Happy New Year, Bunnies! (2011 Highlights)

Here we are at the end of 2011, the year I started this travel blog.  Looking back at this past year, I wish I'd written a bit more about my travels but am happy with most of what I did write and am thrilled with my 2011 travel experiences.  Starting the year on the steps of Sacré Coeur in Paris and ending it somewhere in Rome, 2011 has been an amazing travel year for me and below are some of the highlights.

Best Travel Experience: Sóller to Deià

Outside castle ruins, Baden-Baden

Best Travel Moment: Stumbling upon a beer serving cafe mid-hike in Baden-Baden, and then another one outside the castle ruins, and another one inside them.

Most Disappointing Travel Experience: Brighton, England 

Most Challenging Travel Experience: We've had a few bad experiences with landlords this year.  Both in Paris and London, our experiences were dodgy and trying and our current Dundee landlord is non-responsive. Happily, having learned from our experiences, we're enjoying a lovely relationship with our current landlord here in Rome.

Most Rewarding Travel Experience: Spending 19 glorious days in Mallorca with no money, proving money isn't necessary when surrounded by a beautiful beach on the Mediterranean.

I have a few travel dates set aside for 2012 (April, June, July/August, December) and only one confirmed destination (Baltimore).  I'll be chasing cheap fares for the other dates and am looking forward to sharing those experiences with you.  Until then, happy new year, bunnies!

Literature While Abroad

A recent blog about Great Books from one of my favourite travel bloggers has inspired me to write about my own literature while abroad experiences.

view from the balcony in Quepos, Costa Rica

My first memory of reading whilst on holiday is from my 2006 trip to Costa Rica.  I was spending a week in a rural village on a volunteer vacation.  I read "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" with a headlamp, underneath mosquito netting.  Afterwards, I detoxed at a resort for a few nights and read "The Time Traveler's Wife" on a balcony, with an amazing view of the Pacific.

For some reason, the combination of reading while travelling created a deeper memory for me and I remember aspects of that trip because of those books that I would've otherwise forgotten by now.

At Shakespeare and Company

A more recent example of this would be my trip to Paris over Christmas 2010 and New Year's 2011.  Reading "Gertrude and Alice" provided me with a whole new level of understanding of my new location.  After reading it, I was able to visit their grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery and stopped in at Shakespeare and Company fully aware of its history, allowing me to feel more connected to the city; like a resident rather than just a tourist.

Similarly, reading "Down and Out in Paris and London" and "The Sun Also Rises" while in Paris allowed me to see a different side to the beauty that I was experiencing.  I remember both the books better because of where I read them and I remember Paris better because of the books.  Plus, every time I think of those books I'll think of my trip to Paris and vice versa; they are forever entwined in my mind, allowing me to visit Paris again simply by picking up one of those books.

As I prepare for another trip, this time to Rome, the books I decide to bring are as important as any other item I pack.  After consulting with Geraldine at Travel Oyster, I've decided to bring "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling" and "A Traveller in Rome".  I'm looking forward to discovering how these books will wind up impacting my experience and my memories.

Three Hours In Paris

view from the Trocadero

My boss is travelling to Paris on Thursday.  She's grabbing the first flight there and taking the last flight back so she can get home to her kids (she's a single mom).  She has a meeting from 11am until 2:30pm.  Her flight gets her there around 9:30am and leaves around 8:30pm which means she's free to roam the streets of Paris from around 2:30pm until about 5:30pm.

She's only ever been to Paris once before, in October for the same meeting and the same three hours. She wandered to the Trocadero for the best view of the Eiffel Tower and bought macarons from Ladurée, both perfectly acceptable things to do during your first three hours in Paris. For her second three hours, she's asked me for some help.

Here's what I'm giving her (her meeting will be near the Jardin des Tuileries, which she visited during her last trip).

• Walk through the Tuileries to Place de la Concorde for the Champs-Elysees Christmas Market and be sure to sample the vin chaud. 

• Take the M1 (Metro) from either Champs-Elysees Clemenceau (mid-market) or Franklin D. Roosevelt (end of market) to Hotel de Ville where you can ice skate for free (small fee for skates rental) and experience a small Christmas Fair. 

From here you can do any of the following:

view from the Pompidou

1. Head north to the Centre Georges Pompidou contemporary art museum (€12). Especially good if the weather is poor; you can store your bag in the cloakroom; wonderful view of Paris from the top floor. The building itself is worth a look, even if you don't go inside, and the neighbourhood (part of Le Marais) is cute, too. 
2. Head south across the Pont d'Arcole towards Notre Dame Cathedral (free to enter, though the tower has an entrance fee). Continue south towards the Latin Quarter, the trendy/hip university neighbourhood near the Sorbonne. 
3. Head east along Rue de Rivoli towards the Marais District, the historic Jewish quarter, which has eclectic shops and cafes. Visit the Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis Church just east of the Saint-Paul Metro station on the south side of the street (one of my favourites). Continue north-east towards the Place des Vosges and Victor Hugo's former residence (a free museum). 

Get to Chatelet Les Halles station for the RER B to Charles de Gaulle.

Marché aux Puces de Clignancourt

While in Paris this past January, looking for things to see and do towards the end of our trip, we stumbled upon mention of the Marché aux Puces de Clignancourt. I can’t remember much about why we wound up adding it to our itinerary, perhaps something about being the oldest flea market in Paris or a truly local event. Regardless, we ventured out early one Saturday morning, as suggested, for the most genuine experience.

I had mostly forgotten about this market until yesterday, when I read a short article about hidden gems in Paris which included mention of the Marché aux Puces de Clignancourt. This instantly reminded me of my experience and I felt I needed to do something to prevent others from making the same mistake we had made.

First, a little background. Have you ever seen the movie Taken, an action movie set in Paris about human trafficking? Maggie Grace, having just arrived in Paris, her first international trip without her parents, immediately makes a few rookie mistakes and is subsequently kidnapped; a victim of the human trafficking trade. Liam Neeson, her dad, races around Paris doing whatever is necessary to find and save his ‘taken’ daughter before it’s too late and she’s lost forever. The movie is a bit about human trafficking and a bit about the seedy side of Paris. As we prepared for our trip, Taken was the movie that kept popping into my mind.

Upon arriving in Paris and getting ourselves situated, my concerns about becoming a human trafficking victim began to subside. Paris is a lovely city with beautiful people and I felt safe almost the entire time we were there, even whilst walking along empty streets in the middle of the night. The only time I didn’t feel safe, however, was during my visit to the Marché aux Puces de Clignancourt.

The visit began innocently enough. It really did look like a typical flea market situation and we ventured forth with no concerns. However, as we walked along the labyrinth of stalls we began to realize that we shouldn’t be there. The event quickly changed from innocent family flea market to something more sinister; people became shadier, families disappeared, music grew louder, and the exits vanished. We’re pretty sure we were followed for a bit, either by a pickpocket or a trafficker, and we saw a few drug deals go down. It was very scary.

Had we not seen Taken or been aware of the human trafficking trade, we may not have survived. But, because we were mentally prepared for the seedy side of Paris and knew enough to identify a bad situation when faced with one, we quickly adopted a heightened sense of self preservation. Thinking about Taken prior to our arrival prevented the formation of the vacation euphoria bubble one is typically ensconced in while visiting such a beautiful place, allowing us to be aware enough of our surroundings to perhaps deter any possible evil doers.  Perhaps Taken saved our lives?

When we eventually escaped, and our fight or flight defences relaxed a bit, we could joke about surviving the experience. But, because it had proved so traumatizing, we quickly purged the event from our memories. That is, until I was reminded of it yesterday, which did cause a bit of a post traumatic stress reaction.

The only explanation for this market appearing on any list of things to do whilst in Paris can be only to lure unsuspecting tourists into a human trafficking trap. If you ever see this market on a list of things to do, or someone is recommending it to you, you should immediately become very dubious of the source. This market is a trap and you're being set up. DO NOT GO!