Exciting Vacation Ideas » travel guide

bustling capital of Mauritius

deepan — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:30:13 +0000

Port Louis is a great place, and the bustling capital of Mauritius, a volcanic island in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Madagascar.

Port Louis is a mountain range called the Port Louis Moka Range restricted. It is a very small place with the topography of regular and flat, the slides gently down to the sea. The city is the main port of Mauritius and in 1735 the port was established by the French Governor Mahé de Labourdonnais. The port is surrounded by mountains half. With the population exceeding 200,000, this city has many signs that his past to show elegance and grace. The population is mostly descendants of laborers who were hired from India to the 19th in Port Louis Century labor market.

These slaves were first introduced by the French and British, the island in the 18th Century settled. End of slavery in 1835 and after that, many Indians and Chinese asked to work in the land and cultivate sugar cane. The Immigration Depot in Port Louis is a world heritage site in memory of this great migration. Today the population consists of 75% of Indian Muslims, Hindus and Christians and the rest from Africa and China.

Set off the main square Place d’Armes, there is the Government House and the Municipal Theater, the building of colonial built by the French by 18 Century. Port Louis, located down the northwest coast of the island, has a bubbly market and a famous water-front full of restaurants and shops.

make the beautiful natural scenes, panoramic views and a variety of accommodations around the year makes it a must. Numerous restaurants and cafes dot the sea water make for an interesting stay and nice relaxing day activity.

vango tents

deepan — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:42:03 +0000

Vango do a giant range of tents for every type of occasion that you can think of, from small light weight to massive family tents. vango tents are recommended for their high quality and design, and the variety of ways for everyone in the caravan for the first time experienced backpacker or family group. Vango tents are known for its high quality material that provides safety and comfort in equal measure. The tents are wind and fire resistant and also provide ample space inside. There are several types of Vango sleeping bags available including: family, mountain and adventure travel. Each bag has its own characteristics that make different. The materials from which the bags are made prudently selected keeping in mind the challenges of nature and the environment has to undergo. Vango make a unbelievable range of tents that are ideal for every level of camping enthusiast, like many things in life people have their own idea of what they would like their tent to look like. Each of Vango’s family tents has a flexible configuration, so that a group of related campers, all of different ages, can provide older children with a certain amount of privacy. Each of these tented structures also offers varied storage options, including hanging storage.

Biggest Cities in France

deepan — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:51:53 +0000

CITY	REgion	DEpartment (administrative units)	Population	SuRFACE AREA [km²]	DensitY [PER km²]
1) Paris	Île de France	Paris	2, 181 371	105,40	20 433
2) Marseille	Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur	Bouches du Rhône	839 043	240,62	3 436
3) Lyon	Rhône-Alpes	Rhône	472 305	47,87	9 868
4) Toulouse	Midi-Pyrénées	Haute Garonne	437 715	118,30	3 300
5) Nice	Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur	Alpes Maritimes	347 060	71,92	4 771
6) Nantes	Pays de la Loire	Loire Atlantique	282 853	65,19	4 325
7) Strasbourg	Alsace	Bas Rhin	272 975	78,26	3 375
Montpellier	Languedoc-Roussillon	Hérault	251 634	56,88	3 963
9) Bordeaux	Aquitaine	Gironde	232 260	49,36	4 671
10) Lille	Nord-Pas-de-Calais	Nord	226 014	34,83	6 457
11) Rennes	Bretagne	Ille et Vilaine	209 613	50,39	4 093
12) Reims	Champagne Ardenne	Marne	183 837	46,90	3 990
13) Le Havre	Haute-Normandie	Seine Maritime	182 580	46,95	3 917
14) Saint Étienne	Rhône-Alpes	Loire	177 480	79,97	2 197
15) Toulon	Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur	Var	167 816	42,84	3 907
16) Grenoble	Rhône-Alpes	Isère	156 107	18,13	8 555
17) Dijon	Bourgogne	Côte d’Or	152 337	40,41	3 731
18) Angers	Pays de la Loire	Maine et Loire	151 504	42,70	3 576
19) Brest	Bretagne	Finistère	144 548	49,51	3 023
20) Le Mans	Pays de la Loire	Sarthe	144 092	52,81	2 754

The lake of Serre-Ponçon

deepan — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:48:54 +0000

The lake of Serre-Ponçon (in French: lac de Serre-Ponçon) is an artificial lake located in the south of the French Alps, between the two departments of Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute Provence. It is the biggest artificial lake in Europe for its capacity (1,272 billion m3) and the second one for its surface area (28,2 km2). The waters are dammed by the barrage of Serre-Ponçon, a 123 m high earth core dam. The lake was created to control the water flow after disastrous floods causing severe damage and loss of life in 1843 and 1856. First proposed in 1895, its construction started in 1955 and was completed by 1961. During the construction of the lake, approximately 3 million m3 of material was moved. The dam was constructed and the valley slowly became a lake, flooding some villages in the process. As well as water control, sixteen hydroelectric plants use the water and the lake provides irrigation to 1,500 km² of land.

French beauty – fishing town of Honfleur

deepan — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 06:25:37 +0000

The heart of Honfleur is le Vieux Bassin, the old picturesque port, with its distinctive slate-covered houses. The harbour is crammed with fishing boats and pleasure boats, and is surrounded by trendy art galleries and cafés that are housed in converted salt warehouses.
Le Vieux Bassin has inspired, and in turn been painted, by generations of artists, in particular Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet, Eugène Boudin and Johan Jongkind. These 19th-century artists formed the école de Honfleur, a precursor of the influential Impressionist movement.
Our regular summer visits to Honfleur always follow a tried and trusted formula. We start with a slow, lazy wander around the harbour, people watching, watching all the wannabe artists who have set up their easels, and looking longingly in the windows of the many art galleries that line the harbour. The art on offer is truly amazing, not only in quality but also in price, so window shopping is very much the order of the day.
Spending imaginary money, however, can be exhausting, and so lunch is the next part of the family ritual. Since there are more than 100 restaurants in Honfleur, choosing a restaurant is not a problem. In fact, you are too spoiled for choice. Most of the restaurants, not surprisingly, serve fish that is as fresh as fresh can be.
Weekend family lunches in France are most definitely not rushed affairs, and since children are positively welcomed in French restaurants, lunch is a long relaxed meal.
After a couple of hours of excellent food and wine, a little more exercise is required, so a gentle potter around one of the city’s sweet little museums is usually on the agenda. The main museums are concerned with the local history and culture, and include the Eugène Boudin Museum and the Satie museum.
The Musée Eugène Boudin honours an artist who was one of the precursors of the Impressionist movement, and a man who loved and painted Honfleur. The museum houses some 92 works of the painter.
Another fun museum, especially for children, is La Maison Satie. The composer Erik Satie was born in this house in 1866. Today’s visitors can take a slightly surrealist walk through the house, accompanied by recordings of Satie’s music and wit. You’ll even see his ghost playing his music on a white piano.
By now it is late afternoon. An ice-cream from one of the Italian ice-cream stores on the harbour front, a last stroll to watch the yachts coming in on the evening tide, and then it is time to head back home.
One of Normandy’s prettiest little towns has yet again woven its magic.

Hidden Places Of Portugal

deepan — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:23:51 +0000

Claudia and Bruno are just the type of visitor that Portugal hopes to entice as guests. The couple (she’s German, he’s Swiss) own and run the Hotel Berghaus Bort in the Swiss Alps town of Grindelwald, and they work without a day’s rest, they told us, from November until May. Then, instead of sleeping, they travel for three weeks. One year it was Thailand. This year they were hopping from one pousada to the next, in large part because so many of their employees are Portuguese, and they wanted to get a taste of the country. Claudia and Bruno’s journey began at the 12th-century Castelo de Óbidos, the first pousada converted from a historic building. They’d slept in the tower. And then they’d moved on to the medieval city of Guimarães, the entire downtown of which is a Unesco World Heritage site.

Guimarães’s two pousadas are intertwined with the same kind of history. Downtown the Pousada Nossa Senhora da Oliveira faces the 14th-century church of Nossa Senhora da Oliveira and 15th-century nobles’ homes on a medieval piazza, in the heart of the historic center. Wandering the streets here is as much a part of the charm as the pousada itself — 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century painted tiles adorn the walls; heavy wood beams serve as supports for the ancient buildings.

Orchid Lodge in Costa Rica

deepan — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:22:31 +0000

The Orchid Lodge is a bed and breakfast unlike any other. Guests at the lodge are able to enjoy a European like get away and still have the necessities they need right at hand.
The Orchid Lodge offers four unique guestrooms. Two have access to the Veranda and the other two overlook the Citrus Grove. The rooms each come with king size beds, although twin is available, televisions and private baths with full shower and bath. Those little necessities of life that people need are also includes such as cable, telephone and Internet access.
At the lodge, guests can gather and mingle with one another in open, common areas and enjoy cheese and wine during the social hour. A European or Western breakfast is served in the dinning room each morning and guests can sit privatly at their own table or join together at a larger, group table. Tea and coffee will continue to be served to guest through the day.

The Wine Regions Of France

deepan — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:21:57 +0000

Wine and gourmet cuisines keep France at the top of a gourmand’s travel itinerary . But it is also one of the favorite places for globe-trotters to unwind because of its beautiful landscapes dotted with vineyards . Aptly known as the nation of gourmet. its impossible to think of France without its velvety wine and tempting cuisine .

Burgundy

Dotted with idyllic country-side vineyards, rivers, villages, forests ans 12th century churches, Burgundy has a strong historic and cultural background . Everything about the region spells splendour . Some of the world’s most exciting wines come from burgundy . Ponot Noir is the main grape in Burgundy for red wine and velvety and subtle red or sensual and characteristic white . Its Red Wines are world famous and highly priced .

Bordeaux

A combination of sunshine temperate climate with river flowing alongside the clay-limestone hills and slopes , the bordeaux region is a vine-growers’ paradise . Cuisines made of lambs and oysters are a treat in this region .

How To Reach

Easy connectivity through Air France to Paris , the capital and from there the aforementioned destinations are easily accessible by road .

Places to visit in Puducherry

deepan — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 05:53:32 +0000

Aurobindo Ashram : The main building comprises the houses of Shri Aurobindo and The Mother Mirra Alfassa, a French woman who accepted Aurobindo as her spiritual mentor and guide and later became his most important disciple. The ashram has samadhis of Aurobindo and The Mother. The other places of interest in the Ashram complex are the International Education Centre, guesthouses, libraries and the cottage industries.

Beach : The 1500 metre long beach that borders the town on the eastern side is clean and is an exotic stretch for swimming and sun bathing. The 4m. tall statue of Mahatma Gandhi and the the War Memorial, built by the French in commemoration of the soldiers who died in the First World War are two monuments of historical importance on this beach. The Light House, which stands 29m. high is further down the beach and is over 150 years old.

French Institute : Founded by the renowned French Indologist Dr. J. Fillozet in 1995, this internationally acclaimed institute is situated on Dumas street. The institute has separate sections on science, technology, ecology, cartography, pedagogy, Indian languages and culture. The Romain Rolland Library has a collection of over 60,000 books, some of which are rare French volumes. The institute conducts research in arts and sciences and is perhaps the only permanent link with France in Pondicherry.

JIPMER : This is one of the foremost medical institutions in the country. JIPMER, which is short form for the Jawaharlal Institute of Post-graduate Medical Education and Research, was established 20 years ago and is one of the most prestigious institutions of its kind in the country.

Botanical Gardens : Just off West Boulevard, the gardens planned by C.S. Perrotet in 1826, have a good collection of exotic flowering plants from India and abroad. There is also an aquarium here, which has some rare species of ornamental fish.

Museum : Strated in 1984, this museum displays some of the fine antiques apart from sections devoted to archaeology, geology, sculpture, handicrafts, objects of art, printing and armaments. Among the exhibits on display are the bed used by Dupleix, a palanquin and a pousse-pousse, which resembles a rickshaw.

Churches : There are many of churches that are worth visiting and one of the most beautiful is the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus located on South Boulevard. It is built in the Gothic style and has three stained glass panels in a corridor behind the altar, which depict the life of Christ. The Eglise de Notre Dame des Anges on Rue Dumas was built in 1865. The church has an oil painting of Our Lady of Assumption that was donated by Napoleon III. The Eglise de Notre Dame de Lourdes situated in Villiyanur on the outskirts of Pondicherry is built on the same pattern as the Basilica at Lourdes in France. The church festival conducted in June every year draws devotees of all faiths. It is probably the only church that has a temple tank.

Temples : There are several temples in Pondicherry that were built by the Cholas between the 10th and 12th centuries. Most of them are dedicated to the local goddesses of the villages where they were constructed. There are also quite a few temples dedicated to Lord Vinayaka or Ganapathy. The Varadaraja temple, built sometime in the 12th century, has inscriptions which tell of a Sanskrit university that existed at Thirubhuvanam. The Manakula Vinayaka temple is also very popular with both the locals and visitors for it is believed that Lord Ganapathy, the presiding deity, favours his devotees with success in whatever they do. The Masi Magam festival held during the full moon day of Tamil month of Masi(February-March) attracts a large number of devotees.

The Thirukameshwarar temple in Villiyanur was built during the 12th century and dedicated to Lord Siva. Thousands of Pilgirims visit this temple during its annual car-festival held in May-June.

What is tourism? Why is tourism important?

deepan — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:05:50 +0000

Tourism is the sector by travelers or tourists generated. It is important to some famous places and cities, as many of the stores and shops have come on the ground economically dependent on the high traffic of people visiting their area and the purchase of their items/services.0

Leave should go much more than the opportunity and snap photos of the trophy home with them and offer your friends are. The holiday is an enlightening cultural experience to learn some countries, people, culture and structure of the country. Now the day is simply not enough to book a holiday through an agent, travel by plane and walk through some exotic location. We are, as we visit places and people we not only about the consequences, as it does make you think, but how useful it.0

Too many people these days only a holiday book from a glossy brochure or flashy website, but we are running out, but our vacation, where the money goes and who can.0

This may require a passenger who is forking out a lot of money for vacation, that as little as 30% of that money to visit the land that they will remain white. Tourism is part of the industry and the people who have a larger share of price wars, local authorities, local leaders, who works so hard, so is your holiday a success it for a little guy with a curved expensive, Hol bear have your luggage hiking, or that furrowed-old chain-smoking driver, to support the work of the night and worked his seven children.