Hotels: Four-star Omnis from $69 a night

Once upon a time, at least according to Paris legend, it was possible to dine exceedingly well for not a lot of money. Are those days over? Since I began writing this blog series a year ago, I've become obsessed with finding "affordable" restaurants to share with BT readers. I've asked everyone from famous food critics to my local hairdresser, and the answer is always the same: "What do you mean by affordable?" In a town where fine dining can cost hundreds of euros, many people agree that €35 is fair for a three-course menu—assuming that the meal is good. There are plenty of restaurants (let's say about forty) that are putting out special and memorable food for that price. €35, however, is too steep for many people, especially those who are financing the fun with their declining-value dollars. As I wrote back in June, the weakened buying power of the U.S. dollar is presenting a serious challenge for budget-minded travelers. The €35 tab, which thankfully includes tax and tip, is now $51 for Americans. That's not something that most people can do every night. In my food-obsessed opinion, every traveler should experience at least one special meal during their time in Paris. For that splurge, the Internet is full of good restaurant recommendations. Check out this selection of Top 10 Paris Food Blogs, as well as my new favorite, Paris Kitchen. For all of the other meals, however, there's not a lot in the way of current and useful information. That's where Budget Travel is going to step in and help. In the coming weeks, we'll be adding a heap of affordable restaurant reviews to our site. In additional to my own suggestions, we'd love to investigate and publish your best ideas for affordable dining. And by affordable, we mean eating (not drinking) for under €20. Can it be done? Tell us how in the comments.

Lots of tour packages hit our desks here at Budget Travel, but one tour operator that continues to inspire me is REI Adventures. Unfamiliar with them? They're the offshoot tour operator of the giant REI retail stores, specializing in travel gear. REI Adventures offers active, interesting tours all over the world, but they have particularly neat itineraries if you're looking to rediscover the U.S. They just launched new trips for 2010, and I'm already drooling over one. The four-day Superstition Mountains Backpacking itinerary includes 21 miles of hiking through Central Arizona's 160,000-acre Superstition Mountain range. The mountains were formed by volcano activity some 305 million years ago and reach up to 3,000 feet. Along the way, hikers will wind through thick canyon walls, some with native artwork, and spy huge columns of rock like Weaver's Needle. There's a lot of gold-rush-era lore that surrounds the Superstitions—the Lost Dutchman's Mine is a favorite. The story goes that Jacob Waltz (actually a German), a prospecting miner in the late 1800s, was said to have found the richest gold mine in the world. He took its secret location to his grave, thus igniting a huge treasure hunt after his death. No one's ever found the mine, but hey, who knows? The Superstition Mountain Museum, though not on the REI Adventures itinerary, is still worth a stop if you're interested in the history behind the mysterious mountains (it's about 30 minutes from Tempe, the meet-up location for this trip). Dates for the backpacking trip are January through March, and the price is $575 per person for members of REI and $615 for non-members. We recommended getting a membership to REI—it's only $20 for a lifetime, and it'll save you a ton of money, even if you take just one trip. Other exciting entries on REI Adventures' 2010 calendar include kayaking on South Carolina's Edisto River and cycling in the Loire Valley. EARLIER New urban adventures from Intrepid Travel Hiking tips from adventure star Andrew Skurka

Gennaro Cesare grew up in a seedy part of Naples and spent years in and out of prison on drug-related charges. But for the past six months, the 36-year-old father of two has been wearing a different uniform—a neon yellow vest—as a participant in Escodentro. It's an experiment to rehabilitate petty criminals by employing them as guides stationed around Naples. (The €500 monthly salaries are funded by the region of Campania and the European Union.) Tourists wandering near Porta Capuana, an ancient city gate, have turned to Gennaro for directions and recommendations—he's even accompanied people to nearby Pizzeria Trianon, his favorite. One time there was a car accident in via Comunale, and, Salvatore, 47, called the police. Another time Salvatore intervened when someone's phone was being stolen. "If we see something abnormal, we say something to the police," he told me. "We use our street smarts." It's a controversial but seemingly win-win idea: ex-cons use their knowledge of Naples's underworld to keep people safe, while getting a salary, a sense of pride in their city, and a reason to collaborate with a former nemesis, the police At first the police put up a resistance, admitted Alessandro Maria Vecchione, head of an education agency that oversees Escodentro. But he told me there was an 80 percent decrease in crime between early June and mid-September—and that the remaining crimes tend to happen at night, when the guides are off duty. Tourists have written in thank-you letters and locals have circulated petitions to increase the guides' numbers and hours. "It's as if someone gave a societal identity to these people," said Vecchione. "They know that this is a second chance." The question now is whether these ex-cons will get a third chance. The pilot program ends today, and it's up to regional and state officials to decide whether to restart it. Social worker Riccio Gennaro, 45, himself a former prisoner, helps out the participants and said it would be a cruel hoax if the program wasn't extended. "Many of these guys are from the neighborhood, so people know them and are glad that they've got jobs," he told me. "Those who made mistakes have paid for them; Naples has to change, and we'll be the ones to change it."

When I first moved to Paris, someone told me that French women (in addition to not getting fat) don't pee. I had also read a book that counseled never to ask for the bathroom in somebody's home. Neither of these turned out to be entirely accurate. But it is true that the French more discreet about the callings of nature. Cultural sensitivities aside, travelers are obliged to make use of the local toilets. So when you gotta go in Paris, your options look like this: Find a free public toilet. There are public restrooms near the following tourist monuments: • Carrousel du Louvre — the world's greatest museum has a shopping mall beneath it, and that mall contains a bathroom. You'll find it near the entrance to the Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre Métro station (1st arrondissement). • Jardin des Tuileries — the toilet is inside the gardens near the corner of rue de Rivoli and the place de la Concorde (1st arrondissement). • Pompidou Center — the modern art museum has a public toilet on the entrance level that you can access without buying a ticket (3rd arrondissement). • Notre-Dame Cathedral — the public toilet is located outside and south of the cathedral — follow the signs to the "WC" (4th arrondissement). • Eiffel Tower — the "grey lady" has thoughtfully placed a toilet between her legs. It's on the right side if you're looking from the Champs de Mars (7th arrondissement). • Sacre-Coeur — the freestanding public toilet is located outside and just southwest of the basilica (18th arrondissement). Find a café. You have two options in a French café — either stop and buy a drink to "earn your right" to use the toilet, or else be sly about it. If you're paying, you can take your time in finding the toilet, asking your server for "les toilettes, s'il vous plait?" If you're not paying, you need to walk discreetly toward the back or basement of the café, looking for a WC sign to guide you. Act like a paying customer (perhaps one who is using the restroom before sitting down), not a charity case. If someone stops you, smile and ask for the toilets, but be prepared to pay for a coffee at the counter afterward as a courtesy. It is possible, although unlikely, that you'll encounter a Turkish toilet — a ceramic plated hole in the ground. If you're a girl, take my advice and get outta there. It's not possible to use a squat toilet and escape with dry ankles. Just find a different café. Find a McDonalds… or a Starbucks, or a KFC. Compared to a café, franchises are "anonymous" spaces and the employees (who are trapped behind their counter, anyway) can't tell whether you're a paying customer or not. Restrooms may be located one floor up or one floor down. They will never be Turkish. Find a sanisette. More than 400 self-cleaning pods are scattered around Paris, providing a space-age space to do your business. A sanisette bears little resemblance to a backwoods outhouse. The interior is fully cleaned after each session, and newer models include skylights and reservoirs that store rainwater for use in the toilet. Use an app to locate a nearby toilet. If you don't mind the potential charge from your cell phone service provider, fire up the latest smartphone (Blackberry or iPhone), which will give info suited to your exact location, so you never have to punch in zip codes or addresses. SitOrSquat (free) automatically points out nearby public restrooms and includes details such as whether they're open and if they have changing tables. It relies on user-submitted data, which can be a bit hit-or-miss, depending on your neighborhood. Find a wall…at your own risk. Men in France still unzip in the most unlikely of public places, but new sanctions are beginning to change that. Special walls around town are designed to splash the offending squirter, and the Brigade des Incivilités are issuing fines against anyone caught making urine sauvage. Check out this amusing video from the Wall Street Journal which follows Parisian cops looking for "crimes against hygiene." MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL How to behave in a Paris restaurant (50+ comments) Video: A silly toilet trick on an airplane Video: How to use a squat toilet Train toilet bites man