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After glowing stints at Fauchon and Le Bon Marché, pastry chef and author Sébastien Gaudard opened his own pâtisserie on rue des Martyrs, just south of Pigalle, 9 months ago; the speed of his ascent into the annals of traditional pastry-making left him and his team of 14 stunned. But it’s no surprise he achieved such wild success so quickly - he doesn’t just revisit pastry classics, he brings them back to life giving new vigor to everything from the Paris-Brest and Mont Blanc to Tarte au Citron, macarons and divine chocolates. His shop feels like an old school candy store with jars full of French bonbons and cases full of indulgent desserts. It’s a stunning pastry shop with stellar sweets well worth the detour for those staying (or living, like myself) on the other side of the city. In the summer, try a carton of their homemade ice cream. click on the link below for more photos!

Pass through the iconic arched doorway at College Green and enter the elegant quads, handsome architecture and verdant lawns of Trinity College, one of Ireland‘s most prestigious universities. Among its many attributes is the atmospheric 18th-century Old Library, whose most precious tome is the 1,200-year-old Book of Kells, a priceless illuminated manuscript. Also worth a visit are the college’s Douglas Hyde Gallery, devoted to contemporary art, and the thought-provoking Science Gallery.

Perched 300 feet above the Pacific on 15 verdant acres, Hotel Wailea is a former members’ club that still feels like a hidden enclave of cool. In 2014, new owners invested $15 million in a redesign that left 72 one-bedroom suites with white oak floors, Sub-Zero appliances, and Hawaii-inspired art. Still, it’s the pool that really wins over guests—it’s calm and quiet (thanks to the hotel’s no-kids policy); there are umbrella-shaded loungers and bungalows with fans for when you’ve had too much sun; and the beyond-gracious staff are always at the ready with water, cocktails, kombucha, and coconut water. The hotel lounge offers free wine and appetizers at 5 p.m. on Friday nights, while the farm-to-fork restaurant highlights produce grown in the resort’s own garden. Complimentary on-site activities include yoga, outrigger canoeing, and mixology classes, but guests can take the hotel’s Tesla Model X house vehicles anywhere in Wailea or rent an electric bike and cruise the South Maui coast if they want to get off property.

If you’re looking for a day of grape-free respite in Mendoza, head off-the-grid to the hot springs of Cacheuta. The Terma Spa welcomes guests with an assemblage of thermal baths overlooking the scenic Mendoza River flowing downstream from the Andes. The indoor/outdoor thermal spa circuit winds through waters ranging in temperature from 73 to 105 degrees. Bubble beds, a water volcano and foot baths are strategically placed throughout the circuit to knead tense muscles. The Natural Solarium has a basin of therapeutic mud for slathering all over your body and baking on the pool deck. Scrub yourself clean in the bithermal hydrojet shower and kick back on the flowering Andaluz patio. Next, head underground to the vaporarium and detoxify in its natural steam. Relax in the verdant garden until you’re ready for an afternoon spa treatment or another convalescing soak in Cacheuta’s healing mineral waters.

One of New York’s loveliest historic districts, Brooklyn Heights sits along the East River to the south of the Brooklyn Bridge. Its streets are lined with beautifully preserved and restored 19th-century town houses while a promenade along its western edge offers views of the skyline of downtown Manhattan—especially stunning when the sun is setting over New York’s harbor. Simply wandering its streets, you’ll feel transported back in time, but there are some buildings of special interest you may want to seek out. The celebrated 19th-century preacher Henry Ward Beecher (brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe) presided at Plymouth Church (57 Orange St.). Truman Capote finished Breakfast at Tiffany’s and wrote In Cold Blood during the 10 years he lived at 70 Willow Street, and novelist Thomas Wolfe lived at 5 Montague Terrace from 1933 to 1935. Grace Church (254 Hicks St.) and St. Ann & the Holy Trinity (157 Montague St.) are outstanding examples of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture. After you are done exploring, Atlantic Avenue, which marks the southern edge of the neighborhood, and Montague Street have a number of restaurants to choose from if you are ready for a meal.

Yes, Angelina on the Rue de Rivoli (around the Tuileries Garden and the Louvre) is a tourist spot, but it is still one of the best places in Paris for hot chocolate. Their menu of pastries and other small dishes is good, but don’t miss out on the hot chocolate. It is also a fun place to people watch, as there is a mixture of tourists, diplomats and government workers, and grandes dames who frequent the cafe to get their sweet tooth fix. Sit as table 11 (3rd from the back against the mirror) and you’ll sit where Coco Chanel took her hot chocolate nearly every day.

Parisian Brasserie dining, and a few hundred bottles of good wine standing sentinel for good measure. It didn’t take me long to get used to afternoons and evening at La Coupole. I had an equally delightful time at breakfast; a bit of yogurt and granola, some bread and cheese, and NHL highlights from the night before. I’m a simple guy, what can I say. Fine dining, good wine, and hockey fights go together like PB&J. In my book, anyway.

Sopot is one of Poland’s favorite leisure destinations, and Sopot Pier (Molo w Sopocie in Polish) is its center. An extension of lively Monte Cassino Street—Sopot’s entertainment, dining, and shopping promenade—the pier stretches over a third of a mile into the Bay of Gdańsk. Built in 1827 as part of the local harbor, it was reconstructed after the wars and renovated several times since, gradually becoming the fashionable leisure facility it is today. Since the very beginning, the pier has featured an international dimension—it was conceived by a Frenchman on Polish land belonging to the Kingdom of Prussia; became a popular destination for Europeans during the 19th and 20th centuries, thanks to railway and sea links; and continues to draw travelers from all over the world. When visiting today, you’ll hear several different languages being spoken, and see flags from various countries on the yachts moored on the side deck, which serves as the marina.

A mineral lick for wild game and a swimming place for the Nez Perce and other Native American tribes, the Lolo Hot Springs, “discovered” by Lewis and Clark in 1805, became a health resort for dudes and wealthy Westerners in the late 1880s. Today the Lolo National Forest in west central Montana, 32 miles southwest of Missoula, is a paradise for camping, hiking, fishing, and in winter, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. In a prime location to explore 500 miles of trails and scenic drives, the Lodge at Lolo Hot Springs offers weary adventurers the chance to relax in two indoor natural hot spring mineral baths in enclosed grottoes. Built to suggest a Western fort, lodge rooms are lined with white pine logs and log furniture and have large picture windows overlooking the forest. The lodge rents ATVs and snowmobiles to guests. Lodge-based activities include geocaching, Frisbee golf, horseshoes, croquet, and volleyball.

Besides Poás’s impressive volcano, this beautiful region is home to cozy down-home restaurants. One standout is Freddo Fresas, named for the strawberries (fresas) that constitute the region’s principal crop. Diners here enjoy tasting local specialties such as hand-thrown tortillas, chorreadas (a sweet-corn pancake iteration), tamales, bean empanadas, and other rustic yummies. Their strawberry-based desserts—fashioned from fruit just picked from the restaurant’s garden—are a must. Never too acidic or overly sweet, the perfect berries are like nothing you can get at your hometown supermarket. Try fresh strawberry juice or eat the fruit in the Costa Rican mode, i.e., with condensed milk or melted chocolate.

From the moment you touch down on the grounds of the 135-acre working cocoa farm, a stay at the Fond Doux feels like a step back in time. It begins in your suite, one of 15 cottages that have been lovingly restored by owners Lyton and Eroline Lamontagne in the colonial style, with traditional gingerbread trim, four-poster beds, and pastel walls. Though some cottages have private plunge pools, you’ll want to make your way to the cascading main pool, which overlooks a verdant rain-forest glen. If all this sounds a little sleepy, don’t fret: A free shuttle is available to whisk guests to nearby Sugar Beach, and frequently rotating minibuses pass the hotel on their way to restaurants and shops 10 minutes away in Soufrière.

What began in 1854 as a high school—then grew into a college and, later, a law school—has served as one of San Antonio’s top hotels since 1968. Located near the River Walk, not far from the city’s historic district, the leafy former campus is centered around a seven-story, Spanish colonial-style main building with 338 guest rooms. Each one mixes original touches like wood-beamed ceilings, exposed brick walls, and French doors with modern amenities like HDTVs, marble baths, and Wi-Fi (complimentary for loyalty club members). Some even look out on the River Walk, while others offer views of a verdant garden. Healthy extras like in-room fitness kits, a 24-hour gym, and a year-round heated pool help offset the indulgences served at the on-site restaurants and bars, which include the fine-dining Las Canarias (don’t miss the popular Sunday brunch.) Younger guests can look forward to game-filled backpacks and scavenger hunts, while adults will enjoy the award-winning spa and restaurant at La Mansion’s sister property, Mokara, located across the river.

Snaking, cracking, shimmering a brilliant blue in places and covered by mystical frost in others, the Mer de Glace displays nature in all its powerful glory. France’s longest glacier stretches for 4.3 miles and is over 650 feet deep. Quite literally a sea of ice, it continues to move under its own weight; its surfaces break up, crevasses appear, and pointed columns of ice known as seracs burst from the surface. Though this glacier continues to amaze, it’s slowly being decimated by climate change—in 1988, you only had to climb down three steps to reach the ice grotto, which is carved out every spring; now, the ice has receded so much that you have to tackle 430 steps.

Set on 18 literally green acres, this amenity-rich hotel feels like a secluded retreat among the towering pines, sprawling oaks, and manicured grounds—despite its proximity to the bustling Loop 610 and the Galleria. It affords so much peace and quiet, along with accessibility, that President George H. W. and Barbara Bush used the Houstonian as their home address while he was in office, and stayed on property during visits back to Houston.

The lobby has a warm, luxury lodge feel with soaring ceilings, wood details, and a massive stone fireplace. Guest rooms feel more elegant and traditional, with lavish textures and verdant floor-to-ceiling views. Every room has a 42-inch HDTV, complimentary Wi-Fi, a Keurig coffeemaker, and terrycloth bathrobes. (There are 67 concierge-level rooms that include daily continental breakfast, after-dinner sweets and cordials, plus additional services.) For the nature-minded, there’s a mile-long walking trail around the serene property.

Encompassing early 200 acres of rolling parkland, Villa Borghese is Rome’s verdant heart and everyone’s favorite place for an afternoon walk. The vast gardens are criss-crossed with picturesque paths, where visitors can meander past ancient statues and fountains, sit by a lake or caffè, and take in a film at one of two cinemas. For culture vultures, there is a Shakespearean Globe Theatre with a robust summer schedule, a historic puppet theater, and several world-renowned museums including Galleria Borghese with its enviable collection of Bernini sculptures and Caravaggio paintings. Younger kids enjoy playgrounds, electric train rides, and a kids museum, while children of all ages can get active with skate, bike, and paddleboat rentals.