The Belleville and Tolbiac districts of Paris were a-blaze with firecrackers as February 18 saw in the Chinese New Year. Also known as Spring Festival, the holiday officially heralds the arrival of this season—in the capital it definitely feels as if spring is on its way. More Parisians are now thronging the Quai de la Mégisserie to buy flowering plants and seeds or pots for their balconies… daffodils are peeking through in the parks and squares around the city. Because of the clement weather, the park closest to me, the Buttes Chaumont, is already frothing with brides in white lace being photographed with their new husbands by the lake or under the budding trees.

As spring is traditionally a time for fresh starts, in this issue of The European we bring you the Belarusian etiquette of public baths, a brief report on the cost of living in Luxembourg to help you budget, and the top five places in Waterford for good craic and a healthy glass of stout. I hope you enjoy it.

Leigh Fergus
Editor, The European

P.S. For more news and views about Europe, keep an eye on our Europe website at www.internationalliving.com/europe

P.P.S. Our next Live and Prosper in Europe seminar will be held this September. Sign up for an e-mail alert to hear about the details as soon as they’re confirmed by e-mailing events@internationalliving.com.

Further Reading:

You can own a second home in Europe—somewhere you would want to move into
right now—for less than $25,000.
I’ve seen hundreds of properties in dozens of destinations all over this grand continent… in France, Italy, Greece, Spain, and Portugal…plus a few places you may never have considered. Family homes…city apartments…vacation cottages…investment opportunities…a villa by the lake…a house on the beach…a chalet in the mountains… Somewhere in Europe the perfect second home is waiting for you. Find out where, now.

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Leave all modesty at home: Etiquette of a Belarusian banya

by Anne Coombes

The Belarusians have the same passion for the banya (steam bath) as the English do for making tea. Convinced of its special healing powers, most people visit once a week to nurse their bodies while catching up on gossip with friends. Its original purpose was far more basic, of course—the banya enabled people to have a good wash when private bathrooms were rare.

If you are willing to fling modesty to the wind, donning only a felt cap to protect your head from the heat, you are in for a treat. After getting completely naked with your fellow banya-goers, you work up a sweat in the ferociously hot interior, then jump into the snow or an icy lake to give your metabolism the shock of its life. There is method to the madness. The idea is to purify the body of toxins, aid circulation, and, mysteriously, to both relax and invigorate at the same time.

Beating each other with damp birch twigs
I tested the theory at Minsk’s Banya Number One (built just after World War II), a public affair where Belarusian baboushkas (grannies) battle for space on the benches. After 10 minutes in the steam room, my friend Sveta and I retired to the warm outer room to jump screaming into a barrel of cold water (the urban solution for towns without a lake nearby). On emerging, we applied a variety of mudpacks and scrubs to our glowing bodies and sat drinking a flask of green tea. Sitting in the buff, covered in gloop, and having nothing to do but relax is heavenly. Other women nonchalantly shaved their legs, washed their hair, and set about beating each other with damp birch twigs. This latter activity is supposed to further aid circulation and is strangely pleasant as long as you’re careful. After three hours of blissful washing, sweating, scrubbing, beating, and tea drinking, I floated out of the banya house feeling about 10 pounds lighter and without a care in the world.

An excuse for high jinx
Wealthier households and smart gyms all have their own banyas. If you’re invited to a business meeting after working hours, the chances are that you’ll end up in a banya together; bear this in mind when accepting invitations on a Friday night. Likewise, beware banya parties in country dachas (cottages), as these are often excuses for high jinx: Furtive groping under cover of steam is followed by frolics in the snow and thrashing of derrières with those birch twigs.

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Europe’s vertical villages

by Madeleine Zhang

Unlike their U.S. counterparts, most city dwellers on the continent are confined to living in cramped quarters. A studio in Paris, for example, can be as small as 55 square feet. Only a lucky minority get to live in an elegant, converted hôtel particulier, for example, or the cité radieuse in Marseille, a tower block that has been listed as a historic monument.

50-year-old fittings still working
Designed by Le Corbusier more than 50 years ago to re-house those left homeless after the war, the cité radieuse is still functioning and full of contented resident-owners—some of the first tenants still live here today in the homes they subsequently bought.
The 337-apartment building was designed to feel more like a vertical village than a modern concrete block, with its integrated services enriching social life in the building, transcending the usual functions of housing. The legendary Le Corbusier took this project to heart, choosing quality fittings and new materials for these homes. It couldn’t be done today and remain affordable—the original electric stoves, hood vents, and trash chutes are still in place and working well. How often can you say that of buildings constructed even 20 years ago?

To allow for a homelier feel, each apartment is a duplex with a magnificent bay window and a balcony for outdoor living. Inside the housing block are shops, offices, a mini-supermarket, a café, a crèche, a sports club, and even a hotel. The corridors—or “interior roads”—are spacious and light, and the roof area has seating, a water feature and paddling pool, gymnasium, and open-air theater, all operational and reserved for the residents and hotel guests.

Experience Le Corbusier’s vision first-hand
The general ambiance is one of calm harmony, and you can understand Le Corbusier’s vision of a perfect, spacious place in a green, sunny environment for families to live in, combined with architectural grandeur and elegance.

Understandably, the residents enjoy their detachment from the downtown buzz, so the duplexes rarely come on the market. But you can experience Le Corbusier’s vision by staying at the hotel. The smallest rooms (an aesthetic take on monastic cells) of 17 square meters (182 square feet) are only 59 euros ($77) per night, while spacious doubles go for 95 euros ($124).

Hôtel & Restaurant Le Corbusier,La cité radieuse, 280 boulevard Michelet,
13008 Marseille; tel. (+33) (0)4-9116-7800 ; website : www.hotellecorbusier.com
Who was Le Corbusier?
French-Swiss Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (1887-1965), otherwise known as Le Corbusier, is remembered for his modern architecture and furniture designs. More information can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier

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What it costs to live in…Luxembourg City

by Leigh Fergus

Occasionally in The European, I’ll report on the costsincurred to you, should you make the move to Europe. This week, we visit Luxembourg City, to give you the low down on some general items you’ll be paying for.

In Luxembourg City, although prices seem high, it is possible to find cheaper food or other consumables by shopping around. On average, the city prices itself on a par with Paris, but with fewer mid-range products (many locals tend to cross the border to Thionville, France, to do their grocery shopping). Housing poses the most problems, with rentals as expensive as Paris—but rarer—and sales prices of apartments and houses soaring toward London levels because of the limited offers.

A loaf of unsliced white bread (1kg) 2.40 euro
A dozen eggs 3 euro
1 liter milk 1 euro
Soft drinks, 1 liter 1 euro
Bottle of local white wine 3 euro
Heating oil, per liter 60 cent
Visit to a general practitioner 30 euro
Unleaded gas (super 95) per liter 1.10 euro (diesel is 0.95)
Taxi for 2.5 miles (4 km) 11.40 euro
Monthly telephone fee 18.40 euro
Cable TV, 40 channels, for 1 year 150+ euro
Internet broadband monthly cost 45 euro
Ticket for the movies 7.50 euro
Lunch for two with wine 28 euro
Bus ticket 1.50 euro Prices given are those recorded June 1, 2006.
Rent of a central, 1,000-square-feet apartment 1,800+ euro (Note: These are hard to come by—many people working in Luxembourg find it easier to get decent accommodation in Germany, France or Belgium.)

Further Reading:
Discover The Best Places To Sleep (Or Stay Awake All Night) Around The World
For some, a good hotel means a simple bed, decent service, and maybe a great location for sightseeing the next day. For others, a hotel is a destination in and of itself.
Whether you’re looking for luxury, tradition and service…or a good bed at a great price…look no further…

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A stylish Spanish stay

by Rachel L Webb

Literally meaning “stopping place,” Spain’s first parador was opened in Navarredonda de Gredos in 1928, an age of poor inns and hostels.

Royal wedding guests forced to suffer substandard rooms
Brainchild of Marquis Vega Inclán, who wished to create a better class of accommodation while reclaiming some of the country’s abandoned national monuments, paradors offer guests an authentic mix of local style and atmosphere. King Alfonso XIII himself opened the first, after some of his wedding guests were forced to stay in substandard private houses. This demonstrated the need for better rooms—and the on-the-move Marquis created a wider choice of places to stay. Today, 91 of these unique, government-run luxury hotels dot the country.

Covering the whole of the mainland from the Pyrenees in the north to Cadiz in the south, the Canary Islands, the Balearics, and the Spanish outposts of Ceuta and Melilla on the north African coast, the paradors offer a consistent standard of quality accommodation, service, and local gastronomy.

Careful restoration and modern pampering
The older paradors are found in historic buildings that have been carefully restored, as is the case with the 15th-century convent in the grounds of the Alhambra Palace in Granada. Others are brand-new, boasting Internet access, or, like the parador of Vielha on the French border, a spa.

The parador network has nine suggested routes for exploring the country or region, such as The Green Spain Route in the damper north of the country, or the Silver Route based on the Roman road running from north to south. But not even the totality of these routes covers the whole network, so it may make sense to become an Amigo de Paradores or “Friend of the Paradors.” The free loyalty card that comes with membership allows you to accumulate points that can be exchanged for a free night’s accommodation at any member hotel, at any time of year—and ultimately give you a better taste of Spanish hospitality.

Further Reading:
Where To Go For A Good Night’s Rest…And Other Adventures
Sometimes, a good night’s sleep can be over-rated and a lumpy bed overlooked. It all depends on what you want in a hotel. Amenities, ambience and cost-to-intrigue ratio can be just as important as a firm mattress and clean facilities. Visit a 700-year-old inn at Oxford …Stay in Paris for just $12 a night …Indulge in a five-star evening in Shanghai…Get pampered in Athens while overlooking the Acropolis…Even pamper yourself and your pet in Nashville. The most intriguing days and nights are now just a reservation away…

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The best bars in Waterford

by Leigh Fergus

Ireland without beer is like France without wine—bars are essential to understanding something of the local culture. Finding the most interesting bars was not an easy task, however, as Waterford is the oldest town in Ireland, and the telephone directory entries for pubs run to several pages. Following the advice of local entrepreneur Dave White and my colleagues, I tracked down probably the five best pubs in town. The criteria are that the pubs serve good Guinness (both the original bottled variety and draught); are removed from the tourist trail; and attract a mixed local crowd.
Anyone for squash?
1. Downes’ Bar, Thomas Street; tel. (051)874-118. Although the Guinness is good here, it’s the whiskey you should try. Downes’ N°. 9 to be precise. One of the few remaining pubs to blend its own tipple, it used to have a range of 200 whiskeys. N°. 9, the story goes, was the most popular with the local clergy, and is the last to survive—bottles are sold to take out for 29.50 euro ($39). This pub was founded in the late 1700s and has other curiosities, including an old stone well partitioned off in one corner, a squash court, and a snooker table. The owner, John de Bromhead, is not fond of cell phones.
2. T&H Doolans, George’s Street, tel. (051)841-504. Despite being the oldest pub in town—it’s been serving beer for more than 300 years—this establishment has escaped the notice of the coach tours. The low yellowing ceilings, fireplace, dim lighting, and the warren of wooden partitions and cubbyholes have not changed since it opened. The bar staff are friendly and live music is put on most nights. From Easter to October in the evenings, you can try Irish food while you enjoy the music.

3. The Woodman, 43 John Street, tel. (051)858-130. This is a narrow, quiet bar with no pretension in contrast with the goings-on at Ruby’s nightclub next door (a communicating door brings the music closer). Offering a plain and simple interior with comfy seating and wood décor, come for a chat with a friend, a pint or two, and a catch-up of the football or rugby matches in the evening. The bar staff will talk if you like, or leave you alone if you want to read the paper.
4. The Three Shippes, William Street. The three ships are a symbol of Waterford’s historic maritime importance, and this pub is decorated with memorabilia: as you leave, look for the metal sign warning of a fine of one penny for failing “to fasten the gate” –and make sure you close the door. The high ceilings and seating around the walls make this bar feel larger than it is.
Geoff’s for good beer and craic
5. Geoff’s, John Street. One of the largest bars in Waterford, Geoff’s has made a name for itself for pulling the best pint in town—Geoff Power is fanatical about keeping the pipes clean and that may be part of his secret. This bar attracts crowds almost every night, young and old, for the beer and the music, but has no plasma screens for sports fans. The atmosphere is friendly and casual, and bar food is served.

Further Reading:
Simply The Best…
Anyone can go to the bookstore and get a guidebook…but what if you are looking for something more? More personal, more unique, more quirky, more informed…or just plain more…?

That’s why we asked our network of 200-plus seasoned travelers and expatriates to open their personal vaults and share their best travel adventures with you…along with straightforward facts on 46 countries spanning six continents, plushundreds of surprises and secrets, all making for a whirlwind, one-of-a-kind, breathless armchair experience. That is, until you can’t stay in the armchair another minute and take off to find your own personal best…

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