👨‍✈️ The Briefing Room:

Notes and open topics from the editor’s desk.

Welcome Departures. The place to be for where to go and what to see. This week, in our continuing deep dive into France, we keep going down the list of amazing rooftops in Paris and we head over the little island of Virgin Gorda to visit one of the most uniquely beautiful beaches hidden in the middle of the Caribbean!

So now without further ado, let’s take it away!

Alvin

📰 This Week in Travel:

A TLDR approach to some of the week’s most important headlines.

• Airlines cancel over 3,500 flights over the weekend. As demand for air travel has spiked in the last few weeks due to relaxed Covid restrictions and spring break, weather wreaked havoc to flights in and out of Florida. This cascaded into delays and cancellations across the United States.

• Across the pond in the UK, Easyjet faced some challenges of its own as it cancelled over 200 flights over health concerns with their staff. Disruptions new expected to extend into this week.

• UAE Airfare prices to drop drastically during Ramadan. On a follow up to last week’s announcement of India’s reopening to international travel, UAE based airlines announced a drop of up to 60% in the price of airfare between the UAE and the cities of New Delhi and Mumbai during Ramadan.

📸 Destination Deep Dive:

Comprehensive multipart series on a single destination.

France Part 08

Last week on Destination Deep Dive: France Part 07 we began our rooftop journey at the highest viewpoint in the city. This week we continue going down the list of some of my favorite rooftops in Paris with no other than the terrace at Printemps Haussmann.

Established in 1865 by Jules Jaluzot and Jean-Alfred Duclos, the world famous department store has been a staple of the French retail experience for over 150 years. Although this flagship store deserves an entire review all on its own, I will focus here on solely on Perruche, the cocktail bar-restaurant located on the rooftop of the men’s store. There may be fancier terraces in Paris but Perruche has always held very special place in heart. It is a little oasis of peace overlooking all the madness that is the 9th arrondissement. Easily reached by foot, car or metro, its accessibility makes it extremely convenient to visit for a quick lunch or an extended sunset happy hour after a long day in the city.

For reservations: perruche-restaurant.com

Next week on Destination Deep Dive: France Part 09 we continue our tour of the best roof tops in Paris.

About Destination Deep Dives

Destination Deep Dives offer a more immersive look at one particular destination in a recurring format over a several editions of the newsletter. It is where I give myself room to explore a broader set of points of interests, for all travel styles and budgets. Think of them as small parts of a larger travel guide. Even though I will be publishing them all together as one guide at the end of the series, you may access them all as individual articles inside their corresponding Departures edition here:

• France Part 01 // Notre Dame

• France Part 02 // La Tour d’Argent

• France Part 03 // La Samaritaine

• France Part 04 // Shakespeare & Company

• France Part 05 // Café Le Procope

• France Part 06 // Square du Vert-Galant

• France Part 07 // Montparnasse Tour

🗺 Bucket List:

Short highlight of a dream destination.

Located east of Puerto Rico lies the British Overseas Territory that composed of Tortola, Anegada, Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda are known as the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Although they all have their own charm, its Virgin Gorda and more specifically The Baths National Park that makes it into the Bucket List of destinations. I was 9 years old when I set foot on this beach for the first time and its unique geology left an impression on me that I still can’t get over to this day. Composed of giant granite boulders, the rock formations scattered throughout the white sandy beach form natural tidal pools, tunnels and scenic grottoes. It is mother nature’s version of a waterpark. The 2 most common ways to get to the island is via Speedy’s Ferry from Beef Island or by taking a 45 minute flight from San Juan, PR with regional carrier Cape Air. For those who prefer doing a little island hoping, you can alternately start your journey out of Charlotte Amalie in the US Virgin Island of St Thomas, take the ferry to Tortola and then take another ferry from Tortola to Virgin Gorda. Regardless of the route you take, the Caribbean is an amazing part of the world not a lot of people have on their radar and is typically less congested than some of the more popular tropical hot spots. Its a great area to visit multiple countries that live with in short distance of each other and home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. If you ever find yourself in this neck of the woods, Virgin Gorda should definitely be at the top of your list of places to go to.

🧳 Carry-on Only:

Travel experience, tech and accessory reviews.

Ever find yourself on the beach wishing you could take a quick dip without having to worry about your personal belongings disappearing the second you turn your back on them? Well SAFEGO is the accessory you have been looking for. SAFEGO is a portable and lightweight travel safe, functioning as both an outdoor key safe and a custom combination lockbox all-in-one. It was was created and designed specifically for theft prevention, focusing on its durability and interior space. Use SAFEGO in any setting and protect your smart phone, keys, cash, wallet, camera, sunglasses, jewelry, etc. With its high quality features, SAFEGO can virtually attach to anything, functioning as a personal safe and lock box with limitless uses.

via safego.us

💰 Deal of the Week:

Special sales and offers from all over the web.

Traveling through the Caribbean can be quite overwhelming. In contrast to other archipelagos, it is not as well connected to major transit hubs. But for those curious about this edition’s bucket list destination, the best way to reach Virgin Gorda is through San Juan, PR. So this deal of the week takes you from New Jersey (EWR) to San Juan (SJU) via Fort Lauderdale (FLL) on Tuesday, May 17. You will still need to take a regional flight from San Juan to Virgin Gorda through Cape Air, but at $55 you can take the opportunity with the money you save and do a weekend stopover in San Juan and kill two holiday birds with one stone.

via trip.com

🛠 Hack of the Week:

Tips and tricks for better travel quality of life.

One of the biggest challenges of being constantly on road or in the air is staying properly hydrated. A company called Liquid I.V. has cleverly come up with a product to help with that. Their Hydration Multiplier consists of a small packet of Gatorade tasting powder that you pour into your water bottle, shake and drink. The benefit? It hydrates you 2-3 times when compared to drinking the same amount of water on its own. More, hydration with less visits to the lavatory is a huge win in my book.

via liquid-iv.com

🛫 About Us:

Departures is a free newsletter about photography, travel & lifestyle. To find out more about what this is, who I am and why should you be here, visit our dedicated about page here:

About Departures