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Calgary Herald
21-05-2025
- Calgary Herald
I spent a week island hopping in French Polynesia — here's my action-packed itinerary
Article content Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Article content When most people think of French Polynesia, an image of Bora Bora's famously crystal clear waters and white sand beaches comes to mind. This island paradise, made up of 121 diverse islands and atolls, spreads across five archipelagos in the South Pacific Ocean, and is much more than sea and sand — though they are certainly top tier. Article content Article content Article content Article content Only a short flight away (about one hour from Bora Bora) lie Rangiroa and Fakarava — part of the largest atoll chain in the world known as the Tuamotu Archipelago. Host to extensive coral reefs and teeming with marine life, these islands are a scuba diver's you've been manifesting a getaway filled with adventure, breathtaking landscapes, rich cultural heritage and a touch of luxury, French Polynesia is for you. With only seven days, I was able to explore three diverse islands and tick off so many items on my bucket list. I'll be returning to explore further west and experience more of the magic these islands offer. Article content International flights will take you to Tahiti, the largest and most populous island in French Polynesia. Use this as a jumping-off point for exploring the outer islands, but be sure to give yourself at least one full day in in the bustling capital of Papeete and head straight for the local Papeete Market. Grab handmade crafts, fresh tropical fruits and locally-made monoi oils made from soaking Tahitian gardenia petals in coconut oil. Next, hit nearby Notre Dame Cathedral or the Black Pearl Museum — these pearls originate from black-lipped oysters that are found in Tahitian waters — or head south to the Museum of Tahiti and the Islands to dive into the island's culture and history. Article content Article content Rent a car or join a guided tour to explore Tahiti's lush interior. Visit Faarumai Waterfalls — a lush, tropical paradise. Then head to the Vaipahi Gardens to soak up some tranquillity and enjoy the colourful flowers, koi ponds and scenic walking paths. Article content
Mint
20-05-2025
- Mint
The best wine and cocktail bars in Paris
Trips to Paris have always been short and with a full schedule. However, I had two days to myself in the city in February and there was much to explore. After taking in the touristy experiences—a walk along the Champs Elysees, visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral and spending time at the beautiful garden Jardin des Tuileries—I focused on high quality eating and drinking destinations. In previous visits, I've always had a wine hat on, but this time the thriving cocktail bar scene took me by surprise. When it comes to wine, it's everywhere—boutique stores, wine bars, serious places that take wine and food pairing to their highest level, and multiple tasting events and wine dinners everyday. The events, easy to find online through a simple search or via Instagram are at all levels from easy-going to expensive. Paris also has easy access by train or car to the most sought-after wine regions in the world — Champagne, Bordeaux , Burgundy, Alsace to name a few. Hop, skip and jump your way to the very heart of wine excellence on a day or overnight trip. Paris truly is a perfect base for wine adventure at the highest level. Champagne flows like water in Paris; it is drunk very often, not relegated to special occasions and consumed whether it's the start of an evening, or during the entire course of the evening through dinner. Bookmark these wine spots My favourite way to enjoy Paris when it comes to wine is to keep it simple: take a bottle of wine with some cheese, sit on the banks of the river Seine and enjoy your drink while watching the cruise boats go by. I was tipped by a friend to go to a wine bar called Ambassade de Bourgogne. The wine bar and bottle shop is the holy grail for those who love Burgundy with literally everything on offer that comes out of the region. It's a great place to get your Burgundy fix while browsing through their wine list which is 36 pages long. Planche at The Hoxton hotel is the one place to visit for natural, biodynamic and organic wines like Domaine L'Herbier, Domaine De Clos and Chateau Doyac. These will thrill wine nerds. For natural wines, ciders and craft beers you must go to Liquiderie, a cool wine bar. At Galerie Vivienne is Le Comptoir des Caves Legrand , which has a great selection of French wines Domaine Trapet, Marsannay, Domaine Bott, First Flight Viognier to name a few. Comme Chai Toi is a fine, delicious small restaurant that serves up great French food in a fuzzy warm space with some delicious wines made mostly by small producers. If that's not enough, you get a beautiful view of Notre Dame through its large windows. A toast to cocktails I would recommend The Cambridge Public House, a cool Persian pub that's relaxed and has a strong focus on sustainability with cocktails like Silent Sky, Midnight Driver and Golden Child. Please meet Hyacinthe, the co-founder and Nikos and Xenia, their brilliant mixologists. Another cool bar in the same area is Little Red Door where they take the concept of farm-to-cocktail glass seriously using seasonal produce like vegetables, fruits and flowers sourced from farmers. Try their drinks named Lou Mandrin, Squash Squash or Volupte. If walking around is your thing, with a cocktail here and a glass of wine there, on the left bank of the Seine is the neighbourhood of Saint-Germain-des-Prés with a wide selection of bars, cafés and restaurants. It's a bit touristy but fun nevertheless. Finally, a place that's still on my must-visit list is the Plénitude at the Cheval Blanc hotel. It's a fine dining restaurant with three Michelin Stars, and the hotel in which it's located is named after the prestigious vintage wine Cheval Blanc. The hotel is owned by the LVMH group and promises a lavish gastronomic experience.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
VP Vance's global travels are a mix of diplomacy, dealmaking, soft power and family time
WASHINGTON (AP) — When JD Vance was running for vice president, he walked across an airport tarmac in Wisconsin one August day when his campaign travels happened to intersect those of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and approached Air Force Two. Besides wanting to take a poke at Republican Donald Trump's rival for avoiding the press, Vance said, "I just wanted to check out my future plane.' It's an aircraft he now knows well. In the opening months of Trump's term, Vice President Vance has traveled all over the globe — family in tow — to conduct top-level diplomacy for the administration, in addition to taking a number of domestic trips. His international forays have featured a mix of meetings with world leaders, sharply crafted speeches advancing U.S. policy, 'soft power' appearances to build goodwill and family time at tourist sites along the way. Diplomacy before family and cultural sights Vance's trips have included a five-day trip to Europe in February, a hastily reorganized trek to Greenland in March and a tour of Italy and India in April that was notable for the vice president's brief meeting with Pope Francis the day before the pontiff died. In his first big moment on the world stage in February, Vance pressed Trump's 'America first' message at an artificial intelligence summit in Paris and spoke of maintaining U.S. dominance in the surging industry. From there, he attended a security conference in Munich, where the vice president left his audience stunned with his lecturing remarks about democracy and scant focus on Russia's war against Ukraine. In March, Vance delivered pointed remarks while in Greenland, scolding Denmark for not investing more in the security of its territory and demanding a new approach. Trump has upset many Greenlanders with his aggressive claims that the U.S. needs to take control of the island away from Denmark. There's been dealmaking, too. In India last month, Vance announced after meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that they had agreed on a negotiating framework for a U.S.-India trade deal. In Italy, he held talks with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in addition to his separate audiences with the pope and a top Vatican official. Family time follows Vance's diplomatic work Vance has been accompanied on his overseas trips by his wife, Usha, and their 7- and 5-year-old sons and 3-year-old daughter. The kids are usually in pajamas as they board Air Force Two for the overnight flights. The Vances have gazed aloft at the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City and been photographed, with the children in traditional Indian dress, in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra. Without their children, the Vances also visited Dachau in Germany. Brad Blakeman, a former senior official in George W. Bush's administration who has provided planning advice to Vance's office for some of his foreign travel, said that, while some personal time is woven in, these are not vacations. 'You try and balance the policy with the culture aspect of the trip so that you're honoring the customs and culture of the places that you are visiting,' he said. Visiting iconic cultural sites while abroad shows respect and builds rapport with host nations that can enhance diplomacy. It's also important to be mindful that the president and vice president travel at the public's expense, he said. 'That's the balancing act that always has to be done because of the stewardship of the taxpayers' money,' he said. Joel Goldstein, a law professor at Saint Louis University who specializes in the U.S. vice presidency, said the journeys also could be intended to build Vance's foreign policy chops. 'Part of foreign travel for a vice president is establishing a national security and diplomatic credential,' he said, noting that it's particularly important for Vance. At age 40, Vance served just two years in the Senate before ascending to the office. Vance displays the habits of a millennial Vance is also the second-youngest person and the first of the millennial generation to hold the job. 'Generations' author Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University psychology professor who studies generational differences, said the ease with which Vance moves between work and leisure is emblematic of his generation. 'The research suggests that, just with internet use and social media use, the lines between work time and family time blur, that you switch tasks much more quickly than, say, Gen Xers or boomers,' she said. Vance frequently switches gears on the road. Last week, he wedged in a quick beer with service members in Germany — and autographed the 'kegerator' built by one airman — after days of wall-to-wall official and cultural activities throughout Italy and India. Some of the Vances' activities have been unwelcome Usha Vance was originally slated for a solo trip to Greenland with one of their sons to attend a dogsled race. But that plan was scrapped amid growing discontent from the governments of Greenland and Denmark over the visit and Trump's tough talk of the U.S. taking the territory away from a NATO ally. Instead, the vice president joined the trip, and their visit was limited to a U.S. military base there. On his Italy trip, Vance took heat on X for being photographed inside the Sistine Chapel. Photography there is usually forbidden, but the session turned out to have been sanctioned by the Vatican, as has happened on past visits by U.S. dignitaries. A decision during the same trip to close the Roman Colosseum to the public so Usha Vance and the children could take a tour drew some grumbling from tourists stranded outside. A consumer group has since filed a legal complaint. In India, the Taj Mahal, normally swarming with tourists, was also closed to visitors to accommodate the Vances, according to local media reports. American officials are often formally invited to make such cultural diversions, and it's not unusual for the U.S. Secret Service, which provides protection for top U.S. officials, to ask for the sites to be closed to the public for security reasons during presidential and vice presidential tours. The Vances appear to have tried on occasion to avoid such disruptions. In France, the family visited the Louvre on a Tuesday, a day when the museum is closed to the public. Such trips have a long history Other recent vice presidents also have taken family members along on trips. Presidents do, as well. As vice president, Democrat Joe Biden often took one of his older granddaughters on trips, a practice he continued as president. Presidents' children, including Malia and Sasha Obama and Chelsea Clinton, went along on some trips with their parents, too. Practices differ, but the idea is the same: Time in office is short, so make the most of it and expose your children to the world. Usha Vance said as much during the family visit to India, where her parents were born. She hadn't visited in decades, and her husband and children had never been there. In an interview with India's NDTV, she said she'd been anxious to make the 'trip of a lifetime' with them. 'It's been something that I've wanted to share with my new nuclear family,' the U.S. second lady said, adding that they knew Vance would have a chance to visit India as vice president. "We always knew that, when that opportunity arose, we would all come with him.' 'We think of it as sort of a gateway, the first of many trips to come, I hope," she said. Soft diplomacy is another goal One aim of vice presidential travel abroad is often soft diplomacy, or the building of favorable attitudes toward the U.S. through imagery and symbolism. When Vance, with his wife of Indian descent and their children, is photographed at the Taj Mahal, it sends a message of solidarity with that nation. When he visits the Vatican and worships there, it emphasizes common ground with Catholics around the world. Likewise, when Vance appears in public with his children, it could help drive home his quest to encourage large families and build goodwill among American voters, said University of Dayton political scientist Christopher Devine, co-author of 'Do Running Mates Matter?' 'I wonder, with JD Vance, if it's an effort to soften his image," Devine said. 'He's someone who has not been particularly popular ever since he entered the national scene, and appearing with family tends to make people a little more likable, harder to hate.' ___ Smyth reported from Columbus, Ohio.
Winnipeg Free Press
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
VP Vance's global travels are a mix of diplomacy, dealmaking, soft power and family time
WASHINGTON (AP) — When JD Vance was running for vice president, he walked across an airport tarmac in Wisconsin one August day when his campaign travels happened to intersect those of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and approached Air Force Two. Besides wanting to take a poke at Republican Donald Trump's rival for avoiding the press, Vance said, 'I just wanted to check out my future plane.' It's an aircraft he now knows well. In the opening months of Trump's term, Vice President Vance has traveled all over the globe — family in tow — to conduct top-level diplomacy for the administration, in addition to taking a number of domestic trips. His international forays have featured a mix of meetings with world leaders, sharply crafted speeches advancing U.S. policy, 'soft power' appearances to build goodwill and family time at tourist sites along the way. Diplomacy before family and cultural sights Vance's trips have included a five-day trip to Europe in February, a hastily reorganized trek to Greenland in March and a tour of Italy and India in April that was notable for the vice president's brief meeting with Pope Francis the day before the pontiff died. In his first big moment on the world stage in February, Vance pressed Trump's 'America first' message at an artificial intelligence summit in Paris and spoke of maintaining U.S. dominance in the surging industry. From there, he attended a security conference in Munich, where the vice president left his audience stunned with his lecturing remarks about democracy and scant focus on Russia's war against Ukraine. In March, Vance delivered pointed remarks while in Greenland, scolding Denmark for not investing more in the security of its territory and demanding a new approach. Trump has upset many Greenlanders with his aggressive claims that the U.S. needs to take control of the island away from Denmark. There's been dealmaking, too. In India last month, Vance announced after meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that they had agreed on a negotiating framework for a U.S.-India trade deal. In Italy, he held talks with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in addition to his separate audiences with the pope and a top Vatican official. Family time follows Vance's diplomatic work Vance has been accompanied on his overseas trips by his wife, Usha, and their 7- and 5-year-old sons and 3-year-old daughter. The kids are usually in pajamas as they board Air Force Two for the overnight flights. The Vances have gazed aloft at the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City and been photographed, with the children in traditional Indian dress, in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra. Without their children, the Vances also visited Dachau in Germany. Brad Blakeman, a former senior official in George W. Bush's administration who has provided planning advice to Vance's office for some of his foreign travel, said that, while some personal time is woven in, these are not vacations. 'You try and balance the policy with the culture aspect of the trip so that you're honoring the customs and culture of the places that you are visiting,' he said. Visiting iconic cultural sites while abroad shows respect and builds rapport with host nations that can enhance diplomacy. It's also important to be mindful that the president and vice president travel at the public's expense, he said. 'That's the balancing act that always has to be done because of the stewardship of the taxpayers' money,' he said. Joel Goldstein, a law professor at Saint Louis University who specializes in the U.S. vice presidency, said the journeys also could be intended to build Vance's foreign policy chops. 'Part of foreign travel for a vice president is establishing a national security and diplomatic credential,' he said, noting that it's particularly important for Vance. At age 40, Vance served just two years in the Senate before ascending to the office. Vance displays the habits of a millennial Vance is also the second-youngest person and the first of the millennial generation to hold the job. 'Generations' author Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University psychology professor who studies generational differences, said the ease with which Vance moves between work and leisure is emblematic of his generation. 'The research suggests that, just with internet use and social media use, the lines between work time and family time blur, that you switch tasks much more quickly than, say, Gen Xers or boomers,' she said. Vance frequently switches gears on the road. Last week, he wedged in a quick beer with service members in Germany — and autographed the 'kegerator' built by one airman — after days of wall-to-wall official and cultural activities throughout Italy and India. Some of the Vances' activities have been unwelcome Usha Vance was originally slated for a solo trip to Greenland with one of their sons to attend a dogsled race. But that plan was scrapped amid growing discontent from the governments of Greenland and Denmark over the visit and Trump's tough talk of the U.S. taking the territory away from a NATO ally. Instead, the vice president joined the trip, and their visit was limited to a U.S. military base there. On his Italy trip, Vance took heat on X for being photographed inside the Sistine Chapel. Photography there is usually forbidden, but the session turned out to have been sanctioned by the Vatican, as has happened on past visits by U.S. dignitaries. A decision during the same trip to close the Roman Colosseum to the public so Usha Vance and the children could take a tour drew some grumbling from tourists stranded outside. A consumer group has since filed a legal complaint. In India, the Taj Mahal, normally swarming with tourists, was also closed to visitors to accommodate the Vances, according to local media reports. American officials are often formally invited to make such cultural diversions, and it's not unusual for the U.S. Secret Service, which provides protection for top U.S. officials, to ask for the sites to be closed to the public for security reasons during presidential and vice presidential tours. The Vances appear to have tried on occasion to avoid such disruptions. In France, the family visited the Louvre on a Tuesday, a day when the museum is closed to the public. Such trips have a long history Other recent vice presidents also have taken family members along on trips. Presidents do, as well. As vice president, Democrat Joe Biden often took one of his older granddaughters on trips, a practice he continued as president. Presidents' children, including Malia and Sasha Obama and Chelsea Clinton, went along on some trips with their parents, too. Practices differ, but the idea is the same: Time in office is short, so make the most of it and expose your children to the world. Usha Vance said as much during the family visit to India, where her parents were born. She hadn't visited in decades, and her husband and children had never been there. In an interview with India's NDTV, she said she'd been anxious to make the 'trip of a lifetime' with them. 'It's been something that I've wanted to share with my new nuclear family,' the U.S. second lady said, adding that they knew Vance would have a chance to visit India as vice president. 'We always knew that, when that opportunity arose, we would all come with him.' 'We think of it as sort of a gateway, the first of many trips to come, I hope,' she said. Soft diplomacy is another goal One aim of vice presidential travel abroad is often soft diplomacy, or the building of favorable attitudes toward the U.S. through imagery and symbolism. When Vance, with his wife of Indian descent and their children, is photographed at the Taj Mahal, it sends a message of solidarity with that nation. When he visits the Vatican and worships there, it emphasizes common ground with Catholics around the world. Likewise, when Vance appears in public with his children, it could help drive home his quest to encourage large families and build goodwill among American voters, said University of Dayton political scientist Christopher Devine, co-author of 'Do Running Mates Matter?' 'I wonder, with JD Vance, if it's an effort to soften his image,' Devine said. 'He's someone who has not been particularly popular ever since he entered the national scene, and appearing with family tends to make people a little more likable, harder to hate.' ___ Smyth reported from Columbus, Ohio.
Time of India
03-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
US Vice President JD Vance's global travels are a mix of diplomacy, dealmaking, soft power and family time
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel When JD Vance was running for vice president, he walked across an airport tarmac in Wisconsin one August day when his campaign travels happened to intersect those of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and approached Air Force Two. Besides wanting to take a poke at Republican Donald Trump 's rival for avoiding the press, Vance said, "I just wanted to check out my future plane."It's an aircraft he now knows the opening months of Trump's term, Vice President Vance has traveled all over the globe - family in tow - to conduct top-level diplomacy for the administration, in addition to taking a number of domestic trips. His international forays have featured a mix of meetings with world leaders, sharply crafted speeches advancing U.S. policy, "soft power" appearances to build goodwill and family time at tourist sites along the before family and cultural sights Vance's trips have included a five-day trip to Europe in February, a hastily reorganized trek to Greenland in March and a tour of Italy and India in April that was notable for the vice president's brief meeting with Pope Francis the day before the pontiff his first big moment on the world stage in February, Vance pressed Trump's "America first" message at an artificial intelligence summit in Paris and spoke of maintaining U.S. dominance in the surging industry. From there, he attended a security conference in Munich, where the vice president left his audience stunned with his lecturing remarks about democracy and scant focus on Russia's war against March, Vance delivered pointed remarks while in Greenland, scolding Denmark for not investing more in the security of its territory and demanding a new approach. Trump has upset many Greenlanders with his aggressive claims that the U.S. needs to take control of the island away from been dealmaking, India last month, Vance announced after meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that they had agreed on a negotiating framework for a U.S.-India trade deal. In Italy, he held talks with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in addition to his separate audiences with the pope and a top Vatican time follows Vance's diplomatic work Vance has been accompanied on his overseas trips by his wife, Usha, and their 7- and 5-year-old sons and 3-year-old daughter. The kids are usually in pajamas as they board Air Force Two for the overnight Vances have gazed aloft at the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City and been photographed, with the children in traditional Indian dress, in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra. Without their children, the Vances also visited Dachau in Blakeman, a former senior official in George W. Bush's administration who has provided planning advice to Vance's office for some of his foreign travel, said that, while some personal time is woven in, these are not vacations."You try and balance the policy with the culture aspect of the trip so that you're honoring the customs and culture of the places that you are visiting," he said. Visiting iconic cultural sites while abroad shows respect and builds rapport with host nations that can enhance also important to be mindful that the president and vice president travel at the public's expense, he said."That's the balancing act that always has to be done because of the stewardship of the taxpayers' money," he Goldstein, a law professor at Saint Louis University who specializes in the U.S. vice presidency, said the journeys also could be intended to build Vance's foreign policy chops."Part of foreign travel for a vice president is establishing a national security and diplomatic credential," he said, noting that it's particularly important for age 40, Vance served just two years in the Senate before ascending to the displays the habits of a millennial Vance is also the second-youngest person and the first of the millennial generation to hold the job."Generations" author Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University psychology professor who studies generational differences, said the ease with which Vance moves between work and leisure is emblematic of his generation."The research suggests that, just with internet use and social media use, the lines between work time and family time blur, that you switch tasks much more quickly than, say, Gen Xers or boomers," she frequently switches gears on the road. Last week, he wedged in a quick beer with service members in Germany - and autographed the "kegerator" built by one airman - after days of wall-to-wall official and cultural activities throughout Italy and of the Vances' activities have been unwelcome Usha Vance was originally slated for a solo trip to Greenland with one of their sons to attend a dogsled race. But that plan was scrapped amid growing discontent from the governments of Greenland and Denmark over the visit and Trump's tough talk of the U.S. taking the territory away from a NATO ally. Instead, the vice president joined the trip, and their visit was limited to a U.S. military base his Italy trip, Vance took heat on X for being photographed inside the Sistine Chapel. Photography there is usually forbidden, but the session turned out to have been sanctioned by the Vatican, as has happened on past visits by U.S. dignitaries.A decision during the same trip to close the Roman Colosseum to the public so Usha Vance and the children could take a tour drew some grumbling from tourists stranded outside. A consumer group has since filed a legal India, the Taj Mahal, normally swarming with tourists, was also closed to visitors to accommodate the Vances, according to local media officials are often formally invited to make such cultural diversions, and it's not unusual for the U.S. Secret Service, which provides protection for top U.S. officials, to ask for the sites to be closed to the public for security reasons during presidential and vice presidential Vances appear to have tried on occasion to avoid such disruptions. In France, the family visited the Louvre on a Tuesday, a day when the museum is closed to the trips have a long history Other recent vice presidents also have taken family members along on trips. Presidents do, as vice president, Democrat Joe Biden often took one of his older granddaughters on trips, a practice he continued as president. Presidents' children, including Malia and Sasha Obama and Chelsea Clinton, went along on some trips with their parents, differ, but the idea is the same: Time in office is short, so make the most of it and expose your children to the Vance said as much during the family visit to India, where her parents were born. She hadn't visited in decades, and her husband and children had never been an interview with India's NDTV, she said she'd been anxious to make the "trip of a lifetime" with them."It's been something that I've wanted to share with my new nuclear family," the U.S. second lady said, adding that they knew Vance would have a chance to visit India as vice president. "We always knew that, when that opportunity arose, we would all come with him.""We think of it as sort of a gateway, the first of many trips to come, I hope," she diplomacy is another goal One aim of vice presidential travel abroad is often soft diplomacy, or the building of favorable attitudes toward the U.S. through imagery and Vance, with his wife of Indian descent and their children, is photographed at the Taj Mahal, it sends a message of solidarity with that nation. When he visits the Vatican and worships there, it emphasizes common ground with Catholics around the when Vance appears in public with his children, it could help drive home his quest to encourage large families and build goodwill among American voters, said University of Dayton political scientist Christopher Devine, co-author of "Do Running Mates Matter?""I wonder, with JD Vance, if it's an effort to soften his image," Devine said. "He's someone who has not been particularly popular ever since he entered the national scene, and appearing with family tends to make people a little more likable, harder to hate."
