beat the brochure

An eclectic mix of travel news this week!

1. – Does anybody feel a little sorry for Gerard Depardieu? If you haven’t yet heard about Gerard Depardieu single-handedly causing an Air France flight to have to re-land after take-off you have missed a real treat of a story. Having boarded and been seated on an Air France flight, Mr Depardieu clearly had not made one last trip to the bathroom before boarding. When the flight attendent informed him he had to wait 15 mins until the plane was at a safe height in the air, things got messy, literally. Once Gerard Depardieu had relieved himself, the plane was forced to return to the runway for cleaning. Who wouldn’t have wanted to be a fly on the wall for the reaction of those around him!

2. – Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie treat their kids. As if they really need a treat in the first place, the world’s most well-travelled kids, but whilst Brad Pitt is filming in the UK, Brangelina decided to head up to Scotland on the train. Well, you can’t just fly everywhere, your kids need to appreciate that flying is a treat and sometimes we have to suffer the train. A Virgin train was booked heading to Glasgow Central, and by that, we mean the entire train was booked. However, they really are missing out on the true experience of Great British trains – the noise, the beer cans, and the stopping every 2 minutes – who would ever pass up that!

3. – A rise in garbage tourism. This week we learnt that people are actually paying good money to visit a big garbage dump. With appropriate footwear and binoculars in hand they go out in groups in search of piles of rubbish and stand around in it. Ok, so they are searching for birds, but still, there are beautiful birds in beautiful places!

4. – Egyptian Camel Scam Exposed. My favourite by far this week. There were whispers of people being held hostage on their holidays in Egypt – on camels. Yes, a few traumatised tourists got the hump (pun very much intended) when they opted for a souvenir picture of themselves on a camel, and next to an iconic pyramid, and were then told that unless they pay 15 Egyptian pounds they would not be able to get off the camel. So, learn from this, make sure the price you pay for a camel experience covers both!

Beat The Brochure Travel Tip of the Week