Author: Diana

The Faraway Places Podcast Episode #1: How to Stay Safe as a Solo Female Traveler and More

Published by Diana

Hello!! I am sooooooo excited to introduce the Faraway Places podcast, a podcast about travel in Paris, France, Europe, and specifically solo female travel! It is an amazing opportunity to hear how weird my voice is and also my genetic inability to say the letters “an” without adding an R to the middle! Today: 10 strategies/worldviews I use to stay safe while traveling as a solo female traveler — plus, a question — hurrah!!!! — from newsletter reader Sarah, who asked about the best hostel in Paris. The tl;dr of it: 1. Keep some extra cash on hand (even if our new and basically cashless society) 2. Explore new neighborhoods very slowly 3. See new places with locals through guided tours or Airbnb Experiences 4. Single rooms in hostels offer a budget rate and a hostel’s community 5. Stay in a hotel rather than an Airbnb if there’s any chance of checking in late at night 5A. In order of preference for airport transport to cities: public transport, hotel car service, Uber, cabs 6. Exercise …

The 10 Most Popular “French Pharmacy” Products on Amazon (Plus Our Take)

Published by Diana

Amazon stocks a lot of “French pharmacy” products — but it’s quite a weird assortment, so I thought I’d dig in and see what’s good, what’s weird, and what’s a super good buy. A trip to Paris will definitely still be a better way to do a proper French pharmacy haul — and Amazon has had very many complaints about poor quality products (or outright fakes). Many of the brands below operate their own online US shopping sites, so you can go straight to the source, if you prefer. As has also been widely reported, there seems to be some sort of advantage for Amazon in presenting search results that are at best disorganized and at worst chaotic — it really took a minute to sort through what was sponsored and what was not, and to simply distinguish brands that were, in fact, French — from the decidedly not-French brands like Tatcha and Murad, which also showed up in my results. All those caveats aside, sometimes you just want to try something new, and get it with …

Some Free Books For Whoever Wants Them

Published by Diana

Hello! Here are the books that are up for grabs — they are available unless they have a CLAIMED next to them. They’re linked to their Amazon listings in case you want to get a better description of them than the sparse ones I have provided below. Instructions for claiming them are in my newsletter. For now US addresses only please, otherwise the shipping costs > the book themselves. The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature by David Suzuki I had very high hopes for myself when I bought this, but they have been dashed. (Paperback, like new) JGV: A Life in 12 Recipes by Jean-Georges Vongerichten This looks like a very sweet book by the famous chef. (Hardcover, like new) Mother Grains by Roxana Jullapat Recipes to do with barley, buckwheat, corn, oats, rye, sorghum and more grains. Can you tell I don’t cook? (Hardcover, like new) American Cookie by Anne Byrn “The Snaps, Drops, Jumbles, Tea Cakes, Bars & Brownies That We Have Loved for Generations”: We have two copies. (Paperback, very …

paris travel hacks - a view of the seine from the elevated road

12 Necessary Paris Travel Hacks

Published by Diana

Paris is a city of immense beauty, but also immense, if occasional, complication. These are my best Paris travel hacks for navigating the city. 1. I feel safe here, but property crime is real. Within the city limits, I’ve never felt unsafe in Paris — not even walking home solo at 2 a.m. I don’t know anyone who’s been the victim of a violent crime. I feel physically safer in Paris than in the other big cities where I’ve lived — New York, San Francisco, London, and Rio — and I’ve never walked into a mall here looking for the exits in case some lunatic starts shooting up the food court. That said — that said! — property crime here is real. Pickpocketing is real. I feel like relative to NY and SF, you’re less likely to get your bag back if you leave it in a restaurant. And — pièce de résistance — earlier this summer a thief came through a window into my apartment and swiped my laptop. Bizarrely, parallel-ly, I feel like …

best non touristy neighborhoods in paris - image of canal de l'ourcq in the 19th arrondissement

The Best Non-Touristy Neighborhoods in Paris

Published by Diana

Ever wonder about the best non-touristy neighborhoods in Paris? Our letter-writer did! (Pre-PS: If you have travel questions, please do send them to us via Instagram DM; there’s nothing better in the whole world.) The question: Can you recommend your favorite residential arrondissement — not touristy? Absolutely!! I want to open with two brief provisos in terms of the best non-touristy neighborhoods in Paris: #1: Paris is so small that I honestly believe you can stay anywhere within the city itself and have a wonderful time here — meaning that the more residential arrondissements shouldn’t put you off. The 15th is 1000X closer to the center of Paris than, say, Park Slope is to Manhattan, or Chiswick is to central London (and I say that as someone who lived in both of those latter neighborhoods — it’s not a dig, it’s just geography). #2: In terms of having a non-touristy experience: timing is as important as location. Montmartre in July is a nightmare, and I say that as someone who walked through the Place du …

Everything You Need to Know About Paris in August

Published by Diana

Last summer, I was the last of my friends to leave Paris for the season — and I spent all that time alone doing the weirdest but also most interesting thing I could think of, which was documenting the exact vacation dates of all the Paris storefronts that close up shop in mid/late July through late August/early September. (I say “storefronts” rather than shops because “storefronts” includes boutiques, restaurants, and services (i.e. hair stylists) — anyone who might leave a sign in the window explaining why they’re gone). It took a very, very long time to sift through all that data — but it’s done, and now I can tell you: The average number of days a storefront closes shop in Paris in August: 19.15 I was a little surprised this was as short as it was — respect to the real ones who closed their doors for a solid month. The longest closure on my list was for 33 days. The shortest was seven days. Note: This is more the average of shops taking …

What to Do in Paris: 101 Ideas for Museums, Food, Day Trips, Festivals, and More

Published by Diana

What to do in Paris: The Absolute Must-Dos 1. Sit along the banks of the Seine as the sun sets — ideally in June, but if you get lucky with the weather, you can do this literally all year round. And ideally you’ll get to do this several nights in a row — which means you can try out a bunch of different spots. My favorite include: the Right Bank right below the Sully-Morland métro stop, the southern bank of the Ile Saint-Louis, the stretch of the Left Bank between the Sully and the Jardin des plantes, in the Jardin Tino Rossi. If you’re there in August, look for the Paris Plages. 2. Well, you probably have to go up the Eiffel Tower; it’s required. 3. Even better, though, watch the Eiffel Tower put on its nightly sparkle show from the steps in front of Sacre-Coeur, up in Montmartre. Obviously you’ll want to go late; follow it with dinner at La Boite aux Lettres, on rue Gabrielle. The show lasts five minutes, and starts every …

lighthouse - best audible books 2021

7 Basically Perfect Audible Books for 2021 and Beyond

Published by Diana

These are my picks best Audible books (for 2021). If you pick the right one, there’s something incredibly special about the right audiobook — I don’t think books are generally improved by their film adaptations, but I do think some are even better in their audiobook format. To the Lighthouse is one of the 20th century’s perfect books — but the way Nicole Kidman reads those dense, twisty sentences helps crack it open in a way that’s impossible on the page. I have 70 books in my Audible library, and most I didn’t finish. Some were boring. With others — like with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and two Neil Gaiman books — I ended up buying the print version because I couldn’t follow the plot. These, though, are all wonderful, and if you’re looking for something to listen to next, look here first. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah I can’t even say what an incredible experience listening to this book was. I’ve read lots of books by TV comedians and those were fine and entertaining …