Great Caribbean Accommodation On Bequia In The Grenadines

by: Gordon Steven

If you are looking for great Caribbean Accommodation on unspoilt Bequia then here are good reasons for choosing the Frangipani Hotel

Caribbean Accommodation can vary from the five star ultra deluxe to a bed and breakfast. It is difficult to get a compromise between the top of the market hotel where you are in a cocoon, and somewhere that you can enjoy the real Caribbean. Well Bequia in the Grenadines is a real old fashioned Caribbean Island, and the fifteen roomed Frangipani Hotel is a real home from home good old fashioned Caribbean Accommodation.

The original house was built by a Bequia sea captain for his family almost a hundred years ago, and overlooks, in fact is very much at the waters edge of Admiralty Harbour a popular anchorage for the many yachts that visit Bequia.

You can observe all the comings and goings from the open sided dining room or the sundeck upstairs, and they are part of the original building.

The original building rooms are one of the four different types of accommodation available in this Caribbean hideaway, and whilst they are perfectly comfortable, simple and charming, they have shared bathrooms and a common balcony.

The new build rooms are off a path which winds up the hill behind the hotel, so this may not be ideal for the elderly or infirm.

The Garden Rooms rise behind the old house, with private bathroom, and balcony overlooking the garden again with a fan but with separate dressing area.

Deluxe Hillside Rooms are large and spacious, private bathroom, separate dressing room, and some have TV/DVD.

Top of the range are the air conditioned DeLuxe Rooms with king size bed, private bathroom, separate dressing room, balcony with loungers, fantastic views of the bay and flatscreen TV and DVD player.

The Frangipani has a great reputation as Caribbean Accommodation partly because of its fine food, with fruit and vegetables from Saint Vincent, and fish, lobster from the sea around the Grenadines.. People come from far and near for the Frangi Barbecue on a Thursday night with a quite superb buffet and live music, so that is something not to be missed. By the way don’t miss out on the bar menu either which has a lot of very tasty choices.

When choosing your Caribbean Accommodation on Bequia or anywhere for that matter, situation is all important and the location of the Frangipani is a very good one. It is an easy walk to town with lots of dining choices on the way, and if you feel energetic you can walk to Princess Margaret or Lower bay beaches which are well worth the effort.

The staff are incredibly friendly and helpful, and in fact you will find that the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are all the same, so you feel pretty safe here.

Frangipani Hotel is great, true, old fashioned Caribbean accommodation, probably best described as a Caribbean Inn on Bequia a proper Caribbean Island. It is safe to say that if it is five star frill you are looking for then bequia isn’t the place. If you want beauty, relaxation, lovely people, and no need for a watch, then Bequia is the place for you.

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Turks And Caicos Luxury Resort On Pine Cay

by: Gordon Steven

Why choose the Meridien Club on Pine Cay Turks and Caicos for your Caribbean vacation this year.

A Turks and Caicos Luxury Resort would be a good choice for a Caribbean vacation, and to be more specific the Meridian Club with a reputation for consistently exceeding expectations would be a great choice, especially as it is situated on Pine Cay.

You will realise very quickly that you have indeed booked into a top Turks and Caicos Luxury Resort, when after your six minute flight from Provo in a six seater you are met at Pine Cay airport by the managers themselves. You will be asked about your personal preferences, be given a tour and explanation of how everything works, and what happens about meals at the Meridien Club.

Breakfast and lunch are buffet style, and have their hours when they are available. Breakfast there are lots of fruits, cereals, and pastries, and you can order eggs any way you want them, plus omelettes, French toast, and pancakes, and all deliciously cooked and presented too.

Lunch differs every day, but you can expect pastas, chicken, pork, veal and fish. A great salad bar, and dessert trolley.

You’ll find on a blackboard in the dining room the dinner menu for the evening, which will have four courses, and at lunch you’ll be asked to select the entrée you want at dinner. Incidentally there are choices between four meat and poultry courses, and these are different every day. The food is excellent and even the most bored of buffet eaters will find something to their taste at lunch!!

The Meridien Club has only 25 rooms, very intimate, very self contained, sitting on a white sand beach next to a sea so blue a picture can’t do it any kind of justice, that stretches for over two miles on the tiny private island of Pine Cay that is in itself only one mile wide, two miles long and approximately 800 acres in size.

This is really a luxury resort which is a really quiet getaway with no children at all. The food here is very definitely of the five star variety and the staff are everything you would want staff to be at a luxury resort, unobtrusive, helpful, and appear in front of you almost before they are required, as if they have extra sensory perception. The Meridien Club is not so much a hotel as a Family home, at least that is how the staff make you feel with their incredibly personal service.

As Pine Cay is so small, you might feel it could be overcrowded but with only 12 rooms in the Meridien Club it still seems as if you have the whole island to yourself. Imagine being able to walk a two mile beach and not see anyone else.

Obviously this type of Caribbean Holiday isn’t for everyone, but insofar as a Turks and Caicos Luxury Resort goes, this whole feeling is akin to owning your own private island. For honeymooners, or stressed executives who need to or want to get away from it all this is just paradise. Remember there is no television, no phones, no computers, and no nightlife.

One thing is certain, and that is you will agree that the Meridien Club Pine Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands is very much a five star retreat from the world which you won’t be in a hurry to leave.

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The Top Beach Resort In The Turks And Caicos Providenciales Island

by: Gordon Steven

Some research into The Tuscany Resort on Grace Bay, Providenciales Island Turks and Caicos to see if it would be a good choice for your Caribbean Vacation

Looking for a Turks and Caicos Resort on Providenciales, then look no further than The Tuscany Resort on Grace Bay.

It is the newest build, and so is at the end of the line, which makes it calm and peaceful compared to other resorts. There are 30 luxury suites, in this extremely private luxurious boutique resort.

The Tuscany Resort has been described as completely unbelievable, and so well thought out that it never seems to be crowded.

The suites in this gorgeous Turks and Caicos Resort are all 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, so they are perfect for families or groups of friends. It’s especially good for a group of friends because each bedroom has its own bathroom They are all beautifully decorated and equipped including a huge kitchen, a laundry room, and a very large well screened patio which opens off the large dining and living area, and is designed to give a floor to ceiling panoramic view of Grace Bay and the incredible turquoise sea that lies beyond it. Having said that it is important to avoid the first floor doesn’t have a view. Best of all try to get a suite on the fourth floor, and another tip is to avoid the middle suite because they are darker, and also you need to request a room on the outside of the building.

The décor of the suites are quite incredible with a tropical theme. The sun loungers, more chaise longues really give you the perfect end to the perfect day, with a glass of wine gazing at the Reef as the sun sets in an amazing display of different colours.

You won’t need the air conditioning, because of the cool breezes coming in through the doors.

Although the Tuscany resort has no restaurant you will find plenty within a short walking distance and in your suite you have everything you will need for a truly remarkable Turks and Caicos Resort Vacation.

One of the best things for many people is the fact that you can get massages in your room from Spa Tropique, just a phone call away. It could be a great way to spend the day, by going down to the beach for a swim, up to your suite for a massage, and then back to the beach again!

As to be expected in a high quality Turks and Caicos resort the pool is great, and the temperature is about right. Because the beach at Grace Bay is so nice you could well have the pool almost to yourself much of the time. It would however be a shame not to go to the beach, and you needn’t worry about be hassled by hawkers and vendors because it is illegal on the Turks and Caicos Islands. The beach and the water are so very clean it is amazing, so clear that you can see the fish in the water from the beach.

There are lots of restaurants to choose from close to the resort, varying from shacks to high quality high priced places, but excellent food to suit every palate and pocket.

The Tuscany Resort is a new kid in town, with a fast growing reputation, and if you want a quiet relaxing Turks and caicos Resort On Providenciales Island on Grace Bay then why look further than here?

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Honeymoon In Belize At An Ambergris Caye Resort

by: Gordon Steven

A Honeymoon in Belize is becoming a popular option, and the hard part then is putting together a honeymoon package, after deciding where to stay. A good choice would be the Xanadu Island resort on Ambergris Caye.

A Honeymoon resort benefits from being small, and Xanadu Island resort has only eighteen rooms, right on the beachfront within ten minutes walk of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye

The kind of accommodation you might decide to take on your honeymoon package could well be Suite number two which is an oceanfront loft with views to die for. Get up early, about half past six, make a cup of coffee in the kitchen, go outside onto the deck, and watch the sunrise, and if you do this once, you’ll do it everyday.

Ambergris Caye is a real island getaway, and Xanadu Island resort even more so. It is hidden on a beach lined with palm trees, and what you see from your dawn and daily outlook is the turquoise Caribbean, and the white line of the reef.

The breakdown of the accommodations is a Studio, Loft, or 1,2,or3 bedrooms. Each suite is airconditioned, plus ceiling fans, cable Television, unlimited internet access, as if you’d want that on your Belize honeymoon!!

Added to that hairdryers, safe, beach towels, and not forgetting your own private deck which is shaded from the sun.

There is a long pier with a thatched shade at the end and a swimming platform, so you can snorkel over the hotel’s own man made reef. There is a lovely pool, and loads of hammocks and sunbeds around the pool and on the beach.

The complimentary bikes and kayaks allow you to explore Ambergris Caye, and the bicycles are especially useful to take you into San Pedro to the great restaurants there. If your honeymoon in Belize isn’t to be just relaxing at the Xanadu, but you wish to be more energetic, then why not try Scuba Diving, sailing, fishing or take a guided eco tour to the rainforest.. In addition tours to Mayan ruins can easily be arranged.

Whilst there is no restaurant at the resort, this won’t detract from your honeymoon vacation at all, after all who needs boring hotel restaurant food anyway. There are two local markets close by, so snack meals can easily be organised in the kitchen which is very well equipped.

Some suggestions for feeding yourself are George’s for breakfast, Casa Picasso for dinner, Crazy Canuck’s Bar on the beach, and Monkey Bites for breakfast or lunch

The management team at the Xanadu Island Resort go out of their way from even before you arrive for your honeymoon in Belize to ensure you have an enjoyable and stress free time. From the immaculately maintained property, well looked after rooms, nothing is left to chance, even ensuring flights and taxis are all there when you need them.

Xanadu Island Resort on Ambergris Caye could give you the perfect honeymoon in Belize, and research shows that most people who have gone there for their Belize Honeymoon would return.

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I Love Touring Paris - The Fifth Arrondissement

by: Levi Reiss

The 5th arrondissement is on the Left Bank of the Seine River in central Paris. It is often known as the Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter) although it's been a long time since many have spoken Latin there. Its population is slightly under sixty thousand and the district provides almost fifty thousand jobs. It is fairly small; less than a square mile (about two and a half square kilometers). This is one of the oldest districts in all Paris and offers some attractions dating back to the time of the Romans who never called it the Latin Quarter. The Roman town Lutetia was built in the First Century BC.

The Arenes de Lutece (Lutetia Arena) once held at least fifteen thousand spectators and considerably fewer gladiators. It was built in the First Century AD and included the longest Roman amphitheater. The 135 foot (over 40 meter) long stage hosted both plays and gladiator fights. There were probably animal cages as well, surely not for the plays. The upper level held the poor, the slaves, and women while the lower level was reserved for the big shots. Just in case the spectators got bored they did have a great view of the Seine River.

The city was sacked by barbarians in the year 280 and some of its stone was removed to build up the defenses. The arena was subsequently transformed into a cemetery, and then filled with the construction of city walls in the early Thirteenth Century. The arena was more or less forgotten; nobody knew where it was but neighborhood kept its name. The arena was accidentally rediscovered in the 1860s during the construction of a streetcar depot on the site. The famous Nineteenth Century writer Victor Hugo played a major role in preserving these ruins. The area became a public square in 1896 and is open to the public daily and evenings in the summer.

The Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute) was established in 1980 by eighteen Arab countries and France. This Institute provides extensive information about the Arab world and promotes its cultural and spiritual values. The Institute also supports cooperation and cultural exchanges between France and the Arab world, especially in science and technology. In 1989 it won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

The Jardin des Plantes is France's main botanical garden. It includes an aquarium, and a small zoo founded with animals from the royal menagerie at Versailles (not the two-legged variety). Its gardens include a rose garden, an alpine garden, an Art Deco winter garden, Australian and Mexican hothouses, and a maze.

The Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle (National Museum of Natural History) was founded during the French Revolution. It was quite a center of scientific research. One of the winners of the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics, Henri Becquerel, held its chair for Applied Physics when he accidentally discovered uranium's radioactivity. Four generations of Becquerels held this chair from 1838 until 1948, which must be some sort of record.

The Musee de Cluny, officially known as Musee National du Moyen Age (National Museum of the Middle Ages) is perhaps the most outstanding medieval building in Paris. It was the town house of the Abbots of Cluny, dating back to 1334 but was rebuilt in both Gothic and Renaissance style starting near the end of the Fifteenth Century. The Musee de Cluny has a fine collection of important medieval artifacts, in particular tapestries, Gothic sculptures, and illuminated manuscripts. Herman Melville mentioned this museum in his famous novel Moby Dick.

The Thermes de Cluny are what remains of Third Century Gallo-Roman baths. Its best-preserved section is the frigidarium, the cold-water pool in which bathers dipped to close their pores after enjoyed the hot-water sections. Some of the original decorative wall painting and mosaics remain intact. These baths were poorly defended and probably destroyed by barbarians, those dirty barbarians, towards the end of the Third Century.

The Pantheon (from a Greek word meaning all the Gods) was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. It sits on top of Montagne Sainte-Genevieve and overlooks all Paris. While this is a great-looking building the architect died before its completion, and not all his plans were followed. The building was intended to be a church in honor of King Louis XV's recovery, but the French Revolution intervened and the Pantheon was transformed into a mausoleum. In alphabetical order, some of the great buried here include Braille, Dumas, Hugo, Marat (French Revolution leader disinterred after little more than a year), Moulin (French Resistance leader), Sklodowska-Curie, Soufflot (Pantheon's architect), Voltaire, and Zola.

The Latin Quarter is home to many universities and other centers of higher education, and naturally scads of bars, bistros, restaurants, and nightclubs. Some schools have relocated to more spacious quarters in other parts of the city or region, surely to the regret of their student population.

Of course you don't want to tour Paris without sampling fine French wine and food. My article I Love French Wine and Food - A Maconnais (Burgundy) Chardonnay reviewed such a wine and suggested a sample menu: Start with Pate en Croute de Grenouilles au Bleu de Bresse (Frog and Bresse Blue-Cheese Pie). For your second course savor Poulet de Bresse a la Creme-Trompettes de la Mort (Free-Range Bresse Chicken in Creamy Sauce with Horns of Plenty Mushrooms). And as dessert indulge yourself with Ile Flottante (Floating Island, a Meringue Island in a Custard Sea.) Your Parisian sommelier (wine steward) will be happy to suggest appropriate wines to accompany each course.

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