Eric Jay Toll

Paris is a global tourist destination, the heart of Europe. People arrive worldwide, so prime visiting time in the summer means crowds, premium prices, and lines. Bookmark Visit Paris for great information.
You want to stay in Île de France, the city center, which is historic Paris. You’ll be close to many places you’d like to visit. Staying in the Ninth Arrondissement was convenient for all the major sights to see. I prepared a detailed 7-day itinerary for touring Paris from this hub. And, f...

It’s just a two-hour drive from the bustle of metro Phoenix and Scottsdale to the lush green Verde Valley north of the cities. This is one of three Arizona viticulture regions. With the Verde Valley Wine Trails map in hand, there are 25 Arizona wineries with tasting rooms ready to quench a wine thirst. It’s not Napa, but it is surprisingly scenic and sippable.
Arizona Wine and Its 600-Year History
Those picturing Arizona as a desert will be stunned by the state’s ecological diversity when vis...

Rather than providing a list of other people’s choices for the best restaurants in Bruges, I’ll present tips to help you choose the best restaurants for you. You can use this concept when visiting most other northern European cities.
The Storybook Town of Bruges
Bruges (spelled “Brugge” in Flemish, one of the languages in Belgium) has dozens of restaurant choices line the main streets in the medieval heart of the city, radiating from the central market, known as Markt.
Its exceptionally well-...

It’s entering another world of language, history and amazement. It’s a lifetime experience for the first-time visitor. Come along and explore the best way to spend 7 days in Paris.
Here are some travel tips for planning your Paris one-week itinerary. There are some essential tips, ideas and common French phrases at the end of the article.
Paris Itinerary Day 1: We’re Here, Now What?
When arriving in Paris for the first time, it’s exhilarating. I was tingling with excitement. It’s so new and y...

A Sedona girls weekend can be a lot of things — active, relaxing, insightful — or just a way to take a step back and reconnect.
What did Hayley Ringle and her friend choose?
“Relaxing,” Hayley says. Laughing, her friend Alicja Wierzchowska agrees. The pair saw Sedona, Arizona, as a perfect girls’ getaway idea.
Gathering friends and heading to Sedona is the way to experience Arizona red rock country at the tip of the Verde Valley and the toe of the Colorado Plateau. It’s a land of food, crysta...

First-date butterflies. That’s what it felt like stepping into the quaint train station in Truro, Cornwall’s ancient county seat. This was the first of four full days on the west coast of Great Britain.
Not only a first trip to Great Britain but a chance to walk the locational footsteps of sites used for filming the wildly popular television series based on Winston Graham’s Poldark novels produced for Masterpiece Theater on BBC and PBS. Landing in Cornwall for a destination vacation was a per...

It’s hard to describe the mystical value of standing next to La Siene, seeing the historic buildings all around, and realizing, “OMG, I’m in Paris.” Read on for a look through the lens of an American photographer in Paris.
On the first day in Paris, the 340 stairs in the Arc de Triomphe rose skyward in a claustrophobic spiral. Camera gear slung in back, the camera snapped to the sling in front; it was one small step up and many to go. Once upon the windswept top of the arch, a “vue magnifique...

Looking for an adventure in the less-traveled part of Baja California? Read on for an adventure in Bahía de Loreto, Mexico.
“This is an Adam tree,” said Rafa, our guide. “It’s called the Adam tree because, without rain, it always looks naked, except for the red flower.”
Rafael Murillo, a certified guide, tour leader, and scuba diver from Sea and Land Tours, led the line of hikers across the top of a coral dune towards the foot of the Coronados volcano.

“The chocolate clams baked in the beach sand!” That’s the first thing cited by Camryn Jun, from Orange County, California, when asked about her jaunt in Loreto Baja California Sur, Mexico. There’s more to those clams.
“I thought it was sweet about the legend that a woman serves chocolate clams to a man,” she says. “And they serve the clams to catch their man.”
And that's only part of the adventure in this article with author photography.

It was a well-trekked sandy trail leading us into the thick brush. A gentle breeze rustled the shrubs and straggling mesquite and ironwood trees. In an instant on the short track, we seemed to leave the Sonoran Desert behind and move into a stunted but lush preserve.
Two of us were camping for a long weekend at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, along the Arizona-Sonora, Mexico border at Lukeville, ...

Just minutes from downtown Phoenix, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is filled with local restaurants. With a few exceptions, the restaurants lining the Senators John McCain and Barry Goldwater terminals are local favorites, like Barrio Café, partnered with James Beard award-winning chef Silvana Salcido Esparza. In fact, Phoenix Air...

Founder of the first Cupcake ATM and the Sprinkles Cupcake stores, Candace Nelson, chided the 300 attending the Women's Health Wealth and Happiness event that play is an important part of success professional and personally.

It was play, while binging on Martha Stewart and Oprah that turned her from unemployed tech worker into an entrepreneur.

To many, it’s a song in their heart. To even more, Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most popular national parks with visitors. It’s so popular, the National Park Service requires reservations to enter the park. Here’s a great three-day visit with some insider tips on how to beat the crowds and skip the NPS timed entry reservation ...

The National Park Service has upped its connection to its tribal partners and associates to broaden the history and story of America's national parks. Yellowstone and Mesa Verde Chaco Culture national parks are among those taking the lead. Several national monuments are making progress as well.

If you ask what there is to do between Los Angeles and Phoenix off Interstate 10 in Arizona, Shanana Rain Golden-Bear, editor of the Desert Messenger, will tell you to visit Quartzsite—and stay for a while. “This town is a little quirky, but that’s what makes it so much fun to park an RV here,” she says.
Quartzsite is a popular wintertime destination for snowbirds, a regular stop for RVers on one of the major cross-country freeways in the U.S., and a filming location for 2020’s Nomadland. The...