I’ve started tweeting, prompted by The Guardian’s Benji Lanyado who hopped on the Eurostar to Paris with no more than the Twitter community in his hand as guidebook. I say no more. During his two days in the capital the travel writer was swamped with tweets from Paris-savvy microbloggers recommending everything from insider museums and art galleries to cafés, bistros and a Montmartre restaurant from @MsMarmiteLover with a fabulous history and fabulously rude waiters. Being something of an old-fashioned girl with a dozen-plus traditional guidebooks under my belt and a contact book bursting with more Paris addresses than I could ever fit in Lonely Planet’s travel guide to said city, I had to chip in.
For the ethical guidebook writer whose holy trinity is something along the lines of walk to the end of every street, leave no stone unturned and converse with everyone until you’re blue in the face, Twitter is a no-brainer. Be it as a pre-trip research and planning tool or immediate line to the world while on the road, it is essential guidebook-research kit.
‘Travel gold’ Benji wrote of the top three tips he was sent, one of which I hasten to add without sounding too smug was mine @tripalong. How I found Galerie Pièce Unique, a gem of a contemporary art gallery in St-Germain des Prés that exhibits just one unique work at any given time? By walking up, down and around street after street after street in left-bank Paris for days and days and days…
Tripalong 