by your chauffeur at the airport, so no need to find transportation after a long and tiring trip, and all fees are paid in advance so there is nothing to pay onsite. Just sit back and relax; your chauffeur speaks your language, and knows the area and traffic patterns intimately, so you get to all your business appointments on time. As an expert on the region, your chauffeur can even advise you on the best and most convenient places to stay or dine with your colleagues. And you will never have to look for a parking spot at your restaurant, or worry about getting home afterwards.
Atlantique Berlines limousine rental is great for business, of course. But the company is also perfect for tourism in the region. See Medoc, with its magnificent chateaux. Bordeaux, Sauternes and their spectacular vineyards. The wild Atlantic Coast, with its cliffs and the fascinating Basque country. The Great Southwest Perigord region with its Gallo-roman past still evident in the architecture. See it all from one of Atlantique Berlines’ luxury vehicles with your own chauffeur-driven limousine at your service.
Atlantique Berlines even offers escorted wine tours around the Bordeaux region and more. You’ll be visiting UNESCO world heritage sites as you taste some of the best wines in the world at their birthplace. Your bilingual chauffeur will be able to take you to all the best vineyards for tours and tastings. Lunch is planned at the area’s best restaurants. Imbibe to your heart’s content, knowing someone else is behind the wheel!
Instead of wasting time finding your own way with trains and rental cars, make use of Atlantique Berlines’ wonderful and complete service for all your transport and tourism needs while in France’s great Southwest.
Atlantiques Berlines is a limousine rental services serving the Southwest region of France, providing both tourism and business services, featuring multi-lingual drivers and luxury Mercedes vehicles.
Services
Atlantique Berlines5 rue Dubourdieu
33000 BORDEAUX
FranceTéléphone : +33 5 57 85 99 67
Email : Contact form
Web : http://www.atlantiqueberlines.com/us
The only truly integrated corporate travel service on the market with guaranteed savings
August 30, 2009
Powerful business travel solution ensure controlled costs for business travel, meetings and events.
While some companies today are experimenting with controlling corporate travel costs by cutting back on business travel: holding routine meetings online, and via video or telephone conference. However, most do accept that sometimes there is really no substitute for getting people together face to face in the same room, working towards a common goal. Being a client of Egencia means that you don’t have to cut the amount of travel your business does but be more productive in how you manage the corporate travel for business meetings and events.
Egencia, part of the Expedia group, is a complete travel management company in business for 7 years, that offers companies both powerful online tools and offline assistance for organising business travel. Egencia offers access to the latest innovative travel technology. This is one business travel agency that has listened to its customers: all aspects of their business travel services are designed especially for –and have been road-tested by– road warriors from all over the world.
Egencia gives travelers the ability to self-book online. Every leg of the journey can be scheduled online, and for more complex travel needs, users can call and speak to an actual human who can help them navigate a complicated itinerary or cater to their special needs. Egencia also offers VIP business travel services that really live up to the name.
Egencia’s travel management solutions actually help companies in controlling corporate travel costs by utilising innovative travel and approval systems both online and offline and an extensive global reporting tool, but to name a few. Egencia clients can leverage Expedia Inc. purchasing power giving clients access to the fullest of content. Furthermore, dedicated account managers will guide you through the change management, ensure that your organisation is achieving all potential saving s and conduct extensive quarterly business reviews.
This corporate travel agency goes the extra mile by actually helping companies organize their business meetings and events, not just getting there. Egencia conducts in-person evaluations of venues to determine whether the space is right for the meeting being organised, and researches hotels, services and activities available in the area to help companies plan interesting and appropriate activities pre and post meeting. Egencia will even organise corporate travel experiences and entertainment, great for team-building.
Conference calls and webinars have their place, but quality “face time” among your employees around the world will never go out of style. Companies can still foster community and powerful cooperation with in-person meetings and conferences by leveraging the right business travel solution. Egencia strikes just the right balance of technology, personal service and value. Companies that use them as a corporate travel partner will go far.
Egencia is a complete business travel management company, part of the Expedia travel network, specialising in providing total corporate travel solutions to companies worldwide and organising business group travel for attendees from around the world.
Services
- Corporate Travel Agency
- Business group travel
- Controlling corporate travel costs
- Business meetings and events
- Business travel solutions
Headquarters:
24 Chiswell St
London EC1Y 4TY
Manchester:
Wellington House
39a Piccadilly Manchester M11LQ
Web : http://www.egencia.co.uk
Email : Contact form
Waltz over to Vienna for a trip full of music and culture
August 29, 2009
Vienna, the city Mozart and Strauss made famous still sings to visitors today, an easy trip from Paris.
Looking for a change of pace and culture while visiting France? Try Vienna, with a musical heritage as rich as its famous Sachertorte cake. From Paris, Vienna is easily reached via air, with the CAT train whisking you from the airport to central Vienna in just 15 minutes. Or if you prefer rail travel, you could go by comfortable sleeper train from Paris to Munich, connecting to a train to Vienna the next morning.
There is so much to see and do in Vienna, it’s hard to know where to start. Schoenbrun Castle, the seat of the Hapsburgs, is a magnificent palace with sweeping gardens. Its rival for opulence, Belvedere Castle, also boasts beautiful gardens, plus a permanent exhibit of artworks by Klimt. Famous churches abound, such as St. Stephen’s with its famous striped-tile roof, the Baroque Karlskirche, and St. Peter’s, a Catholic church said to be Vienna’s oldest, to name only a few. Museums are also plentiful, and include the world-famous Museum of Art History that houses the Hapsburgs’ art treasures. But of course, the star of Vienna’s culture is music, the opera and the stage. Theatres, halls, churches and opera houses that first echoed to the strains of Austrian homeboys Mozart and Strauss–and still do–can be found all over the city, but especially clustered in the old city center.
For a base of operations, you’ll need the right Vienna hotel. As a capital of hospitality for centuries and a gateway between Western and Eastern Europe, Vienna is full of hotels of every description. How to choose the right hotel in central Vienna for your trip? As any tourist knows, while price and amenities certainly do matter, once you arrive, you always find that location is key. But if you don’t know the city, and you’re trying to reserve in advance or online, a simple address doesn’t tell you much.
One website allows you to make Vienna hotel reservations, without a fee, while choosing your hotel in central Vienna based on its precise distance from the sights that interest you most. Atel Hotels lists a host of hotels in the heart of Vienna lets visitors to its website search for hotel availability in Vienna by stars rating, price and by exact location. For example, if you wanted your Vienna hotel to be close to Schoenbrunn Palace, you might choose Hotel Altwienerhof, a lovely three-star that is only a mile away, according to Atel. On the other hand, if you preferred being walking distance from a cluster of historic museums, you’d be smart to make your Vienna hotel reservation at Hotel Graf Stadion in the Josefstadt area. Atel’s website lists exact distances of each of its Vienna hotels from important sights and monuments, and offers real-time, 24/7 information on hotel availability in Vienna and current rates. Photos and detailed decriptions of each hotel will help you know what to expect. Vienna hotel reservations made through Atel are confirmed immediately and incur no extra fees, which is amazing for this level of service.
If you are looking for a hotel in the heart of Vienna that will conform to your budget, meet your expectations and place you nearest the things you want to see and do, make your Vienna hotel reservation online with Atel. Then, the only surprises you’ll encounter will be the happy ones as you discover the art, music and charm of this beautiful, historic city. And whatever you do, don’t miss the Sachertorte!
Atel hotels is a reservation network of fine hotels all over Europe, offering travellers pinpointed location information, real-time hotel availability and 24/7 immediate confirmed reservations.
Services
- Vienna hotels
- Hotels in the heart of Vienna
- Vienna hotel reservations
- Hotels in central Vienna
- hotel availability in Vienna
10 rue Louis Vicat
75015 Paris
Tel : +33 1 45 31 25 45
Fax : +33 1 45 31 22 21
Email : Contact form
Web : http://www.atel-hotels-vienna.com
French Bordeaux 2008 wines a bargain buy
August 15, 2009
Traditionally expensive Bordeaux yields high quality at lower prices during economic downturn
During a recession, even the longest-held traditions get re-examined. That’s what happened in Spring of 2009, when the French 2008 Bordeaux wines were released for sale to commercial buyers. Long traded as a futures commodity, Bordeaux wines from the Southwest region of France have been historically some of the highest-priced in the world, a darling of the ultra-rich, connoisseurs and wine speculators more interested in investing than in enjoying this crowning product of France.
But this year was different as a number of the most famous producers and wine traders slashed their prices by as much as 40%, hoping to breathe some life back into a staggering market. The global recession has hit all luxury good hard, but fine wines suffered terrible blows, since lower priced yet reasonable quality alternatives have always been available, not only from France but around the globe, including the US, Australia, Spain and Chile. This year’s Bordeaux wine producers priced their 2008 wines to compete in the global marketplace, something they have not concerned themselves with before. They did this as a survival tactic, but in doing so they took a great risk with their brand.
The spring futures sales relates only to a small percentage of the 800 million bottles the Bordeaux region produces every year, but the prices of the top 20 wines help determine the public perception of the quality of the vintage. And therein lay the fear inehrent in reducing prices. The more expensive the top 20 are, the better that year’s vintage is considered to be, even for the hundreds of more moderately priced Bordeaux wines, and even among those who have never tasted a drop of any of the wines. In 2005, these top 20 famously doubled and even even tripled their prices, making the wines exclusive and attracting affluent buyers. If the producers brought down the price, would the public perception of Bordeaux wines be damaged? If so, the short-term solution of making the wine more affordable could have long-term disastrous consequences.
But the wine gods smiled on Bordeaux wines this year, and help came from an unlikely source. Robert Parker, the American wine expert whose ratings system is both resented and feared by every winemaker in the world, unexpectedly gave his benediction to the relatively bargain-basement 2008 Bordeaux vintage. Fearing Parker’s reaction, many of the chateaux put their wines up for sale before his reviews came out, hoping that the lower prices would attract buyers ahead of any derogatory statement by “Million Dollar Nose” Parker. Business was promising but tentative. However, his review was positive, and apparently immune to any drop in quality others might impute to the 2008 vintage’s lower price tag. Then sales went through the roof as buyers scrambled to lay their hands on bottles with Parker’s stamp of approval selling at half off previous prices. Previously lukewarm importers came out of the woodwork to buy on futures.
But the real winner may be the consumer. Unable to afford fine Bordeaux wines for the past few years, this year’s fire sale on what turned out to be a very good year of Bordeaux wine will eventually make it to the tables of more people in France, across Europe and around the world. Now that people other than the super-rich will have a chance to actually enjoy the wines for themselves, producers are hoping that what started as an economic emergency strategy will build awareness and demand for Bordeaux wines among the average consumer.
Three French women paddle across Atlantic
August 13, 2009
Using only body power, trio of Frenchwomen hope to make history with ocean crossing
Three female surf lifesaving champions from France, Stephanie Geyer-Barneix, 34, Alexandra Lux, 23, and Flora Manciet, 25, set off from Capbredon in southwest France, near Bordeaux on July 5, in an attempt to traverse the Atlantic. They are using only the boards they use in their lifesaving duties, with their arms as propellers. The crossing is a relay, with a boat accompanying the women carrying supplies and communication equipment.
With each woman paddling for two hours, four times a day since they left, on August 5th, a month into their journey, they were halfway to their destination, sister city Cape Breton in Canada. The voyage, which the women have dubbed “Cap Odyssey” carries no prize except that of personal accomplishment. The challenge has been two years in the planning, and that is only the beginning. The women risk danger from exposure, rough seas, sharks, boat traffic and simply getting lost at sea in the dark. The catamaran that is accompanying them must reduce its speed to and almost impossible snail’s pace to stay abreat of the paddlers, who can cover only about 60 miles in 24 hours.
With nowhere to store any gear, the women are equipped with the bare minimum, including dry-suits, an electronic beacon and an emergency flare. The three women have gathered an extensive team, including medical researchers, logistics and aquatics security experts. The onboard crew of five includes an osteopath who will study the physical effects of the journey. Before the race, the women trained with a psychological counselor to prepare themselves mentally to weather the long and arduous journey.
France set to open for business on Sundays
August 12, 2009
French businesses to open on traditional day of rest, breaking tradition of centuries
If you’ve ever visited Paris on a Sunday and lamented that your shopping time was curtailed, you can now whip out your credit card seven days a week.
In France, no shopping on Sundays has been a tradition for centuries, and an official rule since a 1906 law consecrated the day of rest, although bakeries, butchers and other small shops were allowed to open until noontime, so people could buy fresh food and supplies for the traditional Sunday family meal.
Now, following most of the rest of the Western world, France is set to adopt a policy that would allow certain businesses to operate on Sundays. The move is part of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to boost the economy in France. The Senate approved the measure 165 to 159 on July 23. The lower house of parliament passed it July 15.
The new law permits shops, department stores, and shopping malls to open on Sundays in 20 zones known as “exceptional commercial” centers — or tourist zones — near three of the country’s largest cities: Paris, Marseilles, and Lille.
Sarkozy had plenty of ammunition to make his point. During the visit of President Obama and his family to Paris in June, special arrangements had to be made for Michelle Obama and her daughters to drop by the Bonpoint shop in Paris’ upscale 6th district on a Sunday afternoon. Before Parliament, Sarkozy posited, “Is it normal that on a Sunday, when Madame Obama wants to go shopping in Paris with her girls, that I have to make phone calls to get them to open? How are we supposed to explain to them that we are the only country where shops are closed on Sunday?” And more than half of the population prefers having the choice to shop on Sundays, opinion polls conducted in France have shown.
Sarkozy, however, had an uphill battle with the new law. For one thing, any sort of change to long-standing laws in France, however practical, is usually met with stiff opposition simply for the sake of upholding tradition. Then there is the concern for the worker. Leftist groups and unions in France are worried that allowing businesses to open on Sunday will make workers feel compelled to work on a day that should be their day off, and would give employers the green light to force them to do so, on threat of losing their jobs. Those willing to Work Sundays would be given preference over those who were
not.
Then there are the people in France concerned with religion. With church attendance in France down to a trickle already, some worry that Sunday operations will prevent people who are normally churchgoers from observing the traditional day of rest and attending church, and tempt others who might otherwise attend into a more attractive option, trading sermons for shopping.
So Sarkozy had to accept limitations to his original proposal, which would have allowed more types of businesses to open on Sundays in a wider area.
The new law will put an end to the hit-or-miss method of Sunday openings in recent years, in which some stores managed to get around the old law and others could not, and where even stores that could not get a special dispensation made the financial decision to accept fines for breaking the law because the income from Sunday sales more than made up for them.
Considering buying a home? Why not a chateau in France?
August 2, 2009
French mansions and chateaux available at the price of an upscale home
Today, more the real estate market is turning people with omney to spend into house-hunters, and those who already own their house into shoppers for vacation homes. But why settle for just a beach house or an ordinary second home, when you can purchase a chateau in France ? If you thought that owning a French chateau was only a distant fantasy, think again. Some chateaux for sale in France are being considered as viable options by investors and house-hunters from the US and the UK who want to own a piece of real French history.
The challenge is knowing where to look. If you can’t see yourself driving around the French countryside looking for chateaux with “for Sale” signs, there is an easier way. You can shop, or at least window shop, on the internet from the comfort of your home. The French real estate company Chateaux et Patrimoine, based in Sancerre, specializes in chateau sales and has listings of high-end properties for sale and chateaux for sale in France. There are luxury homes for sale under 500,000 euros, as well as chateaux going for over two million euros. A recent search turned up a charming manor in the Auvergne, a 19th century chateau with outbuildings in Burgundy and, also in Burgundy, an historic former 19th century mill on a sparkling river. Search the site for properties that match your style, location of choice and also other other criteria. There are detailed descriptions and photos of the prestigious properties for sale to help you choose your perfect French home. Then you can contact the company about the chateaux that interest you the most and arrange to receive even more details, or arrange a visit. In addition to the knowledgeable staff located in France, the company also has partners to help you in the US, the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Even with all the choice available on the site, you may find that your perfect French home just isn’t there right now. Don’t despair, just contact Chateaux et Patrimoine. They will ask you for your checklist of what your ideal French home would be in terms of location, amenities, price and style. They have some properties that, for reasons of discretion, are not listed publicly on the site, and one of them may be just the one for you. If not, the company will inform you when anything that meets your criteria becomes available, so you will be among the first to know and have first crack at your dream home in France.
If you are selling a prestigious home in France, Chateaux et Patrimoine will handle all the details for you and find you quality buyers for your property expediently and discreetly. Their experience in the market allows them help you price your property correctly and attract serious, affluent buyers.
So let your imagination run wild and consider buying that home or chateau in France. The Chateaux et Patrimoine website gives you a window into the fantasy, and can help you make it a reality.
Chateaux et Patrimoine specializes in the sale and purchase of quality upscale residential properties and chateaux in France. The company works with clients all over the world to help them acquire their perfect home in France.
Services
Chateaux & Patrimoine13, rue de Puits des Fins
18300 Sancerre
Tél : +33 (0) 248 540 314
Fax : +33 (0) 681 314 264
Email : Contact form
Web : http://www.chateauxetpatrimoine.com