Paris: 4 outdoor spots for drinks

By Meg Zimbeck
October 3, 2012
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Courtesy Meg Zimbeck

When the temperature climbs, I want a leafy, outdoor café where I can linger without melting into my chair. And for that, these shady spots are where I recommend.

La Bellevilloise

On the eastern side of Paris, not far from the Pere Lachaise cemetery and Mama Shelter, you'll find my favorite summer café. La Bellevilloise is a neighborhood association, concert hall and restaurant. It also happens to have one of the prettiest rooftop terrasses in town. Filled with flowers and Ménilmontant hipsters, it's a fun place to meet before a concert on site or at the neighboring club La Maroquinerie. 19 rue Boyer, 20th arrondissement.

Café A

A few steps from the Canal Saint-Martin, this lovely terrasse is tucked inside the walls of a former convent. Few who pass by this building (La Maison de l'architecture) even know about the leafy interior courtyard with its green lawn and shaded tables. Still largely undiscovered, the café is better for sharing a private drink than for people watching. 148 rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin, 10th arrondissement.

The Café of the Luxembourg Garden

Sitting under the shade trees approximately 320 feet northeast of the central pond, the café inside the Luxembourg Garden is one of my regular summer haunts. Service can be brusque, but it's a great place to sip pastis and watch the families, lovers, and tourists stroll by. Be sure to check out the beautiful fontaine de Médicis just a few steps north of the café. Boulevard Saint-Michel (inside the Jardin du Luxembourg) 6th arrondissement.

Rosa Bonheur

One of the newer terrasses on the scene, Rosa Bonheur opened last summer inside the jaw-dropping Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. Its reputation has soared in recent months as local bobos have begun to make it their summer home à l'extérieur. As local blogger The Paris Notebook explains, you can even linger after the park gates have closed by entering through a special gate after 10 p.m. 2 allée de la Cascade (inside the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont), 19th arrondissement.

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Inspiration

4 family vacation deals worth noting

Families looking to get away can take advantage of four kid-friendly programs and promotions in Mexico, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and elsewhere. Azul Hotels by Karisma has two properties in the Riviera Maya, Mexico: Azul Beach Hotel and Azul Sensatori Hotel. Why parents will love it: Before you even arrive, the all-inclusive resort can set up your room with strollers, cribs, monitors, bottle warmers, and baby bathrobes. The all-inclusive rate also covers Gerber baby food and free childcare at the Kid's Club one night a week. Kids under 3 stay free and children ages 3-12 get half off when sharing a room with their parents. At Azul Sensatori Hotel, a 35 percent off promotion gets you a night in a family Jacuzzi suite. If booked by Oct. 31, a family of four would pay $453 per night, compared to the regular price of $699. Connecting rooms are guaranteed if you book more than one room. Why kids will love it, too: The toy lending library has all the latest Fisher-Price toys, enough to entertain even the shortest attention span (karismahotels.com). JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson, Ariz., has partnered with Nickelodeon for a series of weekend retreats through Thanksgiving weekend.Why parents will love it: For $378, the Nick Getaway weekend package in Tucson includes two nights' hotel, kids' activities, and a free character breakfast for two adults and two kids. (Each child receives a special SpongeBob Squarepants or Dora The Explorer sleepover kit with pillowcase and Nickelodeon themed gifts.) Similar packages are available at four other Marriott, JW Marriott and Renaissance properties in the U.S. (nickelodeongetaway.com)Why kids will love it, too: Instead of just watching the cartoons, kids can start off their Saturday morning by dining with SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer. During the day, there are relay races and other contests, followed by a classic Nickelodeon sliming. At night, kids can float on inner tubes and watch the free dive-in movies that are projected on a wall near the pool. As souvenirs, the kids can also take home the SpongeBob or Dora pillowcases in the rooms. Aston Hotels & Resorts can be found at 25 locations on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii. Why parents will love it: This year's Vacation Bailout room rates are up to 40 percent off the regular price. Try the Aston Waikiki Sunset condo resort, from $124 per night for two adults and up to the three kids. The one-bedroom suite has a full kitchen, and the resort has on-site washers and dryers. Until Dec. 21, kids 17 years and younger stay free and children 12 and under eat for free at participating restaurants. Why kids will love it, too: With a paying adult, kids also get in free at the Polynesian Cultural Center, Honolulu Zoo, and other island attractions. Cayman Islands Why parents will love it: Cayman Airways lets kids 11 and younger fly free with a paying adult. The Cayman Islands' Summer Splash promotion also lets kids stay and eat for free at nine participating hotels and 24 condo/villa properties. You have to book a four-night package by Sept. 2, but you get the fifth night free. This deal is valid until Sept. 7. Why kids will love it, too: Kids ages 12 to 18 can learn to scuba dive for 50 percent off the regular rate when diving with a paying adult. MORE REAL DEALS FOR FAMILIES Budget Travel editors have hand-picked today's best family-friendly vacation packages, starting from $69 a night

Inspiration

This Weekend: See baseball played the original way

Curious about how baseball was played in the 1860s? This weekend's World Tournament of Historic Base Ball in Dearborn, Mich., gives you a chance to see what our national pastime was originally like. Set on the grounds of Greenfield Village, an 80-acre historic community established by Henry Ford in 1929, the competition pays homage to the first World's Base Ball Tournament held in 1867 in Detroit, with teams playing by the rules, and with the same equipment and uniforms, as their 19th-century counterparts. The tournament, in its seventh year, will pit 16 vintage ball clubs from Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana—including Greenfield Village's own Nationals and Lah-De-Dahs—against each other in a series of 28 games over two days, starting at 9:30 a.m. on August 8 and culminating in the championship August 9 at 2:30 p.m. The prize for the winning team: $300, same as it was in 1867. And the team with the fewest wins doesn't go home empty-handed. That ball club scores a sack of peanuts. Don't be surprised if you notice a few differences in the game: According to the rules in effect in 1867, pitchers must throw "fairly" (i.e., hittable pitches) underhand, and a foul ball caught after one bounce is still considered an out. The umpire (there's just one!) warns the hitter before he starts calling strikes—foul balls don't count—and, likewise, warns the pitcher before he starts calling balls—but after the warning, only three balls get the batter a base. At the time, gloves were becoming more common, but they were fingerless and made of leather, mainly meant to protect the palm. Players wore them on both hands, making throwing a bit of a challenge, and possibly explaining why games often ended with scores of 61–34 or 41–40. Between games, you can take part in a Massachusetts Rules Game, a pre-Civil War stick-and-ball game; participate in the 1867 Base Ball Skill Test, where you can try your hand at pitching, yes, underhand and see how fast you can run the bases; watch the Players' Skills Competition, to see which team has the most accurate thrower, the fastest runner, and who can throw the ball the farthest; play another version of a stick-and-ball game, cricket; and enjoy a George Gershwin-inspired music and comedy revue. Saturday's events culminate with a 7 p.m. concert by 19th-century brass band the Dodworth Saxhorn Band and a fireworks finale. World Tournament of Historic Base Ball events are free with Greenfield Village admission ($22 for adults, $16 for kids 5–12). The fields have "hillside seating," so bring a blanket to sit in the grass or, if you don't mind carrying them around, lawn chairs. If you can't make it this weekend, the Nationals and Lah-De-Dahs host home games the following two weekends at Greenfield Village. While you're there: Check out the rest of Greenfield Village, which is home to 83 authentic historic structures, many of them moved to the area from their original sites, including Noah Webster's Connecticut home, Thomas Edison's Menlo Park, N.J., laboratory, the Wright Brothers' Dayton, Ohio, bicycle shop and house, the Illinois courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law, and, of course, Henry Ford's birthplace. You can also dine on 1850s fare, take a ride in a Model T or a steam locomotive, and watch artisans pull glass using traditional methods from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Greenfield Village is part of The Henry Ford, an educational and historical complex that also includes the Henry Ford Museum (admission is additional). Hotel and attraction packages are available here.

Inspiration

Paris: Which bistros are open and worthwhile in August?

August is the apex of the Paris picnic season. That's because the weather is nice, the outdoor festivals are plentiful, and…most of the restaurants are closed. The French tradition of extended summer vacations means that your favorite chef may very well be out of town when you visit Paris. Vacation schedules vary, and the easiest way to learn if your desired restaurant will be open is to call and (try to) make a reservation. A recorded message will usually tell you if they're away. You may also find a good number of bakeries and pastry shops closed, but museums and tourist attractions will all be open. To illustrate how widespread these closures are, I called a sampling of my favorite restaurants that have been previously featured in these pages. Here's the bad news: Le Baratin (read here) closed now to September 3 Bistrot Paul Bert (read here) closed now to August 26 Breizh Café (read here) closed now to September 1 Cantine de Quentin (read here) closed August 3–25 Le Cerisaie (read here) closed now to August 27 Le Chapeau Melon (read here) closed August 1–26 Chez Michel (read here) closed now to August 24 Crêperie Josselin (read here) closed August 3–September 3 Mon Vieil Ami (read here) closed now to August 19 Pierre Gagnaire (read here) closed now to August 25 Le Verre Volé (read here) closed August 10–17 The good news: in addition to the lovely wine bar Fish (69 rue de Seine, 6th arrondissement, 011-33/1-43-54-34-69), which closes only during the last week (August 25–31) when everyone else is coming back, the following restaurants will be open every day: Drouant (read here) L'Atelier du Joel Robuchon (read here) Le Comptoir du Relais (read here) Le Petit Marché (read here) CLICKABLES! Where to stay and eat in Paris? (15+ reader suggestions) Paris's best bakery, critics agree Sunday in Paris: What spots are open for food? 10 Top Paris Food Blogs (in English)

Inspiration

Volunteer travel trend: Wwoofing

After Zak Stern graduated from Florida State University in 2007, he found himself contemplating a time-honored question: Should I postpone my job-hunt and head to graduate school instead? Stern chose to postpone entering "the real world." He enrolled in pharmacy school as an alternative. But he had doubts immediately. As he recalls it, "I was 22 years old, wearing a white coat and tie, and paying $16,000 a semester to learn about benign prostate hyperplasia (enlarged prostate). Meanwhile, I felt like I knew so little about life." So Stern withdrew from graduate school after his first semester. "The call of the wild consumed me," he says. "I decided that while my prostate was still small, I needed to live my life to the fullest. Since then, I've been traveling the world learning how to live off the fat of the land—best decision of my life." Stern found an organization called WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms)—a resource that helps people find work on organic farms, schools, hostels or just families that need help building a garden. WWOOF has access to farms in 43 countries where you volunteer in exchange for food and shelter. In the beginning, Stern knew nothing about farming. So he began WWOOFing in South Florida in the winter of 2008 with the idea of moving up the East Coast, as the seasons changed. He WWOOFed for three months at Bee Heaven Farm in Homestead, Fla., a five-acre family farm that was running a CSA (community supported agriculture) and three local farmer's markets. "I would wake up around 7 a.m., eat some oatmeal in the barn, and then begin weeding and mulching rows of lacinato kale and rainbow chard," he says. After three or four hours of work, Stern would break for lunch, which he and his fellow WWOOFers prepared by themselves. After that, he worked another two to three hours harvesting heirloom tomatoes, eggplants, and pole beans for the farmers market the next day. With three others working with him on the farm, and all the food not sold as theirs to eat, it was like Iron Chef every night. "We had a chocolate custard-like fruit called Sapote Negro, a milky lychee-like fruit called caimito, carambolas, guavas, avocados, exotic Asian greens, Romanesco broccoli, and so on and so on—the rewards of working on a farm in a tropical climate," he says. "After dinner, I typically had just enough energy to read a few chapters in a book before wanting to crawl into my teepee and rest my bones." But working on any type of farm is hard work, and WWOOFing isn't considered a vacation. "Whether you're on the coast of Spain on an olive farm or the Great Plains farming corn, manual labor is manual labor," he says. Yet the exhaustion made him feel even more alive. After his time in Florida, Stern headed north to manage the Hostel in the Forest, an environmental teaching hostel in southern Georgia. He worked there for seven months as manager. Stern also volunteered with the Shuar tribe in the Amazon of Ecuador for one month. There he'd go hunting with blow darts. He spent another month WWOOFing on a non-profit organic farm in Ahmednagar, India. Working on a farm for at least two weeks works best for both the WWOOFer and the host. Two weeks is a long enough period of time to see if the farm best suits your interests. Hosts typically give preference to WWOOFers who are willing to commit to longer periods of time. Hosts expect you to work four to six hours a day and five to six days a week. Many farms host one or two other volunteers as well. Individual countries usually have their own national WWOOF organization to register with. Each national organization has its own membership fee, which is usually about $20 a year. Once you sign up, you'll receive a list of farms within that country. Pick a farm that suits your interests, and contact the host a few months before your trip. You must be 18 years or older and have a valid visa. Buying health insurance isn't a bad idea. Many wwoofers buy policies via World Nomads or O V Europa. Some countries like Greece and Thailand don't have a national WWOOF organization, and are grouped under WWOOF Independents. (Here's a guide on preparing to WWOOF internationally and a PDF on WWOOF Independents.) Stern begins another WWOOFing trip in August. He starts in Sweden at a number of different bakeries to learn the art of sourdough bread. Then he'll head to France, which has more than 400 registered WWOOF farms, to learn how to make cheese. He'll eventually head back over to Italy, with more than 300 WWOOF farms, to grow grapes and ferment wine. "I will hitchhike, camp, and couch surf my way from farm to farm," he said. "My budget is low and my time is unlimited." —David Cumming WHAT TO KNOW MORE? Budget Travel's round-up of great volunteer vacations Volunteer Vacations: A First-Person Account, at a Singapore Orphanage Matador Change's guide to WWOOFing