The Frugal Traveler
Jun 4th, 2008, 01:19 PM
#1
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The Frugal Traveler
Anyone else finding this guy in the NY Times?
If nothing else you might get some ideas on how to save a few Euros.
http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/?8dpc
If nothing else you might get some ideas on how to save a few Euros.
http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/?8dpc
Jun 5th, 2008, 03:46 AM
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I had to grind my teeth past the first stereotypical condescending travel writer observations of the "aren't the natives cute" type. If I read one more description of hunchbacked old women, or red-faced jovial men with a shock of tousled ....
Sorry, I know many people are enjoying the column, judging by the letters to the paper and the posts here, so maybe I'm grouchy today. No, make that I KNOW I'm grouchy today....
In aforesaid grouchy mood (gimme my coffee ya bums), I am trying to compute exactly how much his farm stay cost him in real terms. Lezzee-- the 'guest' starts work around 8:30, breaks for lunch around 13:00 (1 p.m) - after a siesta, he got "back to work" until the sun began to set (at which time he got to explore the countryside, the lighter evening meal not being until 10 (TEN) p.m. Now, so far, that's at least 6.5 hours work, so given that France has a minimum hourly wage of € 8.27, his stay has cost him at least € 53 per day for a bed and breakfast and two simple meals for one person. That may or may not be perceived as a bargain by his readers, but in any event this shows his listed average daily expenses of €10.29 for lodging and € 9.56 for dining are squewed, since he didn't incorporate the cost of his labour into the equation.
As an aside, what point is the author attempting to make by pointing out that the 'simple wood rectangle with one wood drawer' at the farm would cost thousands of dollars in New York City? It might, but so what? (Man, I AM grumpy today - gimme my coffee!)
Sorry, I know many people are enjoying the column, judging by the letters to the paper and the posts here, so maybe I'm grouchy today. No, make that I KNOW I'm grouchy today....
In aforesaid grouchy mood (gimme my coffee ya bums), I am trying to compute exactly how much his farm stay cost him in real terms. Lezzee-- the 'guest' starts work around 8:30, breaks for lunch around 13:00 (1 p.m) - after a siesta, he got "back to work" until the sun began to set (at which time he got to explore the countryside, the lighter evening meal not being until 10 (TEN) p.m. Now, so far, that's at least 6.5 hours work, so given that France has a minimum hourly wage of € 8.27, his stay has cost him at least € 53 per day for a bed and breakfast and two simple meals for one person. That may or may not be perceived as a bargain by his readers, but in any event this shows his listed average daily expenses of €10.29 for lodging and € 9.56 for dining are squewed, since he didn't incorporate the cost of his labour into the equation.
As an aside, what point is the author attempting to make by pointing out that the 'simple wood rectangle with one wood drawer' at the farm would cost thousands of dollars in New York City? It might, but so what? (Man, I AM grumpy today - gimme my coffee!)
Jun 5th, 2008, 03:58 AM
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Postscript: Not to mention, why he finds it necessary to tell me that he found the comic book 'Sister Marie-Thérèse' - ” the tales of a foul-tempered, pot-smoking, alcoholic nun" to be a favourite.
Seems he's none too frugal with his self-regard.
Seems he's none too frugal with his self-regard.
