Mama Shelter’s unique name corresponds to its equally new concept.  Normally staying in a boutique hotel designed by  Phillipe Starck does not come cheaply, especially in a major city.  Mama Shelter changes all that.  The rates at Mama Shelter start at 79 Euros.  Anyone who’s stayed in a fine but functional Parisian budget hotel knows this rate can’t be beat.

The first photo shows a typical Paris budget hotel room at a cost of around 100 Euros, the second shows the rooms at Mama Shelter.

Mama Shelter showcases Phillipe Starck’s whimsical eye with graffiti grazing the ceilings and a unique mix of materials that include concrete, glass, and wood.  The eating areas combine old-school or shall I say Old World long wooden tables and benches.  The tech addicted can dine and surf at tables equipped with built in computer screens.  I-Macs, free Wi-Fi, Kiehl’s toiletries and five star bedding await you in your room.  All I can say is “bonjour, baby” and bye-bye to stiff, scratchy sheets.  You’ll find live indie rock and electronica music across the street at La Fleche D’or.

So here’s the deal.  Mama Shelter is in the 20th arrondissement, which in more ways than one lays on the fringes of Paris.  The only touristy thing to do near the hotel, is to visit the nearby Pere Lachaise cemetary.  So expect a metro or bus ride to get to the tourist areas of Paris.  According to the Mama Shelter website the St. Blaise quartier is part of the authentic Paris with cafes, gardens, and an air of rebellion.  Other media indicates this area as “the toughest and least fashionable areas of Paris”.  This burgeoning area is similar to any area entering “hipification”,  think Williamsburg 12 years ago.

Artists as well as new immigrants populate the area drawn by cheap rent and large vacant studio spaces.  This raw, bohemian vibe may not be for everyone.  If you’re interested in getting to know a different part of Paris or perhaps seek some inspirato from fellow creative types then Mama Shelter should top your list.  The nearby Belleville neighborhood deserves a visit as well.

Mama Shelter resulted from the vision of the Trigano family who just so happen to be the founders of  a little business called Club Med.  The Trigano family credit philosopher Cyril Aoizerate as helping to create Mama Shelter.  I’m intrigued by any business that has a philosopher on board.  These visionaries took what was once a multi-story carpark and transformed it into what’s destined to become The trendy hotel of Paris.

A desire to look beyond tourist attractions and explore other areas of a city separates tourists from travelers.  Staying outside of tourist areas give a true peek into the heart of a city.  Mama Shelter promises a stimulating environment within and outside of its confines that beg to be explored.

For more photos check out their flickr page.

Content borrowed from Travelista.com

By Josie Villa-Singleton a.k.a Travelista

Rail Europe recently began promoting The Eurostar high speed train that runs from London to Paris. November 14 marked the start of the new service provided by Eurostar which decreases travel time by 20 minutes (at speeds of up to 186 mph), making the journey from London to Paris 2 hours and 15 minutes. Tickets for the journey vary in price ranging from $97 to $400 depending on when the ticket is booked and what class seat is selected.

The cheeky “get a little Paris with your London” Rail Europe campaign touts that “…you’ll be drinking wine in Paris while the lager foam from London is still on your lips”. The accompanying website provides a cute game where you can create “mashups” of London and Parisian animated icons. You can even enter your own mashup version of London and Parisian symbols or icons for a chance to win a trip to London that includes a stay in Paris via the Eurostar of course.

Trains leave from the refurbished and central (near Oxford Circus and Covent Garden) St. Pancras station in London and arrive in the Gare du Nord station in Paris (near Montmarte, Sacre Coeur). Otherwise known as the “Cathedral of the Railways” the St. Pancras has been transformed into a destination unto itself with various shopping opportunities that include a farmers market. Europe’s longest champagne bar as well as a gastropub and brasseries will help travelers pass the time while awaiting their train. Champagne aside, another benefit of the Eurostar is that as of November 14th the journey is completely carbon neutral.

The prices of the tickets depend on a variety of factors (peak times, class of seat) so it might be worth trying out different dates and times if possible when booking a reservation. It also seems that booking round trip tickets is cheaper than booking one way fares. Tickets purchased early will also cost less.

Alternatively, you can look into a low cost European carrier (EasyJet, Ryanair, etc) and compare the price of the same trip (London to Paris) and determine which is cheaper. If your trip is one way compare the cost of a discount airline to the train because the price for the Eurostar is a bit pricey for one way tickets. Low cost carriers provide the best deals when booked early. If you book early enough you may find that it is cheaper to fly than take the train. However, several factors must be considered before you book.

The low fare provided by low cost carriers comes at the cost of time. Extra time must be accounted for when taking a low cost flight within Europe. Usually the airports are smaller and more remote so extra time must be allotted in getting to and from them. Time must also be allotted for arriving early enough at the airport to account for checking in and getting through security. Include transportation costs to and from airport. For the flight from London to Paris: 11 pounds for the Capital Connect train that takes you from London to London Luton Airport (where most low cost carriers depart from) and 8 Euros for riding the RER from Charles de Gaulle airport into the city. Add these costs to the ticket price to get a more accurate representation of the cost.

If traveling from London to Paris is on your itinerary or if you are thinking of including it consider both rail and air to determine which works best for you. If time is of the essence then the train is your best option because you will be leaving from an easily accessible city center and arriving in another area of the city that is easily accessed by public transport (metro) and close to all the tourist action. If you don’t mind losing a little time to save a little money then check out discount European airlines to find a good deal. And don’t forget to wipe the lager foam off your lips!

Content borrowed from Travelista.com

Last Valentine’s Day, I had a tour de force culinary experience.  It started with an invitation to a popular restaurant I had heard of, but was afraid to try.  I’m speaking of Dining in the Dark at OPAQUE.

Opaque’s mission is to engage all the senses in a pitch-black dining room, while eager guests are taken from one course to the next, softly guided by their respective blind or visually impaired servers.

Let me start from the beginning.  We first walked in to the lounge area and were greeted by friendly staff, who reacted as if they knew something we didn’t when we announced it was our first time.  They knew we were in for a treat.

We picked our meal in the dimly lit romantic lounge and waited for our server to guide us to our table.  Behind closed curtains we entered.  Hands on my guide’s shoulder we went, slowly making our way between pockets of fading conversations in a sea of darkness.

The maze ended up in a comfortable corner near the entrance to the kitchen. At this point, our ears were still getting adjusted to the mumbling, as we picked up on various voices at the same time, being aware that there might be someone sitting quietly, right next to us, listening.  We sat down as our server explained where exactly we would find our utensils, plate and glasses.  Lo and behold!  They were exactly where she explained they’d be!

My brain wandered: “Will I be startled as a voice jumps from the darkness to fill my glass or ask me how dinner is going?” “When is this going to get old?”  To my surprise, I was very aware of my server approaching the table and the sweet manner in which she guided us from appetizer to entrée to desert.  Each course seemed a discovery all on its own.  Who knew carrots could taste so sweet?  I had no idea what my food looked like, yet I savored every juicy bite, every texture, every discovery.  Even my breath had lingering flavor.

By the time the main course came around, I had given up on the task of accurately putting the fork in my mouth and was using my hands to eat.  This, by the way, was my favorite part of the meal.  The food was easy to identify, satisfactory to pick up with my own fingers, and delectable to all my tens of thousands of taste buds.

The Mango Panna Cotta was nothing short of an orgasm.  Not being able to use my sight for the past hour, my other senses danced around me in circles.   This delicious desert exploded with flavor in my mouth, while, in my head, and I held back from ‘Mmm-mmm-ing’ out loud, afraid of repeating the infamous “When Harry Met Sally” scene.

Needless to say, Valentine’s dinner was as unforgettable and as a sure shot to a romantic ending as the greatest chocolate cake in the world… or the biggest diamond.

Opaque is the ultimate voyage of the senses, all neatly engaged in a prix fixe 3-course gourmet meal, a experience not only of taste but of smell and sound.  This experimental journey of the senses gets the Diva’s Wink ™ of approval.

OPAQUE –Dining in the Dark

http://www.darkdining.com/index_main.php

LOS ANGELES (Also in San Francisco and San Diego)

Every weekend on Friday and Saturday starting at 6 PM.

V Lounge

2020 Wilshire Blvd

Santa Monica,

California 90403

www.darkdining.com

310 546 7619

Regular 3 course dinner menu Price: $99 incl. Tax (no host bar)

For more information or to order make reservations please call 800-710-1270 or visit

www.darkdining.com. Reservations required!

Title: Running with The Bulls in Pamplona
Location: Pamplona, Spain
Link out: Click here
Description: The Pamplona festival – also known as the San Fermin Festival or Sanfermines– is held in Pamplona, Spain every year from July 6-14. The most famous part of the festival is the bull run or encierro when 12 bulls charge through the streets of the old city. Although the festival begins on July 6, the bulls do not run until July 7 and then run for 7 consecutive mornings at 8 a.m. until the end of the festival. Anyone over the age of 18 can run with the bulls and there is no charge to participate.
Start Date: 2009-07-06
End Date: 2009-07-14

El festival de la corrida de toros de Pamplona – tambien conocido como el Festival de San Fermin – toma lugar en Pamplona, España anualmente en Julio.  Este año será de Julio 6 al 14.  Lo que hace famoso al festival es el “encierro” o corrida de los toros cuando sueltan a 12 toros a la carga en las viejas calles de Pamplona.  Aunque el festival comienza Julio 6, los toros no corren hasta Julio 7, y por 7 días consecutivos de las 8 a.m. hasta el fin del festival.  Cualquiera mayor de 18 años puede correr con los toros sin pagar por participar.

In the mood for a little blood?

Vampire-Con 2009, the world’s first convention devoted solely to Vampires is pleased to announce the Lucent Dossier Experience as they reveal their darker side at Vampirella’s Ball on Sunday, August 16, 2009. The Lucent Dossier Experience is an acclaimed underground vaudeville cirque – a bewitching alchemy of glamour, magic, and beautiful expression.  Their unique and interactive choreography, inspired costuming, original music and mystical body art are brought together by the spirited performers to create a mesmerizing high-concept spectacle of human light that casts an alluring spell over its audience.

Surreal, magical, theatrical and absurd, the Lucent Dossier Experience has been called “a far superior take on circus” by The Washington Post and “a burst of energy & sexual tension” by Spin Magazine.  Lucent Dossier was a hit at Coachella Art & Music Festival, was featured in Panic! At the Disco’s video “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” and at its core is a playground for the innovative genius child in all of us.

Vampire-Con swoops into Hollywood, CA for a weekend-long event beginning Friday, August 14, opening with a two-day Vampire Film Festival at the New Beverly Cinema and then flies to The Music Box Theatre @ Fonda on Sunday, August 16th for a day of panel discussions, vendors and contests.  The evening transitions into a 21 & over danse macabre where guests will rave the night away with Vampirerotica go-go girls and boys, and dance to the beats of DJ Gary Calamar, Grammy-nominated producer, music supervisor of HBO’s TRUE BLOOD and the host of KCRW’s Sunday night slot from 9 pm – midnight.

From Nosferatu to Twilight, Vampires have provided an ageless mythology that taps into our cultural pulse.  As new generations become fans, Vampire-Con celebrates these sexy and scary creatures that capture our collective imagination.  Tickets are $15 for the Sunday day-walkers and $30 for Vampirella’s Ball.  Film Festival Admission is $7 per night.  Stay tuned for updates about celebrity guests, prizes, contests and more.  For more information: visit www.vampire-con.com and www.lucentdossier.com.

Title: Vampire-Con
Location: Hollywood, CA
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2009-08-14
End Date: 2009-08-16

by Angela Rocco DeCarlo copyright, 2009

We just can’t let go of US Airways Captain Chelsey B. Sullenberger, III.

We want to look at him. Listen to him. Stand in the heat of his reflected glory to stem the chill of months of castastrastrokes.

Sully and his remarkable crew of the January, 15, US Airways flight 1549, have taken up the huge empty space in our national psyche reserved for those who are undeniably honorable and competent. Every culture needs its heroes and ours have gone missing.
As a country, we feel adrift in a sea of offensive behaviors on nearly every front: Deceptive incompetent politicians, effete Wall Street greedmeisters, mortgage hucksters on the make, and entrepreneurial Octomom, primed to reap millions from her planned popping of six, and than the full house hand of eight babies, for which we Californians will pay the tab. We’re sinking in a grotesque nightmare of fiscal and moral morass. Sully and his crew threw us a life raft.

Is it any wonder we are dazzled by the Miracle on the Hudson crew with their brilliant, but modest, success in saving lives – at least for the moment. For we all know such miracles are merely a postponement. But right now when the entire country appears at death’s door, any stay of execution is not only welcomed, but celebrated.

Weeks after the spectacular water landing by Captain Sully, on the Hudson River, with not one life lost, we were finally able to see and hear the five crew members give a first-hand account of a few moments which have energized a nation. We are entranced by Capt. Sullenberger, his first officer Jeff Skiles and the three cabin crew members. We lap up every word, every gesture, every appearance of these five very human, very experienced competent professionals. They are articulate, without flourishes. Understated. Forthright. Thoroughly believable. Ultimately heroic. They are as Prometheus to us…bringing something to save us. To save our faith in our countrymen. They bring not fire, but the glow of diligent moral, professional duty and competence. The very things lacking all around us.

The TV shot of the five crew members emerging, a la the Mercury astronauts’ image, from bright daylight into an airplane hangar, catches Sully’s arm going behind him to pull up co-pilot Skiles to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. These five are fully aware of what they did, yet, are without plumage of pride. They meet and embrace passengers, families and humbly accept the kudos due them for “doing our jobs.” Sully is even willing to overcome his innate modesty to accept the lavish accolades so as not to diminish the emotionally expressed gratitude felt by passengers, their families and an admiring nation. We’re stunned to learn Sully lies awake thinking what he could have done better! Better? Most cannot imagine such thorough professionalism.

In our degraded and vulgar popular culture of indecency, dishonor and incompetence we are starved to hear their story, to know that somewhere there are professionals who behave without selfish motive to execute their duties. That in itself seems miraculous to we Americans. But it is the very hallmark of the American character.

Peggy Noonan observed in a recent column, the contrast between Sully and the conduct of Octomom Nadya Suleman. Many feel this is an inaccurate comparison.

We are taken with Sully and the crew because we contrast them to the proper cohort – the generation of mature professionals in politics. People of Sully’s age and generation. The disparity is shocking. Sully and the crew have significant experience, training and maturity. But so do many of the people in Congress. Many have never had any other job but running repeatedly to get reelected. They have experience. Age in years, if not true maturity. Yet, they have failed their country in many ways. They appear, and probably are, clueless.

It is clear the goal of many politicians is not duty and honor. But self-aggrandizement.

Over and over the lack of duty and honor is revealed: tax cheats are rewarded with high office; out of office officials are rewarded with millions from private companies to grease the wheels; former presidents harvest hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign interests; no congressman or appointed official takes responsibility for the disaster of the wrecked economy. A 1,100 page legislation is rammed down America’s throat with no time for anyone – not those who voted for it, or others – to read it. No one really knows the consequences of this spending spree. The list goes on and on. With little to indicate that selfless duty and honor motivate these so-called public servants.

News reports of individuals taking their own lives, or killing their entire families from the fall-out of the fiscal debacle tell only part of story. The story of millions of Americans mentally perched on roofs waiting to jump, is not covered by a media which has lost its honor and justification for being.

So this means we don’t want to let Sully and his crew go.

We want to relive over and over rthe Miracle on the Hudson to remind ourselves there are competent professional people in our country. People of dignity. Honesty. Modesty. Duty. Competence. We simply haven’t elected enough of them to our governments.
###

Credit line: Angela Rocco DeCarlo, a former Chicago journalist, travel writer and teacher resides in Southern California.

Title: PALENKE SOULTRIBE Live! en Gotica Bogota
Location: Bogota, Colombia
Description: Event: PALENKE SOULTRIBE Live! en Gotica Bogota SABADO 13
What: Club Party
Host: GOTICA BOGOTA
Start Time: Saturday, December 13 at 11:00pm
End Time: Sunday, December 14 at 3:00am
Where: CLUB GOTICA

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=37730394319

Start Date: 2008-12-13
Start Time: 23:00
End Date: 2008-12-14
End Time: 03:00

Title: Surin Elephant Round-up by Anna Carranza
Location: Surin Thailand
Description: It’s not everyday you get to party with the elephants, but in mid November, a small town north of Bangkok celebrates one of Thailand’s best-known annual festivals.
Once an ancient courtesan display and now criticized for commercial exploitation.
For three days, hundreds of trained elephants parade in medieval warfare, play football and engage in a gargantuan game of tug of war. Diva tip, don’t wrestle the elephant yourself, unless you want to be dragged in front of forty thousand spectators.
Tickets for The \”Elephant Show\”
500 Baht and 200 Baht
Advanced reservations are available for 500 Baht tickets.
Please call Surin Provincial Office: 0-4451-2039

Contact information:
TAT Northeastern Office – Region 1
Tel: 66 4421 3666, 66 4421 3030
Fax: 66 4421 3667
Start Date: 2008-11-18
End Date: 2008-11-19

The streets of Ottery St. Mary are set ablaze every year with men, women and children running rampant carrying tar-soaked barrels.  This tradition has been carried on from as far back as the 17th century and is said to rid the streets of evil “as if burned off.”  The hoisting of a barrel onto your back is considered “a great honor” and given only to men who pass the barrel onto another male relative, and so on, until midnight.