NEW HOME, LOOK & ADDRESS for Expérience Authentique & for its blog as of Dec 24, 2010

This blog has now been moved to the new home of Expérience Authentique as of December 24, 2010! Check it out at http://www.experienceauthentique.com/. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Where to savour the best champagnes in Paris over the holiday

Enjoy this overview from the Paris Tourism office on where to pop a  cork and enjoy sparkling bubbles

http://en.parisinfo.com/uploads/59//Trends_54.pdf

Buy experiences instead of things! Latest advice by the Journal of Consumer Psychology

Have a read at this extract from a Globe and Mail article further to some recent research published in The Journal of Consumer Psychology. The full article can be read at  www.theglobeandmail.com/.../money-can-buy-happiness-if-you-spend-it-right/article1787800/
 but in the meantime I cut an extract that offers a consistent message with what I hope to create for my clients: meaningful experiences that count on the happiness scale.
 

 

Here is the extract: "Buy experiences instead of things
Retail therapy is dealt a blow with this one. Studies show it’s better to buy something you can experience – a massage, a day on the ski hill, a trip to New York – rather than prop up your mood with a new dress.

Part of the reason is that experiences focus the mind and keep us rooted in the here and now. (“A wandering mind is an unhappy mind,” reads the paper.) A dress just doesn’t have the same power. If anything, it sends your mind off thinking about how it will transform you into someone better, which of course never happens.

Also, and more important, experiences give you sensory memories, even if it is just the strength of Sven’s hands on your sore glutes."

Perigord or Dordogne: The Frenchman's paradise in the Globe and Mail

I agree with this Globe and Mail article ( http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/explore-the-frenchmans-paradise/article1784589/ ) that Perigord feels like a Frenchman' paradise especially off season when the crowds of international tourists from the Summer have dwindled. The area is rich in history, the country side is lush with rolling hills and rivers, many quaint villages with medieval castles to explore, and of course the prehistoric caves to stay cool and travel back in time. Lots of accomodation options and great rich food. Spring and Fall are a great time to go as I do mind exploring little villages or Sarlat when the ratio of tourists to locals seems like 10 to 1. This is when we get into a France of the museums I do not like.  Last time I was in Dordogne was right after Christmas . If you are OK with colder (and rainy at times) weather  and more limited options of places to visit, you will experience a more authentic place, with markets catered to locals and long meals of rich food by the fireplace after some nice walks or explorations of chateaux.
The location of Dordogne/Périgord  makes it possible to enjoy a vacation of contrasts in the Southwest of France as you can easily hop to the Bordeaux wine region within 90 minutes and then head  south for 2 hours to the Basque coast for the beach, mountains, a touch of Spain and a life loving locals. You can arrive in Bordeaux and explore the area, tour Dordogne, and hop back on a train or plane from Biarritz or Pau after enjoying the Basque country. Yes the South West of France is a Frenchman's paradise of contrasts and good life.

Video podcast on Bordeaux wines and its region for armchair travel

I recommend the 32 minutes  of video podcast at http://podcast.lcbo.com/lcbo/learn/podcasts/discover/videos/12_wines_of_bordeaux.html developed by LCBO, the government-run organization overlooking the sale of wine in Ontario.

I found the video to give to a good overview of the various wine regions, the unique caracteristics of wine making  for each one. At the same time you catch some good glimpses of majestic Bordeaux, Médoc, Graves, Entre-Deux-Mers, St Emilion and the nearby Côtes, and Sauternes. You get a good sense of why the Bordeaux region holds the title of wine capital of the world  and what it does to retain the title. More importantly  one is left with a better understanding of the rich range of wine offerings. Bordeaux are wines of winemakers who value terroir.  A votre Santé!

Gastronomy on the Spanish side of the Basque country: Bilbao & Hondarribia

The New York Times over the last 2 months wrote two interesting articles about gastronomy on the Spanish side of the Basque country, 2 destinations easily reachable  for the evening or the day for travellers staying on the French side, in the St Jean de Luz/ Biarritz coastal stretch:

1)  in the little town of Hondarribia, located right on the Spanish/French border: A Dining Explosion in a Tiny Basque Town at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/travel/01Next.html?emc=eta1 Some good addresses for sure. Hondarribia is not as small as  what the article mentions. It has been very popular for many years among the habitants of Irun, as Hondarribia is like a fancy subburb by the beach of Irun, the busy commercial border town.  Hondarribia is rich in history ( ie the land of many battles) and its medieval architecture offers a treat to the eyes. While staying in France, on the French side of the Basque country, it is a very popular and easy to get to destination for a few drinks and pinxos ( basque word for tapas): you hop on a boat from the French town of Hendaye to cross the Bidasoa river that separates the two countries. Make sure you take a stroll up the hill all the way to the old town, la parte vieja,  after you warm up your senses with a couple of pinxos and a glass of txaculi  in the fisherman's village called la Marina

2) in the city of Bilbao well known for its Guggenheim: In Bilbao, it's not just the Museum  at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/travel/10Choice.html?emc=eta1 The renaissance of this city includes some amazing contributions in all price categories by various chefs. If coming from the French side on a full day outing to Bilbao, do spend the time to go to the Casco Viejo, the old quarter of town, reachable via a nice walk along the river from the Guggenheim.

No matter what, even if you are not a committed foodie, do take the time to enjoy  a few pinxos in the company of locals.

Canada welcomes Michel Hacala, French-Basque artist and his Canadian- Basque whaling scenes

NEWS RELEASE, October 7, 2010
Canada welcomes Michel Hacala, French-Basque artist who is painting Canadian-Basque whaling scenes

(Toronto) Michel Hacala has come to Quebec and Ontario to paint huge colourful images of Basque fishermen chasing whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the late 1500s-early 1600s.

The highly successful painter-sculptor is himself from the Basque region of southwest France, and he even enjoyed a first career as a fisherman (in the Bay of Biscay, off France and Spain).

But why would he want to paint dreamy images from the pre-Jacques-Cartier era of Canada? You could say that he is chasing his ancestors and the contact they had with Canada’s whales and its First Nations peoples.*

An international exhibit of Hacala’s historic Canadian whaling series is being planned by the Basque Museum of Bayonne (France) and the new Cité de l’Océan (opening in Biarritz, France, in 2011). Exhibition partners are being sought in Canada, Spain, and North American locales where Basque people have settled over the centuries.

Hacala spent the month of September doing creative research and then painting in the Bas-St-Laurent region of Quebec (St. Lawrence Lowlands), thanks to Parc de l’aventure basque en Amérique in Trois-Pistoles (www.aventurebasque.ca), and artist Caroline Jacques’s workshop and gallery in St-Fabien (www.carolinejacques.com). The images Hacala worked on were just shown at the Parc de l’aventure basque en Amérique, and he and they come to Ontario in October as follows.

Museums, galleries, media, and other interested parties are all invited:

Collingwood: Thanksgiving Monday, October 11, 1:00-3:00PM, Alpine Equestrian Centre, just minutes from downtown Collingwood, 795601 Osler Bluff Road, www.alpineequestrian.com

Toronto: Friday, October 15, 2:00-7:30PM, Baby Point Clubhouse, 71 Baby Point Road, west end of Toronto, closest major intersection Jane & Annette Streets

Evelyne Dufau, founder of Expérience Authentique (www.FrenchSouthwest.com), is Michel Hacala’s agent in North America. Please contact her for further information about Hacala in Canada at (866) 760-9813 or 66 Baby Point Crescent, Toronto, Ontario M6S 2C1. Expérience Authentique organizes trips to the Basque coastal region of France and Spain, and more.

To see Michel Hacala’s extraordinary body of work (paintings, sculptures, mosaics), visit www. Hacala-art.com. His large paintings (200cm x 130cm) are typically priced in the range of 6,000 euros ($8,500 Canadian).

* Right and bowhead whales, once plentiful in the coastal Labrador waters and the Gulf of St. Lawrence estuary, attracted whalers from the Basque country during the 16th century. A thriving industry developed around whale oil, a highly prized commodity in Europe. Every spring until about 1626, the Basque sailed to their North American whaling stations, where they built stone ovens to prepare whale oil. Such ovens can be found on the Ile aux Basques (island of the Basques) that faces Trois-Pistoles, as well as a number of other artifacts.

Thanks to Guillaume Lamontagne, Parc de l’aventure basque en Amérique, for information for this news release.