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Travel

Andorra makes no effort to charm those crossing the border from France. Shown here is the entry point into the commercial hub of Pas de la Casa.

Andorra: The Ugliest Country in Europe?

They had green mountains, trout streams and wildflowers; meadows and waterfalls, but Andorrans made their country the least charming in all of Europe

The exterior of the Hotel Astoria in St. Petersburg

A Toast to the Astoria Hotel in St. Petersburg, Russia

A Russian icon in the Art Nouveau style on St. Isaac‘s Square near the Neva River, the Astoria evokes a Belle Époque world gone by

The brown bear is among the largest land animals in the northern hemisphere. Whether there is still room for it in the French Pyrenees is uncertain.

Can Brown Bears Survive in the Pyrenees?

The keepers of sheep and cows helped eliminate the Pyrenean brown bear, and shepherds are not thrilled to see France’s largest predator return

Huahine in the South Pacific

Prospero’s Island in the South Pacific

Was it Bermuda—or the dreamy French Polynesian island of Huahine—that inspired the setting for Shakespeare’s The Tempest?

Palace of the Winds in Jaipur, India

Jaipur via The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

A delightful new film takes viewers to India’s picturesque western state of Rajasthan

Follow the arrows, find the cheese. This sign led to a sheep farm in the village of Tilhouse.

On the Cheese Trail in the Pyrenees

Make a fuss in the road and someone will appear. Spit out some gibberish about “fromage a vendre,” and that should do it. You’ll get your cheese

Petra Van Glabbeek tows Ouiza (staring out the rear) and Coco (standing, and getting a free snout-scratch from the turning wheel) on a luggage-less day ride. On uphill climbs, the dogs are asked to trot alongside the bikes.

The Family that Never Quits Pedaling

I thought cycling with a laptop and a bottle of wine was hard. Then I met a pair of Dutch cyclists on tour with a grown dog, a puppy—-and a baby

The campus of UC Santa Barbara is on the coast at Isla Vista.

Summer Vacation on Campus

Looking for unique, fun, inexpensive lodging? Stay in a university dorm

The author was recruited very temporarily by this traveling team of cyclists from Corsica when he arrived at Col du Soulor (1,474 meters/4,724 feet).

Where Lance Remains the King

Among the peaks, cirques and summits of the French Pyrenees, the greeting call to an American on a bike may always be “Armstrong!”

The Druid Arch in Canyonlands National Park

Travelers’ Tales in Utah’s Canyonlands

The trail is rough and hard to follow, marked chiefly by cairns; water is intermittent; and if something bad happens help is not at hand

The table is set with a heaping salad of beets, soft-boiled eggs, orange and avocado. Dressed with a zesty walnut oil vinaigrette, this dish goes exceptionally well with an anonymous red Gascogne blend from a wine shop bulk barrel.

Sleep Like a Pauper, Eat Like a King

Between grocery stores, wine shops, artisan bakeries and farm stands, I regain each calorie I burn in style and taste

The author, on tour in the Sauternes region of Bordeaux, loved the gold-hued sweet wine of the area but filled his bottle with local bulk red.

Tasting France’s Finest Wines

Sauternes is a village near Bordeaux that would have been cow town if dumb luck, microclimatology and royal wineries had not showered the region in fortune

The author points directly at the hole in a rock wall in Groléjac where he left two cans of strong beer. Come get them.

Free Beer in the Dordogne Valley: Come and Find It!

These beers should last for several hot summers and cold winters. Where exactly are they hidden? Here are the directions

For the traveler to India: film and literary preparation

The Great Books and Movies to Read and Watch Before Visiting India

A list of some of the best books and films about the subcontinent to take in before you go

At 100 Euros for 100 grams, these French black truffles had better not be from China.

Truffle Trouble in Europe: The Invader Without Flavor

If it looks like a black truffle, and if it cost you $1,500 a pound like a black truffle—-it may actually be a worthless Chinese truffle

The Dordogne River flows through some of the finest country of southern France. Truffles, cep mushrooms and wild pigs occur in the woods, while huge catfish and pike lurk in the slow eddies of the river.

Off the Road in the South of France

Ernest Hemingway popularized the cosmopolitan lifestyle of Paris, but he missed out every day he wasn’t walking through the forested hills of Périgord

Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen are the stars of HBO's fictionalization of the relationship between Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway.

Danger and Romance from HBO’s “Hemingway & Gellhorn”

A new made-for-television movie airing May 28 recounts the stormy love affair between the writer and the war correspondent

The deathstalker scorpion, a Middle East native shown here in captivity, kills several people each year and occasionally hammers its stinger into the hands of hobbyist collectors.

The Nastiest Critters Lurking Outside Your Tent

The bite of a Goliath bird-eater is hardly worse than a bee sting—-but it is among the nastiest things that could skitter across your face in the Amazon

These cyclists are enjoying another day on the trail in the Crocodile Trophy, in northeastern Australia, considered one of the most punishing bicycle races in the world.

Grueling Travel through Beautiful Places: the Madness of Extreme Races

The Crocodile Trophy mountain biking race is off-road, meaning gravel, rocks, ruts, puddles, dust and lots of crashing

A freakishly cold winter coated Rome's Colosseum in snow

The Snows of…Tenerife?

The white stuff can fall at any time and almost anywhere, from the streets of Rome to the subtropical Canary Islands

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