Airfare for $149 round trip, no names or dates required

Having worked in the kitchens of lauded New York City restaurants Blue Hill and Craft, chef turned culinary instructor Annemarie Ahearn knows the high-end food world. But at Salt Water Farm, her new oceanfront cooking school in a post-and-beam barn near Camden, Maine, the vibe is considerably more low-key. Students work with ingredients foraged or caught nearby or grown right on the premises—Ahearn's garden holds 75 varieties of vegetables and 25 types of herbs. Classes focus on seasonal recipes and range from the basics (bread making, pie baking) to elaborate lessons on how to prepare indigenous wild birds or big game. Bonus: Most sessions close with an alfresco group dinner overlooking the impossibly blue Penobscot Bay. 207/230-0966, saltwaterfarm.com, classes from $60 for two hours. —Lindsay Aveilhe, from the October 2009 issue of Budget Travel

Winner of the "best travel and food blog" award from Lonely Planet this year (as well as best travel blog award in the 2008 Weblog Awards) is Kerrin Rousset's My Kugelhopf. Rousset is an ex-pat who travels the world with an an especially sharp eye for sweet treats and cultural trends. She's based in Zürich, so we couldn't think of anyone better to ask for a tip on a great spot to visit in her city: "I can spend hours at Truffe, a tiny, beautiful chocolate shop in Zürich's Old Town. The owner, Elisabetta, organizes the chocolate by country of origin, and in the back there's a table where you can sit and drink a cup of the city's best hot chocolate or an espresso." You'll find her tip—along with many others from fresh faces in the travel community—in the October 2009 issue of Budget Travel.

Restaurants in France go by their own set of rules. You'll have a better experience—and reduce your chances of provoking the "rude" waiter—once you know what's appropriate. Asking for Substitutions Non (no): Tip-seeking waiters in American restaurants rarely say no to our requests to add, subtract, and mix and match menu ingredients. The American motto may be "have it your way." Not so in France, where you shouldn't ask the chef to put the sauce from the salmon dish on the halibut instead. Oui (yes): If there's a single ingredient that you'd like to leave off (for example: "no spinach on my pizza"), the restaurant will probably honor your request. The French word for "without" is "sans," so put on your best smile and order "sans epinards (or whatever the detested ingredient), s'il vous plat." The exceptions: I've seen confident and semi-fluent travelers (mostly women) get away with swapping salad for fries "est-ce que je pourrait avoir une salade verte (green salad) à la place des frites (french fries), s'il vous plaît?" In addition, I've seen restaurants go to great lengths to cater to complicated dietary requests if they are contacted in advance, in French, and with respect. Not Ordering the Full Meal Non (no): Sit down in a Paris restaurant and you'll be expected to order a meal. For locals, that's often three courses—an entrée (starter), amain dish (plat), and a dessert. Although you don't need to order all three, you can rarely get away with just ordering an entrée (starter). The same goes for dessert. Oui (yes): Don't have the hunger or funds for three courses? You can order a main dish (plat) without the starter or dessert. It's less common, so the waiter will probably ask "c'est tout?" (that's all?). Just smile and say "oui, merci" (yes, thanks). The exceptions: In the past, I've ordered two starters for my main course by asking "est-ce que je pourrait avoir deux entrées pour mon plat, s'il vous plaît?" I wouldn't dare to do this at an upscale place, but neighborhood joints can be very accommodating if you ask nicely. In addition, informal places that specialize in quick service (think croque monsieur or falafel sandwich) will have fewer rules than a "real" restaurant. Have a question about restaurant behavior? Ask it in the comments. EARLIER Paris's top affordable restaurants: Gourmet's European correspondent, Alec Lobrano, offers his picks (50+ comments) Slimming down the lunch bill at Paris restaurants