Esprit Holidays ‘Staycations’ may have been the buzzword of 2009, but Esprit Family Adventures is setting out to change this trend, by offering families summer holidays abroad from only £175 per person. “With these year’s prices and special offers, it’s cheaper to get away with Esprit than to stay at home and do day-trips to [...]

– ESPECIALLY AT THESE PRICES! Specialist ski tour operators Ski Total and Esprit Ski are both reporting their phones ringing off the hook as the current snow conditions across the UK remind British skiers of the pleasures of a slope-side winter break. Managing Director Andy Perrin says “Snow can be a blessing or a curse, [...]

Travel: Paris – Versailles As you approach the gates of Versailles you inescapably have the feeling of entering not a palace but an entire city. The impression is justified given the massive scale of the building and the even larger grounds. Beginning as a modest château of stone and slate to serve as a hunting [...]

Travel: Paris – The Seine River Whether seen by a long, leisurely walk or from one of the many excellent tour boats, the view along the Seine in Paris is a delight. The river flows nearly 800km (480mi) from Dijon through Paris and into the English Channel. But even the short section through the city [...]

Travel: Paris – The Louvre Unquestionably the most famous name in the world of art museums, The Louvre largely deserves its renown. Enormous and filled with irreplaceable treasures from around the world, this premier series of exhibits offers something for everyone. The building itself is something of an historical and art adventure. The construction of [...]

Travel: Paris – The Eiffel Tower Originally intended as a structure to commemorate the French Revolution, who could’ve guessed that 100 years later The Eiffel Tower would become the symbol of Paris itself? But, judging by the six million annual visitors and the millions of photographs, that’s what it has become. To date the tower [...]

Travel: Paris – Notre Dame Second only to the Eiffel Tower as the recognized symbol of France, the Cathédrale Notre Dame is both a tourist destination and a working church. Built between 1163AD and 1345AD the Gothic masterpiece remains today one of the world’s great structures. The enormous interior can seat 6,000 at the base. [...]

Travel: Paris – Montmartre Montmartre is a fascinating mixture of old and new, seedy and sacred, bizarre and blasé. Within this section of Paris, technically the 18th arrondissement, there is everything from Moulin Rouge and Musée d’Erotisme to the Sacré Coeur Basilica. There are several art shops, a Dali museum and even a winery. (Note: [...]

Travel: Paris – Maison de Victor Hugo ‘Maison’ is French for ‘house’. In this case the word is slightly misleading. While no palace, though sited in the Place des Vosges – originally known as Place Royale – the site is no simple domicile. These sprawling apartments were the home of the famed writer between 1832 [...]

Travel: Paris – La Ville Lumière Translated from the French, the title means ‘City of Lights’. By now a commonplace description, there’s nothing commonplace about the place. Paris, for those who love… well, anything, is stellar. With over 2 million inhabitants, 11 million in the Ile-de-France region overall, Paris is a metropolis second to none. [...]

Travel: Paris – Disneyland Paris Affectionately known as DLP by Mouseketeers the world over, Disneyland Paris is a cornucopia of rides, restaurants, exhibits and all out fun for everyone. And in the last few years the fun has been doubled as Disney added the Walt Disney Studios park to an already jam packed adventure. Many [...]

Travel: Paris – Pompidou Center Known to Parisians simply as Beaubourg (after the neighborhood), The Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges-Pompidou is a museum of modern art rivaling the best in New York or London. By design, so to speak, the architecture of the 1977 building is in sharp contrast to the traditional surrounding [...]

Travel: Paris – Arc de Triomphe Though less artistic than its older cousin of Porte Saint-Denis, the Arc de Triomphe de l’Etoile is the more famous and far larger. Set atop the hill of Chaillot it forms the center from which radiates a dozen busy Parisian avenues. There are in fact several “Arc de Triomphe’s” [...]

Travel: Paris – Sacré Coeur The site of Sacré Coeur has long been an attraction for religious figures and groups. Though dedicated to peace and brotherhood, the building owes its birth on the site to the misfortunes of war and violence. In the 3rd century, the first bishop of Paris, St Denys, was beheaded here. [...]