by Editor | Dec 1, 2005 | Europe, France, Paris, Simon and Baker Travel Review
Ever wonder how the great French chefs create those wonderful dishes? We visited the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris to find out. We encountered helpful staff, a friendly and talented chef, a well situated and convenient cooking school with translated (French to English) short gourmet workshops and longer term certificate courses. We participated in a one-hour private workshop in the school’s 15th arrondissement headquarters. The Cordon Bleu school, started as a newspaper in the mid 1800’s, had a staff of 50 including 11 master chefs, and as many as 180 students who participated in private workshops like ours, gourmet courses or certificate programs.
by Editor | Dec 1, 2005 | Champagne, Europe, France, Simon and Baker Travel Review
We rode the train from Paris to Reims on a cold winter Monday, found a taxi easily and dashed from the train station on a speedy cab to Les Crayeres to make up for the 20 minute delay in the train schedule. This delay caused us to arrive later than we had planned at the restaurant (1:45 p.m.). In spite of our late entrance, the staff were awaiting our arrival and welcomed us warmly.
by Editor | Nov 1, 2005 | Africa, Europe, France, Johannesburg, Paris, Simon and Baker Travel Review, South Africa
We had heard so much about the famous horizontal first class seats, when we finally encountered them we didn’t know what to think. After four long flight segments on Air France first class, we say the seats alone are worth flying first class. There are other more subtle benefits such as the less crowded cabin (only 12-13 passenger capacity on our flights), less crowded first class lounge, in-flight loungewear, dedicated heads (bathrooms), extra legroom when the seat is in normal position, polite service attitude and guaranteed meal selections.
by Editor | Oct 1, 2005 | Barcelona, Campania, Europe, Italy, Monaco, Rome, Simon and Baker Travel Review, Spain
Our week-long trip aboard the SeaDream II was reminiscent of the by-gone days of classic ship travel where passengers had an opportunity to meet each other while sharing time and space with fellow travelers and crew members. In an era fraught with time constraints our “cruise” aboard SeaDream II provided us the luxury of meeting like minded people while enjoying a leisurely and luxurious voyage along the coast from Italy to Spain in the prime of the area’s tourist season.
We thoroughly enjoyed the pluses the sailing offered such as a limited number of passengers (there were 108 of us) and high crew to passenger ratio (there were 96 crew members).
by Editor | Oct 1, 2005 | Europe, Monaco, Simon and Baker Travel Review
Though we were well fed aboard our luxury yacht while cruising from Italy to Spain, we were celebrating a special occasion and longed to find a memorable setting. We sought to book something in Monaco where our ship was moored but as luck would have it the restaurant of our choice was closed that day. After consulting several sources including the yacht’s resident gourmet (and Maitre d’Hotel ) we decided on the Chateau de la Chevre d’Or (in English, the castle of the golden goat). Thanks to very able last minute maneuvering from Chritine at our ship’s concierge desk, a most accommodating French lady, we found ourselves sipping perfectly chilled champagne on the terrace of the restaurant a scant three hours after requesting the reservations.
by Editor | Oct 1, 2005 | Europe, Monaco, Simon and Baker Travel Review
Arriving by sea into the new quay in Monte Carlo, Monaco was an eye opener. The view of the famed kingdom from the water was richer in some ways than the impression we had while walking or driving around. After several days enduring uncertain weather and overcast skies, we were concerned our sightseeing tour would be cancelled. Conveniently the sky cleared long enough for us to enjoy the day. At 9:30 a.m. sharp, a Heli Air Monaco van pulled up right in front of our vessel having deftly maneuvered through the port security staff. We were the only passengers and the drive took but a few minutes from the port to Monaco’s busy heliport.
