The Corkscrew: If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It!

I came across something on-line recently that caught my attention; a Silver Rabbit Six-Piece Wine Tools Kit for $54.95 plus tax.

The kit included:

-Silver Rabbit
-Wine Collar
-Champagne Stopper
-Foil Cutter
-Wax Whacker
-Extra Spiral

Silver Rabbit?  Wine Collar?  Wax Whacker?

Are they serious?

Am I opening a bottle of wine or rehearsing a scene from Pulp Fiction?

Have we really reached the point where we require 6 different tools to open one bottle of wine?  What’s next, the all-inclusive six-in-one shoe lace tying tool?
Or maybe the multi-faceted hand-shaker helper?

Opening a bottle of wine is a simple task requiring

L’Hostellerie du Chateau: Le Bar sur Loup, France

I’d like to tell you about a terrific dining experience I had recently at L’Hostellerie du Chateau, a small hotel and restaurant tucked into a fifteenth century castle in the picturesque working class-village of Le Bar sur Loup.

Insider Tip: Don’t go to L’Hostellerie du Chateau if you are “volume challenged”.  I’ve never eaten in a quieter place.

My wife and I arrived at seven on a breezy spring evening and were warmly greeted and shown to our table by an attractive woman I could only assume was the proprietess (I didn’t want to ask, someone might actually have heard me).

We started with

Roland Garros: A Guide To The French Open

Today’s guest post by Rick Dominick is all about one of the world’s greatest sporting events, The French Open. Rick attended the tournament in 2007 and gleaned some helpful tips that will make any tennis junkie’s trip to the red clay of Roland Garros easier and more fun.

Go Rick….

Le Stuff’s Definitive Guide to Enjoying the French Open

The 2010 French Open is underway and you, like the rest of us, wish you were there.  And for good reasons; it’s the only major tournament played on clay, the tournament is held in an elegant neighborhood in Paris, and for tennis lovers, the points on “terre battue” are long and hard-fought.  If you are considering making the trip in 2011, here are our suggestions for making it a great adventure.

1) Plan to attend the tournament during the first week of competition.
Week 1 is the best time to see all the top players. The grandstand courts host the premier matches while the grounds courts host everyone else.  You may want to watch Federer or Serena compete on the Phillipe Chartrier or Suzanne Lenglen stadium courts but hardcore tennis lovers will want to scour the grounds courts for their favorite players.  The heavy, red clay makes for long, carefully crafted points and matches. Sit within a couple of feet of the players on the smaller courts and enjoy the fine competition.

Get up close and personal on the grounds courts

2) Book your trip in advance and get tournament tickets through the http://www.rolandgarros.com website.
If you want stadium tickets sign up for tickets in January or February.  You’ll be notified once the lottery for tickets is completed.  Re-seller tickets on the internet and scalped tickets are available closer to tournament time but tend to be expensive.  Grounds tickets can be purchased