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Most travelers in France are familiar with the châteaux at Chenonceau and Chambord, but the Château de Veauce? Not likely. So Carole and I didn’t have high expectations when in July ’05 we spied Veauce on the IGN 1:100,000 map we were using to explore the Allier area north of Clermont-Ferrand and west of the auto route that snakes north toward Paris.

We had circled some likely small villages for way stops, noting the symbols for churches, castles, historic buildings, fortifications...

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Alter Wartesaal (Johannisstrasse 11, Cologne, Germany; phone 49 [0] 221-912 885-0 or visit www.wartesaal.de [in German only]): located adjacent to Cologne’s Hauptbahnhof, this fine restaurant is in the rail station’s old first-class lounge.

To get to the restaurant, exit the hauptbahnhof through the doors that face the Dom (Cologne’s cathedral). As you exit, the restaurant will be on your left. Due to the extensive construction in the area, you will have to take a lengthy and very...

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My husband and I were in the southern part of Chile in January ’05 and found the best tour operator we’ve encountered in our years of travel. He is Enrique Pavez of Lagos Andinos (Antonio Varas 445, Puerto Montt, Chile; phone/fax 56-65 254988 or mobile [9] 7079445, e-mail sales@lagosandinos.cl or visit www.lagosandinos.cl).

Enrique speaks excellent English, and the word “can’t” is not in his vocabulary. In a 5-day period, we requested and got a tour of Petrohué Falls and the Chilean...

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My wife, Mary, and I took a 35-day cruise on Holland America Line’s Statendam, embarking Nov. 17, ’05. This was a wonderful experience for us, even though we had traveled on many shorter cruises. The stops in Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Easter Island, Tahiti, Bora Bora, American Samoa and New Zealand all were excellent, but I want to provide information to ITN readers about one special guide we had on Easter Island.

ITN contributed to our finding this guide, Patricio Rojas (e-mail patricio...

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Ancient Olympia and Delphi were two sites out of antiquity that my wife and I visited on an April trip to Greece. At Olympia, both of us were in awe. There isn’t a whole lot left, but what is there is impressive when you consider the history. We burned up several rolls of film.

Delphi is a majestic sight. It takes some imagination to picture what the structures looked like when they were whole, but the entire site does have something of an ethereal quality. The setting itself is...

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We visited the camera market in Warsaw, Poland, in June ’05. With new and used cameras, computer equipment, cell phones, etc., it’s open only on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Ask the taxi driver for Gielda Fotograficzna (Photographic Market), located in the Centrum neighborhood at the Stodola Students Club (ulica Batorego 10, Warsaw 02-591, Poland). There is a small admission fee to the building. A flea market of related equipment is adjacent; there’s free admission to that.

...

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Fit for Fiji

I took my first trip to Fiji in August ’05. Our group of six flew from Los Angeles to Nadi, changed planes and flew to the second-largest island in the Fijian chain, Vanua Levu. We spent the next week at the wonderful Koro Sun Resort & Rainforest Spa (in the U.S., call 877/567-6786 or visit www.korosunresort.com). My personal feeling about this area of Fiji is that I did not realize that a place like this still existed on Planet Earth.

After the Koro Sun...

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Protecting your money while traveling abroad has gotten more complicated over the years, but not for me.

Before I travel, I always hand-stitch a small pocket, about 4"x 3" or so, into the bottom section of my bra cup. I use it to hold folded-up twenties and one credit card. I take the bra off at night and place it under my pillow. Hence, I have never lost any of my money. Sounds silly, but it works for me.

WINNIE SCHALL BAFFA Leland, NC