A Michelin star Restaurant on the Paris Underground

All aboard the Badoit Express! Just a few weeks ago on the RER line C commuter train into Paris, the sparkling water brand Badoit decided to surprise tired commuters on their way home with an astonishing and unusual gastronomic treat. Two-star Michelin chef of the Paris Mandarin Oriental and judge of the French version of…

Visit the charming little Village of F*cking in Austria

I‘ve heard Fucking is fabulous in the Spring. Too old for schoolyard humor? Never! It has a population of just 104 and lies 4 kilometres from the German border in west Austria. And it’s name really is Fucking. The unfortunately-named village (pronounced fooking) is a peaceful place. The only crime ever reported here was for the…

Just an Abandoned Igloo Hotel

As if Alaska wasn’t already wonderfully creepy enough (a minimum of zero hours of sunlight in winter= perfect for vampires), it’s also home to an abandoned igloo hotel. Located 20 miles from the nearest town of Cantwell (population: 222), along the George Parks Highway, this unexpected four-story structure has become a bit of a road-side…

The Era of Automatic Dining lives on in Amsterdam

I‘ve been clinging onto these old photos of an Automat diner in New York in the 1930s, thinking I would one day have a reason to show them to you. Having just returned from a long weekend in Amsterdam where I found this old-fashion fast-food style of dining still in existence, I think it’s time…

Ryan Gosling starred in ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark’ ca.1995

Hey 90s kids! Remember this show? The one you’d race home from school for to watch on Nickelodeon with an ice cold bowl of cereal? Good times, good times. Well today I learned that Ryan Gosling starred in an episode called The Tale of Station 109.9! Not the spookiest one I’ve seen I have to…

Anti-Flirt Club

“The Anti-Flirt Club was an American club active in Washington, D.C., during the early 1920s. The purpose of the club was to protect young women and girls who received unwelcome attention from men in automobiles and on street corners. The Anti-Flirt Club launched an “Anti-Flirt” week, which began on March 4, 1923.” “The club had…

Underwater Crop Circles Discovered

They could be the work of a talented scuba diver using precise tools and measurements, but they’re not. Japanese underwater photographer Yoji Ookata, discovered these mysterious circles after almost 50 years of exploring our underwater world. Eighty feet below sea-level and approximately 6.5ft in diameter, Yoji, nor anyone else, had ever seen anything like it. So who…

The Junk King and his Cathedral of Bric-a-Brac

Paris might have the Notre Dame Cathedral but in Austin, Texas stands a one-of-a-kind structure called the Junk Cathedral. Impressive in it’s own right, it is the work of Vince Hannemann, also known as ‘The Junk King’. Vince has been doing installation works using found objects since he was 16 years old and contrary to…

Dancing with Modigliani in the Paris Night

I was unaware until now of a film biopic made in 2004 about the artist Modigliani, starring Andy Garcia (swoon). Now you may recall the story about the Paris Time Capsule Apartment here on MessyNessyChic in which one of the Italian’s paintings was discovered along with love letters from him to the lady of the…

The Venetian Island of No Return

If you’ve ever been to Venice, you’ll remember that it’s a chock-a-block city. Not just with with tourists but with houses, shops, palazzos and basilicas that seem to pile on top of each other, squeezed into every nook and cranny. In Venice and most of it’s surrounding islands of the lagoon, there is no more…