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10 years ago I fell in love with Paris and its macaron. At that time I was studying French at the institute, which allowed me to get a scholarship for a month's stay in a small town near the French capital. There I met my woman today. This month marks our first anniversary, and what better to celebrate than to return to the city where we met and fell in love, just 10 years later. In short, this trip has been more planned with the heart than with the head. Maybe it is not the itinerary for those who have never visited Paris. I believe that It can be useful for those who, like me, are going to be there for a very little time (although in Paris there is always little). The trip started very early on 14 February on Valentine's Day. We flew in the morning and it was our first time with a low-cost. The airport is only 10 minutes from home. We did not have check in luggage and so we do the check-in online. We left at 7:30 from home (we like to be in time with the airports). The boardi...

Spring brings with it many tasty and colorful vegetables! Among these we definitely find asparagus, a vegetable much loved in the kitchen. In Lombardy it is used for asparagus Milanese, a delicious second course that can be prepared in a short time! Another way to cook this splendid fruit of spring is definitely the savory asparagus pie, perfect to take with you on your picnics. Alternatively, you can make asparagus soup, a first course that can enhance all their delicate and refined flavor! Versatile and typical vegetables of the spring season, asparagus make a fine show of themselves on the stalls of our markets from the end of March to the whole month of May. Colourful, very fragrant and to be selected rigorously firm and turgid, they are available in numerous different varieties, all to be experimented with in the kitchen. From green asparagus, the most common and with a typical herbaceous scent due to the abundance of chlorophyll, to the lesser-known white asparagus, more delica...

If you are wondering how to plan your trip to Sundarbans National Park from Kolkata, we have good news for you. We have been to the park several times and have all the information you need to visit it on your own. You will have a lot of fun! September to March September to March are the best months to visit Sundarbans, the winters being the most pleasant period in the region. Summers can be pretty hot. Based on species composition and salinity ecological zones, the Sundarbans Reserve Forest (SRF) has been classified into three zones: freshwater, moderate saltwater and saltwater. If you prefer roads, you can reach Godkhali, the starting point of the Sundarbans safari by booking a journey in a cab or a bus. It's at a distance of approximately 83kms from Kolkata which would be around a 3-4 hour journey. 1. Royal Sundarban Wild Resort Royal Sunderban Wild Resort in Jharkhali Island in the best location closest to the forest core area. The resort's location is very nice having...

Last winter I left Kolkata with the Baul who first invited me to his small house in a village between Kolkata and Shantiniketan. But first of all, I chose this destination because I remembered an exhibition of photos, with comments and music, on the Bauls. I wanted to meet these mystical nomads, living their spirituality through music. Being a musician myself, professionally and at heart, I was attracted by these singers who compared themselves to foraging bees. Indeed, they go from village to village to sing their songs in exchange for rice. They collect their pollen while transmitting the seeds of life from one place to another. Of course, modernism has caught up with them, but this out-of-caste community, open to all religions, has kept the essence of what seems to me the Baul spirit, which is this fervor of life, made of crazy wisdom, freedom, loudly proclaiming their doubts and praises, their joys and their sufferings. And it appeared to me that it is more in their passionate musi...

I was invited by my friend to a Bengali wedding in Kolkata. I spent a week with my friends, attended the aiburobhat and looked for a kurta, pyjama and sari and other accessories like bracelets, earrings, necklace, and bag. It all has to match the color of the sari that in the end, I chose. Choosing the sari was not an easy task. There helped me her friends and still, we spent an entire afternoon in Burrabazar. We looked for the perfect sari that was good, nice and at a reasonable price. In the end, I chose one red Banarasi saree with brown and gold border and another one with a pink and purple border. The truth is that we were a bit messy and we were looking for the bag until the afternoon before the wedding. The wedding was in Howrah, and it was the first time that I was going to cross the river. We found a bus next to our house that took us to Howrah Railway Station after half an hour. We had the problem later. We did not know Howrah and we did not know where the marriage hall that t...

Dotted with waterfalls cascading over deep gorges, Cherrapunjee is perched on an headland interwoven by numerous rippling mountain streams transforming into the gigantic waterfalls and charms its visitors with its natural beauty. Cherrapunjee, the pristine land with ever-lasting beauty comes in full colors during the rainy months with floating clouds enveloping the valley playing hide and seek and waterfalls coming alive with gurgling sound bringing forth the fascinating views. Tucked against the backdrop of the hazy valleys and foaming rivers of the Khasi hills of Meghalaya at an altitude of 1300 metres above sea level, Cherrapunjee also known as Sohra, is one of the rainiest belts and the wettest places on earth, where rainfall is not measured in millimeters but in feet. A two hour drive from Shillong to Cherrapunjee through smooth wide winding road to witness majestic view of water falls leaping into deep gorges, picturesque view of deep valleys from the top of the hills, is a memo...

One of the great pleasures of traveling to Italy is to enjoy traditional Italian cuisine, true. What is known outside is just one - or many versions of a small part of a cuisine that is very varied and different from region to region. Because in Italy everything is not pizza and spaghetti for children. Northern Italy is the coldest region of the country, so their meals typical are the most compelling. Less olive oil, tomato and dry pasta. People prefer soups, and boiled meat cooked in wine and butter. These are the regions with most foreign influences from French, German, Austrian, Hungarian or Slav, depending on the area. Some of the best known Italian food ingredients are here. Two of the most famous pasta sauces are from here. It is the bolognese - alla bolognese ragù - Emilia - Romagna and pesto from Liguria. The fresh egg pasta is more typical of northern Italy. The tagliatelle and lasagna originate in Emilia Romagna. And there are many types of stuffed pasta, from agnolotti...

As summer approaches, the season of iced tea also arrives, a way to enjoy all the benefits of our favorite drink, which thus also becomes thirst-quenching and refreshing, ideal for the hottest days of the year. Not just iced matcha, but iced green tea too? In fact, you can drink iced green tea as an alternative to iced matcha on these hot summer days. In this article we will see how to prepare iced green tea at home using different methods, which leave its flavor intact and do not affect its properties. You can choose from your favorite teas, add ingredients as you like, and make a completely natural and genuine iced green tea, without adding sugars or preservatives. Green tea is one of the most loved teas from the very famous Japanese to Chinese green teas. It is an infusion renowned for its important properties and benefits and appreciated for its sweet, herbaceous and slightly astringent taste. Green tea is in fact a powerful antioxidant, an ally of health, which according to some...

Meghalaya is one of the smallest states of India but it is perhaps the most famous and frequented by Indian tourists among the seven sisters states of North East India. Thanks to the violent monsoon raging in the summer months in this area, Meghalaya has earned the nickname of abode of the clouds. At certain times of the year, it rains a lot and people do not see the sun for weeks. In particular, the area of Sohra or Cherrapunji is known and famous for being the rainiest and humid place in the world. In a year, there are about 26,000 mm of rain and more than 9,000 in a single month. Here at 1500 meters above sea level in the misty mountains, a stone's throw from Bangladesh, when you say Khasi tribe, it means a number of clans or extended families who have a family history of 2000 years dating back to the iawbei tynrai, the first Mother. The Khasi mythology is fascinating because it describes a people who landed from the sky on the summit of the Holy Mountain, where a group ha...

It is a new morning. The first thing we do, is breakfast to get strength, to face this new adventure. We take suitcases and check out. As we finished, a guy from the agency was waiting for us to accompany us to the train station. Due to the cancellation of the flight, we will move to Khajuraho by train and car. We set course for the Benares train station. In the city, there are two train stations. One is Vanarasi Junction in the heart of the city, which in this case will be ours and Mughal Sarai Junction about 15 km east of the city. Ours is quite large and is located about four kilometers from the ghats of the old city, between the neighborhoods of Cantonment, Jaitpura and Lahurabir. Once we arrived and entered with every step we take, it overwhelms me. First we have to go pulling the bags, climbing a network of stairs to be able to pass to our platform. Underneath we see an endless number of the oldest trains that we can imagine. I saw those trains came full of people, completely cro...