Travel Briefs

Within Hôtel Ritz Paris, cooking classes are held at Ecole (School) Ritz Escoffier (15 place Vendôme, 75041 Paris Cedex 01, France; phone 33 [0] 1 43 16 30 50), named for Auguste Escoffier, the hotel’s first head chef.

Examples — prepare and eat lunch in a one-hour “Ritzy Break” (€55, near $77). Saturday holds two four-hour workshops, one on seasonal dishes, the other on pastries, each €140 ($196). On Sunday is the four-hour “Extreme Chocolate” (€250, or $350). At the hotel, students enter at 38 rue Cambon.

Daily life and events of the 15th century will be reenacted by some 60 Middle Ages enthusiasts, Aug. 7-15, 2011, at Château de Crèvecoeur (phone +33 [0] 231 630 245), located in Crèvecoeur-en-Auge in France’s Normandy region. Period-inspired food will be available. In 2010, entry cost €8 (near $11) adult, €4 child (7-14) and under seven free.

In Kent, England, in 2011, the annual Whitstable Oyster Festival takes place July 23-29. Expect concerts, heritage walks, food demonstrations, a mud tug, crab catching and an oyster-eating contest. Contact the Whitstable Oyster Festival Association (73 St. Johns Rd., Whitstable, Kent. CT5 2R, U.K.).

The Musée Picas­so (Hôtel Salé, 5, rue de Thorigny), in Paris’ Marais quarter, has passed the halfway mark in its two-year, €30-million renovation.

Het Grachtenhuis (Herengracht 386, Amsterdam), a 17th-century mansion designed by Philips Vingboons, the most famous Dutch architect of the Golden Age, will open to the public on April 1, 2011.

It will feature interactive exhibits on the history of Amsterdam’s canals and of the canal house mansion, which was visited several times by President John Adams, who used Dutch funds gathered by one of the home’s former owners, banker Jan Willink, to lay the foundation for the independence of the United States.

Panama is offering all travelers arriving through Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport free medical insurance in case of emergency during the first 30 days of their stay.

Through June 2011, the Barbados Museum & Historical Society (Garrison, Bridgetown, Barbados; phone, in the US, 246/427-0201 or e-mail info@barbmuse.org.bb) is running its heritage tour, “Freedom Footprints,” on the first Saturday and third Thursday of each month.

Focusing on the country’s slave history, the four-hour tour begins with related galleries at the museum and, with a guide, continues by coach to the five sites that form Barbados’ contribution to the UNESCO/WTO Cultural Slave Route Project.

Ten interior elastic loops for holding prescription and vitamin bottles: this is one of the features of a WhatchyaGot bag (801/810-5587).

Here’s a new type of excursion: parahawking, which is paragliding with birds of prey. In Nepal, tandem parahawking adventure flights, which last 20 to 30 minutes each, are offered November through March at the Parahawking center (Maya Devi Village, Kapaudi, Lakeside, Pokhara, Nepal). It costs £115 (near $182) plus an additional £15 ($23) for souvenir in-flight pictures and video.

In France, a new law which will begin to be enforced on Nov. 1, 2012, will require all cars, including rentals, to carry a breath-alcohol-testing instrument. If a driver does not have the device, he will be fined €17 (near $22).

Single-use devices each cost less than $2.50. Hertz will provide the devices for free, but Avis and Budget have not yet announced.