TDM
-
My Current Favorites [August 2023]: Paper Cutting, Leather Crafting, and Bookbinding with the Silhouette Portrait 3
Thanks to the sales, I was able to treat myself to a machine I’d been dreaming of for a long time: a cutting machine. There are so many options on the market that it took me weeks to compare and finally settle on the Silhouette Portrait 3. I’ve already explained why I prefer the Silhouette Portrait 3 to the Cricut here. The reason it took me so long to decide is that I had very few projects in mind, mainly paper cutting. I hate customizing fabric bags or t-shirts; I’ve always preferred solid colors. So a purchase wasn’t justified if it was just to cut paper occasionally, but since I’ve…
-
Travel hack for booking hotels directly
As a frequent traveler, you’re always looking for little tricks to book hotel rooms at discounted rates. My habit is to pick the hotel I’m interested in on the site BookingIt’s the site I think has the best interface, with plenty of quality photos, practical filters, complete descriptions, and often lots of reviews (even if you have to take them with a grain of salt). Once I’ve selected the hotel I’m interested in, I check if I can get a better rate on hotels.com (which belongs to the Expedia group). Know that with hotels.com, I get the equivalent of 10% cashback (you earn a free night every 10 nights, at…
-
Discovering Tea Time at The Peninsula Palace in Paris
It’s becoming a tradition: whenever we find the time during our brief visits to Paris, we treat ourselves to a little indulgence: enjoying a tea time at a palace hotel. In September 2018, we discovered the tea time at the Ritz. In December 2022, it was the turn of the George V. Why did we choose The Peninsula? Almost by default. Anh wanted to go to Shangri La: tea time is not offered in the summer. Same for the Royal Monceau. The Peninsula was our last attempt, and they were happy to have us 🙂 Tea times in Parisian palace hotels are memorable experiences. Gustatorily, of course, but also the…
-
4 days in Bulgaria: Sofia, Bansko, and Plovdiv
From Istanbul, mid-July 2023, we take a night train to Sofia (which JB talked about here). Part 1: Travel JournalPart 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Journal We stayed in Bulgaria for 2 weeks but only visited for 4 days; the rest of the time we worked, so I’ll only give you the details of our sightseeing. It’s the very first time we set foot in Bulgaria. Day 1: Sofia Our hotel is a bit out of the way, so we have to take a taxi. Unfortunately, the taxi meter is rigged, and we pay twice the price we paid for the same trip in the other direction. But we…
-
Beautiful editions of books for bibliophiles: where to find and buy them (French, English)?
Reading mostly e-books, I’ve recently become interested in beautiful editions, because there are things you can’t appreciate on a screen, especially if it’s an e-ink one 😀 Here’s the information I’ve gathered here and there, and since I haven’t been a bibliophile for long, please excuse in advance that this article isn’t exhaustive. What interests me are recently printed books, from publishing houses that still exist, because I absolutely don’t have the budget to be interested in old books (though). I have a weakness for traditional binding, full leather, and gilded edges. But given my budget, I can’t have all three at once. Books in French If you have a…
-
Uber alternatives in Sofia (Bulgaria)
To use a Uber alternative in Sofia, you’ll need internet on your phone. You can order a Holafly eSIM to get unlimited data and the benefit Always On (1 GB of backup data per month included for free, ideal in case of unexpected events). The first time we took a taxi arriving in Sofia, we were tired and vulnerable after our overnight train from Istanbul. It was an official taxi, but I’m not sure we took it from the regular queue. When I take a taxi, I’m always wary on principle and I regularly glance at the meter. Sure enough, it seemed to me that the meter had suddenly jumped…
-
How to get to Easter Island on a budget with LATAM
Easter Island is known as the most isolated inhabited place on Earth. To the west, you have Tahiti, some 4,200 kilometres away. To the east, the Chilean coast lies 3,800 kilometres off. This isolation was never more true than during the COVID period. All air links to the island were suspended for 27 months! During our first round-the-world trip in 2016-2017, we took advantage of the Tahiti-Santiago flight that stopped over on the island to visit it for 3 days. Since COVID, this route has not been restored. Now, there are only two ways to get to Easter Island: Finding a cheap flight to Easter Island with LATAM In early…
-
[Practical Guide] Bali (Indonesia): Itinerary, Budget, What to See, Where to Stay?
Arrival at Denpasar Airport: Payment: Massage: Food: Other info: Sightseeing: I didn’t visit the whole island, but here are some highlights. Budget Planning a trip to Bali? Our partner Get Your Guide offers entry tickets and guided tours with French-speaking guides at very reasonable rates. Click here to see what they offer and book online.
-
Denpasar (Indonesia) – Travel Diary
I told you in my practical guide that you need to leave Denpasar very, very quickly. You can make the most of it at the end of your trip (a night in Denpasar is always recommended to avoid any risk of missing your flight – there’s always a lot of traffic in Bali). We stayed in Denpasar mainly to drop off our stuff, just in time for a day trip to Nusa Penida island (see our travel diary) nearby. Our hotel is right next to the port, but JB still picked a really nice hotel (huge but quiet): Prime Plaza Hotel Sanur – Bali (Booking link, Agoda link, €75). Right…
-
Ubud Bali (Indonesia): Travel Diary
If I took a long time to write this article, it’s because I really didn’t like Ubud. It had nothing to do with the town, its landscapes, the locals… it’s just a purely personal feeling, linked to my intuition, my anxiety. Looking back, I realize that on the contrary, Ubud is a highly spiritual place, and if I didn’t feel well, it’s because something there was signaling thatwe were in danger. Every day, I felt like we were in mortal danger. At first, I thought it was related to the narrow roads in Ubud, that we might have a traffic accident. That’s why we left Ubud and Bali earlier. In…
